Sharpologist 2014 Holiday Gift Guide

Each year at this time Sharpologist offers holiday gift advice, either ideas for giving to your favorite wet shaver or for your own list.  We’ve looked back at this year’s reviews for the best stuff, plus some of our personal favorites, for our 2014 Holiday Season Gift Guide.

Books And Media

• A perennial Sharpologist recommendation is Leisureguy’s Guide to Gourmet Shaving – Sixth Edition, the Alpha and Omega of traditional wet shaving gear and technique in written form.
• A similar book from the UK is Sharp Practice: The Real Man’s Guide to Shaving.  This book is finding its way into the US market.
• Two other books, A Closer Shave: Man’s Daily Search for Perfection and A Stiff Drink & Close Shave The Lost Arts of Manliness, offer a more leisurely, “coffee table” look at shaving.
•  The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man is a good gift for essential life skills, including grooming.
• Lynn Abrams’ Lynn Abrams World of Straight Razor Shaving DVD is an excellent idea for those getting into straight razor shaving and needing some visual feedback.

Razors

• Edwin Jagger De89lbl and the Merkur Heavy Duty Double Edge Razor #34C are both enormously popular and easy recommendations.
• For something “different” consider a slant bar razor like the Merkur Slant 37C .
• If you are considering an adjustable razor there is the Merkur Progress Adjustable Double Edge Safety Razor.
• If you are looking for something more luxurious and “gift-worthy” consider the Above The Tie 7 Piece Solid Bar Stainless Steel Safety Razor Set, the Feather All Stainless Steel Double Edge Shaving Razor, or the Pils Stainless Steel Double Edge Safety Razor, Black, 104NE.

Brushes

• The “Monarch” High Mountain White Silvertip Badger Shaving Brush from Wet Shaving Products is a terrific value for the quality of badger hair that is in the brush.
• If you are looking for one of the new generation of synthetic hair shaving brushes, the Frank Shaving Synthetic and the Muhle Synthetic are excellent.
• If you are looking for something unusual there is the Six Shooter Tactical Shave Brush.
• Have money burning a hole in your wallet?  Take a look at the Simpsons M7 Manchurian in Ebony hardwood and the Plisson “High Mountain White” in imitation tortoise shell.

Shave Soaps and Creams

• Castle Forbes shave creams (in Lime Oil, Lavender Oil, or Cedar/Sandalwood) are luxurious and superior performers.
• Royal Shave carries Penhaligon’s Blenheim Bouquet shave cream in a classy glass jar with a silver-plated lid that would make a terrific gift.  The scent is described as a combination of Lemon, Lime and Lavender top notes with Pine, Musk and Black Pepper base notes.  Penhaligon has re-formulated the cream after a poorly-considered ingredient change and they are back to a top-notch performer.
• DR Harris Arlington shave soap (available in Mahogany Bowl / Beech Bowl with a scent described as a somewhat strong mix of citrus and fern) and Windsor shave soap (available in Mahogany Bowl / Beech Bowl with a scent described as citrusy and, leathery scent with a bit of pepper and vetyver, and patchouli) are two popular Harris scents that would make an excellent gift.
• Stirling shaving soaps are an artisan product now beginning to be more widely available, with a wide variety of scents and an inventory that’s updated often.
• BebeLush is another artisan Sharpologist has mentioned before and they currently have a three scent gift set of Bay Rum, Cedarwood, and Peppermint (“Barbershop Shave Soap Bar in a Jar“) worth looking at.

Other Stuff

• Shaveology’s shaving-related T-shirts
• Shaving Scuttles (cream or soap)
• Struggling with adult acne? Arithmetic has a new shaving cream (brushless) that works well.
• Diabetic or slow-healing?  I have recently tried TriDerma’s Sensitive Skin Moisturizer as an aftershave balm and it worked really well.  Their Diabetic Ulcer Defense Healing Cream was particularly effective on some nagging sores I had too.  By the way, they have a 20% off deal going on their website until 2 December.  Use the coupon code  HAPPYHOLIDAYS20 at checkout.
• Looking for colognes?  Sharpologist co-founder and scent nerd Andy Tarnoff recommends L’Occitane L’occitan Eau De Toilette, Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb, Zirh Corduroy, and John Varvatos Vintage.

More Gift Suggestions?

Do you have suggestion of your own?  Be sure to leave them as a comment!