Simple Indulgences to Daily Ritual: Baby Steps

I am not one who typically enjoys free time. On my days off I wake up early and strategies on what work I can get done that day while tossing and turning and ultimately getting not-so-tiny daggers from my wife. “Why can’t you just relax and enjoy the snuggles?” she often asks.

Good question: Why can’t I relax and enjoy my downtime? I work my tail off every day. You think I would relish any free time I might stumble across, however fleeting. Well, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

My one simple indulgence that makes my systematic life feel luxurious are long showers with fanciful products showered upon me by my wife. Typically my mornings are squeezed between packaging orders, exercising, or trying to wake the sleep out of my eyes from the previous nights Netflix extravaganza (pins and needles!)—and long showers are not an option. However, on those special days when my life is not consuming me head-first, kicking and screaming, out come all of these products and I cherish every single one of them.

My manhood is wholly affirmed. While I often do not hear my male friends talk about looking, smelling, and feeling proper that does not mean they shouldn’t. Why have men gone from looking so dapper (see image above) to completely disheveled (see Knocked Up)? I am not promoting excessive vanity (heck, I just mentioned I only do this on special days) but I am questioning why the simple urge to look good for your significant other—shit, society—has vanished. I guess I could raise a big middle finger to Brooklyn hipsters!

That said, I should segue from the podium back to my simple indulgence and leave this discussion to the more informed.

Soap: Soap is the kingpin to a great shower. Not only should it get you clean (often the only quality measured by men—Lava, anyone?) but it should energize you while relaxing your body at the same time. It should also smell great; I am not talking about a field in Ireland or an old boat either. It should be subtle, a backup scent that works well with your colognes, but has the depth to stand alone. (See Merry Clayton on Gimmie Shelter).

I prefer milled soap to standard off-the-shelf soap. Mostly because it distributes the fragrance evenly throughout the bar as well as making it harder and longer lasting—further incentive to pay a little extra for milled soap. Luckily my wife has a multitude of milled soaps to choose from, French milled, triple milled, hard milled ... While all of these feel great on the skin, very few are scented for men. One soap manufacturer that not only combines great milled soap with not-overpowering masculine fragrances is Organic Grooming. They have a wide range of scents to choose from—my favorites are Wild and Original. Both will leave your skin clean and soft, thanks to the cucumber and Kaolin clay, but also smelling wonderful because of the deodorizing rosemary and other fragrances.

Shampoo: Hair is a complicated thing. I won’t even try to sound knowledgeable in this area, but rather go off of my own experience. Men simply have more oil on their scalp. Simply removing all of this oil with standard shampoos can leave the scalp sensitive, dry, and irritated. The shampoo that works best for my hair is Aveda Pure-Formance. It does a great job and removing the excess oil, while keeping my scalp from drying out. On days that my hair is excessively oily, usually from wearing a baseball cap for too long, I use Aveda Pure-Formance Exfoliating Shampoo. I always finish with a little Aveda conditioner to refresh my scalp to a balance of shiny and dry.

Shaving: I wasn’t an early shaver. Hell, I still can’t grow a full beard and will probably turn 30 before I can get the five o’clock shadow look. Shaving is almost more important when your beard is not yet there. While full stubble can look rugged and handsome, as seen on George Clooney, chin stubble will only leave you looking like Spencer Pratt.

Back to the issue at hand, the act of shaving. This should always be the last thing done in the shower. Let the hot water soften your skin before you rake 3-5 steel blades across it repeatedly. I prefer Menscience shave formula as it takes the edge off of the blades while yielding a buttery smooth finish in only one pass. The price is not for the faint of heart—$25 for 6 oz. A more wallet-friendly substitute is Organic Grooming’s Shave Cream. While it has a much stronger scent, it still leaves the skin extremely smooth, thanks to the aloe, and feeling cool, thanks to the lavender and peppermint oil. Shaving will no longer be something you despise more than cleaning the drain or losing in fantasy football.

Now that you smell great, your hair is thoroughly cleansed, and your face is as smooth as butta you need to keep your skin feeling great and your body smelling great as you navigate your way around potholes, TPS reports, and garbage duty. Deodorant and/or antiperspirant are a necessity to men unless you want to smell like this guy. Deodorant should do just that: stop odor. If you are using your deodorant to smell great let me tell you something, you’re not. You are just letting everyone around you know you are sweating. Just stick to something clean and unscented. Let your cologne be responsible for your scent.

The harsh Minnesota climate can as quickly take your perfect skin and turn it into a pile of ashes as it can go from 32 and sunny (quite warm really) to below zero and depressingly gray. To combat against such extremes I love to use L’Occitane’s oil for men. It also has a wonderfully masculine scent, while not splintering your nose while shoving an old ship past your olfactory bulb.

Cologne: This is a highly personal choice that can change from day to night and season to season. I typically stick with one “signature” cologne, Lanvin L’Homme. I should probably mix up my scents to coordinate more with the seasons, but I would rather have one constant in my ever-changing and hectic life to remind my wife that I am her husband and always will be—even under all of that sawdust.