Chances are the way you shave is wrong. The right way is strictly in the downward direction, except for the stubble below the Adam’s apple, which can be shaved upward. And while you might be tempted to do a finishing upward pass of the razor to get a closer shave, over time it will age the skin on your face faster.
This lore came from my barber at Truefitt & Hill, the oldest barbershop in London and, according to Guinness World Records, the world. For my grooming routine, I long ago gave up not only the dispiriting American pharmacy offerings—an insult to one’s dignity if there ever was one—but also the trendy hipster products. Why go to Williamsburg and buy into a nostalgia-driven imitation when one can go to London and get the real thing? Making the rounds of traditional London barbershops, stocking up on shaving creams and other grooming products, has been one of my treasured travel rituals for the past 20 years.
