VitaMan in the mirror

My chin and upper lip were hairless zones when I was in college. As if Visigoths sprinkled salt onto them so that nothing, not even the shadow of a five o’clock shadow, would ever, ever grow. While my friends went grungy all over, sporting flannel, Soundgarden shirts and goatees, and singing about looking California despite feeling Minnesota, I felt like Michael Bolton or someone as square. Eventually, I started growing a mustache, but it wasn’t the ’tache I had hoped for. You see, each strand had a mind of its own: one gravitated toward south; the other, north; and there was a yawning chasm between east and west. In short, my mustache was as anarchic as Captain Caveman’s. That’s the time I discovered that shaving is as tricky as trying to clean the Aegean stables.

Soap and water help, yes, but there are products out in the market that can help immensely in the shaving department. My girlfriend Becca has introduced me to products that will supposedly make my face cleaner, my hair shinier, and my shaving sessions less like the Inquisition. But one look at those pink containers and dainty labels and I get the shivers. An Australian grooming company called VitaMan offers alternatives.

VitaMan shave crème and Vitaman after-shave balm come in dark chocolate brown. If other products communicate cuteness like Kylie Minogue, VitaMan communicates masculinity like, say, a fullback or a striker. VitaMan co-founder Clare Matthews said in an interview with an Aussie magazine that the company’s mission from the outset is to give guys a functional product that comes in a packaging that me like. She felt that men were not being looked after. “Many companies have simply tapped into their female range and called it their men’s range,” she adds. “We wanted to think about what men really wanted.”

What do we want, anyway? There are so many things to like about VitaMan. The company’s use of natural aboriginal extracts has set it apart from the competition, devising new, masculine ways of delivering ancient remedies such as aloe vera, grass lily, quandong, blue cypress oil and lemon myrtle. None of those artificial colors or fragrances. The VitaMan range now includes sports massage treatment products, apart from its retail range of shave, face, body and hair products, a sports range and a shave routine.

Shaving 101: Aye, There’s The Rub

I learned from VitaMan that shaving need not be a torturous affair.

VitaMan’s shave crème, which is a non-foaming crème formulation, creates a better barrier between skin and blade. Therefore there’s less friction and irritation to sensitive skin. So, gone are the days when a guy would look as if he French-kissed a jellyfish after shaving.

Alcohol-based shave foams or gels dry out the skin (like Eliot’s wasteland), and don’t offer protection to the skin from the blade. Another advantage of using VitaMan shave crème is that it hydrates the skin, while the indigenous grass lily provides healing properties.

The product is best used as part of a shaving regimen: use cleanser to soften the beard (or in my case, the uneven half-mustache) prior to shaving; use a razor run under hot water to obtain a closer shave and always shave in the direction of hair growth; and conclude with the application of the VitaMan after-shave balm. (For those with dry skin, use VitaMan shave oil prior to using the shave gel.)

The VitaMan after-shave balm is a soothing balm which prevents razor burn or skin irritation after shaving. It is formulated to “calm the skin” after shaving, whether as a part of a wet shave or an electric shave routine. It also hydrates the skin without leaving an oily film (so your face won’t look as glazed as a donut).

The balm is also excellent in treating sunburn, cooling, soothing and reducing redness and heat. The aloe vera and grass lily extract heal and repair damaged skin. The menthol cools the skin down, while the allantoin quickly hydrates and provides necessary moisture to dry skin.

So, there. Guys could take on the razor’s edge and, with the help from the shave crème and the after-shave balm, emerge as a VitaMan about town.

VitaMan products are available at Rustan’s Essenses.