The Smooth News: Let's talk about shaving!

The Smooth News is a monthly newsletter that is received by email that keeps customers updated on Simple Sugars events, products, and much more. To subscribe to the Smooth News, please visit our website at simplesugarsscrub.com.

Here is the most recent Smooth News article with some fun facts about shaving.

Let's Talk about Shaving, shall we? Part 1

There's no doubt about it, shaving has got to be the most tedious personal grooming habit of all. But the smoothness! We love the smoothness of freshly shaved legs or his cleanly shaven face, so we endure the torture.

Who ever came up with the idea of shaving in the first place? Well evidence of shaving dates all the way back to ancient Egypt and it's rumored that in the 4th century BC, Alexander the Great encouraged his warriors to shave with a sharpened block of iron so that enemies couldn't grab their beards in a melee. Which makes sense, in a weird kind of way.

And what about women? Who was the genius that decided it would be a good idea for women to start shaving their armpits and legs? Well, surprise, surprise! Turns out we can thank the media, which is responsible for most of the crazy stuff people do, for that - Harper's Bazaar to be exact. In 1915, with the advent of the sleeveless dress came the advice from the mag that "the removal of objectionable hair" was necessary before wearing it. Likewise fashion decreed that legs be shaved when skirts got short and pinups became popular in the 40's. (Which also makes sense, in an even weirder kind of way.) In any event, somehow we American women bought it and we've been shaving ever since!

So yes, shaving results in smooth skin but it also results in dry irritated skin, razor burn and ingrown hairs.

Let's start with the dry irritated skin part. Is it shocking to anyone that taking a razor to your skin could be considered irritating? Didn't think so.

And what do we do to ease the irritation? We use shaving creams filled with, you guessed it - skin irritating chemicals! Ouch.

To add insult to injury we often shave in the shower using hot water, which is not skin friendly at all. Is it any wonder shaving makes our skin angry?

So what can we do to stay smooth, and avoid all the harshness the comes with shaving...(oh, this is almost too easy...) You can use Simple Sugars or Smooth for Men to gently exfoliate, cleanse and moisturize before you shave! Not only will your razor glide over your skin lessening the possibility of razor burn or cuts but the exfoliation allows for a super close shave and reduces the potential for ingrown hairs.

But in the interest of full disclosure, we will tell you that you should use a cheap blade when shaving post scrub because the razor will get gunked up. But the good news is, you'll get an awesome shave even with a cheap-o blade, so you won't have to buy those crazy priced blades. Of course if you're a straight razor user - you have no worries! (Except that you might be crazy :)

The other option is to scrub post-shave. Which will leave you ridiculously smooth and no, you still won't have to use lotion!

Or be a maniac and scrub before AND after. You only live once. (Yes, we're going there...) Go NO-LO, because YOLO!