I spent over 25 years scruffy. I hated shaving. I had beards and stubble and shaggy over growth.

I could do that. It was dark, then for a while there were a few greys, and then it was salt and pepper.

It looked good. It made me look grown up. Sophisticated even. Manly.

But now, it’s just white. I go without shaving a few days, I look like an old man. An old man.

And I hated shaving. It was awful. You foam up and drag a multibladed name brand disposable razor up and down until you were shaved. And you’re left razor burned with a screaming face.

So I learned how to shave. Fat rich cream. Safety razor. Brush and bowl. Good aftershave. Only with the grain of the hair. Shaving more than once is still fewer strokes of the blade across your skin than one swipe with a five bladed gimmick razor.

And you know what? I like it. And my wife likes it.

I might not look so brawny or aggressive. But my wife likes that smooth skin and how aftershave clings to my face. And I like that it’s still sandpaper gruff in half a day, ready to be knifed away again.

I can’t get a 5 o’clock shadow, because it’s all white, plus I really like shaving before I go to bed, but I’m beginning to really enjoy a good shave. It’s revitalizing.