Monday, August 4, 2008

In which I shave a leg



I haven't shaved my legs in 20 years.

Before you take my Beauty Ninja badge away, the reason for it is that I'm a devoted user of those electrical gadgets that pluck the hair and the roots, resulting in a smoother skin and a less frequent need for touch-ups. I've gone through several of them, different makers and models, and I plan to keep using them until something new and fabulous comes along. I still shave my armpits, though, so it's not like I've been completely out of touch with the world of shaving since mid 1988.


The package containing the new eos ultra moisturizing shave cream (am I the only one annoyed by products and brands that insist on using lower case for names?) had perfect timing: I have just squeezed the very last drops of shaving gel from the very last hoarded bottle I had of Gillette's Satin Care in the old plastic soft-grip bottles. At one time I had an army of them in the cabinet under the bathroom sink, but it's been a long time since they disappeared from the shelves, leaving us with the regular Satin Care in metallic canisters that leave those horrible rust rings wherever you put them and send me into a Joan Crawford-like rage.

The plastic bottles with the easy to grip design have won me even before using the first drop, and continued to impress me when testing. It's a very rich cream that makes shaving even the shortest pit bristles into an easy, smooth affair.

Now comes the part where I prove to you what a dedicated blogger I am. Or that I'm a scary, scary person: I wanted to give eos a better testing. So I decided to grow out a patch of leg hair and do what I haven't done in twenty years. It took a couple of weeks until I had something worth shaving (another benefit of the electrical gadget is that hair grows sparse and lackadaisical), but the day came that I could give my hairy leg a good shave.

The shaving cream did a great job. It was a much more pleasant experience than I remembered (hey, last time that part of me saw a razor, Ronald Reagan was in the White House and George Michael still wanted my sex). My skin felt smooth and moisturized, the hair was easily removed and no trauma was recorded.

eos ultra moisturizing shave cream comes in three scents. Pomegranate Raspberry is your average death by plastic fruit thing. Vanilla Bliss is a pleasant enough gourmand, but I have a problem with pit pudding. Still, I suspect most of you would like it best. Island Blue is one of those synthetic clean marine scents that I hate everywhere else but find perfect for the purpose of shaving my armpits. It has no presence, no staying power and won't distract you from your other bathroom scent indulgences.

eos ultra moisturizing shave cream is available from select drugstores (though my local Target doesn't carry it at the moment) and Drugstore.com for $5.49. I got it as a PR freebie.

art: Declan McCullagh Photography

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