It’s hard to think of shaving as anything more than a mundane sideshow to our daily grooming these days, unlike the time, a generation ago, when it was a masculine ritual to be experienced and enjoyed. Who can forget the sight of our fathers and grandfathers in front of the bathroom mirror every morning, armed with a classic safety razor, packets of blades, a shaving mug, soap, shaving brush, hot water and cologne? The advent of the high-tech, multi-blade razors killed all that, turning the whole exercise into a shave-and- scoot routine. A few enterprising new entrepreneurs are trying to change this, however. They’re trying to lure men back to the old-time shaving ritual through e-commerce websites devoted to the retro ritual, where you can buy everything that is required — safety razors, blades and soaps, brushes, shaving balm and even the archaic straight razors.

Among the more prominent of these outfits is the Bombay Shaving Company, which has just launched an all-in-one kit for those who want to start their journey to old world shaving. It can be a great gift pack as well. The kit includes a pre-shave scrub, shaving cream, shaving brush, Japanese-made precision safety Feather blades, post-shave balm and face towel. The idea is to enjoy the whole experience — pre-shave, shave and after-shave. “The ideal shave should cut your hair as close as possible to the skin, without damaging it”, says Raunak Munot, co-founder of the Bombay Shaving Company. “There are two important aspects to achieving this. First, you need a high quality single-blade safety razor with a sharp blade that cuts hair at the skin level, unlike the market-leading multi-blade cartridge razors, which cut below the skin level; and second, you need to prepare your face well for the shave. We have crafted a shaving system that delivers on both these aspects, resulting in the finest shaving experience.”

There’s more information on www.bombayshavingcompany.com