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Say hello to Remy. He's one of the many terrifying male models you'll see in ads for Nioxin hair care products. Which is a shame, really, because this stuff is excellent. Honestly, the kind of models they use to promote this stuff is unfortunate, because the products themselves are really top-notch. I've been using the Actives shampoo and "Scalp Therapy" (conditioner to youse and moi) for a few months now and I've noticed a significant improvement in how my hair looks and feels.

But the reason I bring Nioxin up is because a number of experienced wetshavers recently emailed me, after reading about my shavesploits at the local Y. They all said the same thing -- if I wanted that kind of revelatory shave without having to sweat like a pig to soften my beard, I should try simply applying hair conditioner to my face while showering at home.

This wasn't the first time I'd heard of this trick. Back in the day, somebody (I think it was the great Harry Jarnock) on the old Wetshavers forum suggested to an African-American gentleman complaining about the difficulties in shaving his tough, curly beard that he try slathering on some hair conditioner in the shower to soften his whiskers before shaving. The guy tried it and reported excellent results.

So this morning I tried it for myself. My schedule was too heavy for a workout today, so I showered in the usual way at home, except today I slathered some Nioxin Actives Scalp Therapy conditioner on my face and neck, and then proceeded to shower while leaving the conditioner on my skin to soften my hair up for the kill.

I've tried using Nioxin conditioner as a shaving cream before, with the almighty Feather straight razor, because the professional barber who did the straight razor demo in my Today Show segment, Mike Orzalli, uses this stuff to shave all of his customers and swears by it. The Nioxin worked fine as a shaving cream -- it gets your skin pretty slick, and leaves it feeling cool and moisturized afterward. But today was the first time I'd used it as a pre-shave prep to soften my whiskers beforehand.

I rinsed my face off, got out of the shower, and went right into the shave. Merkur HD razor, Merkur blade, Vulfix #2235 silvertip brush, and Taylor rose cream. I could still feel the cooling effect of the Nioxin on my skin even after I rinsed it off thoroughly. Felt great. Kind of like how Proraso cools my face down after a shave, when I splash it with cold water.

The shave seemed to go pretty much as usual -- uneventful, in the best possible sense. It was only when I rinsed my face and ran my hands over my skin that I felt just how shockingly close and comfortably I'd been able to shave myself. It was exactly the same kind of extreme closeness and maximal comfort that I'd previously only been able to achieve after a hard, sweaty workout at the Y.

The Nioxin Actives Scalp Therapy conditioner worked like magic to prep my beard for a much closer and more comfortable shave than I'm usually able to get. But the question is, do I want to have to slather hair conditioner all over my face in the shower in order to get a superlative shave?

No, I don't. I'm a minimalist. I want to catch a perfect shave with the barest minimum of tools and poultices. Give me a razor, a brush, and some cream, that's all I want to need to do this thing right. Anything beyond that and I'm in shavegeek territory. I think that's the main reason I take a dim view of the Roberts Method of Wet Shaving -- nothing against Charles or his zombie army, but my idea of hell is having to go through all the motions and jump through all the hoops and have all the crap on hand that an official RMWS shave requires. The cube, the cutting balm, the paste, and getting the exact ratios exactly right -- it's just not how I want to shave in the morning. I want to drink my joe, read the news, take a shower, and then swipe a steel razor across my face. Is that so wrong?

For the past week or so I've had two options. Either get a really good shave at home, or go sweat my ass off at the gym and get an extraordinary shave afterward because of all the good things sweat does to soften whiskers and prep the face for shaving. Now I have a third option -- massage some hair conditioner on my beard, shower as usual, and then get a Bob Beamon shave, without the workout.

Someday I want to be able to get the Beamon shave without sweat or Nioxin. Until then, I'll be using this stuff whenever I shave at home.