Men's natural grooming: bar soap, beard care and safety razors

Natural men's grooming comes down to a few good things: a bar soap made from real oils, something to keep a beard soft, and a razor you buy once. Here's how we'd build a simple routine from the shelf, with Dr Squatch, Every Man Jack, Rockwell Razors and the soap makers we're proud to carry from right here in Nova Scotia. If your bathroom shelf is full of plastic bottles and long ingredient lists, this is the simpler version.

What is natural men's grooming?

It's the same routine you already have, made with fewer, simpler, natural ingredients. Think cold-process bar soap built on olive, coconut and shea instead of a detergent bar, beard oils made from plant oils, deodorant without aluminum if you'd like to skip it, and a metal safety razor in place of plastic cartridges. Scent comes from essential oils or natural fragrance, or from nothing at all if you have sensitive skin.

Look for products with short ingredient lists you can read. You don't have to switch everything at once. Most people start with soap, because it's the easiest swap and the one you notice every morning in the shower.

Dr Squatch bar soap: what's in it?

Dr Squatch makes cold-process bar soap with big, outdoorsy scents, and it's one of the most asked-about brands in our personal care aisle. Most of the bars share the same base: saponified olive, sustainable palm and coconut oils with shea butter and kaolin clay. What changes from bar to bar is the scent and the scrub. Each bar is 141 g, and the scents come from natural fragrance and essential oils.

If you prefer a bottle and love a woodsy scent, the Pine Tar scent comes as a body wash too: the rugged smell of fresh-cut pine in a coconut-based soap with glycerin and charcoal powder.

Every Man Jack: soap, body wash and deodorant

Every Man Jack formulas cover the whole shower shelf, and we stock its body washes, bar soap and deodorants. The body washes use coconut-derived cleansers with glycerin, scented with essential oils like rosemary and clary sage in the Cedarwood. The Cold Plunge bar is cold-process soap with oat kernel meal, willow bark and sage for a light grit, and the deodorants include aluminum-free sticks if you'd rather not use an antiperspirant.

Weighing up deodorant against antiperspirant? Our natural deodorant guide explains the difference.

Bar soap made in small batches here in Nova Scotia

Some of the best bars on our shelves come from just down the road, made by hand in small batches. Tally's Goat Milk Soap comes from Ataraxy Farm in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, and its shaving bars add bentonite clay to a goat's milk soap, so the razor glides. Flock & Tallow Co. is a small Nova Scotia company started by a military veteran who renders the tallow himself from local beef, and its unscented block is about as simple as soap gets. Wild Witch Potager makes its bars in Fall River with local honey, and Anointment, which started as a soap stall at the Halifax Farmers' Market, makes a castile-style seaweed bar with Nova Scotia kelp.

The best men's soap is a well-made bar that smells the way you like and leaves your skin comfortable, not tight.

Beard oils: what do they actually do?

A beard grows out of skin that still needs looking after. Beard oil conditions the hair so it feels softer and sits better, and it moisturises the skin underneath, which helps with the dryness and flaking many men notice in a Nova Scotia winter. A balm adds shea butter and beeswax for a little hold, so it shapes as well as softens.

Educated Beards was started in Fredericton by Kevin Leboeuf, a military veteran, and Alicia Phillips, a holistic nutritionist, after store-bought beard products bothered his skin. Its premium beard oils and balms are COSMOS certified organic and hand-crafted in small batches. For a refill option, Rose Citron beard oil is a hemp and jojoba blend handmade in Canada, sold by weight at our bulk station in a Mason jar you keep and reuse.

1. Start after a shower. Your beard and skin are clean and a little damp, so the oil spreads easily.
2. Use the right amount. About 1 to 3 drops for a short beard, 4 to 6 for medium and 6 to 10 for long. Warm them between your palms.
3. Work it to the skin. Push your fingers up through the beard to reach the skin, then comb or brush it down into place.
4. Add balm if you want hold. A small amount of balm on top tames flyaways and shapes the beard for the day.

Is shaving with a safety razor better?

For a lot of men, yes. A double-edge safety razor uses one sharp blade instead of a stack of them, there are no plastic cartridges to throw away, and replacement blades cost far less than cartridges. Many people find a single blade with a light touch gives them less irritation, especially on the neck. It takes a few shaves to learn, which is why the razor you start with matters.

Rockwell Razors was launched from Toronto in 2014 by Gareth Everard and Morgan Nordstrom with one aim: a quality razor you buy once. Every model takes standard double-edge blades.

Your first safety razor shave

1. Prep with warm water. Wash your face so the hair is soft, then build a lather from a shaving bar or shaving soap with a shaving brush or your hands.
2. Hold it at a shallow angle. Keep the handle low, close to your face, and use a light touch. Let the weight of the razor do the work.
3. Go with the grain first. Shave in the direction the hair grows, with short strokes, rinsing often. Re-lather for a second pass if you want it closer.
4. Finish gently. Rinse your face with cool water. Instead of a stinging aftershave, a light moisturiser or a drop of beard oil works well. Let the razor dry before you put it away, and change the blade when it starts to tug.

Prefer a gel? Dr. Bronner's, a family soap business since 1858, makes its Organic Shaving Soap without synthetic ingredients, and Giovanni Men's Shave Cream is a classic cushioned cream suited to sensitive skin.

Questions we get a lot

Is Dr Squatch sold in Canada?

Yes. We carry Dr Squatch bar soaps and body washes at both of our stores, in Bedford and Dartmouth, and online. Orders ship anywhere in Canada, and eligible orders over $80 ship free.

What is the best natural soap for men?

The one your skin likes and that smells good to you. A cold-process bar made from plant oils, butters, goat milk or tallow is a good place to start. If you love a big scent, try Dr Squatch or Every Man Jack products. If you'd rather keep it local and simple, try a Tally's or Flock & Tallow bar.

Are there any 100% natural soaps?

Some bars come very close. The Flock & Tallow Co. unscented block is made from local beef tallow, castor oil, coconut oil, lye and water, and the lye is used up when the oils turn into soap. Read the first few ingredients on any bar to see what it's mostly made of.

How often should men use beard oil?

Most beards do well with a light daily touch, after a shower. Use a little more for a long beard or in dry winter weather, and less for stubble.

What is the 3-month beard rule?

It's a simple idea: give a new beard about three months to grow in before you decide whether it suits you or start shaping it hard. The early weeks are often the itchiest, and a daily drop of beard oil makes them easier.

Can I use a safety razor on my body?

Yes. Trim longer hair first, use plenty of lather and the gentlest setting, and go slowly with short strokes. A safety razor takes more care on curved areas than a cartridge, so take your time.

What does a good men's grooming routine look like?

Keep it short, with a few good products: a bar soap or body wash, a deodorant you like, beard oil or a shave with a sharp blade, and a moisturiser if your skin feels tight. The basics are all in one place in our men's essentials collection.

Men's grooming is in the personal care aisle at both stores: 486 Starboard Drive in Bedford and 590 Portland Street in Dartmouth, open seven days. Razors and shave soaps are in our shaving and grooming section. In HRM, order by 11 am with Luminate Express for same-day delivery, or choose pickup. Anywhere else in Canada, orders over $80 ship free.

Sources: Ataraxy Farm, home of Tally's Goat Milk Products; Flock & Tallow Co.; Wild Witch Potager; Anointment, Our Story; Dr. Bronner's, About; product labels.