Calling all individuals with facial hair, we have the podcast episode for you! Grooming and Traditional Wet Shaving expert Douglas Smythe talks with us about what you’re doing wrong with your beard and what you can do to make it right.
Douglas Smythe was first introduced to traditional shaving as a child watching his dad shave on the weekends, fast forward to today and find him and his business, Phoenix Shaving, trailblazing on the forefront of the Traditional Wet Shaving revival we are currently seeing crop up around the world. His passion for grooming and traditional shaving became the focal point of his business and Phoenix Shaving was born. Almost immediately, folks began to take notice of Phoenix Shaving’s daring scents and creative approach to all things shaving and within 2 years both him and his business partner were featured in Forbes Magazine.
Douglas is also co-host of the popular morning show I’d Lather Be Shaving and organizer of The Big Shave S’west, a yearly “Shave Festival” held each year outside of Los Angeles in sunny Mesa, Arizona. He is a lively online personality and a dynamic public speaker on all things grooming with a concentration in the art and technique of traditional shaving.
Aside from creating some most epic shaving gear Douglas has also developed a Phoenix Shaving Universe over the last decade consisting of an ongoing saga found on most sales pages! Recurring characters and themes can be found in labels and adverts. Often they contain clues in the form of codes, symbols and anagrams! Due to the cult following of the long running story Douglas finally published the most recent three in 2021 available in paperback & ebook! Fans of SciFi & the paranormal are really enjoying them and sales have been kinda off the hook…for a soapmaker. As their motto states, “Phoenix Shaving, More Than Just Shaving!” Douglas also runs the YouTube show and has a documentary!
Douglas joins Volume Up to discuss the history of grooming and his brand from conception to “I’d Lather be Shaving”. Tune in to hear what Douglas has to say about why you hate shaving.
“The brand name was how to build a mustache, but for shaving products it really made no sense, although you do need to shave to build a mustache.”
“We bring back a lot of lost fragrances. Like classic vintage aftershave scents that your grandfather and your grandfather’s grandfather probably used and are no longer available.”
“People tend to overthink these things, they get lost in the weeds, on a very simple thing that mankind has been doing for a long time which is growing facial hair.”
Listen to the full episode here or wherever you stream and head over to our Instagrams @Readthetease and @volumeupbythetease.
