The Grooming Lounge Blog

For the past six years Grooming Lounge has produced a catalog, a collection of grooming products and tips that really showcase what our brand is all about. We’re pretty sure ours was the first men’s-only grooming catalog of its type — and feel confident it has improved both in content and helpfulness each year. But… self-congratulations aside, there are a few areas we’re struggling with as we polish off our 2011 version (dropping in November). 

Is it great new products we’re still seeking?  Nope.  Helpful grooming advice we’re still on the lookout for?  Nope. Insightful product descriptions? No sir. Instead, it’s the sometimes clever, usually groan-provoking headlines that have become a Grooming Lounge staple (i.e., “Can You Handle The Tooth,” “Tonight We’re Gonna’ Shave Like It’s 1899″).  We need a whole new slew of these pseudo puns/play on words and are enlisting your help.  Just what do you get for your participation?

Well, if one of your headlines is used in the final catalog — and it’s not one we already have down (don’t worry, we’re honest), we’ll give you a $80 Gift Card good for online use.  If we don’t use your headline(s), who knows, it may inspire another one, which while it won’t get you a Gift Card, might be a source of great family pride for years to come (Mom will post on the fridge, Cousin Teddy will brag to friends, etc.). Just reply with comments to this blog below or e-mail ideas to media@groominglounge.com.  Here’s the list of subjects we need help with:

 - A selection of favorite Hair Care Solutions

 - Grooming Lounge Hair Care Solutions

 - Men’s Gift Guide

 - Molton Brown

 - Jack Black

 - Eyre Biobotanics

 - Amenity

 - A selection of favorite Skin Care Solutions

 - Acqua Di Parma

 - Menscience

Thanks for listening and we’ll contact winners and you’ll see selected headlines on the blog, and obviously, in the catalog.

“Swallow A Piece Of Gum & It Will Sit In Your Stomach For 7 Years”

“Humans Use Only 10% Of Their Brains.”

“The Salahi’s Are The IT Couple In Washington, DC.”

Fact or fiction?  Reality of myth.  To be honest, we don’t know the validity of any of these statements.  You see, we’re not Gastroenterologists, Neurologists or local socialites — we’re grooming geeks. And… it’s in this area we feel confident separating the gospel from the garbage. Here’s just a few more grooming-related myths we’d like to debunk:

“The More Foam… The Better The Shave” – Malarkey! Foam that sits an inch off your skin simply doesn’t do anything. Instead of wasting precious time or money lathering up,  buy yourself a shaving solution that gets right on top of and underneath the beard without extra elbow grease.

“Getting Body Hair Waxed Will Make It Grow Back Thicker“  – Total hair-esy (sorry about that). Since waxing, whether eye brows, back or other, takes hair out at the root, it has no connection with a bushy backlash.

“You Don’t Need Sunscreen When It’s Cloudy Or Cold” — Hogwash! Even when you can’t feel the sun’s warmth, its powerful rays are still doing a number on your skin. Real doctors recommend wearing a protective sunscreen everyday.

“Stick to the same brand for all your products” — Gibberish! Don’t be afraid to “cheat” on your favorite brand. Using an eclectic group of products can be beneficial. Whiles one manufacturer’s products may work great on your face, another may do wonders with your hair. Only caveat is to make certain  cross-brand products don’t negatively compete fragrance-wise.

“Only Athletes Can Get ‘Jock Itch’” — OK… no one actually thinks this is true, but just making sure you’re paying attention. Jock Itch doesn’t discriminate against those who can’t throw a spiral.

“You Should Always Shave Downwards To Avoid Irritation” — Nonsense! Shaving with the grain is one of the best ways to avoid razor rash — but for many men — the grain of hair growth doesn’t run downwards. Some guys have facial hair that runs sideways or diagonally – and for these fellas – it’s important to carefully follow that tricky growth pattern.

“Washing Your Face with Regular Soap Is Good Enough” — Garbage! Regular soap is extremely drying and can lead to flaking face dermis, rashes, etc. Not to mention, isn’t it kind of gross to use the same bar on your face that was just rubbed down there? Instead, try a targeted face cleanser.

The newly resurrected MENSWEAR MAGAZINE is now out and has a slew of great articles, none better than the one titled “Mistakes Men Make.”  Less of an article and more of a series of fashion suggestions from the notably well-groomed and fashionable, it features some great tips/don’t evers… that we whole-heartedly agree with:

“Don’t buy a suit — and think of it as a track suit. A suit is to be tailored, sharp and smart, not big enough to do cartwheels in.”  — DSquared Founders

“Don’t wear square-toed shoes. They are an outdated style that instantly make any man look bad.” — John Varvatos

“Men travelling with matching designer luggage.  That just ain’t right.” — Victor & Rolf

“Trucker Caps. Makes my skin crawl.” — Sarah Rutson, Lane Crawford

“Short socks with a suit. Crossing the legs and showing bare calf is just plain ugly.” — Jeremy Hackett

“Unibrows are a no-go. Eyebrows are referred to in the plural because men are supposed to have two of them. So, if you’ve got one continuous brow, time to do some division.” — Unnamed Grooming Lounge spokesperson

“Calling a business colleague ‘bro’ or “chief’.  Unless of course, they are your brother or a chief of something.” — Anonymous

After a lot of testing and opinions, Grooming Lounge has added quite a few new products as of late.  Each was given a thumbs ups by yours truly and our team here — and below are some of the most unique of those and why we think they’re simply fantastic and certified super-duper:

MOLTON BROWN COOL BUCHU ANTI-PERSPIRANT STICK: Not only fends of nasty, yellow pit stains and sweat, but also chills out underarms and refreshes more than usual pit sticks.

ALCHIMIE KANTIC MASK: Get over its pinkish hue guys, the benefit of this mask is major moisturization rather than oil prevention. Helps dry guys avoid that irritated scratchy feeling (on the face that is).

KYOKU FOR MEN ELECTRIC PRE-SHAVE OPTIMIZER: Everything this new brand has made seems to be turning to gold, with tons of press and even better reviews.  This wonder is no different and will help  electrics do the “electric slide.”

(MALIN+GOETZ) HAIR POMADE: For those with the chops to try and pull of a Don Draper style, this newbie from the M+G guys will do the trick. No excess weight or stickiness added.

PROFESSIONAL MANGROOMER: If you’re ready to get out of the minor leagues of hair removal, might be time to go pro — Professional Mangroomer that is. More powerful and grippable than the original.

There’s other new stuff as well, but you’ve probably had enough already.  Thanks for listening.

Back in 2001 when our online destination was in its infancy, Grooming Lounge’s primary business came from providing men with solutions to their “Embarrassing Issues.” As we saw it, there were a handful of grooming items that men wanted and needed, but would go without if acquisition required interacting with another human being. The list included nose hair trimmers, waxing kits, solutions for thinning hair and more. And in the end, since guys were Googling (or Yahoo-ing at the time) for these solutions, Grooming Lounge ended up getting a decent amount of web traffic and publicity.

Anyway, fast forward to 2010 and while our business has evolved to include stores, products and a vastly expanded online destination, those “issues” are still our clean-up hitters. Yes, even though awareness for better men’s grooming has blossomed and outlets expanded, “ridding themselves of issues” is still what drives a majority of male shoppers to patronize us. We see it everyday and are happy to have the privilege of using our lineup of trimmers, eye gels, balding serums, crotch powders, toilet drops and back shavers to make men more comfortable and the world a more handsome place. Of course, the less-issue-focused shampoos, moisturizers, colognes and such still get a lot of attention, but figuring squeaky wheels/hairy noses usually get the grease.

Just how popular and oft-searched are such Embarrassing Issues products?  Well, the chart to the left (might need to enlarge) , while not 100% accurate, says a lot.  It states that while men spend around 2 minutes on every other section of our site, they spend 9+ minutes researching solutions to embarrassing issues. So, bring us your hairy, droopy, smelly, sweaty or whatever, we’ve got the answers — as well as the less embarrassing stuff every gent needs.

Grooming Lounge has come a long way since we started way back in 2000, and as our business has expanded, so have my responsibilities as CEO. It’s certainly a learn-on-the-job situation for me, passionate to a fault about our business, our people our guests and service levels — but stretched like all growing entrepreneurs and consistently trying to find the right balance. So, yesterday, after a head-spinningly frenetic day on all fronts I sat back and tried to determine just what’s keeping me so damn busy.

After jotting it all down on a list, I thought… “Self… this is a lot, but having a full plate is certainly a good thing. Just think of the opposite option?”  That led to thinking that I should share this list so a) people interested in our company know what we’re working on b) it could be cathartic c) Grooming Lounge is as “transparent” as possible to our valued audiences d) readers are always full of insightful feedback. 

So, here’s what Grooming Lounge is working on these days in our triangle of businesses, which include Grooming Lounge stores, www.groominglounge.com and Grooming Lounge Manufacturing.

(STORES) BARBERSHOP & SPAS: If you’re not aware, we have physical storefronts in DC and Virginia, ideal spots (especially in our view) for gents to take care of all their grooming service and product needs. As both are relatively established in the community, our real focus as of late has been to a) ensure technical service levels continuously exceed expectations (via ongoing training in all aspects of hair cutting, skin care, nail care, etc.) b) establish new benchmarks for quality customer hospitality in store (via employing the best Guest Services staff and offering the tools for their ongoing learning and growth) c) spending some money to make sure our store aesthtic is up to par (if you visit, you’ll see we’re touching up, adding and sprucing a bit) and d) continuing to try and make every single Guest experience great — as word-of-mouth is 95% of our “marketing budget.” There’s obviously no “magic pill” for all this, so step-by-step, guest-by-guest and hour-by-hour is the only way to make certain we’re on target.

WWW.GROOMINGLOUNGE.COM: Certain I’ve mentioned that our site is “relaunching” soon with a better look, improved technology and an overall enhanced and simplified customer experience. Seems no matter when one asks, “we’re always a month away” from launching. Anyway, we’re getting all the pieces in place (imagery, articles, cart, new products) and 30+ days or so now seems somewhat realistic.

Also, connected to the web site is our award-winning catalog (most folks view and then purchase or get more details online). Every year we compile new creative, product sets and advice for this printed piece, and now is the time we start gathering it all that together. So, copy is being written, photos being taken, etc. to ensure this 32+ pager can drop in November 2010.

But the new site is only a piece of the equation as a lot of our current focus turns to adding new and quality brands with regularity (if it works well and meets Grooming Lounge standards, we want to offer it), constantly communicating with online customers to answers queries about thier orders, grooming, etc., and moving some of our distribution points (slowly so no hiccups) to better handle the growing business that we are working diligently to expand. All this… and trying to come up with plenty of clever headlines for the site of course.

GROOMING LOUNGE MANUFACTURING: For the past seven or so years we’ve made our own line of shaving and hair care solutions. The creation of these products started very organically, as we just wanted some good products to use on our guests in our stores. We got together with our in-store Grooming Experts and developed formulas that have been internal hits — and as of late, have become semi-well known outside just Grooming Lounge outlets.

So, a big focus now is to get Grooming Lounge products in the hands of guys across the country.  To do that, we’ve signed up to distribute our products through select upscale boutiques, salon and spas nationwide. Why would they carry Grooming Lounge you ask? Well, we like to say that “we’re a real brand, with a real story, backed by real Barbers.” That’s aside from the angle that we have worked, and are working very hard, to make products that really provide solid results.

In addition to this new distribution channel, we’re also developing a few new products, including Grooming Lounge Hair Gel and Hair Pomade. These formulas are being reviewed and packaging is being designed as we speak (we hope). If you’re in our stores anytime soon, you just might be asked to be a “tester.”  We hope you’re daring enough to accept our invitation.

Anyway, back to the grooming grind.  If you made it down this far, thanks for reading and for your support and feedback. Hope our evolution/juggling is somewhat interesting and has a happy ending.

Grooming Lounge was all set to publish a Top 10 List, complete with pictures and comments on the most well-groomed stars at this year’s World Cup. But, just when we were finishing, a guest of our DC Barbershop alerted us to a grooming gaffe in the Germany vs. England game that trumped all the solid primping dozens of players had done for the past few weeks. It’s a tragic offense, both part #1 and #2 (you’ll see), especially when considering it was done on live television.

So, without further adieu, here’s a video of Germany’s Manager both picking and eating a booger during his team’s 4-1 triumph. It’s in stark contract to his English counterpart, Fabio Capello, who despite his teams performance, was always groomed impeccably (and for all we know does not consume items removed from his schnoz). Also, please excuse any ads or headers on the You Tube video below, we can’t fiddle with those.

We hope we haven’t out worn our welcome with talking about how proud our company was to be profiled in a recent segment on CNN.  Here’s promising this will be the last proactive mentioning of it — but since the video was available — thought we’d post here for anyone who didn’t see it (including some of the great Grooming Lounge staffers featured).  Excuse the advertisement (for heartburn medication or such) which will undoubtedly run before the video starts rolling. Enjoy and thanks.

Since inception, Grooming Lounge’s “marketing plan” has been to provide service worthy of “word of mouth,” which would eventually lead to more and more satisfied guests. Add in a little bit of humor and some solid press coverage — and our goal of creating a sustainable and solid business is being achieved day by day.

OK…  our propaganda aside, saw some marketing this AM that was literally so offensive I had to post a blog about it. No, it wasn’t offensive in a gross-out type of manner (it’s usually impossible to offend us), but rather because it was just so bizarre, lazy and extra carefree.  See the below sign (taken with a camera phone) that was set outside a trendy spa in an upscale local shopping district.

What’s weird or bad about this you ask? Oh… let us count the ways:

- Today is June 14th

- Mother’s Day was over a month ago

- Father’s Day is THIS Sunday

- There was nothing on the other side of this sign, thus someone had to look at it before they pulled it five feet onto the sidewalk in front of the store.

- When I asked the receptionist about it, she stated “haven’t noticed , maybe it’s for next year.”

I didn’t push the issue, as it certainly wasn’t my business and I was just curious.  But, I did get my wife a gift card for 2011.

The two most satisfying things in business are making your employees and customers happy.  Doing such almost always leads to pride, growth, notoriety and the financial success small businesses covet. On that note, got a unsolicited letter from a store guest yesterday that has made me and the other Grooming Loungers who have seen it grin big time. Take a read.  Some small details and dates have been changed for privacy reasons.

“Soon after I moved to the DC area 3 years ago, I learned about Grooming Lounge.  Since then, I have had amazing haircuts, shaves and other services on a monthly basis at both your DC and Virginia locations.

Unfortunately, my company is moving me south at the beginning of next month, so I’ll have to bid a fond farewell to your lovely Guest Services team and all your great technical staff. I hope I can squeeze in one more visit before I leave, because I have had nothing but great experiences.

Thanks for all you do and I can only hope to find a place half as good as Grooming Lounge down there.”

Never want any loyal Grooming Lounge guests to move, but will certainly accept letters like this anytime.