My Bluest Princes, hi and happy summer, some 6 weeks into the season. It’s been a minute since I brought you up to speed on the Blue Print goings-on, so here is a big digest of that.

Would love for the PRs and brands to pay particular attention to the note below, and to the end of the newsletter, regarding a big fall event for the men’s grooming industry. More to come on that.

Call for Entries: The 2026 Robb Report Grooming Awards

PRs and brands: If you’ve launched a product between May 2025 and now (through Sept 2026), then consider nominating it for a Robb Report Grooming Award. If you haven’t received the nomination link yet, just reply to me here and I can send it your way. Of course RR favors the luxe life, but we do consider any and all entries!

Content Roundup: Buckle In!

Here’s what we’ve been working on since our last newsletter.

Two SPIFFY Eps: The Lost Art of Losing Your Hair + Don’t Sweat Aluminum

We published two episodes of SPIFFY, our men’s grooming podcast. One focuses on the men embracing their bald dome, spun off from an excellent column by my Esquire editor Chris Hatler. I speak with Chris as well as a man named Jack, who is the moderator of the r/bald subreddit.

And just last week we published our most recent episode, with Perry Romanowski, VP of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, creator of Chemists’ Corner, and co-host of The Beauty Brains podcast.

Perry and I chatted on all things “scary ingredient”, fixating first on aluminum, then on everything from sulfates to coal tar. He explained about how brands are allowed to market themselves against “scary ingredient X” in the US as opposed to Europe, and how it’s hard to put the genie back in the lamp once an ingredient is wrongfully maligned. I adore Perry’s perspective (and that of his Beauty Brains co-host Valerie George), and he made for a terrific (very media-trained) guest on our show.

Hair Transplant Progress Series: Matt at 1 Year

Over on YouTube, we passed the 1-year mark with my friend’s hair transplant progress. He was visiting me that week, so we also got to shoot his 12-month results in person. Our playlist finally has a trailer and a nice 1-year healing timeline too, and we’ll unroll a few more clips for this series through the 18-month mark, since Matt is likely to see continued progress til then. Here is the 1-year benchmark clip though:

More YouTube: Top Picks for Antiperspirants and Hair-Thickening Shampoos

We’ve got a couple of expert-pick roundups on YouTube too—with me being the expert, of course. See below for the Best Antiperspirants as well as the just-published video on Best Hair Thickening Shampoos. (Linking the articles; each video is embedded within.)

Claus Porto Musgo Real Brand Story
+ A Visitor’s Guide to the Brand

A few months back, we visited Porto with your favorite soapmaker and mine, Claus Porto, to learn more about their brand legacy, especially as it pertains to the soapmaking process and the men’s marketed line Musgo Real. You can learn more through these videos and see how to engage with Claus Porto on future visits to my beloved homebase. I also went in for a full shave at their Lisbon flagship in Bairro Alto (the second video here).

1 Year of Hair Growth Progress with Dr. Gary Linkov

And, similar to the hair transplant timeline above, my college pal crossed the 1-year threshold on his own hair densifying journey. We partnered with Dr. Gary Linkov to measure his results throughout the year. He started with a lot of hair in the first place, but had noticed his own shedding for the past year or two.

I wanted data at the microscopic level to prove that he could regain some density even if the naked eye perceived his hair as thick. His crown improved by over 20%!

Proof that it’s never too early to intervene, even if you’re nearing 40 and have a locked-in hairline.

Introducing The Men’s Grooming Summit at Ace Hotel Brooklyn, Oct. 7 + 8

This is a very soft “FYI” as I am doing a lot in the background, BUT, if you are an industry peer in any way, I would be happy to enlighten you on a big men’s grooming event that we are hosting at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn on Oct 7+8. (The 7th is a closed-door founder’s workshop into an industry happy hour, while the 8th is the big media-facing day with panels, activations, and beyond.)

Withholding much more—and am fairly booked out for panelists—but I have sponsorship spots available, as well as product seeding, activations, and some slots on Day 1 for small/medium brand founders. I’ll be more loud with the public-facing materials in the month to come.

Until Next Time…with a Few Client Bylines

Closing this one out with a peep at my favorite fragrances of 2026 so far over at RR.

Soon I’ll have a couple articles up there covering some recent summer wellness travel through St. Moritz and Lake Como, as well as a review of Dior’s new Sauvage Extrait, which took me to Paris to meet Francis Kurkdjian IRL (a dream come true).

I also got to visit Braun HQ outside of Frankfurt for a peek at their production of the new Braun NEVO shaver, which I reviewed for GQ.

Here is a sneak at the biggest benefits from this new $600 device:

And with that, Blue Princes, adieu.