Beard Trimmer Bonanza, Men's Health Grooming Awards, and Why Brazilian Niche Perfumers Face an Uphill Battle

Olá y’all. I’m hungover in São Paulo and wishing I had some creature comforts with me, namely an LED mask, my own bed and pillows, my Aarke carbonator, and maybe like a nice ocean breeze. Just eight days til we’re home… with 86 days behind us. And we’ve got that ocean breeze incoming on Wednesday, when we finish out this entire trip up in Salvador and the beaches of Bahia—among my favorite places on God’s green earth.

Speaking of creature comforts, I wrote about some of my latest ones for Robb Report; that is, the best luxury Korean grooming brands—or as it’s written there, the best K-Handsome brands, heh. We depleted our K-handsome stock halfway through this odyssey of a trip, and I’ll be promptly restocking some of those favorites in April.

Alllright, let’s dive in, before I crash out.

VIDEO: The Best Beard Trimmer, Period

Whew, after this whirlwind month, we finally got another core video up on YouTube—which we filmed in August, mind you, lol.

If you don’t have 19 and a half minutes to watch the whole thing, I can spoil it for you here: it should be no surprise that I listed the Philips Norelco Multigroom 9000 as my favorite beard trimmer. It’s already in the Blue Print Hall of Fame as one of the best grooming products of all time.

The video is primarily a spotlight on the 9000 model, and then compares it to the lower-tier Multigroom options from Philips Norelco so that viewers can choose from them. Or they can opt for the 9000’s best competition: Braun’s fantastic All-in-One trimmer.

Here’s another big reason I am eager to get home and start producing content at a faster clip: All of these global device manufacturers (Philips/Panasonic/Braun etc) release updated versions of these tools every year. So in the video (again, filmed in late summer), I mention how the 9000 model is barely more expensive than the 7000 ($80 vs $60)… but in the past couple months there has been a slight upgrade to the 9000 (modified hair clipper heads). So now, the 9000 is nearly double the 7000’s cost ($120 vs $60). Which, to be honest, has me leaning a little more in favor of Braun’s device, cost-wise ($100).

BUT, I still think the Multigroom from PN has the best range of customization, and I love how sturdy it is, from the steel core to the endless battery (17 hours on first charge for me) to the reinforced clipper guards. Anyway, should you be in the market: Here is the (older) 9000 model I discuss in the video, and here is the latest 9000 release.

Just Announced: Men’s Health 2025 Grooming Awards

We just got the first big batch of grooming awards for 2025, from Men’s Health. You can see the winners here, across hair, body, face, shave, teeth, and fragrance.

(By the way, are other editors out there intentionally writing “hair body face” in that order, or is it just an accident? Because I’ve been sneaking “hair body face” into articles ever since A Star is Born came out and I hope others are, too. Do a “Ctrl + F” and see examples in Highsnobiety, GQ, GQ again, Robb Report…) I digress.

Fellow grooming guru Garrett Munce was behind this year’s awards (and the past few years + Esquire’s too); I asked him to spotlight a few of his most favorite SKU’s from the MH winners’ circle—and here is what Garrett shouted out. Quotes are his own, too.

• Shark Beauty CryoGlow LED Mask: “This is the mask I reach for over and over these days. I love that even though it's a hard mask, it's big enough to cover basically my entire face. It has multiple modes, including anti-aging red and infrared light and anti-microbial acne-fighting blue light. The pre-loaded programs target specific issues and are mostly less than 10 minutes. And I especially love the integrated ‘cryo’ cooling under eye pads, which help to depuff and tighten the skin under your eyes while you're using the LED. It's powerful enough that you don't need to use it every day, but I find myself jonesing for it constantly.”

• Wahl Self Cut Pro: “When I first opened up the box of this clipper, I was confused and skeptical. It took only one use to understand why it's so great. Because the clipper blade is repositioned to be perpendicular to the body, it mimics how most home-cutters hold their clippers, making the experience more ergonomic and comfortable. I've also found that it makes my home cuts faster and easier and the bounty of length combs allows for endless customization. I haven't mastered a fade yet, but then again, some things are better left to the pros.”

• Horace Anti-Fatigue Under Eye Patches: “Horace founder Marc Terlet slipped me a couple boxes of these navy blue beauties on a recent trip to Paris and they quickly became my go-to, not just while traveling but when I'm at home, too (Marc, if you're reading this, can I place a bulk order?). I keep them in the fridge and while my coffee brews I stick them under my eyes. By the time my mug is drained, the skin around my peepers looks perkier, fresher and tighter.”

• Quip Ultra Next Generation Smart Sonic Electric Toothbrush: “I’ve taken Quip’s long, slender silicone-encased toothbrush all over the world for the last few months. It has the shape of a magic wand and slides into the spaces between my packing cubes (and my teeth) with ease. It's easy to adjust the power via a light up slide tool on the body and the refill heads click onto the head in a literal snap. But best of all, the battery life is insane. I charged it once right out of the box and have been traveling with it nearly nonstop for 3 months without a single recharge.”

Thanks for these Garrett!!

A Brazilian Fragrance Lesson, with Daniel Barros

This week I got to meet up with Daniel Barros in São Paulo. He is a fragrance critic and writer, author of 1001 Perfumes: The Guide as well as Editor-in-Chief for ScentXplore’s content + newsletter.

It was mostly a chance to meet an industry peer, but I also wanted to dive into a question I’ve had for a while: Why does Brazil, with the 9th biggest economy in the world, have such little olfactive representation on a global scale? Sure, Rio-centric Granado is making big international moves, and Natura is expanding into the US, too. (Natura’s own parent group is Natura &Co, who also owns Avon and The Body Shop, and formerly owned Aesop.) There’s Costa Brazil, but that’s more “US brand with a Brazilian founder”; if it were Brazilian born it’d be “Brasil” with an “S”…

It just feels like, for a country of this size, with this much cultural influence, and such an affinity for shopping (Brasileiros will be the first to agree), not to mention, a country with so much pride to showcase on a global scale… why aren’t there more niche brands coming out of here?

Barros told me something interesting: In Brazil, there is a 42% tax on perfumes, versus a 7% tax on “deodorant cologne” (think functional fragrance, like body sprays, etc). So, most of the fragrance produced at mass scale here will default to functional fragrance formulas to be sold at low cost and low tax threshold.

Thus, for Brazilian niche companies, that 42% is an insanely high threshold to clear. Add to it the steep expenses of packaging (especially the bottle caps) and it’s not a lucrative business. The packaging/vessel constraints in particular also make it hard for them to compete with niche brands coming out of other primary markets (namely US/EU). For those Brazilians who want luxury, they have plenty of desirable designer labels to choose from. So there just isn’t much space for local niche labels to blossom, given their cost for brands and consumers alike; they’re choked out from both ends.

Regarding that “deodorant cologne” classification: Aside from Granado, the two largest Brazilian grooming brands (Natura and O Boticário) mostly offer deodorant fragrances. See evidence below for Natura Brasil; I highlighted the phrase “deodorant cologne”; this 75ml fragrance is roughly $33 USD.

But the same scent on Natura’s US site is more than double the cost: $76.

What’s the difference between their formulas? The Brazilian one contains “polyglyceryl-3 caprylate”, a deodorizing agent. That allows them to price it lower locally, thus maintaining their affordability and omnipresence across Brazilian households. I haven’t asked if the perfume oil concentration is greater in the US one; hard to get a straight answer on these things when brands don’t have to report it to consumers in the first place. I doubt there’s any more perfume oil, though; rather, US/global consumers are likely eating the steeper tax.

I’m very tuned into Granado’s global push, given their beautiful brand identity—and curious to see Natura’s international scaling-up too. As for the niche Brazilian-born scents that Barros laid out for me: I think my favorites were Amyi’s 4-19 (floral-pistachio) and Essências da Floresta’ Colonia Nazaré (patchouli-citrus).

Over and out from me, Blue Princes. Chat ya next week from beachy Bahia.