Gents--
This message is particularly aimed at the shaving vendors who haunt the board but I also wanted to open it up to the membership in general.
I'm a freelance author in my spare time (a "beer money" kind of thing). I specialize in technical topics for niche magazines (computers, wireless systems, broadcasting, simulation-gaming), but I'm toying with the idea of writing an article for one of the mainstream men's magazines (FHM? Maxim? Esquire? Playboy?) about the resurgence of traditional men's shaving (brush, cream, razor) in the US. From the short time I've been involved with the topic (just a little over six months) it looks subjectively like traditional shaving is starting to make a come-back, based on the number of new members on boards such as this, the success of AOS, "boutique" barbers like Carrs and Truefitt & Hill (North America), etc.
But I'm looking for more objective numbers to verify my idea. Are the wetshaving vendors seeing a measurable increase in interest and sales? Are there other metrics I can be looking at? Any comments or suggestions would be welcome. If you wish to communicate with me privately, feel free to email me at the address listed on my member profile. Please use the word SHAVING on the subject line to help it stand out from the spam. Thanks.
--Mark