How timely this thread is as I myself recently was dabbling in different hair products just to see if there was anything I like as much as my normal hair groom - Suave's Groom & Clean. So far G&C beats all comers.
There is a pomade out there called "Grant's Golden Pomade" and guess who's image they use to sell the product? Yep, you guess it, good old Cary Grant himself. From the Grant's pomade ingredients list it is essentially the same thing as it's much lower priced competitor Tres Flores pomade. In fact Tres Floris is a fraction of the cost, it just has a different scent. Tres Flores is a clone of the old Pinaud pomade (or vice versa) which has now been discontinued for several years. It used to be sold by Classic Shaving about 7 to 8 years back and I used to buy it by the case from them. I'm not talking about the green hair gel that hardens as that's still available although I do use that every now and then just to have the Clubman scent. The now defunct clubman pomade I am speaking of never truly hardened and was always malleable and it gave great shine for those of us that slick our hair. I was disappointed to see it discontinued but the switch to G&C has been seamless, excellent and I actually like it better than the old clubman pomade.
Well, back to my scouting around for something new. I came across the Art of Manliness's article regarding old school hair grooms. While reading through the comments lo and behold I came across this comment by a gentleman named "Jeff":
Jeff wrote:According to makeup master Wally Westmore, Cary Grant would cut his own hair and used a little dab of petroleum jelly to keep it controlled but not slick. Having grown up in abject poverty Grant remade himself when he got to Hollywood by spending money he made on the best tailoring he could find, but the thought of spending money on a hair cut was, to him, a waste of money. He cut his hair with a razor comb that he used for years, and if you see pictures of him as he aged through the years he never really changed his style. He was also a straight razor shaver who used bar soap for his lather.
I am not sure that this is entirely true because it seems to be somewhat at odds with what Richard Torregrossa wrote in his book "Cary Grant - A Celebration of Style" on page 52 about Grant's hair groom:
Richard Torregrossa wrote:Archie opted for Zeppo's slicked-back hairstyle, obtained by the application of brilliantine. But Archie improved it, at least for his purposes, by mixing it with Dixie Peach, the pomade used by black performers of the era, creating what we would call today, the perfect "product".
He also mentions on page 98 that Grant patronized his local barber for $6.00 haircuts.
Of course some authors take license with the facts in order to serve an audience and who knows if Torregrossa is telling the truth or repeating a Hollywood myth. Now brilliantine is essentially petroleum jelly with the addition of scent and mineral oil as I recently learned so it is possible that the "brilliantine" that Torregrossa refers to is in fact the same as what Jeff refers to or it just may be an inaccurate retelling.
The haircut business doesn't seem to agree either but that also may be just an inaccurate retelling because many men in those days used a razor comb just to trim here and there, my father included. It would extend the time between haircuts by a week. I still have my father's razor comb somewhere. So it may be that Grant used his in the same way and then went to the barber in the normal fashion and just reluctantly tolerated the cost. I just can't see him relying solely on a razor comb and personal skill though, especially given his high visibility profession.
There's no mention in Torregrossa's book of Grant's shaving habits that I can recall so I can't comment on the veracity of it. I find it implausible though as I understand that many Hollywood fellows used electrics because they may have had to shave several times a day on the set and when used in conjunction with talcum powder as a skin lubricant an electric shaver can be extremely mild even if they are inefficient. For the silver screen they did a fine job for presentation purposes. Perhaps Grant shaved with a straight when he was on holiday a few months? It would make for a fascinating fact, especially for a daily straight shaver like myself.
I'd love to know the source for Jeff's information as I think it might be very interesting to many gentlemen given Grant's icon status for style. Truth is stranger than fiction but either way it would make for a fascinating read.
Chris