Compass & Quill

Just finished watching the sixth documentary of the month, a feature-length piece on men and appearances, aptly named Mansome. The Man wandered in half way through, sat down to watch, and declared that the 1 hour and 22 minute film was about 1 hour and 20 minutes too long. I didn’t totally agree, but could see where he’s coming from – it was mostly a fluff piece, and I expected a much more in-depth look at the booming men’s grooming business. Instead, this film is a light-hearted look at topics like moustaches, beards (with heavy focus on beard-growing competitions), body hair removal, baldness, and overall fashion/skincare/grooming. Although I loved all of the little interviews with notable celebrities like John Waters, Judd Apatow, Paul Rudd, and Zach Galifianakis, it still felt somewhat empty and pointless. I would have preferred a history on men’s grooming products, or some good evidence of why men should take care of their skin more, or even a larger segment on men’s hair loss treatments, since the only part of the movie that really had me enthralled was the part that featured Mr. Carmine International Hair Salon in Yonkers, NY.

The salon uses a technique called Folligraft to fuse replacement hair to the head using an invisible membrane. The movie shows the membrane being planned out, then attached, and it’s nothing like old toupees used to be. It looks and acts like the person’s own hair, down to the fact that you can run your hand through it and see the person’s scalp at the part. It’s mind-blowing, and as far as I’m concerned, the only reason to watch the movie. There was one more product that’s discussed in the movie that made me laugh, and taught me a new term – bat wings. If you’re interested in avoiding them, you should check out Fresh Balls. Yup, I’m not joking, it’s a product.