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Arctic Explorer - The Transformation

Arctic Explorer - The Transformation

Our intrepid adventurer and Polar explorer (as well as avid Truefitt & Hill devotee) Alex Hibbert returns this week as our guest journal contributor...

 

Earlier this year I wrote about the thoughts and feelings that accompany the return to London after time away in the wilderness. These surround the huge environmental shifts my brain encounters whether having been training on the snow for a couple of weeks or atop an ice sheet for months. It can be quite a shock, but one that I have found can bring appreciation of the different phases of my life. Also, from it I can glean some life perspective.


Today I’m tackling more of the practicalities; the nitty-gritty of that return to home and the transition that I rely so heavily on Truefitt and Hill for.

You’ll be aware of Truefitt and Hill’s heritage and core offerings as master barbers – styling and shaping hair and beard or offering a clean towel shave. These are the traditional, technical skills that underpin their longevity and reputation. However, they are far from the whole story.

 



When I land in London, jetlagged and exhausted after hauling twice my bodyweight for hundreds of miles over ice and snow, there is no hiding the toll it takes. My beard, usually unkempt and overly-long, is scraggly and unhealthy. My skin, even if I escape cold-damage, will be dry, chapped and even scabbed from wind-burn.

What I need is a transformation. Indeed, I’m often required to not only have business meetings the day after arriving home, but perhaps on stage delivering a keynote speech. I must look the part, and show that it is possible to live this double-life of polar traveller and city professional without showing the ravages of those Arctic lands. It’s this aspect of Truefitt and Hill that drew me to their door in the first place.

The team have been busy reflecting the increasing demand men have for modern skincare. These might be daily maintenance for hair, beard or facial skin (Tip: I also regularly find these products work well on recovering skin on hands and elsewhere). I’ve found that the Intensive Skin Renewal Booster and Beard Oil can really bring things back from the brink and that my favourite Sandalwood range is a welcome change from the staid and unremarkable scents of woollen clothing and the sterile ice world.

The realities are that some things take time. I’ve been in a world of temperatures above zero (in spite of the recent British weather) for over a week now and the legacies of waking up in a tent at -42 degrees C live on. My toes have limited sensation, as do my finger-tips. My neck is still stiff from the awkward sleeping positions I was forced to adopt. These will pass, and in the meantime I know that what can be rejuvenated, will be. At Truefitt.

 

 

 

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