Suburban Chicago shave shops

I'm going to be spending 3 weeks in the Chicago area this summer for grad school. Next week is my first week up there and I'll be living in Elgin with a friend and driving to Joliet every day for school. Does anyone know of any shave shops in that general area, i.e., western or northwestern suburbs? I'll also be spending some time visiting friends in Crystal Lake. Are there any barbershops that do straight razor shaves? I asked my friend and he has no clue (still haven't converted him to wetshaving yet, but I'm hoping to on this trip!)

In the "Shaving Resources in your Town" thread in the Newbie area there was a lot of talk about Merz in Chicago. I'll probably head there on my next trip in July. I have a feeling I'm going to be tempted to drop a lot of coin when I go there.

Thanks everyone!

I live in Carol Stream, which is not far from Elgin. I just got into DE shaving a week ago today. The week prior to that I searched all over and could not find any stores that sold a brush or a razor. The selection was very poor on creams and blades. I ended up ordering from West Coast Shaving. There are some Bath & Body Works stores around to get cream.

As far as a barber shop goes, you can go to The Art of Manliness web site. There they have a list of barber shops that do straight razor shaves.

If you find a store post it.

Aside from the aforementioned Mertz Apothecary (the Lincoln Ave shop is way better than the one in Macy's downtown), go to the Oakbrook Center in Oakbrook, IL.

100 Oakbrook Center
Oak Brook, IL 60523


They have;

L'Occitane with very nice stuff.

Nieman Marcus - with a large Art of Shaving section (they don't take credit cards, bring cash - go figure???)

Macy's - Also an Art of Shaving section.

Bath and Body Works - Maca Root is great, and I hear their Synthetic brush is quite good.

The Body Shop - C.O. Bigelow Shave Cream (Proraso re-branded) and splashes.

Crabtree & Evelyn - Nomad and Sandalwood soaps are great.

Sephora - Mens fragrances.

Stop by the Teavana and try some samples of the outstanding teas they have there (may be a bit fruity for the hard core Puerh crowd).

sjsowa said:

As far as a barber shop goes, you can go to The Art of Manliness web site. There they have a list of barber shops that do straight razor shaves.

If you find a store post it.

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I went there before I posted this. The only ones they had listed were in the city proper. I'll check them out when I make my Merz trip next time, because it looks like there's one not TOO far from Merz in Lincoln Square.

luvmysuper said:

Aside from the aforementioned Mertz Apothecary (the Lincoln Ave shop is way better than the one in Macy's downtown), go to the Oakbrook Center in Oakbrook, IL.

100 Oakbrook Center
Oak Brook, IL 60523


They have;

L'Occitane with very nice stuff.

Nieman Marcus - with a large Art of Shaving section (they don't take credit cards, bring cash - go figure???)

Macy's - Also an Art of Shaving section.

Bath and Body Works - Maca Root is great, and I hear their Synthetic brush is quite good.

The Body Shop - C.O. Bigelow Shave Cream (Proraso re-branded) and splashes.

Crabtree & Evelyn - Nomad and Sandalwood soaps are great.

Sephora - Mens fragrances.

Stop by the Teavana and try some samples of the outstanding teas they have there (may be a bit fruity for the hard core Puerh crowd).

Click to expand...

Awesome, Thanks!!!!

I live about 15 -20 minutes east of Crystal Lake.

There is a L'Occitane, Sephora, and Bath and Body Works at DeerPark Town Center at 20503 N Rand Rd Deerpark, IL

If you go a little further east in Mundelien, there is an Indian Grocery store which carries Godrej and Shulton Old Spice.

Go even further east to Vernon Hills, there is a Body Shoppe in the Hawthorne Mall and then not to far from there is Cigars & More which carries Art of Shaving stuff.

If you have a day to kill you can check out the antique malls at Volo car museum. There 5 buildings chock full of stuff so you are bound to find a razor or 5.

jonwings said:

I live about 15 -20 minutes east of Crystal Lake.

There is a L'Occitane, Sephora, and Bath and Body Works at DeerPark Town Center at 20503 N Rand Rd Deerpark, IL

If you go a little further east in Mundelien, there is an Indian Grocery store which carries Godrej and Shulton Old Spice.

Go even further east to Vernon Hills, there is a Body Shoppe in the Hawthorne Mall and then not to far from there is Cigars & More which carries Art of Shaving stuff.

If you have a day to kill you can check out the antique malls at Volo car museum. There 5 buildings chock full of stuff so you are bound to find a razor or 5.

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Would you have a name or address on the Indian Grocery in Mundelein?

Is that the one across the street from Townline square?

Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg has an AOS store, B&BW, Body Shop, L"Occitane, Macy's Nordstroms and a CO Bigelow store.

Woodfield also has crabtree and evelyn, which has some nice soaps and creams.

The ARt of Shaving in the mall is nice and their master barber Oscar is amazing with a straight razor.

luvmysuper said:

Would you have a name or address on the Indian Grocery in Mundelein?

Is that the one across the street from Townline square?

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If Townline Square is where the Burlington Coat Factory is, then the Indian Grocery store is just down Townline Rd in the same strip mall as Menards and Hobby Lobby, which it is right next too. I believe it is called United Grocery. After some looking I think this is the address, 8 Oak Creek Plaza, Mundelein, IL 60060-4493

jonwings said:

If Townline Square is where the Burlington Coat Factory is, then the Indian Grocery store is just down Townline Rd in the same strip mall as Menards and Hobby Lobby, which it is right next too. I believe it is called United Grocery. After some looking I think this is the address, 8 Oak Creek Plaza, Mundelein, IL 60060-4493

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Thanks for that.
There's also a small Indian Grocery in the strip mall on the Northeast corner of Route 21 and Washington St in Gurnee.
They have Godrej there.

jbp84 said:

I'll also be spending some time visiting friends in Crystal Lake. Are there any barbershops that do straight razor shaves? I asked my friend and he has no clue (still haven't converted him to wetshaving yet, but I'm hoping to on this trip!)

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Joe's Barber in downtown Crystal Lake does straight razor shaves. It's been around for as long as I can remember. No appointments necessary. There is another non-salon barbershop that might do shaves downtown but I can't remember the name. Hope you enjoy your time up here!

over said:

Joe's Barber in downtown Crystal Lake does straight razor shaves. It's been around for as long as I can remember. No appointments necessary. There is another non-salon barbershop that might do shaves downtown but I can't remember the name. Hope you enjoy your time up here!

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Have you had a shave there? That is close enough, I might have to make a trip over to check them out.

I have been doing this for about three weeks and have a hard time finding places to purchase shaving products aside from Sephora, B&BW, Body Shop, etc. Does anyone know where you can find aftershaves that are decently priced? I am thinkning about a Bay Rum (Dominica?) or a nice sandlewood, but as I am finding this is an addiction, I don't want to break the bank.

Thanks!

Check out the "shopping and deals" forum for the Chicago threads... TONS of places in Chicago (second maybe only to NY).

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/search.php?searchid=9450816

Truefitt & Hill
Merz
Crabtree & Evelyn
C.O. Bigelow
And on and on...

Thanks. I notice a lot of these involve heading downtown to Chicago. I really don't wish to do that, but would rather locate stores in local areas (e.g. Naperville, Downers Grove, Joliet, etc.) where I can purchase product without making a field trip out of it.

cma73 said:

Thanks. I notice a lot of these involve heading downtown to Chicago. I really don't wish to do that, but would rather locate stores in local areas (e.g. Naperville, Downers Grove, Joliet, etc.) where I can purchase product without making a field trip out of it.

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When you're alone
And life is making you lonely,
You can always go downtown
When you've got worries,
All the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know, downtown

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?

The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go
Downtown, things'll be great when you're
Downtown, no finer place for sure,
Downtown, everything's waiting for you

cma73 said:

Thanks. I notice a lot of these involve heading downtown to Chicago. I really don't wish to do that, but would rather locate stores in local areas (e.g. Naperville, Downers Grove, Joliet, etc.) where I can purchase product without making a field trip out of it.

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Suburbia is over-rated...

Perhaps over-rated or maybe under-rated, who knows. But still looking for places to buy shave gear out in the unsophisticated sticks where us hayseeds all live.

I think you would limited to the Bath & Body Works, Body Shop, Bed Bath & Beyond, CVS, Target unless there are high-end department stores nearby (Saks 5th, Niemann's, etc.)

I doubt you will find brands like Trumpers, Floris, Penhaligon's, Truefitt and Hill. IIRC, Merz actually carries a few Simpsons brushes.