MenEssentials

MenEssentials is a rarity: a grooming boutique for boys. A true man cave with its exposed brick walls, wood cabinets, fireplace and flat-screen TV, the below-ground shop near Chester subway station on the Danforth carries over 1,800 guys-only grooming products.

The glass shelves are lined with luxurious, traditional, environmentally friendly and vegan products (no mass brand drugstore finds here) and the highly trained staff can help with anything from dry skin and eczema to choosing the right safety razor.

Products range from all-black toothbrushes (including the bristles) and Botot, the world’s first toothpaste developed in 1755 for King Louis XV of France, to beard wax, DHT-blocking shampoo for thinning hair and Cellman, leading cellular skin care products developed specifically for men. You’ll even find Canadian beer soap, popular with lager lovers and their ladies since hops are high in skin-softening amino acids.

And, of course, having become known as the mecca for traditional shaving, the shop houses everything you need to shave like a gentleman.