WATERLOO - Smooth like a baby's bottom.

Perhaps not the first analogy a man would use to describe his freshly-shaven face, but an apt one, especially after a professional shave at a barber shop.

First, a steamed towel is laid on the face to open the pores and make the hair stand on end, then warm shaving cream is applied.

The result leaves most first-timers hungry for more, says Deb McFarland, an instructor at College of Hair Design.

"It's usually one of those things, when a guy gets it he usually comes back," she says.

Rex Bingman, 65, has been coming to the college to get a shave and haircut for 40 years, and swears by the manual razor. At home, he shaves by hand because an electric razor doesn't give him a close enough shave.

As Joe Squiers, owner of the college, puts it, "it always seemed like I needed to shave again at 3 o'clock."

But the electric shaver must be doing something right: Saturday will mark the 75th year since Schick first marketed the electric razor.

After all these years, the electric razor still claims plenty of devotees.

At the Brother's Barber Shop in downtown Waterloo, which caters to black men, the majority reach for an electric razor, reserving the straight-edge blade to sculpt the front of their hairline.

For them, the razor provides too close a shave. That's because black men are more prone to pseudofolliculitis barbae, or ingrown hair, because their hair follicles and facial hair are more likely to be curly. The government reports anywhere from 45 to 83 percent of black men have this condition.

"I can't take a razor to my face, I'll bump right up," said barber Dale Jones.

Squiers acknowledged that the ease and quickness of an electric shave meant that for years he saw few customers requesting a hand shave. But with the rise of full-service salons for men in large cities, he's seeing more men opting for a shave with all the bells and whistles. It's a natural extension of the spa-like services the salons offer, which include massages and facials.

"It becomes an (event) that is an all-day or half-a-day situation," he said.

But even shaving aficionados like Squiers make concessions for convenience's sake. He used to come in an hour before the college opened to get a shave every morning.

Today? He sheepishly admitted his shaves fail to involve professional razors or even a mirror.

"Now I just grab a Bic and shave in the shower," he said.

Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.