Baxter of California

Given the recent boom in men’s grooming and all the hype of new products, ingredients and celebrity endorsements, Baxter Finley must be having a great laugh.

Finley is the unsung father of the modern men’s skincare industry. Moving from New York City to Los Angeles to work in the fast paced world of advertising in the mid 1960’s Finley realized the constant heat and sun was doing a rough number on his skin. After searching high and low for a moisturizer that wasn’t pink or floral, he finally gave up and created his own, which he called Super Shape. The first line of grooming products created just for men, which he named Baxter of California, was launched from his Beverly Hills headquarters in 1965.

With the massive success of Super Shape, Baxter began churning out more men’s products including Skin Toner for Men, Enriched Night Cream for Men, Under Eye Concentrate for Men, a vitamin enriched soap and a soothing shaving cream. By the 1970’s every Hollywood hotshot was slapping their mugs with Baxter’s bounty. Not only had he launched the first men’s grooming line in the US, but he identified it with the pre-eminent men of that era. Baxter of California developed a solid reputation for producing premier products specially formulated to meet men’s skincare needs, products that have been sought after by everyone from the guys next door to leading men from Hollywood. This was the line for the ultimate playboy.