With one product, you can instantly halt a shaving nick and spare yourself those tiny flecks of toilet paper smudged over top a bleeding cut. (You can do it to a freshly popped pimple, too.) The tool is called a styptic pen. (Or pencil, depending on the brand.)

It took me 17 years of shaving (and two as a grooming writer) to ever hear about styptic pens. I was embarrassed by this, until I spoke with my friends and learned that that most of them had also never heard of the miracle-working, blood-clotting device. How did something so useful ever go out of fashion?

We're not entirely sure. But like plenty of other grooming products, they're now getting reworked, re-packaged, and upgraded for modern dudes. Styptic pens are anti-hemorrhaging devices. They contain astringent to disinfect and dry out cuts and pimples, and then contract the tissue and clot the tiny wound. They’ll sting a little (as they rightfully should!) while they rid your cut of germs and potential infection. (It should be noted that styptic pens are usually are made from aluminum, which some people are opposed to applying to their bodies.)

Styptic pencils typically look like something you could've bought in a pharmacy in 1942: minimal branding, old-world charm, and rather old-fashioned tech. As for me, I recommend Glyder’s Styptic Balm for your shaving kit (or for your pimple-popping kit). They’re new to the game, but their pen is already the MVP: It halts the bleeding and instantly soothes with aloe vera, vitamin E, and argan oil. The Glyder is a welcome update: less like something your grandpa might use, and more like an object you'd be happy to have in your medicine cabinet.

It’s important to note how styptic pens are different from another similar product: the alum block. These can come packaged as a small bar, like from The Art of Shaving. You simply wet the bar, and after shaving, you press it against your skin, all over the shaved surface. It closes the pores and disinfects, like a solid aftershave. The bar dries on its own and can be used repeatedly. It can accelerate the clogging of cuts as well, but a styptic pen is more reliable and heavy duty for that occasion. Why not stock up on both?

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Adam Hurly has been covering men's grooming since 2013 (and for GQ since 2016). He is also a travel writer. In Fall 2024, Adam is launching Blue Print by Adam Hurly, a men's grooming platform. Adam resides in Lisbon (previously Berlin, NYC, and San Francisco). He is a Sioux Falls, SD, native... Read moreWriterInstagramRelated Stories for GQShaving