I Am Taking Bets… (Straight Blade Shaving Part 1)
I am writing this more to see if anyone wants to place bets or start a pool on how disfigured I will be, come Thursday.
Recently MattDawg (sporadic Blandlife contributor) and I wondered into a store called “The Art of Shaving.” Without going into the details of what brought us there, I will submit to you that Matt and I were both intrigued. The store specialized in the type of shaving that you only see really old men get at really old barbershops or in every western movie made, but they had a twist. They offered the badger haired brushes, soap dishes, and glycerin based creme that you would expect but their razors were pearl handled or engraved silver Mach 3s.
Mattdawg purchased some stuff and I received a shaving set (minus the razor) for Christmas. Since I already had a Mach 3 (plastic though it might be) I figured I could forgo the luxury of shaving myself in sculpted elephant bone until I was steadily employed.
I am willing to admit that I bought into the store clerks arguments for old school shaving and further reading confirmed what she had indicated. Aerosol cremes were a convenient replacement to using a brush but produced a deteriorated shaving experience which might have gone unnoticed if not for the creation of the disposable razor. The two conveniences came upon mankind so slowly and imperceptibly that nobody noticed how far we had fallen and a generation of males just chocked up razor burn and bumps to a fact of life. But I had to find out for myself, so I pulled out my Christmas present and put it to work.
The shave was incredible… the pre shave oil softened my beard, the brush felt great and the creme didnt dry out my face, but I couldnt help but think that something was being left out. And so over the last few months, I began my research on the last element in my shaving experience.
I found a straight-razor that came highly recommended but wasn’t too expensive. I read that I had to get a strop to keep my razor sharp everyday. I bought the strop and the razor and now wait patiently for the items to arrive. I figure Thursday or Friday will be my first experience and will write of the experience then.
The pic at the top is the razor I purchased and the pic below is possible presents that anyone could purchase for me.
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Comments
I cant wait to reap the benefits of an extremely close shave. —whistle —whistle.
Assuming of course there is still a face left when you finish.
I am predicting 3 or 4 minor cuts. Anything more will cause serious reconsideration of my whole plan.
Well it is funny, cause by Thursday you might have as much facial hair as Ace w/J. When you tell people about cutting your beard you should explain that there isn’t much there to shave, so that is why it is more dangerous. Which reminds me, did you see Sweeny Todd? The blood was soooooooo fake, come on , I wanted to see some real throats get slit.
Be very, very careful. Traditional shaving can be great fun but there is a learning curve, particularly with a straight razor. I use a “regular” single-bladed safety razor and even that had a learning curve. But using brush and traditional lather cream or soap can be great. Be sure to check out the traditional shaving sub-culture at discussion forums like http://www.straightrazorplace.com and http://www.badgerandblade.com, and the tutorials at my youtube shaving channel at http://www.youtube.com/shavetutor.
Thanks Mark… it just so happens that I got most of my info from those two websites.
In fact, one of the members of straightrazor is who sold me my blade.
due to MIA husband….I will report on his behalf…he just received a new tub of shave cream last night…and was trying to sell our friend on it…however he still stands by his mach 3 or whatever he uses with it…of course he has been known to be swayed (by certain people with the initials TRN)
I am waiting for the ladies to jump on the bandwagon and try shaving their legs and armpits with a straight….
Do any of our female readers shave their armpits? When I was a teenager, my sisters asked my mother to force me to shave mine…. they were not successful
Update…trn has been waiting for the mail daily for his package. When he doesn’t recieve it it’s like a child whose candy has been taken away.
Update 2…a certain neighbor of ours has wondered what all the fuss was over this certain package we are waiting for, (he probably thinks we are dealing) and when I told him he told me he told me to tell trn to be careful, they are dangerous. I have officially up’d, our child count to 3. 2 children at the height of 2 and a half feet, 1 child at 6 ft 1.
oh man I wish I was there to see that stuff. Don’t let Abby watch him do it the first time. We could spend the rest of our lives repairing the damage should anything go wrong
Those are cool, can’t wait for the report!