Thread: What to buy: Shaving necessities vs. shaving luxuries

Originally Posted by FWiedner

Luxury is sitting in a leather barber's chair, classical music, hot towels, a snifter of cognac and a fine cigar, and a buxom lass with with a wicked sharp straight razor ready to do business.

Having a quality razor and the means to care for and store it, and then several other necessary accoutrements to perform a clean and comfortable shave is just common sense.

If you like cheap, go cheap.

The first luxury option is not readily available to most of us.

Having a quality razor and the means to care for and store it, and then several other necessary accoutrements to perform a clean comfortable shave is just common sense but does not necessarily have to be expensive. Never equate inexpensive with cheap, they can be two very different things.

The luxury part comes in where you can afford the shekels to splash out on expensive gear. Even with inexpensive gear you can easily get the luxury of a clean comfortable shave.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

The first luxury option is not readily available to most of us.

Having a quality razor and the means to care for and store it, and then several other necessary accoutrements to perform a clean comfortable shave is just common but does not necessarily have to be expensive. Never equate inexpensive with cheap, they can be two very different things.

The luxury part comes in where you can afford the shekels to splash out on expensive gear. Even with inexpensive gear you can easily get the luxury of a clean comfortable shave.

Bob

I couldn’t agree more. Thanks.

My mothers uncle who was born in the very late 1800's used to have 2 Heljestrands and one loomstrop. I inherited the razors and loomstrop. The latter had very worn and carried dried out leather, not sure whether he used pastes. A barber sharpened his razors. I presume he had some shaving soap and possibly some after shave stuff. That's it. The typical Dutch barber would have a coticule for touch-ups. An early 1900's Dutch barbers' manual also recommended German waterstones and Swatys for honing and balsa paddles for maintenance with pastes. The latter were considered a French invention.