Thread: Loving the blade...

For some reason that remains unknown to me, I decided to go old school where my shaving routine was concerned. I didn't have a clue where to start, what to do or how to do it; I just knew that it was something that I needed to do.

Cutting a long and dull story short, I managed to acquire a couple of old straights from a local antique place and then sent them to Glen (gssixgun) to be sorted out. While I was waiting for Glen to do his magic, I entered the July contest and won

Now I had a dilema, do I wait for my blades from Glen or do I use the rather nice Solingen Kabeso that Bill had sent me? In all fairness, it wasn't that big a problem to make that decision but I had to wait until I got my hands on a brush. In the interim, I secretly spent a couple of minutes everyday just holding the blade and getting use to how it felt in my fingers.

Then the fateful day came. I sequestered myself in my bathroom whilst mumbling to Mrs. Reds something about "Taking some man-time", lathered up my face and then 'umm'd' & 'ahh'd' about the best method of attack for the next five minutes. Before I started taking chunks out of my face, I remembered some advice I'd read (but can't find) about holding it lightly and letting the blade do the work.

Then the blade touched my face and the steel started singing (it could have been angels but I had ears full of shaving cream). I managed both sides and my neck without nicking myself (impressive in itself).

I am converted and I'm wondering why the heck I didn't do this before.

Thanks to Bill for the blade, advice (more suds definately helped btw) and giving me the ability to scare the heck out of Mrs. Reds (she's not a big fan of seeing her ruggedly handsome hubby holding some really sharp steel next to his jugular (in hindsight, letting her watch 'Sweeney Todd' may have something to do with it)).

Hurry up Glen*, I now am in the throes of RAD and need more blades.



*Only joking bud, take your time (but really quickly)

Thanks for posting, Reds. We rarely hear back from giveaway winners so your appreciation is meaningful and I'm glad to hear it's suiting you well.

X

Thanks for the thanks X. It seemed like the right thing to do

This way of shaving is suiting me better than I thought it would. Initially, I thought I'd try once or twice, get cut, get frustrated and then leave the shaving paraphernalia gathering dust in a closet but it hasn't been like that. I've had some real quality me time (a rare occurrence these days) due to my new extreme hobby

Thanks for your post and congratulations on a successful first shave ( and for winning the drawing).

Starting with a shave ready razor is one of the most important things someone new to straight razor shaving can do and it sounds like you have that well covered. With three razors you should have a long time to work on your technique before you have to deal with freshening a blade. Well done.