WoooooHoooooo!!! Success at last!
I am no longer a solitary shaver in the Land Of Bad Shaves. My oldest son, who is 23, got interested in my straight razors. He's into steampunk which is sort of a victorian, science fiction kind of thing. He became interested in the classic shaving technique and decided to try it too so I bought him a nice Chicago "The Palmer" of his own. His first shave was 2 days ago and did not go well. He was shy about joining the forum so he tried working just from what I told him. Well, I'm his mother so naturally he didn't listen all that well. lol. The result was a nasty razor burn. He was upset because he wanted to show off his new face for his steampunk friends at a sci-fi convention that started today. :jedi:
I felt bad for him but I finally got him to read Lynn's wiki for beginners. Yesterday morning he decided to try it again and the results were amazing. Much closer and cleaner looking and no visible signs of irritation. He is very, very pleased and as I type this he is off somewhere partying like it's 1899 and showing off his face to his Victorian lady friends, some Klingons and Romulans, and a bunch of Stormtroopers. Try shaving that close with a lightsaber!
My husband is still nervous about straight razors but bharner accidentally stumbled on the solution: he sent some great soap samples and a DE. My dear husband wouldn't even discuss razors with me except to say "Please don't" but he really liked the DE as soon as he saw it. He didn't realize that "safety razor" means those kind of razors. As soon as he saw the DE he told me about how his father used one of those when he was a kid and the very first razor he himself used was a DE. We have actually had some conversations since about shaving in general (but no straights) and more specific things like why soap is so much better than gel in a can. His first day off is Sunday and he is considering trying the DE out then.
Our youngest son is 15 and the little bit of peach fuzz on his chin is becoming thicker and coarser. After seeing his brother's success and his dad's interest in the DE he confided in me that his chin hair is starting to bother him and he would like to learn to shave now as well. He's not quite as brave as his brother but he does like the look of the DE and he likes the smell of the soap samples.
There you have it. One wet shaving convert and possibly two more for DEs. There's hope for this part of the world yet!
Many thanks to Lynn and bharner and all you folks that give such great advice. :rock:
Lori
