Artisans create a bounty of shave soaps and creams for the traditional shaver that range up and down the spectrum in quality. Some are good, and some forgettable. I am disappointed in most of them. Oleo Soapworks, of Chicago, is an exception.

Artisan Vida Perez Velazquez has created a range of superb shave soaps with intriguing scents that rival some of the big names. Luxurious lather, comfortable cushion and smooth glide characterize these soaps, their soothing aftershave properties especially notable.

OBIE: I don’t think I am being lofty in my description. Your soaps are exceptional in every way. What makes good shave soap?

VIDA: Wet shavers, new and experienced, ...

The straight razor world not only carries a colorful ritual, but it also has a colorful history. Straight Razor Place Mentor and historian Martin103 gives us a glimpse into the story of the straight razor.



OBIE: What is the history of the western style straight razor? When did they come into use, as we know them?

MARTIN: There is plenty of evidence found on paintings and illustrations going back to the 15th Century. ...

Neil

Obie

The double edge safety razor (DE) has come far from King Camp Gillette’s days, serving in three wars, as well as shaving millions of civilians. Yet the changes in the DE have been mostly functional and cosmetic, but the principle idea remains the same. The distance between the 1904 Gillette and the current crop of DE razors is about that of yesterday’s shave and today’s. The old Gillettes are still preferred by some shavers. Then again, who can resist the gorgeous Edwin Jagger DE razors? I haven’t been able to. I have several models and am currently considering several more. You can never have too much of a good thing, is what I say. These days every time I shave with an Edwin Jagger DE, which is often, I send silent thanks to Neil Jagger, who founded the company in Sheffield, ...

Obie

I discovered Liam Finnegan through his YouTube shaving videos. There was Liam stropping a razor. There he was honing a blade. You could see the master at work with sure hands and an air of confidence from long years of dedicated barbering and straight razor shaving. If I had the tiniest nugget of Liam’s experience with the straight razor, the strop and the hone, I’d pin a medal to my chest and proclaim, “I have arrived.”

Obie: Currently you are the head barber and patriarch of the renowned Waldorf Barbershop and Shaving Saloon in Dublin, Ireland. You have been at this since you were 10 years ...

Mark

Obie

Mantic59 is a legend in wet shaving through a series of informative and entertaining videos. Mantic59 is the signature for Mark Herro, a gentleman wet shaver who has inspired thousands into reaching beyond the electric shaver or the plastic cartridge razor to discover new worlds. His videos cover almost every aspect of traditional shaving, from making the proper lather to shaving with the double edge safety razor. Nothing on the straight razor yet, but there’s always hope.

Obie: Didn’t I read somewhere on Straight Razor Place that you contemplated a fling with the straight razor? What happened to that?
...

Neil

Obie

The love affair between the straight razor and the strop is like reading Jane Austen by a warm fire, or savoring port wine with Stilton cheese. For me, aside from tuning the blade as if a musical instrument, stropping paves a link into a state of bliss. I often find myself stropping far more than I need to just because of that. No wonder I continue to explore the world of strops and strop makers. One such world belongs to British strop maker Neil Miller, whose vast interests and talents have amounted to a string of successful careers.
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