Thread: What Was It Like Before...........

I started using quality creams and a brush several years before I ever picked up anything other than a disposable razor, and really enjoy the difference in the shave (to the extent that it pains me if I ever have to use a can of foam).

After a while using quality product, you can really feel the difference of the menthol and chemicals in more "modern" shave products.

I started straight razor shaving because I thought it would be cool. Now I've found that women think it's sexy and that you always get a reaction when people find out (usually because I somehow mention my newest razor acquisition).

This has been a life changer for me too. I was a wet my face and use a Mach III guy for years, no soap, no foam, no prep. Just splash hot water and scrape.
I played around with a straight a few times over the years but never got the hang of it. Ray at Classic Shaving and this group got me on track. I looked forward to shaving each day and trying new stuff. Different brushes, different soaps and razors too. I wanted different types of strops and started experimenting with them next thing you know I as in business supplying you kind gentlemen with strops, bringing new people into the fold with my starter sets and making many new friends. I was always a loner busy with my art and my craftmanship, I was never a "joiner". Today my circle has broadened, I have conversations each day with different members, learning from some, teaching others.
This is something I look forward to each day, bth business and hobby. I would like to thank Lynn and this group for their continued support and hope that my contributions serve to help others here as well.
Thank you all.
Tony Miller

Wake up to blaring local rock station on the alarm clock, hit snooze. Wake up again when alarm goes off again and turn alarm off. Get up, go out to garage for a smoke. Use Gillette shaving cream without any water at all on my face and scrape away with Mach 3. Jump in shower. Brush teeth. Comb hair. Put on aftershave (usually saxon, which I still like to use periodically). Smoke at least 1 cigarette on way to work.

NOW...
Wake up about 10 minutes before alarm. Jump out of bed. Take oil coating off of razor that I set out last night while getting clothes together. Take shower. Brush teeth. Comb hair. Strop razor. Whip up soap lather. Shave. Strop. Use 1 of many, many aftershaves. Go to work and spend another day smoke-free!

Become a pain in everyone's ars at work talking about straight razor shaving all day! I think they wish I'd go back to smoking.

-Fred

I think a great hobby will alter your life a bit. I enjoy straight razor shaving for the novelty of it and just because it is cool. My wife thinks it is great also. I spend so much time restoring, honing, shaving, and talking to you guys that I don't hound her about "you know" as much. And no Tony I am not talking about the goat thing.

For me in the old days shaving meant using the electric. It seems I was always buying the newest gizmo they made. And every year new cutters and foils. So talk about a complete changeover from electric to straights! from how fast can I get through this thing to blissful enjoyment. It don't get no better than this.

My wife was always complaining that I looked like a bum and would never shave. I tried a beard but three or four days of growth worked better for me. I hated to shave, so I had too find a way to make it enjoyable. About a year ago I found an interesting forum called Dave's Daily regarding straight razors. A gentleman named Hal sent me a shavette then I bought my first shave ready straight razor from David Francis. The rest has been history...

Glen

My experience is very similar to what everyone has been saying.

I will add that I picked up the straight razor looking for the perfect shave. What I found was the perfect shaving experience. And perhaps even more.

The last three months of 2005 were the hardest in my life. My mother was dying, there were big changes at work, and I turned forty. That 20 minute infusion of calm and sanity every morning helped me through.

Shaving: it’s cheaper than therapy.

Best regards and thanks,

LG Roy