Hello everyone, I am trying to find out from your experiences what a good set of essentials would be to purchase for my boyfriend as a gift. He shaves his entire head as well as face and I don't know if that is something that the straight blade is good for. I certainly appreciate any help tips and tricks on brands for blades brushes ect... Thank you so much.
Anne
I think a straight razor would work great for the head, but I would not be able to shave my own head. Maybe it is something you could do for him, and he could use it for his face...I am thinking of using one of my straights to shave my wife's legs soon. If she gets interested, then it would be easier for me to continue my ordering of supplies without her scolding me. :deal:
Welcome to SRP!
Shaving the head with a straight razor can be very difficult and time consuming, depending on the skin and thickness of the hair.
To get started, the best thing would be a good quality soap and brush, and a double edge safety razor. Once he's got that down and the skin is used to it, it would be good to move on to a shavette (disposable blade straight razor) and then eventually a straight razor.
FWIW, it took me almost a year to be able to do a complete head shave with a straight razor. I still mostly use a safety razor, to save time. Only once every few months do I do a head shave with a straight.
It's been a long time since I posted but this one caught my eye. It took me awhile to get it down but I shave my head with a straight every Sunday morning. Aside from a good sharp blade the most important things to me (in descending order) are good cream (I usually use Proraso), a soothing after shave and a good brush. And of course the time to do it - I've got it down to about 30 minutes, depending on how much help my 3 yr. old twins give me!
This may be sacriledge...but I use the headblade. After trying many other razors and methods, short of a straight. I found the headblade works best for me. I use the cheaper Atra 2 blade refills readily available for cheap on Amazon and Ebay.
What Jimbo said, especially the first part. I used to do it with a straight too, but now a days I use an old single edge, SE, safety razor (2-4 times a week). When I did use a straight I most often used a more robust razor, that can hold a sharp edge longer (1/4 or 1/2 hollow grind).