Hello, from a New Straight-Shaver
Hello everyone.
I have migrated here from Badger and Blade. I don't know why I have, I just have. I thought I'd like to see what this place has to offer.
A bit of background on little old me...
I am twenty three. I started shaving regularly in January this year, when I was still twenty-two. I started with double-edged razors and continued like that for eight months until mid-August.
Straight razors have fascinated me for YEARS. I just think they're so cool. But then, I think a lot of old things are cool. I've got about three dozen fountain pens, three pocket watches, hundreds of classic jazz recordings on my computer, hundreds of old time radio shows, dozens of hardcover books...It was only a matter of time before I started getting interested in shaving the old-fashioned way.
Anyway...Over the last three years or so, I'd done a lot of reading about straight-razor shaving, but I never took the plunge. I didn't know where to look, what to buy or how to start. I'm not really great at buying online, and I don't like doing that anyway.
That all changed in August. Well...some of it did. After reading probably all published literature on the subject of straight-razors, I felt confident enough to give it a shot. While at the local flea-market, I purchased an old Aesculap surgical-grade stainless steel (incl. scales) straight-razor. 4/8 hollow-ground with round-point. It was $35.
I took it home and started honing. I'd never honed a razor before in my life. But I had seen dozens of videos on honing and reckoned I got the hang of it. I did, but not quite. It took me about two days of trial and error, combined with stropping on an old belt, for me to figure out whether I had gotten the razor sharp. I also did a couple of test-shaves.
End of the first week, I had...
- Given myself razor-burn.
- Given myself less razor-burn.
- Let my skin heal.
- Had my first half-promising shave.
During all this time, I kept honing and stropping the everloving...yeah...out of that razor. Before the end of the week, the razor was shave-ready, but my technique required its own kind of honing. It took me until week 2 or 3 before I started getting really good shaves.
Fast forward two months and I'm still shaving with a straight-razor every morning. My darling beloved double-edge razor is confined to its steel razor-case on my vanity unit. My skills in stropping (on a paddle strop, this time) and honing, and most importantly...shaving...have improved significantly and I almost never cut myself and I get excellent shaves every morning.
Yes, it may take a bit longer and concentration might be higher, but the end result is worth it. I haven't told my dad that I shave like this yet. He'd freak out. He found my razor in the bathroom and I told him it was for...ehm...'display purposes'. If he knew the truth, he'd probably freak out from worry and panic.
But for me, I'm sold. I'm getting amazing shaves and I love straight-razor shaving now. The only problem is...now I think it would be ten different kinds of awesome to own a seven-piece razor set, like they used to do back in the good old days...and I can't possibly afford one!
