Shaving some one else

I was visiting my Dad this evening, he had surgery two days ago and while I was visiting he asked if I could shave his head. He's not to raise his arms above his head for now and we both sport the same hair cut....so a good choice to ask me.
Well talk about nerve racking! Whipped up some Tabac and lathered him up and watching my angle and pressure, because you know he's going to feel a cut way before I even know what happen.....
Anyway just did a two pass shave with some touch ups, all went well, no nicks, or cuts...he told me before I started, the styptic pencil is down stairs if I wanted it. Me being cocky, I said we won't need that! Lucky me, I didn't!
I offered to go get one of my straights, and he said whatever you want to do... so I missed my chance their

Anyone else ever get to test their skills on someone else? Who doesn't do this stuff for a living...

my first experience shaving someone else (with a straight) was my wife's legs, went pretty smooth (pun totally intended), and she loved it and now asks me all the time to do it. Never tried to shave someone else with a DE though, I think it would be awkward finding the right angle.

My guess is that it is a bit tricky. How you do it and the feel is different. But with a little practice one would work that out too.

I've thought about it. You are completely robbed of the feedback your skin gives. Audible and finger sensations is all you have to judge your engagement with the hairs. I'm sure it's easily learned with practice, but yeah--that first time or two has to be nerve-wracking.

Reminds me of the time my sister, who was in barber school at the time, cut my hair. It took 4x longer than a pro. That was before I started clipping it.

I've shaved people for a long time as a barber bit starting off was tough. Might be safer using a disposable if you're not sure

Sinnfein - I tried my wife's legs with a straight too, and took one swipe and decided that at the time I didn't have enough experience, quickly switched to a DE

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Originally Posted by WadePatton

I've thought about it. You are completely robbed of the feedback your skin gives. Audible and finger sensations is all you have to judge your engagement with the hairs.

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You got that right!

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Originally Posted by sinnfein

my first experience shaving someone else (with a straight) was my wife's legs, went pretty smooth (pun totally intended), and she loved it and now asks me all the time to do it. Never tried to shave someone else with a DE though, I think it would be awkward finding the right angle.

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Same here, except I went out and bought her a DE of her own and now she rather enjoys doing it herself and having silky smooth legs.

I've been weighing up the pros and cons of this after hearing about my local barber who first trained himself to shave with a straight razor without using a mirror. Pure feedback.

On someone else, very little feedback (hopefully none, assuming they're not writhing or screaming). But, on the plus side you have the benefit of having better angles of sight, and would be easier to focus on how you stretch the skin, the angle of the shave, etc... I think there are ups and downs. But I haven't tried it yet.

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Originally Posted by WadePatton

You are completely robbed of the feedback your skin gives.

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Yeah. That's what I was thinking.

Thanks guys...you just gave me a new pick up line :<0) "how about we go back to your place and you let me shave your legs with a straight razor."

I finally got my younger son (16) to straight razor shave a couple of months ago, the older son (23) was converted to SR shaving a couple of years ago. However, on his second shave he wanted me to shave his top lip, as he had some difficulty there. I found it quite easy to do; I wasn't nervous at all.

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Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

I finally got my younger son (16) to straight razor shave a couple of months ago, the older son (23) was converted to SR shaving a couple of years ago. However, on his second shave he wanted me to shave his top lip, as he had some difficulty there. I found it quite easy to do; I wasn't nervous at all.

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Years of shaving other people experience and I still hate the upper lip LOL...

I don't think I could shave my wifes legs. too distracted you know her telling me how . (reminds me of the guy that didn't speak to his wife for 18 months. Didn't want to interrupt her:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by rhensley

I don't think I could shave my wifes legs. too distracted you know her telling me how . (reminds me of the guy that didn't speak to his wife for 18 months. Didn't want to interrupt her:rolleyes:

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Just do what I do if they tell you how to do something....let them demonstrate.

I've shaved my father about a half a dozen times, thee last time was last year when my father injured his back and was unable to shave for five weeks, he grows a very though, very dense beard so after five weeks of no shaving he had a beard that would've made Bin laden embarrassed and I got to shave it all off, much to my mother's chagrin.

Introduced my friend Bruce to shaving with a DE he had problems for years shaving with a multi blade so much so that he used to shave once a week and always left the chin area as a goatee. He suffered really badly with ingrows shaving rash and bumps. I told him that he should try DE so I was asked to shave him. Well up to the bathroom and all the prep hot towel great lather etc. Now to start and as I brought the razor to his skin everything went quiet. Apparently up to then we had been chatting away but come the moment not a sound. Our respective wives knew the situation had got serious as they could here a pin drop!
Now as the shave progressed confidence grew and the shave was completed successfully. I turned to Bruce and said, " Well Bruce when you became my Area Manager some 5 years ago did you ever think you'd be sat on my loo seat whilst I shaved you!!" we both collapsed laughing I think mostly with relief.
He's now fully converted to DE shaving but definitely does not want to try a SR. No skin problems and he thoroughly enjoys a daily shave now. His wife is also grateful as she hated to see him with stubble.
Life is strange we're both retied now and enjoying life without the stress and pressures of our lives in the Banking world.

Thanks for sharing a great story Anthony!

I do it about everyday. I usually do it with a straight. I can usually tell by how the blade is gliding through the hair if it is a comfortable shave for them. I do like the fact of having a good line of sight and being able to pull the skin in different directions. Thats a great job of doing it your first time and NO BLOOD