Thread: What are your friends/familys reaction to you shaving w/straight rzrs

Now, I'm known as "uncle danger" to my brother's kids!

My wife likes it (which is all I care about), and friends are split between: "you're kidding; that sounds dangerous" and "that's cool". Frankly, I enjoy it, and if my wife likes the results, that's all I care about.

She, by the way, does hate Bay Rum after shave (which I now use only when I'm traveling).

Most of my friends think I'm nuts, but find it interesting that people still use them.

The pre-conceived notion that SR's are dangerous, and you'll probably cut yourself badly, is very prevalent. Decades ago, when I used a DE, that's what I was given by my Dad, I used to get cuts all the time. It was a regular thing back then to come out of the bathroom with a couple of little tags of toilet paper stuck to your face to stop the bleeding.

Then spent many years with the cartridges and after a great barber shave, decided that I was going to do that as well. Why not?

Now, I can splash cold water on my face, lather up, shave and get a DFS and be done in under 10 minutes...almost as quick as with the old Mach 50,000!

When time permits, a shave parade is a lot of fun, hot shower, all the pre- and post ritual, use one of my nicer razors, and I'm chillaxed for the rest of the day....

Most tend to be very indifferent. They make the usual comments and then it never comes up again. My guess is that the majority of people are in the "it's just shaving" mindset, that shaving is a 2 minute chore not worth discussing. The sad thing is they probably think they're happy with their current system without even knowing they are suffering for no reason.

A co worker of mine did seem genuinely intrigued by SR shaving, to the point that he bought a Dovo starter kit. I actually went to his house and gave him a stropping and shaving demo to get him started in the right direction. I think he used it twice in the last year and pretty much gave up. Admittedly he does have the attention span of a gnat, which pretty much sums up the general population anyway.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Most tend to be very indifferent...

Including when they're laying out the $15 for Mach xxx cartridges every few weeks!

I'm coming up on a month of SR shaving and now routinely getting DFS.
My 13 y/o daughter asked if she could watch me shave this morning. She was fascinated and thought it was 'really cool.'
My oldest son, 15 wants nothing to do with it. He thinks I'm insane and will cut my jugular.
My youngest son, 11, says when he starts shaving it won't be with a SR, but he's open to me teaching him later.
The wife appreciates and supports it...likes the results.

Best friend response thus far: "You're going to end up looking like Edward Scissorhands."

Originally Posted by ColonelG

I'm coming up on a month of SR shaving and now routinely getting DFS.
My 13 y/o daughter asked if she could watch me shave this morning. She was fascinated and thought it was 'really cool.'
My oldest son, 15 wants nothing to do with it. He thinks I'm insane and will cut my jugular.
My youngest son, 11, says when he starts shaving it won't be with a SR, but he's open to me teaching him later.
The wife appreciates and supports it...likes the results.

Best friend response thus far: "You're going to end up looking like Edward Scissorhands."

Well, you can tell your friend if you end up like Edward S., it will reduce your cost of shaving and haircuts down to $0!?!

They all think I'm crazy, simple as that.

It really never comes up in conversations with my friends. The few times it has come up in public, around men, the response typically is "you're more of a man than me"! They obviously have the picture of a barbaric caveman taking to his face with a jagged edged blade, sawing through his beard whilst literally destroying his face.

It's true most men don't seem to care. A few months back I did have a friend (in a different state) who wanted to give it a go. I sent him a shave-ready razor, a cheapo Van Der Hagen shave kit, my old beginner's strop, a styptic pencil, and some tips on how to get a good shave.
Two weeks later he sent everything back, minus the styptic pencil- which he said I wouldn't want back given all the blood on it now.

I did warn him it was going to take practice and patience. Most guys don't seem to really understand that part of it though until it's too late.

It's true that women seem to take more of an interest for some reason. Most of my female friends and family have taken it upon themselves to look for old straights at antique shops and estate sales for me. Now I just need to gather them all together and give them a lesson on what constitutes a savable blade. The "Thank You!" s and "excitement" I've had to lavish for over-honed rust-eaten lumps of Sheffields as these women look at me expectantly with their big doe eyes and smiles are taking their toll on my conscience. ...It's the thought that counts though. Right? :-/