Thread: Shaving the Face with a Straight, not your face??

Hey guys. So Ever since I've started shaving with a straight razor I've been wondering, do you think its the same in terms of difficulty to shave someone else with it like a barber does or would you say its just as difficult shaving yourself as it is to shave someone else? I don't have any aspirations of a career change or anything, lols, was just wondering ( probably because of the amount of youtube vids I've watched, lol ) what everyone else thought on the topic? When I got to thinking about It I think surely it must be more difficult to shave someone else not having any of the feedback from the razor yourself, i.e dragging or pulling, irritating etc? So what do you guys think?

You're completely right on the feedback part. You'd have to rely completely on the feeling of the tang in your hand to know what is going on at the edge on the other's face. It will tell you if the cut is easy or tugging, but you cannot tell if the edge is smooth or harsh on the skin.

Originally Posted by Laurens

You're completely right on the feedback part. You'd have to rely completely on the feeling of the tang in your hand to know what is going on at the edge on the other's face. It will tell you if the cut is easy or tugging, but you cannot tell if the edge is smooth or harsh on the skin.

That's what I was thinking, but other than any response through the tang you probably wouldn't know. When you watch all the barber shop vids on youtube of guys getting shaves they do definitely make it look really easy, and the glide of the razor looks so effortless, but hey, that's what practice does right, and If your doing it everyday and have done for 20+ years, making it look effortless would be well.... effortless I suppose. It's just when I started thinking about it, how would I know I'm using the correct angle, Is there any razor burn or Irritation, will I end up cutting them due to lack of focus etc, but I suppose to a seasoned pro those worries and Ideas are distant memories of when they were newbs, Like I am now, haha, lols.

I usually wonder the same thing: how did they start out? Since you cannot practise on a client, nor do I suppose another barber would be willing to have his face cut up by a newbe. I think learning to shave your own face and practising with a dull razor on the face of a mentor barber is a way to go.

Oh, besides, I heard of a Japanese barber that does all his honing himself and he can tell how a razor will shave, both sharpness and comfort, from the colour of the bevel. Talk about experience!

Originally Posted by Laurens

Oh, besides, I heard of a Japanese barber that does all his honing himself and he can tell how a razor will shave, both sharpness and comfort, from the colour of the bevel. Talk about experience!

Awesome, It must take a lifetime of experience to have that ability. I think I actually saw that guy on Tv once, his name was Mr Miyagi wasn't it? Lols, the shaving jedi, I wonder If he's ever worked on the Admiral Yamamoto? lol. But seriously, that is an awesome talent and must have taken a lifetime to perfect.

Originally Posted by Laurens

I usually wonder the same thing: how did they start out? Since you cannot practise on a client, nor do I suppose another barber would be willing to have his face cut up by a newbe. I think learning to shave your own face and practising with a dull razor on the face of a mentor barber is a way to go.

Yeh, shaving a mentor with a duller razor would be a good idea but would this alone not cause some degree of irritation as the blade is duller and would therefore drag or pull? I read on another post one of the guys was saying the old school barbers would use certain fruits to shave and ofcourse, the age old balloons method of practice, lols. Not sure what the answer is other than to maybe find a willing victim, em...., volunteer and just dive in, take your time and stay focused and try to amass some experience this way. Who knows though, I'm just getting the hang of shaving my own face with a little confidence, I don't think I'll need to worry about shaving any one else's for a very long time, lols.

I asked a Barber once if he use to give straight razor shaves, and he said yes. Then I asked did he ever cut anyone and he said yes. He said the bad thing about giving someone else a shave is by the time you realize you cut them, it's deep compared to shaving yourself. He shaved with a straight when he was younger. I asked why he stopped, and he said see all this loose skin.............

I've never shaved another guy but I have shaved my wife's legs and that was fairly effortless. Though, unlike a face, legs have very little contour or nooks & crannies....

And yes, barbers were/are known for giving the odd cut. Any time I've left the barber chair bleeding (both times) the barber has said nothing nor apologized, just pretended that it didn't happen. Probably thinking if he admits to shoddy work he'll lose a tip....

Once

and only once have I attempted it, I was letting some guys at work try a SR shave out, they were doing pretty good but one of them got the edge close to their cheek and I swear his hand would not stop shaking..
Scared me so much I finally sat him down and shaved him, I figured there was no way I could do more damage then he would have

Honestly it went much easier than I ever expected, I of course kept it simple and only did WTG, nothing fancy, but all in all I felt pretty comfortable, he said his face felt great so I guess it was a success...