Thread: Re-Emergence of Shaving with a Single Open Razor

So, since April of last year I've lived in my own apartment and had the luxury of shaving any way I chose. Since then I've been using just one razor, a Chas M. Beach 6/8 quite hollow and very loud razor. The reason I've been using this blade over others is because it is a very acute edge, it is a much thinner razor, for its width, compared to other razors. I had doubts that such an edge would hold up under my beard. The edge did degrade faster than most other blades, as predicted, but it certainly held up very well considering its acuteness (when I bothered to keep track).

Though I haven't been shaving as much with a straight razor as I used to (practically every day for over a year when I got into it whilst going to a community college for a culinary degree) I have probably shaved with the same razor for the equivalent of about a month and a half and I have to say some of these metallurgists have made some incredible carbon steels... I'm very impressed with the craftsmanship and the metal. I would say, off-hand, that I had to lightly refresh the edge on the finishing hone about every 7-9 shaves, just for the really satisfying closeness of finger-stroking, not just a visually clean shave. That doesn't seem very good, but for it's acuteness I think it is a living testament to the incredible strength of this particular razor's steel.

What I am awestruck with (is that a real word?) is how easy it is to get back into shaving with a straight razor, or open razor as I like to regard them (the best ones are more of a curved blade for people with dips and sharp curves like myself) after more than a month of not using them. It's like riding a bicycle, you really don't forget how to do it (until the onset of senile dementia, of course). I can pick up this open razor and I'm basically picking up where I left off, there is hardly any awkwardness or unfamiliarity, I just resume doing what I've done so many times before.

The reason for this post.. I just refreshed the edge on this relatively thin, wide, highly vocal razor. It couldn't have been more than 8 laps on an 8" Spyderco Ultra-Fine hone, with some extra stropping after that. I have a modestly short, basically a travel strop from Tony Miller. I used the smooth side. After the shower I used a fairly watered Proraso lather sit on my face and allowed the lather to collapse and congeal into a protective gel on my skin, re-lathered and went at it with that raw, fresh edge. Wow. Almost without real effort the shave was so smooth and close, no pink bloom whatsoever. I'm okay with a little pinkness, a little raw and tender, sensitive skin after the shave. I washed off the residual lather and spread on the Nivea cooling balm, which contains alcohol and found no more sting than after my fantastic antique unnamed Gillette DE razor gives me. It was the lather, well, the solid gel clinging to the surface of my skin that yielded this most perfect of shaves. It was a perfect marriage of lather, fresh edge and free-flowing effortless technique that culminated in a wonderful, satisfying shave. I intentionally neglected to shave left-to-right across the front of my chin to gauge the closeness of the shave with downwards and right-to-left strokes only, and of course found the shave a little lacking in closeness compared to the rest of the shave, but not much. Listening to NPR on a radio I bring in to the bathroom to luxuriate in the shaving ritual on a casual Sunday after a shower, I didn't hear much because the shave ended all too quickly. What a great way to clean up the lower half of one's face! Two days no shave and this..

I was using one razor that needed to be refreshed on the hone more often to try to see how many shaves it would take to drop down to the next-to-last hone for a more thorough edge renewal, but I haven't seen this happen yet, even with an edge this acute. I'm very impressed. It is a joy and a pleasure to use such a fine shaving implement that lends itself to some authentic, almost effortless mastery over my physical reality. This, to me, is the true joy of old-world shaving.

I have plenty of shave-ready razors, some of which I genuinely miss using, but I will continue to experiment with this one razor for some time. I miss my dubl duck, Wapienica (new plastic scales), NOS BQ Dovo, etc. This has been an illuminating venture into the past, using a modern hone of course. Despite my reliance on the DE, I'm very impressed with the awesomeness of open razors.

Welcome back AxelH: Sometimes all the stars align perfectly an you reach shaving nirvana. Congratulations

I do have one confession to make, in order to be thorough.. I have a little cluster of red spots, skin irritation, that formed the next day from this shave. Of course, those of us who have experienced the ironic nature of old-school open razor shaving understand the nature of my skin irritation.. it was on the edge of my bearded area, a sparsely populated area that was a flat plain and easily stretched.. I simply took one or two overly casual strokes over it, without properly stretching the minimum tautness to prevent irritation. Oh well, at least it lends additional authenticity to the sharpness of the edge. But that's part of what makes this kind of shaving more rewarding, it's all us. We can claim ownership over everything about the shave, and in that we can realize manhood.