Thread: Best part of shaving with a straight razor

i hadn't thought of it.. but yeah.. i do like the idea of feeling a sense of achievement first thing in the morning.. before i have even started my day.. it must feel nice to start and evaluate your shave and then think... "well.. i bbs'ed myself.. now whatever turns up should be nothing to difficult to handle"

In all honesty, the aspect of using a straight that most appeals to me?.... No more razor burn. Most comfortable shaves I've ever experienced. I actually look forward to shaving now.

I also really am enjoying the meditative / relaxing nature of the act.

It's also enjoyable to see the reaction of folks that find out I use a straight. It usually is right after they comment on my archaic fountain pen usage and mechanical watch fetish.

Originally Posted by LawsonStone

This is going to sound a bit abstract, but here goes.

Some of my very earliest memories of my grandfathers, on both sides of my family, memories that are almost at the fade point, so early that they are hardly there, are of them shaving with straight razors. Growing up in the small town south, where every little town had a barber shop, and every barber routinely gave straight shaves, and men were split about 50/50 between the straight and the DE razor, I recall being awestruck that my grand-pas both could wield the straight razor. My dad started me on it, just mowing down peach fuzz, rather than risk buying me a "real" razor. But that was only a short time, then I got a DE and then cartridge and then disposable…

So shaving with the straight somehow connects my life today with some of my oldest, and most moving memories of men that I admired and enjoyed.

We have, in my small town right here, an old fashioned Barbershop. I don't know if he gives straight shaves or not, but I plan to ask about it.

I have a very similar memory as yourself, LawsonStone.

I'd watch my two grandfathers shave with their cutthroat. Mirror hanging on the window in the kitchen (no bathrooms in the houses at that time), with a small towel draped over their shoulder, and shaving away, not even giving it a thought that someday that type of shaving was on its way out for the DE's.

Originally Posted by Stubear

I cant pick any one element!

Its a mix of the history behind it, the whole shaving experience from stropping to lathering to the shave itself, its shaving with a razor that you honed yourself, its the fact that I'm not paying Gillette a Kings ransom to get a sub par shave, its the fact that these shaves are the best I've ever had and the fact that I'm shaving with a work of art not a plastic piece of junk.

And thats just off the top of my head..!

I agree with you 100% there Stubear on that.

Can you imagine a row of Gillette fusions (or similar cartridge types) hanging on the bathroom wall, and people gloating over them in awe, as they do with the old straight razor with the fancy scales? I think not!

I also like them for these things are pieces of art.

Originally Posted by DBurnette

Right now, my favorite part is surviving another shave without injury. Well, that and knowing I'm one step closer to mastering this.

Having only been using a str8 for a few months now, I am in agreement with the above statement of "surviving another shave without injury." And then comes a freshly honed blade... the difference between a sharp blade and an insanely sharp blade is almost as drastic as night and day.

I have read elsewhere that the trick is to let the BBS come to you rather than try to achieve the BBS right away. I have found for me the most gratifying part of straight razor shaving is the end result without nicks.

I can't pick one thing that's the best. However, I can pick out something specific that I enjoy about the whole process (learning to shave and maintain a straight) that I haven't seen mentioned.

I've learned about cutting edge angles and how to maintain a sharp edge. This has helped me in many occasions from cooking to woodworking where sharp edges are necessary and useful. It's interesting that shaving has enhanced my knowledge across multiple hobbies.

best part? Simple: the ladies think it's dangerous.

I love everything about it. From my calm, relaxed enjoyable shaves with the various beautiful aromas of shaving creams and soaps to collecting and using different hones and strops. The razors themselves are cutlers' masterpieces. Then the post shave experience. It all fits together, not one part of it for me rises above the rest. It is all complementary.

Learning an all but forgotten art and enduring the necessary time and getting increasingly better at it, in a modern world full of plastic disposables that any tom, dick and harry can pick up in a jiffy and use.

Then people's reactions. I try not to discuss it. Most people I find are small minded when it comes to this and mock what they do not understand. That, or they become very confused and somewhat puzzled upon discovering how I shave.

I was honing up and old hollow grind on a coticule last weekend when my a friend's girlfriend who was staying over asked what the hell I was doing. I suppose to someone who didn't know about straights, it must have looked rather unusual. She asked what the stone was. Where is it from? 'Belgium.' How much did you pay? 'About 60 pounds.' What a rip off!

I agree. Its the total experience of it all. I don't mind taking longer to shave as it is more relaxing. It feels great to shave with a vintage straight.

Originally Posted by Obie

Gentlemen:

The best part of shaving with the straight razor, for me, also covers the preparation and the post shave experience.

I embrace the entire experience, from the time I soak the brush in warm water on my way to the shower, to lathering, stropping, shaving and finally applying the aftershave.

The best part for me, therefore, is the daily experience of wet shaving with the straight razor — the entire ritual.

Regards,
Obie

I love the feeling of it just so easily cutting through the hair, and the fact that it makes shaving not a chore, but something interesting, and enjoyable.

Cheers Mark~

I enjoy several aspects of straight-shaving, but the biggest for me is how clean my face feels after a shave.
What once took me five minutes, and was a chore, now takes me twenty and is a total pleasure.




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