Thread: What is it that you like best about shaving with a straight razor??

the pure simplicity of it and my face likes it as well

Me time. I like the 15-20 minutes of me time. My wife is afraid to approach me while shaving in fear that she will cause a nick. Everyone.....EVERYONE leaves me alone when I shave. Also, a very big part of it is that it reminds me of some really nice times with my father.

Turns a chore into playtime. Pure indulgence unlike any other.

The overall experience is great. The best part for me is when I slap on some high alcohol content cologne and receive very little to no sting.

Shaving with a straight is so more man than shaving with a disposable or anything else. Does this sound crazy? Yes. But for me it is the truth.

And of course the result. Beyond compare, as Lynn says it on a You Tube video I recently watched.

The best thing about Shaving with a Straight Razor is... I can't really answer this question, but for right now, everything about shaving with a straight razor is best. For me there is nothing that is better than anything else because it is all the BEST!!! I enjoy the pre-shave prep, I enjoy stropping the razor, I enjoy making the lather, I enjoy slicing the hair and the lather off, and I enjoy the AS and ASBs. It is overall a wonderful thing, and I am so happy that I have left the flock of cartridge razors. OK, if I have to pick something it would be all of the new challenges and the building of new skills. From Honing to making my own strops, I am seriously addicted.

I love it because of the nostalgia of shaving with a blade made well over a hundred years ago. I can only imagine how many faces it has touched over the generations and the skill and perfection it took to wield it daily. I see my straight razors as a simple device created with old world technology in its purest form built by skilled artisans and has outlived many new technologies and devices. Many of my razors that I shave with, were made when brother was pitted against brother, firing black powder muskets and cannons as main battle field components of the civil war. For me, it is about connecting with a bygone era to a much simpler time when our society still took pride in its values and morals. For me, it is a historic link to the past and a means to experience the little daily events of life that my forefathers did. After shaving with straights for over a year now, I will never shave any other way. I want my kids to experience what our prior generations have as another way to ensure that I am teaching them to appreciate the modern day conveniences of life that we've been blessed with, that kids lived for eons without cell phones or "status updates on facebook" and that their lives were never ruined from the lack of it.

Straights lead to a quality and close shave. It takes practice and patience to really master it.

I have yet to bring a person to the dark side ! It has been 3 years for me and every time we have some friends over and I show them WHAT I SHAVE WITH.... We all get the same response........ That's why I shave with a straight because you CAN'T.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

At first it was all about "being different". I mean, how often do you hear about someone shaving with a straight razor? I remember hearing stories about my grand-dad, but that's it...the art was lost.

During the "learning" phase, it was all about the challenge to myself. First it was getting a nick free shave, then honing, restoring, and then making razors. Man, there is surely a bucket-full of things to learn in this sport & I'm still learning...

Now, I believe it's all about the 15-20 minutes of "it's all about me". I mean it guys, how often is it all about us? We get to whip up a luxurious lather with a super soft brush, brush it on and feel the warmth of the thick lather, and then having a SINGLE blade to give us the smoothest shave we have had since we converted to a straight. Do any of you ever remember rubbing your fingers over your face and saying "that's a nice shave" when you were using disposable blades? In addition of all of these great findings, my face feels soooo much smoother. Could be my imagination, but I swear to you that the skin on my face is MUCH happier.

Totally agree, except for the fact, that I do not make razors.