Thread: Report: First Straight Razor Shave

Sheesh, I thought finding a straight razor shave would be pretty "straight" forward.

After a reasonable search of the interweb for a barber in my area who does straight razor shaves, I grew a 3-day beard and drove about 15 miles. The reviews were favorable and the neighborhood seemed legit. No one answered the phone, but I checked the hours listed and timed my arrival to be the first customer of the day. When I got there, all I found was an empty building with a "For Lease" sign in the window.

Strike 1

Rolling with punches, I went to my back-up. Fool me once and all that, I called ahead. All I got was an answering machine saying I should call back during business hours if I wanted to make an appointment. Screw it, my morning was free either way. I drove the 40 miles in the opposite direction knowing that I would be getting to the second shop just as the doors opened. What the heck, right?

Well, that plan was also a bust. The info on the interweb or the phone message COULD have mentioned "by appointment only". No bueno. The next appointment was about 2 weeks off. I was disappointed; the place was cool. It's located right in the middle of a speed shop, Tattoo Shop next door (not my thing, but hey...) Cool stuff, but in retrospect, I'm not entirely sure what kind of business is really going on there. Whatever...

Strike 2

Choice number 3 was only 5 minutes away, so I rang them up. The owner worked by appointment only. His brother takes walk-ins. I walked in.

This place was right downtown. The neighborhood is fine, but the building was well-aged. The guys struck me as alright, so I sat for a shave and a haircut.

Finally.

The haircut was quite nice. Fair price, good cut.

The straight razor shave,... I dunno.

The guy started with an electric razor. What? In all fairness, he asked. I told him it was my first and I was there to see how I liked it. That said, I left it to his judgement. He choose the electric. I think he choose poorly.

That done, he dispensed some hot lather from a machine (not oil or something?), smoothed it on, and placed a hot towel over my face (and my glasses). I thought that was weird. He mentioned that he should have had me take them off as I "soaked". Ya think?

More thin machine lather (kinda wanted the real stuff, oh well) was applied and he commenced to shaving.

Did I miss a step, you ask? No, I didn't. He didn't strop. I saw a strop on the adjoining barber's stool, but I think my guy was using a disposable blade thing.

Anyway, he had a light touch. He used lots of little short strokes, no nicks or burns. Between my lower lip and chin was a bit tricky for him, but he got it. I was a little nervous with his work on my upper lip, but he managed. Pretty uneventful, really.

I choose the Bay Rum after shave (mostly because I've been wondering what it smelled like). It stung lightly, refreshing really, and as it turns out I like the aroma. It's kinda old school.

Overall the shave was a bit of a bust. I can't really detect any improvement over the electric he used. As far as I am concerned, the straight blade part was just a performance.

Strike 2.5

As far as I am concerned, I still haven't really had my first straight razor shave. All I ended up with was a good haircut at a fair price and a knowledge of what Bay Rum smells like.

I'll have to keep hunting for a barber that knows how to give a proper shave. Until then, I'll just have to get the old razors I've had tucked away reconditioned and continue to rely on disposable multi-blades in the meantime.

My sympathies. It can be exceedingly hard to find a good barber that will give really good straight shaves in this day and age. Perhaps this will change as more and more folks discover our great hobby? If this does happen, it won't happen overnight...

My advice, do all the reading you can here and at other sites about straight razors. Pick out a nice vintage shave ready straight (keep an eye on the classifieds here and at other shave sites) and learn to shave yourself. The best shaves you can get are the ones you will give yourself (once you have gotten past the initial learning curve of course). In the beginning you have to be realistic...your straight shaves will not be as good as your DE shaves. Eventually however, the potential is there to meet or even exceed your DE shaves. I am starting to get there myself now with my straight and I tell you truly, it is worth the effort! Good luck.

Yakherder

Don't know what part of Utah you live in but in Murray and Salt Lake City there is a "Art of Shaving" where they have a master barber on site that give shaves. They range from $35-$50.