Thread: Am I a freak??

Ok, I started straight razor shaving about six months ago, firstly I grew a full beard. I spent 8 weeks shaving my neck only, then shaved into a goatee and spent 8 weeks shaving my neck and cheeks only , finally shaving that off and am now clean shaven , I've spent the last 8 weeks shaving my entire neck and face in their enteirity on alternate days and now get a BBS shave . This is the absolute truth .. hear me now..

I have never ever cut myself shaving with a straight.

Now let me make one thing clear , I don't think that I'm smarter than anyone else and I've certainly no special talent, in fact I've always been famed for my clumsyness.

Yet I've taken to straight edge shaving like a duck to water. I love it and will be a straight edge shaver til I die.
The key to my apparent success is as follows . Each razor in my rotation ( I have 3) has been honed by GS SIXgun, they are awsomely sharp, I have no hesitation in reccomending Glen to hone .

Plenty of hot water, I keep an electric tea kettle in the bathroom.

I use an Illinois 827 linen/ leather strop, again stropping slowly and carefully, Linn's DVD has proved incredibly valuable in this instance. I don't understand the difficulties people have stropping but maybe I've just been lucky.

After going on an absolute splurge buying soaps and creams, Mitchells wool fat soap and a quality cream , say Trumpers, or Crabtree and Evelyn build a great lather.

And then I take my time. It really isn't rocket science . I may have been helped by the fact that I travel a lot and over the years have had barbers shop shaves in places as diverse as Marrakesh Morrocco, Guadalara Mexico and London . I always tried to study the barbers technique and of course I've learned tons from reading on here.

I was also a DE shaver for a long long time,

Anyhow that's my story , anybody else had an easy intro to straight razor shaving??

No, your the first. But based on your post it sounds like your the first to follow all the advice from the forum.

Originally Posted by Englishgent

I have never ever cut myself shaving with a straight.

It took me a while my self, to nail it all down, but then I didn't have the benefit of the members here at SRP!

I do think that you are tempting fate with the statement above, so break out the styptic and bandages and keep them close at hand!


I am glad to hear that you are doing so well!!

I do think that you are tempting fate with the statement above, so break out the styptic and bandages and keep them close at hand!



I think you are so right..

Of course you are a freak, you shave with a straight razor. Kidding aside, I can't say I never cut myself with a straight but rarely and never bad enough to need styptic pencil or anything to control bleeding. The reason for that is in my sig line below. I also think that a long time shaving with DEs is beneficial in teaching prep and lathering. I have nicked myself with a DE many times and bad enough to need the styptic. I'm with you, I will be a straight razor shaver until the day I die.

It's pretty much inevitable with either.

I used to cut myself more with the cartridge razors, probably because I was paying less attention.

At some point, that distraction will come...

Hey, if we're opening a book on it, I bet the electric kettle in the bathroom gets you before the straight razor does! That's hardcore, risky, on the edge, shaving!
I wish i'd been that lucky. I just get over confident & it nick's me right when i think i've got it down. Usually 3rd pass, under the nose!

Originally Posted by ben.mid

Hey, if we're opening a book on it, I bet the electric kettle in the bathroom gets you before the straight razor does! That's hardcore, risky, on the edge, shaving!
I wish i'd been that lucky. I just get over confident & it nick's me right when i think i've got it down. Usually 3rd pass, under the nose!

I amazed me when I moved from England to the US that there were reugular electrical sockets all over the bathroom. Handy for boiling a kettle though.

I can't set the hot tap temp very high as we have two small children.

We have a saying in my line if work! "Familiarity breeds contempt" .


So, keeps us in the loop. I personally think we should set up a pool! Is that allowed here?


Good Luck,
Richard

My introduction to straights has been a bitmore bloody. So I think I'm one of the freaks here because I still loved it..

It seems like your so called clumsiness has been well compensated by a lot of patience..
I was just going for it after one or two sort of ok shaves...cut myself a bit and tried again.

Maarten