Straight Razors Are Making A Comeback

The straight razor is making a big comeback in the world of shaving.  A small portion of this resurgence comes from folks who realize that the investment will pay off when they no longer have to buy blades again.  Ever.  A much larger portion of new straight razor users are in thanks to the “shaving scene” in the recent James Bond movie, Skyfall.  Daniel Craig is shaved with the assistance of Naomie Harris and a Dovo #41 stainless steel razor.  Beautiful people, sex, and sharp metal objects…what’s not to like?  According to the straight razor manufacturer, Dovo, their sales have increased by more than 400% since the showing of that movie.  The problem with these new users is that many of them will end up buying junk and doing nothing better than slicing themselves up, or will not understand what they’re getting themselves into and will end up not sticking with it.  Straight razors are a great way to get an amazingly close shave, but they do require a new set of skills and a lot of patience.  Just to get started you’ll need a good quality shave ready straight razor (most straights are NOT shave ready out of the box and will need to be professionally honed before use), a strop to maintain the edge, a shaving brush and some good quality shaving soap or cream.  The key to all of this is the good quality SHAVE READY straight razor.  If your razor is made of junk steel or not properly honed then you’ll end up feeling and looking like you shaved using a tin can.  While straights can be found on eBay, etsy, and in antique shops unless you know what to look for those areas should be avoided.  There are simply too many duds out there.  Find a reputable dealer with shave ready straights to buy your gear from and be prepared to deal with a long learning curve.  While I have been using old school razors for a while now, I have only been shaving with a straight for about a month.  Below are my experience to date, hopefully my thoughts, failures, and successes will give you a good idea of what to expect and what to avoid when you first learn to use a straight razor.

I’m like a lot of traditional wet shavers, once I got the hang of safety razors and had played around with a lot of different gear I found myself wanting to expand my experiences and began looking at straight razors.  I initially put the idea out of my head by pointing out to myself that straight razors and their accompanying gear are significantly more expensive than safety razors and that paying for honing services once or twice a year would actually cost more than the amount that I would spend on double edge blades over the course of that same year, but those ideas didn’t last for too long.  I quickly realized that a well maintained straight razor and strop will last longer than I will and are worth the extra initial expense.  I also figured that if I learned to hone properly then I would be able to completely cut out the expense of blades or honing services. I already had a collection of soaps, creams and brushes, so that would not add to my costs.  I have a three year old daughter and have played baseball for years, so I already had mineral oil (A.K.A. baby oil) to use on the blade and neats foot oil to use on the strop.  A gift and careful searching of antique stores and eBay turned up a few decent straight razors for a fraction of the price that a new one would cost.  Whipped Dog provided me with a strop kit and barber’s hone that was well priced and effective.  Once I had the necessary basic gear, I had absolutely no other excuse…except that my razors weren’t as shave ready as I thought they were.  I attempted my first shaves using a straight razor and was extremely disappointed.  I knew that my technique wouldn’t be perfect, but those first shaves might as well have been done using a tin can.  No real hair loss and lots of irritation.  I was very frustrated, but I did some more research and decided that my razors just weren’t honed properly.  I took the necessary steps to correct the main problem and sent my Union Cutlery off to Larry at Whipped Dog to be honed (The Union Cutlery was the thinnest of my razors, and I figured that if I couldn’t shave with a professionally honed full hollow, then there was no hope for me at all).  My first few shaves with this newly honed razor were about what you would expect of a new straight razor user: sloppy, but effective.  I was able to ACTUALLY shave hair off, but I also managed to get some bad razor burn and several nicks.  I tore up my strop trying to get that particular essential skill down and thought that I might have had to replace it altogether.  Holding the razor actually took a lot more effort than I ever would have thought, its geometry was just so alien to me.  Thanks to my difficulty holding the razor properly I kept applying far too much pressure on the blade without realizing it and angling it far too aggressively.  My enthusiasm was high, but my skills were low.  I decided to take a few days off to let my face heal and to just get used to holding the razors while I worked on my stropping technique.

Well, it’s a few days later and I have made a new attempt to shave using a straight razor.  All I can say is that I am glad that I took a step back and took some time to evaluate things.  I still have a hard time getting my right side, because I just can’t seem to get the angle quite right when attempting to go against the grain on my jaw line.  I am ambidextrous thanks to a kindergarten teacher who didn’t know how to teach left handed children, but for whatever reason, trying to shave using a straight razor in my right hand is a no go…I guess the natural dominance of my left hand comes out when I try to master a new skill using my “off” hand (I switch hands constantly when I eat or write and I can shoot, throw, bat, and catch with either hand, but apparently not shave with either hand).   I’m not massacring my upper lip anymore, but I have to be VERY slow and deliberate, especially around the nostrils.  I’m not as bendy at 33 as I was at 23, so my back is killing me as I unconsciously lean over the counter to try to get the angles right…my mind seems to believe that if I get closer to my mirror self that I will somehow be able to adjust easier. On the up side I have my stropping pretty well down, and have now sanded all of the battle scars off of my poor man’s strop.  I have also added a Col. Conk/Dovo hanging strop with a linen back to my arsenal (I got it off of eBay in like new condition for the amazingly low price of $20, which is a hell of a lot better price than the $60 it goes for at most online vendors’ sites or the insane $90 price that The Art of Shaving sells it for).  I really like the little strop and have an easy time using it, in spite of its small size.  I am getting much less irritation than I was when I started and received zero, count them, zero nicks today.  I’m not actively trying to go faster, but my improved technique and amended expectations have made me more efficient, so my total shaving time for a two pass shave is down to just over twenty minutes, which is MUCH faster than it was when I started, but no where near the five to ten minutes that it takes me to do a three pass shave with a safety razor.  I am still taking it slow, but I am improving and looking forward to better and better results.

Today I used a superlather of Pre De Provence soap and eShave White Tea with great results, this was exactly what I needed to jump back into straight razor shaving.  (A superlather is created when a soap is lather together with a cream in order to produce a thicker and more interesting final result.). My superlather was thick and creamy and left my skin feeling soft, smooth, and with a pleasant after scent.  The large loft on my Omega brush allowed me to have plenty of lather loaded up so that I could refresh as I needed rather than having it dry out as I took my time with my shave.  I did a two pass with the grain/against the grain shave followed by a cold water rinse and ended up with a damn fine shave.  Not quite baby butt smooth, but I’m OK with that, it will come with practice.  Very little irritation and no nicks.  A good overall shave, and a happy return to the wonderful world of straight razors.

Pre: Hot shower & warm water splash
Razor: Union Cutlery 5/8
Brush: Omega 11137
Soap: Superlather of Pre De Provence and eShave White Tea
Post: Cold water rinse

Product Links:

While my Union Cutlery is a vintage blade and is not generally available for sale, here are some good links for the purchase of good quality, shave ready straight razors, all of these vendors will have good quality strops as well:

http://www.whippeddog.com/

http://www.vintagebladesllc.com/

http://www.maggardrazors.com/

Here’s a link for the Omega 11137 boar brush:

http://www.qedusa.com/omega-omega-11137-boar-bristle-shaving-brush-p-321.html

Here’s a link for Pre De Provence soap:

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=361594&catid=307497&aid=338666&aparam=goobase_filler&device=c&network=g&matchtype=

http://www.mensdirect.com/product/eShave-Shave-Cream/shaving-creams

Shave Of The Day (01 May 2013)

I like to share my experiences and thoughts on the various shave gear that I use and enjoy, so I’ll be posting my daily shaves for folks to browse through and learn from.  If you have any questions in regards to any of the gear that I use then feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer your questions.  I am not affiliated with any online vendors, but to help folks who may be looking for good gear I will post links at the end of my posts showing you where the gear that was used in my shave can be purchased.

Pre: Hot shower and warm water splash
Brush: Muhle HJM 41-P-3H tortoise shell boar
Razor: Edwin Jagger DE86
Blade: Croma Diamant
Soap: De Vergulde Hand Extra Fris
Post: Cold water rinse

I received a nice little gift of Croma Diamant razor blades from a member of The Shave Nook forum who saw that I was interested in trying them out.  Inspired by these German made blades, I decided to set up a Germanic themed shave.  Starting with a Croma Diamant blade (made by the same folks who make Bolzanos) in an Edwin Jagger DE86 (Ok, the EJ is English, but EJ and Muhle products were developed together and are all pretty much interchangeable…plus the English are a fairly Germanic group of folks, even if that part of their ancestry is a bit far in the past).  I pulled out my workhorse Muhle boar brush and soaked it while I took my shower.  My puck of DVH Extra Firs (a Dutch soap) also sat soaking.

First things first, De Vergulde Hand Extra Fris has an awful scent and I do not like it, but the scent calms down when lathered and leaves a very pleasant after scent on my skin.  It may start off overly harsh and sharp smelling, but it ends light and clean.  I have used this soap about a half dozen times and have nothing but good things to say about it (other than the initial scent, that is).  The soap loaded into my brush amazingly fast and lathered up so thick and creamy that it could have been mistaken for whipped cream.  The soap applied smoothly and provided an excellent surface for my razor to work on.  The Edwin Jagger glided smoothly and the Croma blade provided a glassy smooth shave with zero irritation or nicks.  I performed a three pass shave and ended with my usual cold water rinse.  The results were a BBS shave along with one of the most pleasant shaving experiences that I have ever had.  I went into this shave expecting a difficult to use and harsh blade, but I am happy to say that I was 100% wrong.  Unlike the Bolzano blades, which I DID find to be overly harsh, the Cromas were surprisingly smooth and forgiving.  If these blades continue to perform as well as they have in their initial outing, then I will be happy to place them in my top 5 blades list.

The Muhle brush can be purchased here:
http://www.shoeboxshaveshop.com/mu41babotosh.html

The Edwin Jagger Razor can be purchased from the same vendor here:
http://www.shoeboxshaveshop.com/edjadide.html

The Croma Diamant blades can be purchased here:
http://www.razorbladesandmore.com/content/10-croma-diamant-stainless-steel-double-edge-blades

The De Vergulde Hand Extra Fris soap can be purchased here:
http://www.royalshave.com/p/422-079-00/de-vergulde-hand-shaving-soap-extra-fresh.html

Old Timey Shaving

About seven or eight months ago I was wandering around the shaving aisle of Target and getting increasingly annoyed.  I had stretched my last razor cartridge beyond usefulness and absolutely needed to buy more, but the price of the cartridges had just gone up…again.  It was the second time in the last year that the price of my chosen cartridges had been increased, this time to $24/six.  I couldn’t believe how expensive the simple task of removing hair from my face had become.  At nearly $10 a can the shaving gel was not much better.  I was finally fed up.  I took to the internet looking for cheaper sources of shaving gear and accidentally stumbled across an article about how to cut costs.  One of the things that this article talked about was abandoning cartridge razors in favor of the much more economical safety razor.  I had no idea what a safety razor was or how to find one, but the article stated that their blades could often be found for as little as $0.10/blade.  This, of course, lead to yet another internet search.  What I found was nothing short of miraculous.

As it turned out, safety razors (A.K.A. DE razors or double edge razors) are the old fashioned razors that you grandfather probably used every day of his life.  They use a single double edged razor blade and shave with much less irritation and much more closely than today’s typical cartridge razors.  I found several articles and forums discussing the benefits of using these old school razors.  There is even an entire subculture of folks who call themselves “traditional wet shavers” and who actively collect, use, and review razors, blades, soaps, creams, and brushes.  Apparently the number of folks who are dissatisfied with the typical shaving gear of today is growing and, as a result, fueling the growing trend of a return to traditional shaving gear.

Inspired by the possibility of not having to spend tons of money just to buy a few razor cartridges I made the switch and became a wet shaver.  I have been using DE razors, brushes, soaps, and creams for around six months now and couldn’t be more satisfied.  The initial set up was a bit expensive (it cost me just under $60 for a razor, brush, soap, blades, and a lather bowl), but the overall savings can not be denied.  A single puck of decent sized soap will last around four months, a bulk pack of 100 midrange blades costs around $10 and will last for more than a year.  With proper care, the razor and brush will last a lifetime.  There is a slight learning curve to using a safety razor successfully, but once you’ve figured out how to do it properly, using a safety razor correctly quickly becomes second nature. 

Ask yourself why you’re willing to shell out tons of money to support shaving gear companies when all they do is provide you with plastic junk and then charge you $20-$30 for the privilege of using that junk.  Is it because the shave is better than anything that has come before it?  Is it because five blades, a “moisture strip” and a vibrating handle is somehow better than the one blade and inanimate handle that almost everyone used in the past?  Or, is it because you didn’t realize that you had any choice in the matter?  I’m betting that  your answer will be the same as mine, that you had no idea that there was any other way of shaving.  Using traditional gear is less expensive, more effective, and a hell of a lot cooler than using the next five blade monstrosity that Gillette or Schick churns out.  Seeing the odd look on a person’s face when they see the weird shaving gear in your bathroom is a nice perk too.

Abandon the companies that are all too happy to suck your bank account dry and try something different, more effective, and less expensive.  Much of the gear that you need is probably available locally.  Crabtree & Evelyn, L’Occitane En Provence, Bath & Bodyworks, and The Bodyshop all sell traditional shaving soaps or creams (Bath & Bodyworks’ C.O. Bigelow in a 5.2oz. tube is a particularly good cream, costs $10, and will last for months).  Sally’s Beauty sells some cheap razors which, while not great, will get the job done.  WalMart, HEB, and Walgreen’s all sell Van Der Hagen soap (one of my favorites) for under $2/puck and often sell the Van Der Hagen Premium Shaving Set, which comes with a basic boar brush, a puck of Deluxe soap, and a lather bowl for under $10.  Kiss My Face shaving cream (a cream frequently held up as an excellent and locally available product) is often available in large 11oz. bottles at health food stores and grocery stores for under $8.  The Art of Shaving has some great creams and soaps and is a frequently sited source of local gear (including razors, blades, and brushes), but is quite pricey.  Flea markets and junk stores are often good places to look for old school razors, but many of these are in poor condition and will need some cleaning to make functional.  If you can’t find everything locally, then don’t get discouraged, just get online and do some searching, it’s all out there waiting for you.

Here are some links to some great forums where you can find out more about traditional wet shaving, DE razors, and all of the other gear:

http://theshaveden.com/forums/

http://shavenook.com/index.php

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/forum.php

Here are some links to various vendors who can provide you with good quality gear:

http://shaveabuck.com/

http://www.westcoastshaving.com/

http://www.bullgooseshaving.net/

http://www.connaughtshaving.com/index.html
(Connaught Shaving is based in the UK, but they have quick and cheap shipping and great prices on their soaps.)

Here are some YouTube videos that will give you a good idea of how to use all of this new gear: