The preservation of man: My first double edged razor shave
“It’s just me and the you now” I thought to myself as I looked down at the razor resting gently on the bathroom sink. I eyed my trusty Mach 3 sitting in it’s cup to the side and felt a pang of guilt. I’d had it for over a decade and it was pretty much all I’d known when it came to shaving.
If this experiment worked, then if nothing else it had earnt its retirement.
The kettle popped and pulled me from the bathroom. Carrying the kettle in I poured it into the tub I’d set aside, the water roughing up the towel inside and searing it with heat. Turning back to the mirror I placed a generous dollop of cream into my small makeshift mixing bowl and began to twirl my brush.
It’s quite a thing to watch shaving cream form from a little blob into a mass of wondrous lather, it made for a refreshing change to the usual pressurised cylinder variety I was so used to. The difference was like store bought whipped cream and doing it yourself, refreshingly delicious.
As I’d seen in the videos I’d watched the night before I picked up the brush and began to gently mash it into my face. Small circles facilitated the spread of the lather and after a few minutes I had a loose white beard.
Handling the towel with my barehands was a blistering mistake. I’ll be sure to pop on some gloves next time as it turns out wringing out hot water is not for the faint hearted. Gently pressing the towel to my face afterwards forced me to close my eyes and drift away. At least momentarily until my three minutes were up.
Wiping away the foam I set the towel down and again began the ritual that would become increasingly familiar to me. With my face prepped and ready I picked up the razor and held it firm.
“This is it.” I thought to myself.
“This is what it’s all been building towards. I wonder, if this doesn’t work out who will be the one to find me in my bathroom? He died, razor in hand and bleeding to death. What a terrible way to die.”
That was the last thought I had as I placed the razor to my cheek and felt the blade gently pull at my skin.
Shaving with a double edged razor for the first time makes you feel like a child. Everything you knew with a safety razor pretty much goes out the window.
The process fast becomes a battle between getting the blade angle just right and desperately trying to not commit the bad habits you’ve picked up from years of using a safety blade you couldn’t slice butter with even if you tried.
From the preperation beforehand to the actual usage of the blade the entire experience seemed very therapeutic and relaxing. Far more so then a massage or a spa which leave me more tired then anything else. Wet shaving was somewhat of a relaxed awakening and I can’t wait to make it part of my morning ritual.
Currently I’m shaving every night this week. The closeness of the shave is more then enough to last through the working day the next morning and this way if I make any mistakes I’ve got a good nights sleep to recover from them.
Thankfully the damage from my first shave wasn’t that bad. Although I did manage to mess up the right side of my neck with a fair few superficial nicks. I’m happy to report though that I didn’t cut myself once which was a great relief.
I did three passes for this pilot run, with the grain, across the grain and then against. All up it took me forty three minutes including prep, there’s obviously a lot of work to come if I want to be able to do it all in 10-12 minutes.
Aside from the minor nicks I had no rash to speak of and my face felt alive as I gently patted it down with some aftershave.
Something about wet shaving with a razor just feels right. It’s a time honored tradition and finally doing it properly released a great sense of pride in me. I felt like in my own little world I’ve somehow helped to re-instate a forgotten craft. If masculinity was an endangered species in our modern metro plagued time, well hell I was a conservationist.
The art of shaving with a double edged razor is not something I’m going to learn overnight but it is something I’m actually looking forward to exploring and mastering. It’s a strange feeling being excited about something I’ve done at least twice a week for the last ten years.
If only everything in life was this achievable.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:52 am Van(Quote)
You, my friend, are a braver man than I.
Some time back I had given thought to the straight razors and double edge but came to two conclusions.
1) I hate shaving as it is, do I really have the… well… can I spend a lot of time prepping to do something that I hate. No. I cannot.
2) I’d totally mess up – because I was in a rush – and I’d look like I was in a street fight.
I’m glad it’s working for you! I’ve been told they are the best shaves…
June 21st, 2009 at 6:48 pm hubbahoo(Quote)
I told you so!
I might add that, the most important process in the DE routine is the actual shave. Sure the prep is nice and all, but so long as you adequately hydrate your face while you shower, use good technique and a reasonable blade , you could use the aerosol can and achieve similar results.
when im skimping on time i often use the DE tricks with a cartridge razor. similarly if your skilled enough, you could do a cartridge style prep and use a DE.
Also can i suggest you do four passes, one with, two across (both directions) and a final against. Reason being, the against pass is the most potentially irritating of the passes, and with proper DE technique you should try to avoid excacerbating any potential reaction you might ordinarily get.
Besides in my experience- the two middle stages could almost be one, as you can do both directions without relathering.
I’m glad that the DE experience is working out for you!!
August 29th, 2009 at
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