Electric Shavers

I hate shaving too and have sensitive skin. I tried an el-cheapo leccy shaver many years ago that was unsuprisingly rubbish.

I'm always tempted to get a decent electric razor but don't want so splash out on something that I'll only use once and hate.

So I just shave on Mondays and Wednesdays, go to work slightly scruffy on Tuesdays and Thursdays, work from home on Fridays and look like a tramp by Sunday night

As a bit of a tangent, I once bought a "Maveric T-3000" beard trimmer from Century 21 in downtown Manhattan to keep the goatie I had then in trim. Got it home to find that someone had clearly bought it, used it, and then returned it to the store for a refund. And they must have got rid of a fair beard with it, because there was stubble everywhere

God I miss a proper blade shave. I never learned to do it myself, but my barber used to do it. When AIDS came to the forefront, all the barbers I know quit doing it at all. You know, possibility of blood and such. But MAN, that's a close shave. Trivia: How many know that barbers used to do dentistry as well? And before that, the were blood-letters, for releasing evil spirits.

Exactly. Too bad the poles are starting to disappear.

The place where i ordered my shaving set (including 'teach yourself classic shaving' manual in dutch):

http://www.shaving-and-razor-shop.com

in antwerp does lessons for it too:

http://www.shaving-and-razor-shop.com/NL/Cursus.htm

I finally got my safety razor yesterday and shaved with it last night. So far (one shave), I really like it.

My first impression was that it was much smaller than I was expecting.

My second impression was that it was incredibly sharp. Obviously, this has to do with the blade I put in it (also Merkur -- ordered ten with the razor, plus it came with one), but I expected to have a hard time getting through the four or five days of beard I had. It cut through it without any effort at all.

My next impression was that it was really fast. It seemed like I shaved in half the time that it normally takes me. This might have to do with the fact that I regularly go for four or five days without shaving and the new razors ability to not be affected by that.

My next impression was that it shaved really closely without irritating my skin. I didn't use anything fancy to shave with, just the same gel and witch hazel I usually use.

I did notice that I didn't shave under my nose well. This morning I figured out how to get the large head directly underneath my nose without slicing my lip open. I found that the best way was to push up on my nostril with the top of the razor until I got the blade above the mustache.

I didn't do such a great job on my neck and throat, but that's always been a problem area for me; my beard grows in circles there.

On the other hand, I was assured that I would cut myself the first time I used it. I did not.

Anyway, so far, I'm really happy. I'll have to see how it goes long-term.

Thae's what I started out with - essentially King Gillette's original invention - but I had to give it up, because I couldn't get the blades.
Now I use a Gillette triple blade: I forget its name, and I don't think it's any better.

As far as I know, they're the same size blades that have been used since this type of razor came out in 1903. It's that same very thin steel with the wobbly cutout in the middle.

Like these:

What do you need to do for maintenance on something like that ? Like how often / how do you sharpen it ?

Just thought I'd follow up on the safety razor thing.

I've been really pleased with the whole thing, even more so since I started using a good glycerin-based shaving cream instead of the alcohol-based stuff-in-a-can. My only complaints are the difficulty in shaving directly under my nose and the fact that the blades seem to get dull faster than I'd like.

But if you've ever been unhappy with the way shaving worked, I'd still very much encourage you to try either a single-blade razor or a better shaving cream, or both.

I also shave with a straight razor. It took a good 6 months for me to become totally comfortable with it. I'd tried every other combination of electrics and safety razors. The straight razor gives the best and most comfortable shave -- after you learn how to use it. Expect to need to use your other razor to "clean up" when you are learning, because you won't be able to get every area until you learn how to hold and maniuplate the razor. Shaving takes *very* little pressure down onto the skin (none, actually), and until you develop this sensitivity, you end up pressing the razor normal to the skin surface because you're used to doing this with every other shaving method that doesn't cut as well. This results in little cuts that aren't painful, but look kinda funny.

I learned by hunting down a copy of the American Standard Textbook of Barbering, from 1935. Its difficult to find literature on the subject now. There is a forum, formerly a Yahoo group called Straight Razor Place that has an archive of files, including scans from various barber textbooks showing shaving technique and razor preparation.

You need to strop the razor every use and sometimes halfway through a shave. In fact, I've learned that proper stropping is the most important aspect of the whole thing. For this, you need a good razor strop, horse hide on one side and canvas on the other. You use a grease on the leather side and a silicon-dioxide paste on the canvas side. Stropping only takes about 20-30 seconds.

Stropping technically is not "sharpening". The strop actually polishes the cutting edge, which is really just microscopic sharpening. The razor should be sharp enough to cut a hanging hair, or to "dig in" when you move it across the hair on your arm. Sharpening doesn't get it this sharp, that's what the strop does.

If you strop properly, you should only need to sharpen the razor on a hone every few years, potentially never if you treat the razor well. Using the hone is another skill entirely. I use a Norton Waterstone (an amazing high-tech hone) for putting the final edge on the razor, and a Belgian stone hone for heavy sharpening such as for removing a nick. Like I said, if you treat the razor well, you shouldn't need to do this very often. It's been 3 years since either of my razors has seen the hone and they both shave just fine.

Others will say they can feel deterioration of the blade after 10-15 shaves and will re-hone. That might be true, but the razor still works fine and I don't bother with sharpening (honing) until I really need to.

You can get a video called The Lost Art of Straight Razor Shaving where a master barber shows you how to properly lather, strop and hone. It has *some* information about shaving, but the video is mostly about how to hold and care for the razor.

A good glycerin-based shaving soap is another important aspect of getting a good shave. I use George F. Trumper hard soaps and glycerin-based creams. They are great. Using a badger-hair brush to work the shaving soap into the beard makes a big difference also. The brush helps pack the soap around the hair, making it stand up and allowing for a closer shave. The video shows how to hold the brush for best results. You don't just hold it by the handle, you stick your thumb and first two fingers into the bristles to make the brush somewhat stiffer.

I've found that I get vastly fewer ingrown hairs around the collar when shaving with the straight razor. I almost never experience razor burn any more. The shave is so close that I can get away with shaving every other day even though I have a pretty heavy beard. With every electric I tried, I needed a shave by 4pm. I basically look like that now on the 2nd morning after I've shaved. The next morning my beard looks about the same as it did immediately after shaving with an electric.