Calgary Herald Newspaper :Why traditional straight-razor shaving is making a comeback

I saw this article from the Calgary Herald Newspaper today and thought I should share...

http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/f...g+comeback/9054528/story.html?__lsa=bf02-22da

That was a great article.

a few excerpts from the article:

“Shaving has become a nice, sensory ritual,” Fewell says. “It smells good. It feels good. And my skin reacts well to it.”

“Men have been told that shaving is a pain for so long,” says Knifewear owner Kevin Kent. “But I argue that, when done right, it’s meaningful ritual. It’s a moment of focus and self-indulgence in the morning. And it feels good.”

All true. Thanks for sharing that.

Nice. I concur.

It's nice to see wet shaving in the news, but I think the writer neglected to fully research the topic.

They state that safety razor blades cost a dollar a piece and last an entire month.

The funny bit is that I bought a shavette many, many years ago after seeing a movie that had a straight razor in it. I don't remember which movie it was, unfortunately but that's pretty much how I started, abandoned the idea and then, finally found B&B.

All of this to say that if a tv show or movie shows wetshaving or traditional wetshaving, it boosts the popularity of the hobby and that's awesome!

"A safety razor is a little less dangerous. But only a little..."

Seriously? I will admit that a Futur will cut you like an angry cell mate. But beyond that, the vast majority of safety razors are damn near toothless. I mean, I can cut my finger just as easily on a 5 blade vacuum cleaner as a Tech.

The article makes it out that we're all being told to do this by movies and television...

"We can likely thank Hollywood for at least some of the resurgence. The suave Don Draper made it look pretty easy on the TV show Mad Men. (A little too easy, in fact. Who isn’t sort of surprised he still has his adam’s apple?)"

"Then there’s the sexy scene in Skyfall, where James Bond’s lover, straight razor in hand, takes care of his, uh, whiskers"

I honestly disagree that popular culture is really influencing the wet shaving movement as much as they may have us believe. I'm sure some have been inspired to take a closer look at wet shaving by a movie but I think more are motivated by dissatisfaction with cartridges and disposables

“Men have been told that shaving is a pain for so long,” says Knifewear owner Kevin Kent. “But I argue that, when done right, it’s meaningful ritual. It’s a moment of focus and self-indulgence in the morning. And it feels good.”

I have to take issue with that statement. Men haven't been told it's a pain, they've been told shaving with razor x will get you laid or force water to leap from your sink and hit you in the face. They KNOW it's a pain, because it's painful. The second end of his statement is more or less true.

"A straight razor — sometimes called a “cutthroat” razor — is a long blade with a handle attached."

I really dislike the term cutthroat. Not only is it fairly uncommon, but it perpetuates this idea that it's too dangerous to attempt. Driving is way more dangerous. Also, a cutthroat is a trout, a pirate, a murderer or aggressive behavior. A cut throat is a throat that has been cut. A cut-throat is a razor. I know I'm nit picking.

“One of our customers, he says there’s nothing like starting the day with a straight razor held next to your jugular,”

Can we not pretend this is good PR?

The repetition of the use of Knifewear makes me wonder if... oh I don't know... this is an advertisement? After all it does appear 9 times.

I don't want to be... cutthroat... about it, but this really doesn't strike me in a positive way.

Shazam! I better read it again.

I still get the same vibe George did.

General__Specific said:

The repetition of the use of Knifewear makes me wonder if... oh I don't know... this is an advertisement? After all it does appear 9 times.

Click to expand...

I am not surprised....they are about all we have for a local retailer specialising in such things, so that would be where the reporter went for 'pro' information.

General__Specific said:

"A safety razor is a little less dangerous. But only a little..."

Seriously? I will admit that a Futur will cut you like an angry cell mate. But beyond that, the vast majority of safety razors are damn near toothless.
<snip>

&#8220;Men have been told that shaving is a pain for so long,&#8221; says Knifewear owner Kevin Kent. &#8220;But I argue that, when done right, it&#8217;s meaningful ritual. It&#8217;s a moment of focus and self-indulgence in the morning. And it feels good.&#8221;

I have to take issue with that statement. Men haven't been told it's a pain, they've been told shaving with razor x will get you laid or force water to leap from your sink and hit you in the face. They KNOW it's a pain, because it's painful. The second end of his statement is more or less true.

<snip>

Click to expand...

Excellent points (and very funny).
Someday I want to try a Futur just to see if it will cut me like an angry cellmate.

I'm not a wet shaving apologist, so my view may be a little more objective. This was a dumb and sloppily-written article.

Any press is good press, for the fanatic, but I'm a bit embarrassed.

Wow, rough crowd. This reporter holds a Masters degree in Journalism so she is not as green a professional reporter as some suggest.

Reality check Gentleman. I am making a reasonable assumption that since this reporter is female, she does not possess personal experience with DE or Straight Razor shaving, sometimes called a Cut Throat razor (sorry, couldn't resist), so in that context, this is actually a well presented article IMHO. There are a lot of technical elements to wet shaving that trip's up the most informed novice and one of the reasons why B&B is a indispensable tool to many. Many of us have been shaving for decades, spend countless hours on the Internet watching geofatboy and mantic shaving video's, blogging on B&B, amassing and testing enough shaving gear to adequately supply and shave an Army unit for eternity so expecting joe public or in this case, a female lifestyle column reporter to attain a superior level of knowledge and comprehension of wet shaving is unrealistic.

The bottom line is this is a lifestyle fluff article on straight razor shaving and not a wet shaving how to manual. In that context, I found it well presented.

I will take the middle ground here (I think). It was good PR for traditional shaving, but it was fairly sloppily done. I'm guessing the reporter is usually engaged in fluff/PR pieces. It is insults my intelligence a bit, but there are some good things to take out of it.

Agreed, it is a feature article not hard news. As feature articles go it is pretty well written: the author cites multiple sources, even if some of them are pop culture references.

Still, there is room for improvement. My first objection was to the lede: "Like all men, Chris Fewell has to shave." All men? Someone should tell that to Ben Bernanke, to pick one example. Or just look around the newsroom: male journalists often sport full beards. Estimating the percentage of men who do not shave, http://www.statisticbrain.com/shaving-statistics/ says 10%; plus another 15% who do not shave every day.

Good to see wet shaving is getting more press

I wouldn't be too critical. She had a certain number of column inches to fill, on a topic with which she is totally unfamiliar. Given a couple of weeks she could have learned enough to write an article that would pass with this, her most knowledgeable and worst possible congress of critics, the membership of B&B. But obviously that was not an option, and she had a deadline to meet, and all in all the article does shed a positive light on manly shaving. I am sure it inspired someone out there to give it a go, or at least do a little googling. I am sort of pleased with the article, myself.

A fantastic article! May it convert many to the manly art of the wet shave!

I like this part of the article;


straight razor — sometimes called a “cutthroat” razor — is a long blade with a handle attached. Some fold into a protective cover. Others must be carefully picked up to avoid losing skin. You sharpen one by refreshing it on a strop. You’ll know it needs to be sharpened when it pulls, rather than cuts, your whiskers when you use it.

A safety razor is a little less dangerous. But only a little. The device holds a replaceable blade in a metal handle; every few weeks or so, you can pop out the blade and put in a sharp new one

General__Specific said:

"A safety razor is a little less dangerous. But only a little..."

Seriously? I will admit that a Futur will cut you like an angry cell mate. But beyond that, the vast majority of safety razors are damn near toothless. I mean, I can cut my finger just as easily on a 5 blade vacuum cleaner as a Tech.

The article makes it out that we're all being told to do this by movies and television...

"We can likely thank Hollywood for at least some of the resurgence. The suave Don Draper made it look pretty easy on the TV show Mad Men. (A little too easy, in fact. Who isn&#8217;t sort of surprised he still has his adam&#8217;s apple?)"

"Then there&#8217;s the sexy scene in Skyfall, where James Bond&#8217;s lover, straight razor in hand, takes care of his, uh, whiskers"

I honestly disagree that popular culture is really influencing the wet shaving movement as much as they may have us believe. I'm sure some have been inspired to take a closer look at wet shaving by a movie but I think more are motivated by dissatisfaction with cartridges and disposables

&#8220;Men have been told that shaving is a pain for so long,&#8221; says Knifewear owner Kevin Kent. &#8220;But I argue that, when done right, it&#8217;s meaningful ritual. It&#8217;s a moment of focus and self-indulgence in the morning. And it feels good.&#8221;

I have to take issue with that statement. Men haven't been told it's a pain, they've been told shaving with razor x will get you laid or force water to leap from your sink and hit you in the face. They KNOW it's a pain, because it's painful. The second end of his statement is more or less true.

"A straight razor &#8212; sometimes called a &#8220;cutthroat&#8221; razor &#8212; is a long blade with a handle attached."

I really dislike the term cutthroat. Not only is it fairly uncommon, but it perpetuates this idea that it's too dangerous to attempt. Driving is way more dangerous. Also, a cutthroat is a trout, a pirate, a murderer or aggressive behavior. A cut throat is a throat that has been cut. A cut-throat is a razor. I know I'm nit picking.

&#8220;One of our customers, he says there&#8217;s nothing like starting the day with a straight razor held next to your jugular,&#8221;

Can we not pretend this is good PR?

The repetition of the use of Knifewear makes me wonder if... oh I don't know... this is an advertisement? After all it does appear 9 times.

I don't want to be... cutthroat... about it, but this really doesn't strike me in a positive way.

Click to expand...

Most likely Knifewear threw her or the Paper a little something. Maybe they had a meeting somewhere and he passed on check or $$ under the table for a little product placement in the article that she wrote. Music Station DJ's and music producers do it all the time, its called Payola . The producers have meetings with famous and popular Music Station Disc Jockeys and they arrange for constant playing of a particular music artist record in exchange for money or favors. When i was growing up in Philly one of my mom's friends was a DJ at the old RCA building in Camden NJ. He would constantly play obsecure or fading artists records even though the playlist did not have them listed. [ DJ Pauly D of Jersey Shore made 13 million bucks last 3 years ] http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeel45eekje/12-dj-pauly-d-13-million-tie-4/