I dunno. While I'd probably really enjoy a truly competent traditional barber shave, I've heard too many horror stories. I know the effort I've put into competently doing this to my own face, and I'm not sure I'd really want someone who only does it as an occasional sideshow with a shavette work on my face...
Straight Razor Resurgence
- Thread starter steve0580
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Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Great image, thanks for posting!
Cheers, Steve
Cheers, Steve
Every summer on vacation I get a shave. Full blown from several hot towels, brushed hot lather, cold compress, a bit o a massage AS. Could I do it better mysel? Absolutely.
But I enjoy the experience and the barber ( SHE ) is pretty hot. So yeah,, I enjoy myself.
And my wife was there and watched one time and said " There is something kinda ' kinky about this" watching another woman shave me. Boy did that get a laugh around the shop!
Yes dear so,,,, go away.
But I enjoy the experience and the barber ( SHE ) is pretty hot. So yeah,, I enjoy myself.
And my wife was there and watched one time and said " There is something kinda ' kinky about this" watching another woman shave me. Boy did that get a laugh around the shop!
Yes dear so,,,, go away.
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- Thread starter
- #25
I think we've just established the exception to the poor shave rule: hot barber (or is it barberette?) lathering, massaging and shaving you. Effectively, you had a clothed threesome with your wife and barber(ette).
Is this where we start queuing up jokes like "Is that a paddle strop or are you just happy to see me"?
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To get back to this threads original theme I like some of the other respondents, believe that straight razor shaving is being rediscovered because it's a great way of getting meditative quality time in an otherwise modern and hence stressful life. Besides it's an old manly skill that feels really good to master.
Saving money hasn't got anything to do with it. A high quality straight razor isn't cheap, nor is the other gear that seems to be self reproducing.
Saving money hasn't got anything to do with it. A high quality straight razor isn't cheap, nor is the other gear that seems to be self reproducing.
I'd have to add that men are more into grooming today. It got lost during the late 80' and 90's. Now more and more men are starting to notice that a nice shave doesn't need to be something to dread.
I'm sure it's *possible* to save money straight shaving.. we just *choose* not to 
In theory, I could probably shave for the rest of my life on one 10 dollar straight, 30 dollars worth of film or a small finishing stone to touch it up very occasionaly, and let's say 20 bucks of strop, and a 10 dollar brush. Since I'm roughing it, i dunno, how long can I get out of a stick of arko or a puck of williams? let's say I'll spend 2 dollars a month on soap.
So 70 bucks and 2 bucks a month?
A cart might cost me 10 bucks, and 2 bucks a week for carts. Edge shave goo is 5.50 at wal mart, let's say can lasts a month.
so 10 bucks and 13.50 a month..
So I'm ahead of the game after 7 months or so.
But I'm shaving all the time with Williams.. Or Arko...
Of course I can spend a lot more if I was using the latest five bladed Gilette horror..... Considering I paid a lot less for the last Filarmonica that followed me home than this: http://goo.gl/FNPyrn
In theory, I could probably shave for the rest of my life on one 10 dollar straight, 30 dollars worth of film or a small finishing stone to touch it up very occasionaly, and let's say 20 bucks of strop, and a 10 dollar brush. Since I'm roughing it, i dunno, how long can I get out of a stick of arko or a puck of williams? let's say I'll spend 2 dollars a month on soap.
So 70 bucks and 2 bucks a month?
A cart might cost me 10 bucks, and 2 bucks a week for carts. Edge shave goo is 5.50 at wal mart, let's say can lasts a month.
so 10 bucks and 13.50 a month..
So I'm ahead of the game after 7 months or so.
But I'm shaving all the time with Williams.. Or Arko...
Of course I can spend a lot more if I was using the latest five bladed Gilette horror..... Considering I paid a lot less for the last Filarmonica that followed me home than this: http://goo.gl/FNPyrn
You should get banned for posting that link. I've just woken up and I still haven't had breakfast [emoji33] .
To be serious, as you write it's of course possible to save money, and very many in third world countries do. You could even say that I do as well if you label one set of basic equipment as "shaving gear" and all the rest as "hobby and recreation". I could sell the hobby part and live unhappy ever after with a 20mm boar brush, a cheap worn down 5/8 vintage straight and a stick of Arko (please make it scent free!), but I'd have a hard time finding another hobby that would give me as much variation, relaxation and joy in the morning (well at least if I'm to stay happily married).
To be serious, as you write it's of course possible to save money, and very many in third world countries do. You could even say that I do as well if you label one set of basic equipment as "shaving gear" and all the rest as "hobby and recreation". I could sell the hobby part and live unhappy ever after with a 20mm boar brush, a cheap worn down 5/8 vintage straight and a stick of Arko (please make it scent free!), but I'd have a hard time finding another hobby that would give me as much variation, relaxation and joy in the morning (well at least if I'm to stay happily married).
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I take 1 hour to relax, switch off my brain, listen to his stories ...(barbers know everything about everyone��
a true authentic pleasure. Old times where good for this kind of things.
Oh, how I envy you...
I figure that I have to live to be 435 to break even.
I have persuaded some of my friends to try DE's, but when they ask me which is my favourite and I tell them that I use straights and japanese kamasori's they look at me like I've suddenly grown a second head (just call me Zaphod).
Cheers, George
I believe there is definitely something to be said about a good straight razor shave or even a shave with a DE. After some long thought, I decided to start straight razor shaving around Christmas last year and have not looked back. Now I only shave like 3-4 times a week, not every day, but I absolutely love it. It takes time, and with anything that takes time, it takes patience and persistence. I feel like each time I shave I learn something new. And every time I read posts on here I find some other product that I want to try or a new straight razor I want to buy. Hence why I now own three lol. My son just turned four and I look forward to the day that I can teach him how to shave and not just toss him some electric razor or some disposable in which blades costs a fortune.
kinda meditation. Just careing for yourself.
I shave ever two days and always its kinda deccellerating the daytoday things in the end.
sorry fir eventual missspelling [emoji15]
I 100% switched to a straight because of the cost of cartridges. What do you get for a $60 package of replacement blades....absolutely nothing. You throw every single one of them away. How often do you go to Costco or where-ever to replace them...2 times a year, maybe 3. Every single piece of them, including the voluminous plastic packaging, goes into a landfill. I can't use an electric, for some reason it just doesn't agree with me.
I have to admit I was surprised how well a straight shaved. Big Razor hypes the closeness of the shave but a single pass with a straight is at the very, very least as good. The only thing you get from a cart is the convenience. Is it safer...I think you could debate that, however the consequences of a mishap with a cart are pretty low. So slow down...as many of the gents have mentioned on this site, we as a society are constantly sprinting around. I don't think relearning some old techniques and slowing down the pace of our lives is a bad thing in this case.
Just my 2 cents (whew) (gets down from soapbox)
I have to admit I was surprised how well a straight shaved. Big Razor hypes the closeness of the shave but a single pass with a straight is at the very, very least as good. The only thing you get from a cart is the convenience. Is it safer...I think you could debate that, however the consequences of a mishap with a cart are pretty low. So slow down...as many of the gents have mentioned on this site, we as a society are constantly sprinting around. I don't think relearning some old techniques and slowing down the pace of our lives is a bad thing in this case.
Just my 2 cents (whew) (gets down from soapbox)
$35 bucks for a shave
, seems a little high to me, hope that comes with a beautiful babe in a bikini, sitting in my lap, while she gives me the works, then it would be close to price warranted.
A couple of thoughts:I am not a barber, but I would not want to give a shave to anyone with the works for less than $35. I think that is a reasonable price for 30 minutes of nirvana. Mango brings up a completely valid point regarding social interactions that were the norm just a few decades ago. I think that we are raising a generation of social misfits where the only real relationship is with a smart phone. Lastly, I was attracted to learning how to shave like George Washington shaved. That and I am a sharp steel freak. Honing a hunk of steel and shaving with it is the draw for me.
I've had a shave from a local barber in his 80s and brought one of my straights for him to use. No legal issues there.
As for me, I was 24 when I switched to DEs, and it was the price of Gillettes that made me switch. I switched to straights about a year later out of sheer curiosity and used both for a while, then pretty much exclusively straights by age 26. Haven't looked back. Forget the price issue, it's just a much better shave imho.
As for me, I was 24 when I switched to DEs, and it was the price of Gillettes that made me switch. I switched to straights about a year later out of sheer curiosity and used both for a while, then pretty much exclusively straights by age 26. Haven't looked back. Forget the price issue, it's just a much better shave imho.
It would seem there is a resurgence going on. I started DE shaving about a year and a half ago. After spending a lot of time looking at different kit it seemed like straight shaving was the next step if you will. I'm really into the way things "used to be done" anyway song thought I'd give it a try. Love it to death and plan to keep exploring this fun new world I've discovered. Also a big thanks to all the "old school" guys around here that have been doing this for years that have been such a tremendous help to newbies like me.
This is precisely the reason that I went over to straight razor and DE shaving. I was already using a brush and mug for lather at the time, and I was using a Fusion cartridge setup. I made the cartridges last before I broke down and decided to spring for new ones. The naive me thought that I'd be able to get a pack of 10 or so for $15; after I saw the real price (pack of 5 for $30) and picked my jaw off the floor, I threw my hands up and decided to go the whole route with old school style shaving. I decided that the same $30 I would've spent on cartridges would buy me a good straight that I could keep going with forever. I dropped $60 or so for a new badger brush, Proraso soap, a strop and a Whipped Dog razor.
I haven't saved any money, what with ADs and all, but my shave quality went way up as a result.
On the subject of barber shop shaves, I've had a couple so far. Both were decent, but as a now experienced user of straights, I can't help but grade the shaves based on the metric of what I know of them and against my own shaves. In both cases, I found them wanting. They weren't disappointing in the sense that they were bad experiences...it was more that I found my own work to be better.
I think the concept of the barber shop shave is a good one, but it isn't the every day or even an every week thing that men used to do. It's become more of a novelty or an experience for the modern man, a form of pampering if you will.
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