What You Need to Start Shaving Like a Man - Straight Razor Equipment

Straight razor shaving is the oldest form of shaving. While the open razor has undergone many transformations over the millennia, the principal has remained the same. From bronze, to crudely fashioned steel knives, to the modern hollow ground cut throat razor pioneered in the late 1800's, it has made an indelible dent in human history. The modern straight razor is still being used today. Even though it was under attack for most of the latter half of the 20th century, the open razor is making a comeback amongst a select few men and women who have rediscovered the joys of cut throat razor shaving.

 The reasons for the switch are many. For most people, they want a closer and irritation free shave. Perhaps they suffered from razor bumps. Some men desire the self-sufficiency a straight razor can provide. Such men take up the art for the sole reason of being able to sharpen their own razor themselves. Other men do it for the manliness aspect. It is undeniable that open razor shaving is the manliest way to shave.

Still others do it to save the environment. It is undeniable that using a cut throat razor produces much less waste than any other method; close to zero in fact. Whatever the reason, you can expect close and comfortable shaves if you master the art of the cut throat razor. Yet, there are so many products out there and they're pretty expensive.

Which ones are truly necessary and which ones are just optional? This article will guide you through what is absolutely needed, what is helpful, and what is just for luxury. Let's start with the razor. The most obvious requirement. Yet, not so obvious as to which one to buy. Modern makers include Dovo, Thiers Issard, and Wacker. Boker and Revisor have also started up production again. Also, there are custom makers and semi-custom makers.

The list can go on and on. Finally, there are vintage razors to be had from a song to hundreds of dollars. There's no escaping it, you need a straight razor. If you want a new one, buy from one of the mentioned makers. Purchase the razor that you like the look of; most of them are pretty similar. Stay away from square points, you don't want to poke your cheek with a pointy tip. Stay away from blades larger than 6/8" in width, any larger and they become unwieldy.

Only buy a new razor made in the USA, Germany, or France. The absolute minimalist setup is of course, just the cut throat razor. You can conceivably continue to use the canned shaving cream, although that's not recommended. Plus, you won't receive the full benefit of switching. That said, you do need a strop if you want to do more than just try a straight razor for a couple of shaves. If you don't strop your razor, you can expect your razor to go dull in about a week or two. If you can't afford a strop or are interested in a cheaper alternative, there are a few guides out there.

 You need a strop. There's not much getting around the fact. A strop is only a piece of leather though, so you can make your own. You don't want to purchase the finest strop made in the beginning. You're very likely to nick the strop learning how to strop. You will want a badger/boar/horsehair brush and soap. Straight razor shaving is part of traditional wet-shaving.

Not using a badger brush and hard soap is just doing it half-way. Plus, the traditional soaps are infinitely better and cheaper than canned goo. You may want some first aid items. Nicks while shaving are a fact of life. Even after over a decade of straight razor shaving, I still nick myself if I'm not concentrating. It's no worse than a cartridge, but it happens.

First aid consists of a styptic pencil and liquid band-aid or a moleskin. You may also want to look into an alum block. And that is it. If you want to be self-sufficient and put in the time necessary to learn yet another new skill, you can purchase a hone to keep your razor sharp. Or, you could do what most people do and send their razor out for sharpening. The cost is $10-$25. Truly a bargain at $10 considering you have to spend thousands of hours to become truly proficient at honing and spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to purchase the same equipment the pros use.

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A Little on How to Choose the Right Shaving Razor

It doesn't matter if you are a man, woman, or in some cases a child. At some point we need to shave either our faces, legs, or other areas to fit into society. But choosing the right razor can be difficult with all of the brands and lines of razors out there. I've been using a razor for almost 20 years so I'd like to let you in on some of my shaving tips.

 Picking the right razor can be difficult since it will depend on your type of skin and hair density. Wet shave razors are the choice of most and they come in reusable or disposable options. Although the disposable options are great, they are usually meant for a one time use and are made of a cheaper quality. The 3 most popular brands of razors are Schick, Gillette, and BIC. Gillette is the godfather of razors and had paved the way for the razor industry.

Schick comes as a close second in terms of reusable razors with disposable blades. BIC on the other hand is in a league that can not be compared to the other two because they solely focus on disposable razors. So which razor and brand do you choose? As I mentioned before it is going to depend on your skin and hair type. However, one of the keys to shaving is the shaving process itself.

You should use hot water but not so hot that it scorches the skin. Always make sure you use a new and sharp blade. With it you will need shaving foam that is lathered well in to the hairs on your face or legs. I suggest you try at least two brands and styles of razors before settling on one. I have found that some razors feel like hard plastic against your skin and others like a cats tongue.

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Best Shaving Razors For The Clean Shave

You've had a razor in your hand for years, however it does not hurts to sharpen your skills with the best shaving razors in order to avoid the excruciating pain. BM Vintage Shaving is one among the highest suppliers of highest quality old fashioned wet shaving merchandise. We deal solely with high quality wet shaving products, so you get your excellent wet shaving merchandise at very cheap costs while not having to surf the web for hours.

 Shaving could be a regular activity for many men. As long as you retain skin moisturized, going when straw on a commonplace is totally fine. As shaving have its own benefits. Shaving exfoliates skin and truly keeps it clean. With each scrape, you slough off a layer of dead skin cells, the ones that accumulate a lot of quickly with age and cause skin to seem sallow.

Our razor like merkur double edge razor has its benefits and this could be a nice razor, not solely within the hands of an expert, but, in the hands of any of you. The side is that the blade is directly creating contact with the skin which ends in an exceedingly super achievement. The dra back to other razors, is that while using them, you can simply chop yourself therefore if you are inexperienced it'll take plenty of time and you may pay a extended quantity of your time shaving.

With our razors like taylors of old bond street, we wish to help you in shaving less typically, while not irritating or cutting yourself. Few scientists have daunted to check razor varieties or blade variety and therefore the quality of the shave. The shortage of analysis makes it simple for firms to say that a lot of blades offer the simplest shave. Shaving is not at all difficult, but it is tricky that a lot of blades simply cannot solve each issue. It isn't like mowing a flat field.

Our furry components have topography. Men have curvy chins and higher lips. The dovo straight razor ought to strike them with completely different amounts of force to slice them cleanly. Shaving, then, is a smaller amount like mowing the field and a lot of like concealed within the jungle. You will get each factor you may ever want like for a superior shaving expertise from razors, shaving brushes to shaving bowls. All the merchandise is rigorously chosen; solely those brands that pass our quality standards are sold-out at BM Vintage Shaving.

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Straight Razor Shaving - How to Sharpen and Shave With a Straight Edge Razor Blade

Straight Razor Shaving is not at all difficult. You can't jerk the blade across your face, of course. It is a thing which takes patience. This are cut throat razors after all.

The most important thing of all is that your razor is sharp from the tip to the handle. The sharper it is, the better the shave will be. The worst the shaver will be is when it's really dull. In that case you have to use two grades of whetstone, a 4000 and an 8000 such as a Norton Waterstone 4000/8000 Grit, 3".

You have to learn how to sharpen the blade to do Straight Razor Shaving. Look on YouTube and search for 'Sharpen straight razor'.

How To Sharpen A Straight Razor

You basically make little circles on the stone. The angle the blade is as it lies on the stone is the most important. Most people hold it at too high an angle at first. It has to be as flat as you can get it, relative to the whetstone. You tend to put oil on the whetstone first, but some stones are dry stones. If you purchase a kit, it will have all of the things you need including instructions.

Once you have it that sharp, the edge would be very rough if you magnified it with a microscope. So, you take it to the hone. A hone is a tapered piece of metal. It kind of smears the metal sharp. You rub it down, then back. Again, look at a YouTube video. Sharpening a razor isn't really a thing that you can learn on-line though.

It takes an expert to change the angle ever-so-slightly. He watches closely, then you try it, then he changes the angle until you have it just right. That kind of thing really can't be done via the internet. It would be like trying to teach playing the violin over the internet.

Next, you use a strop. A strop is a piece of leather with a loop to fasten it on the other end to something. The angle you hold the strop is important, and the curve it has is also important. The angle you hold the blade relative to the strop is important as is the angle you hold the razor to the strop.

Each of these things can be seen on YouTube videos. They would all be very difficult to explain via text. (Have you ever tried to tie your shoe by just listening to writing? It doesn't work well).

Red pastes are applied to one strop; and you then drag the razor down the strop, turn the blade over and go up the strop. Each time you do that, you hold the razor nearly flat relative to the strop and hold the blade at a particular angle relative to the strop. I used to sharpen my father's razor, and so have done it many times. I also used to enjoy sharpening on a whetstone.

Then you rub black paste into another strop or on the back side of the two-sided strop (if you have one) with the ball of your thumb. This is a finer powder than the red iron oxide is and polishes the metal until it's super shiny and, literally, razor sharp.

This sharpening procedure takes skill and time to learn. Once you got it down pat, though, you have a razor for life. It's actually a bit like learning how to drive a manual shift car. It's impossible until you learn it, then you'd wonder why you couldn't do it before.

How To Shave With A Straight Edge Razor

Next, you're ready to shave. You lather up your face by either getting some paste in a jar, by using a soap that's a cake soap, or by using shaving cream from a can.

The angle you hold the blade, and the way you hold it can also be seen on YouTube.

Rinse off the lather, and you're done. It all has to do with the angle that you hold the shaver.

You could purchase all of these things separately, or you can buy everything in kit-form. After you have everything, and have learned how to sharpen the blade, it basically costs you nothing for the rest of your life.

You could also just purchase new blades, instead of sharpening your own blades. A Scalpmaster strop goes for $8.99, a Van Der Hagen Premium Shave Set (Soap, Bowl and Brush) goes for $11.99. A parker SR1 Stainless Steel Straight Edge Razor with five blades is $17.37. That's all you'd really need, unless you want to grind your own Straight Razor Shaving blades, as well.

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