Well, I did it. Made it to March with no DE, and I lived to tell the tale.
Following up on the deal to exclusively use a straight for a week may not seem like a big deal to some, but when that cold steel is held against your throat, it makes you think about things. Things like health insurance...and scar tissue...and your wife's scorn.
But it was a good thing. My technique improved a lot, and I got to know my razors better, and I even started honing. I now know I can get a pretty darn good shave with a straight, but that it is DAMNED easy to nick yourself, not to mention cut your ear pretty well. I also found that, for reasons I can not fully understand, the straight is MUCH easier on my neck than the DE.
Even with meticulous care, no pressure and slow, careful strokes with my Futur, I almost always end up with redness and irritation on my neck, just to the sides of my adam's apple. With the straight, though, this didn't happen. Even if I managed to nick myself in those areas, there wasn't nearly as much discomfort and hardly any red at all. This fact was brought home to me today, after I finished my (very smooth) DE shave--my wife frowned and looked at my neck, and said "Didn't do too well today, did you?"
No, I guess not...
So, anyway, having proved something to myself, I think I might give this straight thing a bit more time. I'll go with my futur until my current blade gives out, then it's back to the straights for a while. I have some honing to work on, and some smoothness techniques to...smooth out.
Come back tomorrow for a product review twofer, ok? I PROMISE, there will be stuff NON-straight related.
I PROMISE.
Some, anyway.
3 comments:
Way to go Jim. I am encouraged by your foray into straight razor shaving as well as all that honing, lapping Shapton/Norton stuff. I am not sure which scares me more, the actual shaving or the work it takes to maintain the razors.I am awaiting my first razor from a Lynn Abrams honing and will be getting a strop shortly as well. The honing...well...we'll see about that after developing my technique.
Thanks, Mate! I've only scratched the surface, is it were, with honing. The first steps are easy, so don't let it intimidate you. And you know, I don't find it interferes with my shaving at all...
I honestly don't understand why people feel the desperate need to divide the two, like learning one will make learning the other so dreadfully hard. As long as you have ONE shave-ready razor, you keep shaving with it while you investigate honing with another. No worries!
Good luck with your shaving, anyway, and please let us know how it goes!
I'll do that Jim. I'm using a Dovo Shavette to get the feel of holding a straight (I understand that it is not the same) but I want to get used to manipulating it with both hands. I look forward to the real deal.
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