Risking, perhaps, the land of TMI, my wife and I are in the Japanese habit of bathing together (and it is certainly common enough--people bathe with coworkers here! It's nothing kinky at all, just custom...) and so I have witnessed, with growing horror, the abominable leg shaving which comes as a result of using ridiculously complicated, over-engineered cartridge shavers. Madness. So finally last night I convinced her to let me whip up a proper lather and give her a good old fashioned wetshave.
I loaded my heirloom Tech with a Lord DE that I had lying around, got out the Kim Son Silvertip brush (thinking it might be a bit gentler than boar--she is a LADY, after all) and some of The Real Shaving Company's Sensitive cream. The cream lathered up well; it was my first use, I tried it because I thought the scent would please her--it did--and it was sensitive formula, so maybe kind of moisturizing...and I wanted to experiment with it. She quite liked the lathering--she kept saying it felt like a salon.
The shave went well; I was nervous as heck, but there were no nicks and no razorburn, and of course it was smoother and nicer than any multiblade gadget. She was so pleased, in fact, that she asked me to shave her face!
Now, here's the part where people might start to get a little wierded out. Japanese women shave their faces. It is not that they are particularly hairy, as women go, but that the hair on their faces is quite dark and kind of coarse, so it is highly visible against the paleness that most women here try to cultivate (it also grows in unusual places...like eyelids!). So, rather than constantly plucking and bleaching, they shave. It was new to me, too, but understandable once you think about it.
So, anyway, after the leg shave my wife asked me to take care of her face--and, because I love her and she tolerates WAY more than she should from me, I indulged her. Let me tell you, it was terrifying. DEs are safety razors, but they can still cut--and shaving someone else is entirely different from shaving yourself. On your own face, you can get all kinds of feedback that you don't with another's face (of course). Also, the hair was so fine I couldn't even hear it--a big source help when shaving yourself. And, of course, I was shaving thing's I'd never shaved before, like foreheads and eyelids.
But I did it, with no nicks and no irritation, and my wife was extremely pleased. So, of course, was I.
After the shave, I liberally applied some Nivea Extra Soothing AS Balm to her legs, and she used her typically moisturizers/creams/alchemical potions on her face, and everything was peachy keen.
New things, people, that's what it's all about.
3 comments:
Duuuuuude. That's some scary stuff. You're braver than I.
Finally.
It had to happen eventually, and I'm glad that she enjoyed you doing that for her when it did. Next thing you know, there'll be a shaving collection to rival your own in the bathroom.
Olafurson, you wanna know the REALLY scary thing? My mother-in-law asked me to do her, too!!!
Kodou--yeah, it took a while. Though I don't think she'll get too keen. She's very easily bored, and doesn't like to take too much trouble with such things. She very kindly informed me, though, that I was welcome to shave her any time I wanted! Gracious, that. ;)
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