HOW DO YOU SHAVE?

[Babweiner]

Hello C.c friends. I am in the military, so I am required to shave daily to maintain regulations and standards. Otherwise I would grow a beard. Shaving used to be a hassle, a chore, a p.i.t.a. and expensive. Until, I switched to straight razor shaving. At first it was a p.i.t.f. 'pain in the face' but I got the hang of it and that was about ten years ago now. I still look forward to my morning shave, it changed from a chore to a hobby and a joy. It's got it's ritual to it now and I enjoy it. Granted, I have to get up a little early, it takes me about 20 minutes but I'm a "morning person" so 'that' doesn't bother me. I strop my blade to surgical sharpness, I rub oils and lotions on my face, I use a badger hair brush to whip up a lather out of lanolin and animal tallow soap, I feel pampered, even if I am doing it myself. I've got a rotation of 5 vintage (that means old) straight razors that I bought for $5-$50 each. Some of them required a lot of work to become operational, all of them required sharpening, so my brilliant idea was to learn to sharpen and hone my own razors while at the same time learning how to shave with them. Needless to say, this was a painful experience in more than one way. I didn't know what a truly "shave ready" razor felt like, and it took me a few very frustrating years of scraping stubble off my face before I finally reached the level of sharpness required for a comfortable shave with a classic straight razor. Luckily for me I purchased a shavette, which is a 'straight razor' with disposable razor blades, so at least I had something adequately sharp to shave with while I was learning the delicate art of honing an edge. Anyway, that's my story. I'd love to hear yours.

~J.Babcock

[deathb4disco]

I shave in the shower every morning with a cheap, disposable twin blade.

[crappiewisdom]

If I had to do all of that, I'd never shave. I'm a low maintenance kind of guy. I use an old Gillette Trac 2 with an old blade with some Barbasol. Some days, when I'm motivated, I even put pants on instead of sweats. But I do shower, depending on what day of the week it is...whether I need it or not.

But I do thank you for your SERVICE in the military!

[LowePro]

I think it would be very cool to shave with a straight razor! I also think I would cut myself....ALOT! I never had a straight razor shave. I went to a local Barber in town who I had seen him do it to people alot growing up and requested a straight razor shave because I had never had one. He told me "I am old as dirt and the doctor said he could fall over dead at any minute......Do you want me doing that with this blade against your neck? Hahahahahahahaa So from then on I never sought after that again! I use my wifes venus razors.....they are pink....yes, but the sure do shave GREAT! hAHAHAHA

[CrappiePappy]

I've dry shaved most of my life, even when in the Military. But, since I've been out of the Military (1970) I've had a beard. Only "shaving" I do now is with an elec trimmer (neck area) and follow it up with a disposable razor dry shave cleanup. I don't have to worry about any 5 o:clock shadow, since most all the hair on my head/face is grey.

[Cane Pole]

[Cane Pole]

We were issued a shaving kit. Had to screw the razor apart to change the double blade.

[deathb4disco]

I've dry shaved most of my life, even when in the Military.

That can't be fun. How in the world do you do that? No water at all?

[CrappiePappy]

That can't be fun. How in the world do you do that? No water at all?

No sir, no water. Didn't have much in the way of thick/heavy "facial hair" back when I was first shaving and in the Military ... except the moustache area (and that was only necessary when in Basic. Wasn't a big deal on such a small area. Once I was out and the beard grew, continuing to dry shave the neck area was only a priority on a few occasions (like when the lady I was dating requested it).

And actually, my facial hair seems to grow faster, now that it's grey and I'm much older, than what it did back in my younger days & the hair was black.

I went from this in 1969 :



to this by 1971 :



to this by 1980 :



To this in more recent years :



(bald head & pony tail are not visible)

[skeetbum]

I step from the shower, dry the body, and step in front of the mirror while that face is still wet and the beard soft from the hot water. I used a Trac II for years and about 2 years back I bought some 4 blade Bic razors at a flea market and like em a lot. No soap, no after shave, and also not much of a beard in the first place. Every other day keeps me as pretty as I'm ever gonna get at this stage.