Classic Wet Shaving - Anyone?

PhotoXopher · May 28, 2009

Ever since I started shaving my head I have been interested in the art of shaving and various techniques. I have since acquired a nice collection of vintage razors and HeadBlades.

Just curious if anyone else uses the old brush to lather up! :mrgreen:

I've used razors as old as the late 1800's, it's amazing how well they stand the test of time.

twozero · May 28, 2009

I absolutely hate to shave! BUT....I do find the thought of shaving the "real" way very cool. This topic came up a while back on another forum I used to frequent. I was surprised at how many people were into the art and collecting side of it.

Dmitri · May 28, 2009

I have one of them gillete razors with, I dont know, 14 blades or something. I'm supposed to change the head on it once in a while, but I haven't in years. I guess that's bad but it still shaves my beard and stuff.

PhotoXopher · May 28, 2009

Hahaha, yeah... I have one or 2 of those as well.

It can take the burden and make it a treat once you learn how to shave, it's amazing how much I didn't know before, now even when I use a standard Gillette Sensor or any modern razor, the shave is so much better.

Josh66 · May 29, 2009

I've always kinda wanted a cool vintage razor.

I think I'd be too scared to use it on my head though... I'd like to try shaving my face with one though - at least then I could see what I was doing the whole time.

The razor I use now (Gillette Fusion) works good, but it's hard to clean up the edges with it. It think an old school razor would work pretty good for that.

PhotoXopher · May 29, 2009

If you want to try it out I'd recommend a late 40's Gillette Super Speed, very easy to learn on and still my favorite vintage razor.

You can easily pick one up on eBay for about $10 shipped, then get yourself some Kiss My Face Moisture Shave, a brush (optional) and have at it.

Just remember, these old razors don't pivot... it's manual. Go with the grain the first few times until you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy really.

With classic wet shaving you shave in sections, each face is a little different but in general you do one cheek area, other cheek area, jawline, neck, under lip, chin, then under nose.

You want to keep the angle the same throughout the shave, this is the part that requires some practice, but basically you want the bar and blade to touch at the same time, too much angle and you'll expose too much blade, too little angle and you won't get the hair.

At first you'll want to do one pass, after a few days try a second pass in the same direction. Once you get used to this you can do across the grain and against the grain. A 3 pass shave (with/across/against) will yield a babies butt smooth shave that lasts longer.

I've also found my complexion improved greatly once I really learned how to shave properly.

Set asside a good 30 minutes for your first try, with practice that drops quickly. I can shave my whole head and face in 15 minutes these days.