Shaving for the first time…

No, this isn’t the first time I’ve ever shaved... that would be silly at my age… It is, however, the first time I’ve ever shaved with a bare blade against my neck.

Today, I decided it was time to try my first straight razor shave (aka “cutthroat razor.”) No blood spilled, no nicks, no cuts, no weepers, and only a slight irritation on the jaw line where I was having trouble getting the angle of the blade right in my hand. I skipped part of my neck, though, as yesterday I scraped it up a little with my previous shave, using an old-style Gillette double-edged razor.

I whipped up a nice lather from both Van Der Hagen shaving soap and Proraso shaving cream (called a “superlather”) with my Tweezerman badger brush. I picked up the antique Shapeleigh Hardware Co. razor that I bought for $10 and honed myself using a $5 tool hone, an old Smith Arkansas stone I’ve had for ages, and a Chinese natural waterstone, and proceeded to carefully scrape the whiskers from my cheeks and jaw.

When I was finished, I had smooth clean cheeks and just a little remaining roughness on the jaw (going to need more practice there). It did take quite a while, much longer than with one of my classic Gillette double-edged razors, but I was taking my time, learning the tool. And what a tool some of these can be…

Today’s shave: