First Impressions of Straight Razor Shaving

A couple of weeks ago i purchased a Dovo Best Quality 6/8 straight razor from straightrazordesigns.com and a strop from ruprazor.com.The razor includes a free honing from straight razor designs which is pretty sweet. The strop has some finishing paste on it to help keep the edge sharp which should help stretch the time between honings after i get my stropping technique down. The razor ran me about $85 bucks and the strop was about $20. This is probably the best newbie setup you can get. The razor is pretty cheap, relatively speaking, but it still good quality. The razor doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles of a fancy razor, but can still be a good shaver. I got a filly strop because it was cheap. Everyone advises against getting an expensive strop because you will invariably cut and nick it as you’re learning stropping technique.

My first shave was much worse than i was expecting. I only shaved the large flat area where my side burns were. The razor seemed to really pull against my face like i was using a two month old disposable razor. Definitely not fun. Shaving left handed feels pretty awkward, but that is what all of the shaving geeks recommend so that is what i tried. I didn’t cut myself and i finished up with my DE. All in all, i ended up with a pretty decent shave.

My second shave was about as bad as the first, but i also sliced myself pretty good. In a way, it was nice to get it out of the way so i know what to expect. It stung like a paper-cut and left a thin red line on my face. The lesson learned here is that you should not move the razor parallel to your face in a slicing motion or else you will slice your face. duh. I shaved more of my face this time too. I expanded to do my entire cheekl. I did the left side of my face left handed.

My third shave was significantly better than the previous two. I spent a good amount of time stropping my razor before i shaved which made a big difference. I stroked the razor with confidence over my face as i shaved my cheeks and my neck. I used my DE for my goate area. All in all a good shave, but still very subpar compared to my DE shaves.

My fourth shave was a massacre. I didn’t strop the razor enough so that was going against me. I proceeded to shave fairly quickly (recklessly). I probably shaved a little too quickly because i ended up with 3 cuts on the left side of my face and 1 cut on the right side. Even with all of the blood, the end result was a pretty decent shave. Lesson learned: take your time. Razors are sharp. duh.

My fifth shave was much more conservative than shave #4. It wasn’t a great shave, but it wasn’t a blood bath either.

Even with my very limited experience, i can see how the final results of a straight razor shave can be better than a DE. I have only been doing three NS passes and i can get a smoother face than three NS passes with a DE. The grain is still noticeable when i rub my face XTG, but it seems smoother than i would expect by shaving only NS.

I have seen some pretty good improvement in five shaves and i figure it will take me about a year to get really good at it. I am not going to try to analyze the shave to death until i get at least 10 more shaves in. I think i had too high of expectations about how good i would be at shaving with a straight. It isn’t easy.

March 26, 2010 Posted in: Wetshaving 2 Comments

Fargo Shaving Scene

I guess the Fargo shaving scene is pretty hot. According to a recent post on mantic59′s blog, Fargo ranks as the number three city after New York and London for number of visits.

January 29, 2010 Posted in: Wetshaving No Comments

Sidecar Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients

2.25 oz Brandy
.75 oz Cointreu
.50 oz lemon juice

Procedure

Combine ingredients in a Boston shaker filled with ice. Shake until chilled and serve into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon if you feel fancy.

January 12, 2010 Posted in: Uncategorized No Comments

All Clad 12 Inch Fry Pan 50% Off Sale

All Clad 12 Inch Stainless Steel Frying Pan with Lid

All Clad 12 inch frying pans are 50% off at Amazon. The All Clad 12 inch stainless steel frying pan with a stainless steal lid retails for almost $180 is on sale for only $89.99. That is almost 50% off the regular retail price.

These pans are top of the line in terms of quality, but have always been a little bit out of my price range. I saved up to splurge on a 3 quart saucier several years ago and love it, but I don’t have very many occasions to use it. It is a little on the large side for a sauce pan, but i use it when i make souffles because the rounded bottom makes it very easy to fold in the egg whites.

They have a shiny stainless steal exterior with an aluminum core. They heat evenly and look very sleek and sexy. I am really looking forward to using my new purchase.

For our wedding, we purchased the Emerilware 10 piece stainless set over 6 years ago. For the most part, they are almost as good as new. There are a couple of ‘dogs’ in the set that i think i have used only once or twice. The 8 inch frying pan is so small that the only thing i have ever used it for is making one grilled cheese sandwich as that is all that will fit inside it. On the other hand, the 3 quart saute pan has been our primary cooking vessel for probably 95% of our dinners since we were married. They have served us very well since we bought them, but I am looking to move toward pans that give me finer heat control. The Emerilware has a triple ply bottom which promotes even heating, but because of its mass tends to be a little less responsive to temperature controls than i would like. Don’t get me wrong, I recommend these pans highly.

January 9, 2010 Posted in: Kitchen Tools No Comments