Impressions of Straight Razor Shaving Part II

With a single NS pass I can now get a socially acceptable, irritation free, shave which is very comfortable. I would say it is a directional BBS shave. Even XTG is fairly smooth. I would rate it a DFS. Each shave takes about the same amount of time as a DE shave, but i am only doing one pass. Touch up is the most time consuming part. The quality is about on par with my DE shaves.

My stropping has progressed and seems to be working pretty well. This week i used the chromium oxide pasted side of my strop to touch up my blade. It was beginning to pull a little bit. 10 laps on the paste, washed the blade, 60 laps on the leather and the blade was much sharper and ready to go again. I haven’t nicked my strop in a while so i am thinking about buying a new, better quality one.

I am not sure if i want to start working on my WE pass, or just jump right into the SN pass which has caused my a lot of irritation in the past. I think i will start on the SN pass and just see what happens.

I don’t regret buying my straight razor at all. I think it has been a very positive experience overall. I have begun to look for a second, vintage, razor, but not very seriously. My DE razors have been in a state of semi retirement for the last few months, although i will admit I have used them to touch up my face if i notice a spot i missed after i cleaned my straight razor.

April 22, 2010 Posted in: Wetshaving