Okay, so this is not necessarily linked to knives, tools or woodcarving, but it is a sharp thingy. I took delivery of a new razor and some blades yesterday and tried it out today for the first time.
You might ask yourself why I am even bothering to mention this but for me it is quite significant. You see the style of razor is really important to me. I’ve shifted from the ultra-modern, multi-bladed , battery powered, mega expensive , “The best a man can get” style of face scraping tool to something that looks like it was around in the 1900s.
Yes, I’ve gone back to the kind of razor I used to watch my late Dad use. It uses the type of razor blades that have that iconic shape that everyone has seen and recognises as a razor blade even if they have never used one.
The Babe and I got back late last night so I didn’t give in to my immediate instinct and have a shave before bed and finally got myself set and went for it this morning… Wow.. Why didn’t I do this years ago? I have spent the past 30 years being absolutely convinced that all of the advertising hype was right and you could only get a decent shave if your razor was a turbo powered, multi-bladed modern wonder. This is not right…
Maybe I am a little biased having just spent my Mums birthday money on the razor and expectantly awaiting the delivery of my birthday present from my Babe, a luxury badger hair shaving brush, a stand for it and shaving cream. Maybe it is because both the razor and the brush are hand made in England which tugs on my patriotic heartstrings and, irrationally smacks of quality. Maybe it is to do with the typical “new boys toys” attitude that says “it is going to be better just because it is my new toy”.
I don’t know about that, but my shave this morning was very enjoyable and for the first outing of the “new toy” when I could have expected issues around getting used to it, incredibly pain free. I have no nicks, tears or cuts, no beads of red spotting my face and I have a baby-smooth face that is remarkably comfortable. I may even keep the smooth-shaven look for a while longer just so I can continue to enjoy shaving this way.
All I can say is, Roll on the lovely soft badger hair brush and posh shaving cream that is likely to arrive today. Yet another excuse to shave…
Carved by Trev 