There will be blood

BitDepth#1440

Mark Lyndersay

IT ISN'T easy to move from a disposable multi-blade razor to a safety razor of any kind. And then there's the implied menace of the barber's straight razor (Sweeney Todd anyone?).

Most multi-blade razors are designed to make shaving easier, but they wear out quickly, have a higher per blade cost and put lots of waste into the environment.

Shaving with a safety razor is just…different, but the first mistake that's likely to draw blood is to underestimate the heft of a safety razor.

These shaving tools aren't built from the disposable materials used in cartridge razors.

Quality safety razors are usually made of solid metal and designed to last a lifetime. Some are chromed for old-school styling, but most modern razors are made of machined and anodized aluminium.

That, coupled with the sharpness of a safety razor's blade, ensures a nick or two until you get used to handling them. My head was a bloody mess the first time I used one.

It's tempting to give up here, because cartridge razor shaves make shaving both easy and accessible. All you have to give up is durability and a truly close shave.

Shaving, particularly if you are a head and face scraper, is a ritual that demands form and focus, not to mention new muscle memory.

Here's how to tip your first experience with a safety razor in your favour.

Begin by preparing your skin.

According to Ecliffe St Rose who trades as The Beardologist, "Proper prep is the key."

"Washing your face with warm water and placing a warm towel (on the shaving area) helps in softening hair and opening pores.

"It's even recommended that shaving lather should also be applied warm and you should try to maintain that temperature throughout the shave."

I wash all shave surfaces with a mild, neutral soap first, then prepare the skin with a warm, clean cloth. I use a small white cotton towel that I soak in hot water.

I slowly massage the shave area with the cloth before draping it over my head like a floppy yarmulke.

Work the cream or shave soap to a lather with a shave brush. The brush isn't necessary and I don't use it when travelling, but once you've used one, you won't ever want to shave without it.

My brush is a sable from Taylor of Old Bond Street that's in its 14th year of continuous use.

"You should know the direction your hair grows in and keep the skin surface lubricated throughout the process," says St Rose.

If you know you have an issue with bumps, we shave with the grade. Other than that, the first pass of the shave is with the grade and the second pass against it, but we always reapply more shaving cream.

I keep a tiny notepad next to my shaving rig to record blade uses, because I never remember, and having a sense of the wear is useful. If you only shave your face, expect much longer use from a single blade razor, 30 or more shaves at the very least.

Things that can go wrong.

A single-edge razor is designed to reduce the need to touch the blade. The box of blades is both the injector mechanism and the storage for used blades.

If you're not careful inserting the blade, it may not be seated flush and even the slightest misalignment of the blade will draw blood.

I now carefully inject the new blade (that also ejects the used blade), and then slightly loosen the clamping mechanism to confirm proper seating before tightening the guide shim.

Sometimes you get a rubbish blade. It's mass produced. It's not perfect. You won't see any surface imperfections, but the blade just doesn't feel right. The more often you shave with a safety razor, the more intuitive you become about what the shaving process is supposed to feel like. I've encountered two crap blades out of more than a hundred. Dump the bad blade and load a fresh one.

Your lather isn't lathering. Shave lather is not bath lather. Shave soap (or cream) is not bath soap. They may look the same, but the blade, and more critically your skin, will quickly know the difference. Try a quality shave soap or cream and you'll never use one of those wasteful aerosol foam cans again. There's a reason serious barbers never use them.

"A good quality soap or cream must have long lasting lather," says St Rose, "I use Proraso, a brand from Italy."

Mark Lyndersay is the editor of technewstt.com. An expanded version of this column can be found there