Just another thing I stumbled over in my online wanderings – the tiniest travel razor I’ve seen so far.
I’ve found very little about it – patented May 11, 1921, made in the US, manufacturers logo is BP in a diamond. Reportedly it’s a smooth razor, although challenging when shaving the ‘off side’ of the face.
One of the fellows over on my favourite shave forum found this YouTube video of it in use:
Do I want one? Yes I do – but I have no idea where to find one for a reasonable pile of cash…
Next to the razor, the most important article of the shaving outfit is the soap. In its proper use lies the real secret of easy shaving. The razor may be ever so good, but unless the beard is properly lathered with a good soap, shaving will be anything but a pleasure. Use only a regular recognized standard make of shaving soap, not, under any circumstances, a toilet soap. The latter is not intended for shaving, and is likely to produce irritations of the skin and leave the face rough and sore.
A wrong idea prevails regarding the use of the soap. The popular impression is that the soap is used for the purpose of softening the beard, in which condition it is supposed to be most easily cut. This is a mistake. The soap is used, not to soften the beard, but to produce exactly the opposite effect—namely, to make the hair stiff and brittle, so that they will present a firm and resisting surface to the razor. A hair, as is well known, is a tube composed of a hard fibrous substance, growing from a bulb or root, which secretes an oily matter. This oil works its way up through the hair, and by permeating all parts, renders the hair soft and pliable. Now in this natural oily condition, it is very difficult to cut the hair with a razor, and it becomes even more difficult if the beard be made still softer by the application of hot water. Many do this, and it is no wonder they find shaving difficult. When this is done, the hairs become soft and limp, and the razor will either slip over them entirely, or else cut partly into them, bend them back and slice them lengthwise, all the while pulling and straining them at the roots, and making the process of shaving most painful. Now soap has the opposite effect. It contains either alkali, potash or soda, which when applied to the beard in the form of lather, unites with the oil of the hair, neutralizing it and removing it, and renders the hairs hard stiff and brittle—in which condition they may be easily and readily cut. For the sake of cleanliness, the face should, of course, be washed previous to shaving in order to remove any dirt or grit from the beard, which might dull the razor; but before applying the lather, the face should be well dried with a towel.
A few photos of a man shaving while away from home in December 1972… what makes it interesting is the fact that the man is Jack Schmitt, shaving his moustache during the trans-earth coasting during the return of Apollo 17 from the moon – both the locale and the gear are literately thousands of miles from my own den with a view that was out of this world, but at least I’m shaving in one G.
I’ve been doing a bit of back-of-the-envelope math, and discovered something rather shocking. If a four pack of carts lasts for two months (and that is being generous, in my experience), I’ve spent less on shaving gear since I started traditional wetshaving than I would have spent buying carts… and that is despite me having eighteen razors, ten brushes, twenty-six or so soaps and cream, and a few years worth of blades.
As I was poking about the dusty corners of the interweb, I stumbled over an article over at The Art of Manliness that I had missed previously – “7 mistakes new wet shavers make”.
It’s noting earth shattering in the article, just mistakes we all have done at some point… but if you’re new to the art of traditional wetshaving it’s worth keeping them in mind. In short, the seven mistakes pointed out are:
Everyone makes mistakes when we’re starting out – but if you learn from them the reward is well worth it.
I find myself wanting a shavette – which is like a straight, but without the potential pitfalls of stropping.
I mean, what is the worst that could happen? All I have to do is to put the ambulance and blood bank on speed dial before I shave…
Okay… I think this officially can ble classified as a “What Is This, I Don’t Even”. For us westerners, Japanese pop-culture is weird enough to begin with… but this takes things one step beyond what I’ve seen so far. Still, he ought to have gotten a brush and lathered up on the way down…
