I just read this great article written earlier this year in the Wall Street Journal. It's a great read and it has sparked an interest (that I never had before) to go to England and receive an old-fashion shave by a master barber at one of the oldest barbershops, IN THE WORLD. Lots of good tips from master barbers to reinforce the disscussions we have going on in TSD. Especially recommended for newbies! WSJ: Razor Sharp - The Return of Wet Shaving A trip to London has been added to my bucket list, however I hope I get to it sooner rather than later. Shave on playah...shave on!
Good article, but I can't help but wonder why they don't advocate going ATG? Maybe it is harder for them to do comfortably since they cannot feel like one shaving one's own face can? I go ATG every shave with SEs, DEs, and straights and rarely get any irritation and/or ingrowns. I even shave my 'stash ATG.
I agree, I've always shaved ATG when I used a cart razor. Even now with my DE I almost always need to go ATG or I just don't feel like I did a good job. Lots of vets encouraged me to avoid ATG when I first started - but I think that was because bad technique + too much pressure = disaster. Why a pro-barber won't go there...I don't know.
I think there might be a school of thought amongst some barbers..and I'm speculating here..that ATG might lead to increased irritation and or be outright hard on the skin. A shaving store guy, who also ran a barbershop there, once told me he was not in favor of shaving in that direction and advocated a cross grain approach instead...
Use to go to the oldest barber in town. As I dye my hair I alway asked him to leave the edges alittle longer. My last hair cut with him was when he finished by saying:"looks like you'll need to pick up some dye on your way home today!" Gave "White Walls" a whole new meaning!
I also having been going ATG for as long as I have wet shaved(a long time ),mostly because I didn't know you weren't supposed to..Anyway I never have ingrowns or irritation problems..I think shave technique ,proper angle and proper preasure are key to going ATG,but I think skin sensitivity and beard type play a role also..For some people going ATG is not possible to do comfortably,so I'd say just don't do it...
I always wound up with irritation if went ATG on my neck with a cart. Now, like Bob, using DE, SE, or Str8, I go ATG with zero issues.
I used to go ATG all the time, and had irritation. Then I got smart and listened to my late father who told me to "just go down." Now, the most adventurous I get is a XTG pass (sill primarily down), close shaves, and NO irritation whatsoever!
Great read. I wouldn't mind going back to London for a shave like that. It would be totally worth it. Some other places that give traditional barbershop shaves are Israel and Turkey. There are too many regs in America. Most just throw some canned crap in a hot lather machine and use that for straight shaves.
Almost makes me want to go to Toronto when Truefitt & Hill opens up there, like ALL of their shops worldwide, you can have them use a brush to lather you up, and even with the stringent North American laws, they can at least use a fresh blade on a shavette.
That's always made me wonder. What if you brought your own brush and soap in? Would they be allowed to shave you with that? I wonder if they would know how to make a proper lather.
I was speaking with a fellow who runs a local smoke shop selling some shaving supplies and he was thinking of opening a barber shop to do exactly that. Maybe there's a new trend brewing..
