Good results, painful shave. Let's start with the pre-shave oil - so much was used it started dripping down my neck into my shirt. Next, lousy LatherKing watery lather was applied followed by a towel so hot that it was not comfortable or relaxing at all. More lather was applied and the shave began. The barber stretched my skin so forcefully with his hand that many times, his hand was pressed hard on my nose or Adam's apple (painful). He kept going over the same spots time and again until I had razor burn on one section of my face. Then he applied some sort of red cream/paste from AOS which felt nice and starting to soothe the burn. Unfortunately, he takes a bucket full of ice water and soaks a towel in it which then ends up on my face . Ice cold towels apparently don't do my skin any favors and the razor burn begins to intensify. Time for aftershave. That felt good and helped with the burn a little. He then sits me up, reaches for one razor, changes his mind and takes a different razor that had been set apart from the others. He then takes his strop, turns the canvas side up and I see his slap that razor down hard 5 or 6 times in one direction and only once in the other direction. He does this a few times on the canvas, then repeats is on the leather. Then he gives me a neck shave. I asked him where he got that stropping technique and was told that he learned it from the barbers he's worked with over the years, starting at around age 10 when he worked in a barbershop shining shoes. I asked to see his strop and he had 2. The first was apparently made here in Rhode Island back in the day. The second was a Red Imp strop. Both canvas sides were rock hard and slick so I asked if he waxed his canvas. The only thing he says he does (from old school days) is rub a bar of soap on the canvas on occasion. Once in a while, he'll rub both the canvas and leather with lather then wipe it off but that's all the treatment either the leather or canvas strop gets. Although the actual shave was horrible, the results are great. Very BBS and only one tiny spot of razor burn is left. My face feels wonderful after using the AOS cream and aftershave. And I learned something I want to try. He was using very short (maybe 1 inch) strokes using mostly the tip of the razor and he stretched the skin VERY tight. I'll try these techniques for my next shave and see if I can get as close as he did.
I guess so. It's called Gents Barbershop and Spa. It's the only one I've ever seen so I don't think it's a chain shop.
Sounds like an interesting experience. I didn't realize barbers were still allowed to use traditional straight razors due to the chance of cross contamination. In Australia barbers use disposable blade straights.:sick007
The face shave was done with a disposable blade straight. It was just the neck shave he used a stropped razor for.
Very cool Steve! Sorry to hear it was painful, but glad to hear it was BBS! Ah well, we must all suffer for our art it seems... That is very interesting - there is an old traditional Italian barber here who I have talked to on occasion (I gave him a Wapi once, now we are old mates). He also uses the short stroke, most of the time with the tip of the blade. Mainly a wrist action. I tried it on myself, and it does work very well. I get the feeling that stropping can be, and has in the past been, accomplished in a variety of ways - most of which we might think of as non-standard. This same old barber here does the "Mastro Livi" strop-on-the-palm during a shave, during which he flips the razor on its edge, not its spine! James.
I saw those Mastro Livi videos, James. Between the honing and the stropping, the honorable Mastro had my skin crawling. Can't argue with him though as he gets the results. Let's not discuss Wapi razors. I was cleaning one of mine with my Dremel and was just about finished when I let my guard down and took a big chip out of the tip of the blade. :mad: Someday I'll post the picture and see what can be done to fix it. I've seen videos of barber shaves and almost every one looks like the barber just uses the tip (maybe 1/2") of the blade. I think it might help get around tough angles like the chin. I do love the variety of techniques that people use. I'll never stop learning some new trick to improve my shaving enjoyment
Very true Steve. Hopefully we will never stop learning new stuff. Bummer about the razor-that-shall-not-be-named. I bet you someone could fix that for you though, even if it meant shortening it a bit. But if it had original scales, the balance may be more off than normal - but that is easily fixed too! James.
Why the change? You can get nicked/cut just as easily shaving the neck as you can the face.....weird. IMO, if you're going to use a traditional straight razor at all, you might as well use it for everything then.
Don't know and didn't ask. It could have all been for show and he stropped a disposable blade straight. He moved so fast I couldn't see the edge well enough. And yes, I would have loved for him to use the traditional straight for the entire shave as well.
OUCH!! I went to Gents in Cranston RI on Saturday for my first professional shave. I will never have a professional shave again. The oil was fine, the hot towel was fine, the cool towel at the end was fine. The blade must have been dull, because every time the barber put the razor to my face, it felt like I was getting a tattoo. I am not embellishing when I say my eyes were watering in pain. I didn't know how it was supposed to feel, so I didn't say anything and just assumed I was being a pansy. Well, my face was bleeding from about four different spots by the time he was done. Today (Monday) I look like I have a sunburn on my chin and upper lip and many tiny white pimples everywhere, and my skin is so beat up that I wasn't able to shave this morning. It actually hurts to touch my face at all. I basically have a serious abrasion all over my face, especially in that area that a goatee would grow in. Simply awful. Why would anyone subject themselves to something so awful?!
Croadan, That Gents is the same one I went to. Did you have Michael? And hello from another Rho Dylander
I had Chris. He was a super nice guy and I am very happy with the haircut I received, but today is Tuesday, and I am still not able to shave. Although I am 80% healed.
