I gave my son his first shaving lesson last night. He is 13 and his beard is at really nothing more than the 'caterpillar lip' stage. It will more than likely be at least a month before we go through this again.... Before I get on with the details, let me give a little background info:
This is really a time I've been looking forward to. My folks were divorced and my Dad wasn't around to teach me this sort of stuff. Back at Easter time my son approached SWMBO about getting some shaving gear, I guess he thought I would say 'no'. Some of his buddies had been bragging that they were shaving and he must have figured it was his time as well. He asked her for AXE canned shaving goo and an AXE cart razor (shudder) because he's firmly left the stage of 'Daddy knows everything' and entered into the 'Dad knows nothing' phase....sigh..... I guess the man on TV knows more than ol' Dad..... So, she complied with the request, and purchased said gear for his Easter basket without consulting me....sigh.....
Onto the shave - I instruct him on spraying some goo into his hands, rubbing them together, and start to lather up his face. Man, this AXE stuff is pure crap! At least Barbasol goo looks like a decent lather! Halfway through he looks at me and says "I bet this would be easier and less messy with one of your brushes" (score!). I just nodded and told him he could use one next time if he wanted to. I take him through the process of a single pass WTG shave with his cart razor and explain to him as his beard get heavier that he will also have to do ATG. Surprisingly, he's taking in everything I have to say and asking some pretty good questions. At the end, while cleaning his hardware, he asks "Isn't this the type of razor you said can cause a lot of ingrown hairs?" "Yes" I said, "that's true in a lot of people". "I'll bet that hurts a lot" he mumbled. I guess he's still paying more attention to what I say than I give him credit for!
Looks like the groundwork has been set for another convert!
This is really a time I've been looking forward to. My folks were divorced and my Dad wasn't around to teach me this sort of stuff. Back at Easter time my son approached SWMBO about getting some shaving gear, I guess he thought I would say 'no'. Some of his buddies had been bragging that they were shaving and he must have figured it was his time as well. He asked her for AXE canned shaving goo and an AXE cart razor (shudder) because he's firmly left the stage of 'Daddy knows everything' and entered into the 'Dad knows nothing' phase....sigh..... I guess the man on TV knows more than ol' Dad..... So, she complied with the request, and purchased said gear for his Easter basket without consulting me....sigh.....
Onto the shave - I instruct him on spraying some goo into his hands, rubbing them together, and start to lather up his face. Man, this AXE stuff is pure crap! At least Barbasol goo looks like a decent lather! Halfway through he looks at me and says "I bet this would be easier and less messy with one of your brushes" (score!). I just nodded and told him he could use one next time if he wanted to. I take him through the process of a single pass WTG shave with his cart razor and explain to him as his beard get heavier that he will also have to do ATG. Surprisingly, he's taking in everything I have to say and asking some pretty good questions. At the end, while cleaning his hardware, he asks "Isn't this the type of razor you said can cause a lot of ingrown hairs?" "Yes" I said, "that's true in a lot of people". "I'll bet that hurts a lot" he mumbled. I guess he's still paying more attention to what I say than I give him credit for!
Looks like the groundwork has been set for another convert!
