There’s a traditional barber around 40 mins from me that does open razor shaves.
I do my own daily shaves of course like us all here but was going out for whisky and cigars last night and was curious to know what it was like to have the full treatment etc so I grew a beard for a few days and booked myself in.
They have several barbers at the shop so I just chose the on with a 2pm slot free which happened to be a lady.
I arrived and was seated well back in the reclining barbers chair.
I got a nicely scented hot towel draped over my face which was very nice, then some preshave, then another hot towel.
This pampering was all very relaxing and delightful and took maybe 5-10 mins.
Next she lathered my face with a synthetic brush and a thin lather and began cutting.
The immediate temptation was to stretch and contort my face for her to get better razor purchase but I left her to it.
It felt really strange having someone else running a razor over my face and for the first few minutes I was a little tense though I soon relaxed.
Im guessing she did two passes, and a touch up and I noticed most of the razor strokes were across the grain.
When she finished I was given another scented hot towel then a balm of some kind, then a cold towel.
It was all very lovely and I rose from the chair feeling relaxed, happy and smelling good.
The shave however wasn’t the best.
It was fine, more than acceptable for my night out but I personally finish my straight razor shaves against the grain in all areas and she didn’t.
So it left me with my own equivalent of a two pass shave, and I usually need four for perfection.
Still the experience was lovely and I thought I should do it at least once in my life (although for some reason it fostered resentment from my girlfriend) and I had a nice evening afterwards with the chaps.
Would I go back? Maybe, I’m not sure.
The whole experience was nice but was slightly let down by the final quality of the shave which wasn’t perfect.
This is not to cast aspersions onto the lady shaving me, I’m sure they have to cater for the middle line and many people may not respond well to and against the grain pass, but I would have liked to have been asked at the start and would have liked to have left the chair with something comparable to my daily shave.
Nice experience but slightly let down by the closeness of the shave.
I do my own daily shaves of course like us all here but was going out for whisky and cigars last night and was curious to know what it was like to have the full treatment etc so I grew a beard for a few days and booked myself in.
They have several barbers at the shop so I just chose the on with a 2pm slot free which happened to be a lady.
I arrived and was seated well back in the reclining barbers chair.
I got a nicely scented hot towel draped over my face which was very nice, then some preshave, then another hot towel.
This pampering was all very relaxing and delightful and took maybe 5-10 mins.
Next she lathered my face with a synthetic brush and a thin lather and began cutting.
The immediate temptation was to stretch and contort my face for her to get better razor purchase but I left her to it.
It felt really strange having someone else running a razor over my face and for the first few minutes I was a little tense though I soon relaxed.
Im guessing she did two passes, and a touch up and I noticed most of the razor strokes were across the grain.
When she finished I was given another scented hot towel then a balm of some kind, then a cold towel.
It was all very lovely and I rose from the chair feeling relaxed, happy and smelling good.
The shave however wasn’t the best.
It was fine, more than acceptable for my night out but I personally finish my straight razor shaves against the grain in all areas and she didn’t.
So it left me with my own equivalent of a two pass shave, and I usually need four for perfection.
Still the experience was lovely and I thought I should do it at least once in my life (although for some reason it fostered resentment from my girlfriend) and I had a nice evening afterwards with the chaps.
Would I go back? Maybe, I’m not sure.
The whole experience was nice but was slightly let down by the final quality of the shave which wasn’t perfect.
This is not to cast aspersions onto the lady shaving me, I’m sure they have to cater for the middle line and many people may not respond well to and against the grain pass, but I would have liked to have been asked at the start and would have liked to have left the chair with something comparable to my daily shave.
Nice experience but slightly let down by the closeness of the shave.