How To Shave Like Your Grandfather

All guys at one point or another have to shave, some more frequent than others. Whether because of an upcoming interview that you want to look polished for or just to have soft cheeks for your significant other, it’s something all guys must face (pun intended). Through high school I shaved the way that’s most common nowadays: with a disposable razor and a can of shaving gel. It was a quick and easy way to get rid of the stubble and get on with the day. Admittedly it wasn’t the smoothest thing and soon afterwards I had red irritation bumps on my neck, but perhaps that was my own fault.

When I started going to college, I found a article online that talked about shaving the way they did way back when: with a safety razor, a cake of shaving soap, a mug and a shaving brush. The first time I heard it I thought this sounded like too much trouble, it doubled the items needed to shave and you had to put more effort into working up a lather. After more thought and another less than pleasant shave I decided to look into it. It turned out that the local Wal-Mart had brushes and cakes of soap (albeit only one kind and slightly out of sight on the bottom rack in the shaving section) and they were both fairly cheap. I decided to buy those and a cheap mug from the kitchen section to see how it faired.

I looked for safety razors for a few weeks, but couldn’t find them and figured shaving with my usual razor would do fine. The following shave was the smoothest I’d had since I first started shaving and I had very few signs of irritation. More often than not I shave with this, but if I’m pressed for time I’ll compromise and use a can of shaving gel and my brush, spraying it right into the brush to lather up. After thinking about the razor for a bit, I realized that maybe sticking with the current razor was the better choice; the newer razors allow for easier use and less chance of cutting yourself. In my humble opinion, this is one the best ways to shave and I encourage any guy to give this a try or at least invest in a shaving brush.