Straight razors

A straight razor is a razor that looks very similar to a folding pocket knife.  There is a handle usually made out of wood or metal and an extremely sharp blade that folds in and out.  These were first introduced in the late 1600’s in England, but over the years the wide spread use has reduced due to the the invention of the Safety razor and most recently the cartridge razor.  In recent years there has been a resurgence into traditional shaving and the straight razors are making a bit of a comeback.

I have personally never shaved my head with one of these, but I know people that have.  If you do it properly the end result will be an amazing shave, but if you mess up your head will show the battle wounds.  There is nothing to protect your skin, so be sure to watch a lot of youtube videos and be very careful the first few times you give it a shot.

If you want to try out this type of shaving, it is relatively inexpensive to get started.  You can get the Parker SR1, which is a good starter razor for less than $20.  If you want to go to a better quality razor checkout our review on the DOVO Straight razor.

I’m warning you though, it can be addictive and soon you will find yourself with a cabinet full of shaving brushes, shaving creams, and a collection of straight razors.  Be warned 🙂

Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_razor