The Handlebar Club Forum

Denis to have the royal treatment like you discribed sound like real luxary. The thing is I don't think there is anywhere around where I live that has a barbershop that does that. In fact I'm not so sure there are that many "real" barbershops around here anymore.

Bearwolf, couple of barbers around here gives hot shaves with straight razors. I remember smoking my pipe while having one.

Now that's what I call luxury. Being able to smoke your pipe while being given a shave. Consider yourself very lucky Denis.

That would be luxury. At one time I had plans to enjoy a hot towel and wet shave myself.

In 2007, old Baldrick here had a cunning plan to offer his missus a trip for her milestone birthday; a visit to her sister, near Hastings. The cunning part was for me to slip over to Brighton and take in WBMC; but also make a pilgrimage to London, attend a monthly first Friday meeting of The Handlebar Club at the Windsor Castle Pub, and treat myself to a wet shave from a traditional barber. Unfortunately, Mrs S was wise to my ulterior motive and had other ideas for her birthday.

In my search for London barbers I found this link. At their prices, I'd have presented my longest face and, if I were to have opted for the shoe shine, worn my tallest boots.

Going to a real barber and getting an authentic shave was how I got started using my straight razor. It was a birthday gift and I had no idea how to use it, so when I was back in my old home town I paid a visit to old Joseph, the Italian barber (sounds too much like a stereotype to be true, doesn't it? But no, he's real). I showed him my razor and asked if he would give me a shave, while explaining what to do. He was more than happy to do so! I wouldn't exactly call his establishment luxurious, but he really knew his craft and it was a good experience.

About once a month I trim my beard - I put my hand flat on my face, any whiskers that protrude above/between my fingers meet the scissors. That's it. My mustache hasn't been touched by implements of mass destruction in ages. I don't miss anything about shaving. All this talk about the glory of the solitary mustache has gotten my attention, but still not interested in shaving, at least not this close to winter. Maybe I'll re-evaluate things again in the spring.

When I shaved, I did occasionally appreciate the clean, fresh, spiffy feeling of a fresh shave, and sometimes the ritual of it, but the time, hassle and skin irritation just aren't worth it for me. YMMV

Edit to mention that I feel fortunate to be in a profession where facial hair isn't an issue - t shirts, blue jeans and work boots are fine for every day (jeans without holes if we're meeting a client). Dressed up means a shirt with buttons... I'd have a tough time in a corporate setting.

Lest anyone here has given you the wrong impression:

A solitary handlebar moustache is indeed a glorious facial hair feature. Whether it stands alone or accessorizes some other form of facial hair, the glory comes from it being a 'handlebar' and not simply an ordinary solitary moustache.

Please may I keep and use your previous paragraph (with attribution) as a most excellent axiom for our collective mutual interest, to appear prominently on this Forum and The Club's Web site?
David

David: you certainly know how to make an old dog's tail wag, as well as stroke the ego of its master. Permit us the substitution of the word "accessorizes" with "crowns" and, if you still deem it worthy, you are welcome to it.

The Badger and Blade forum has a hilarious intro to the use of a straight razor which I paraphrase as:

......"The foam, the blade, the pulsating jugular...." Yikes!

I've gotten back into the double edge/brush and mug scene after years of mindless daily hacking with a multi-blade razor and shaving bomb glop, and find it a very soothing ritual. Michael Ham's "Leisureguy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving" has been a wonderful source and helped me slow down and really enjoy shaving again. And then there's the gadget acquisition that I fall victim to gladly--can you say "eBay vintage Gillette razors?" Hopeless.

I too use a double edge razor.
I was using my fathers old razor for a while but purchased a Wilkinson Sword Classic online last year. Very cheap as are the blades.

I usually foam up every second day as I like to have some reasonable stubble to shave off.

Stewart

Double edge safety razor along with mug and brush. Average 5 or 6 out of 7 days. I enjoy the process now that I have given up the canned foam and multitrac modern thing. Scents are far more interestign given the collection of shaving soaps and the shave seems closer and is less irritating.

Straight razor here. I have the scar to prove it... LOL. It was a bad week last week. I've never had a gash that bad before. Still don't know what I did.

APW ....you are a braver man than I...doubt I would ever trust myself with a straight. Especially given the fact that, as you can see in the avatar, I've given up on the remnants on my head and keep it shaved. Just now getting to the point where I'm comfortable with the DE on the back of my head.

Hey, I've made it 3 years without a major gash to an artery. It was a BAD week last week...