Cut-throat Competition

The Cut Throat Razor

Tired of multi-nationals pushing innovations in razor blades seemingly every month? Not inspired by advertisements that pretend that multi-millionaire sportsmen like shaving together? Looking for something a bit more individual? When they seemed to be tweaking safety razors every month, old Tweedy got the feeling he was becoming a bit of a mug trying to keep up. Besides that, the aesthetic was all about sporty hi-tech and ergonomic solutions. They were beginning to look as over-designed as training shoes. Just not me.

I started looking into open or cut-throat razors, picturing myself in vest with braces in front of my bathroom mirror scraping through my creamed face like an expert. There are some absolute beauties out there and my experience in barber shops has been that the end result was very smooth indeed. I considered a solid blade, but wondered if I would really be doing all the stropping and oiling to keep it in the condition required. My heart said yes, my face just quailed. I ignored my face, what did it know? In the end I opted for a cut-throat that used disposable blades, a half-way house. Satisfied face? It looked good and would be easier to maintain. Take that global multi-nationals, I crowed inwardly. I ordered with a pot of shaving cream, some blades and a block of alum just in case.

The kit arrived and I was eager to get going. I waited for the weekend to give myself plenty of time and set to work. The blades needed to be broken in half and then the half blade slid in. I worked up a good lather with my badger shaving brush and started to scrape from the right ear. I cut myself almost immediately. Second stroke, second cut. I proceeded out of pride and hoping I would start to improve. No joy. The neck area was particularly atrocious. Alum and lots of tissue paper were applied, and as I examined the wounds I wondered if it would get easier. After leaving a few days for the face to calm down I made my second attempt. I was more cautious this time. I practiced the technique on my arms and reckoned I had the right angle and pressure worked out. I was cut to ribbons a second time. That was the end of this particular experiment. I'm now looking for a fetching razor that takes the safest blades possible from a nice little shaving emporium. My face was right after all.