A Close Shave | TQS Magazine

We often get nostalgic about the old days – when men wore suits approximately 90% of the time, the value of a good watch couldn’t be over stated, and hats were hats, not snapbacks. V necks didn’t exist and the idea of having a vest which displayed your nipples wouldn’t have even passed as an undergarment, never mind a legitimate choice for a night out. Whilst male grooming is enjoying a new era of considered attention, you wouldn’t have caught the gent of days gone by in a pair of paper knickers, shivering in an at home tanning tent.

Most synonymous of this time was perhaps the close shave – the barber’s treatment to your facial landscape with a cut throat razor and a hot towel. You can still find it in more traditional establishments, but would you ever try it on yourself? Would you ever have the balls to use nothing but a razor and a bit of faith to tidy up your cheeks? Well, that’s just what we did, as we put The Bluebeard’s Revenge Cut Throat Shavette / Straight Razor to the test. We’ve got to admit, we were pretty nervous, particularly after we posted a photo on Instagram, and got this response. Not too encouraging.

We followed the video above, and you know what? It went pretty well. Getting the razor in the shavette is a bit tricky, but after that it was great. We started by trying out a new home made face wash we saw Manface tweet about – teaspoon of honey on half a lemon, and rub in to your face. Gets your skin, and stubble, especially soft. If you’re going to give this a go, you’ve got to go the full hog – so get yourself a shaving brush and some decent gel too. Bluebeard’s is great, and if you’ve never used a brush before, you’re missing out. Not only does it help lift the hairs, you feel well dapper too.

It’s a lot less scary than you’d think – and actually, running a razor on your neck is probably the easiest bit, because you can tilt your head back and make sure the skin is tight. Along / underneath the jaw line is most tricky, but take your time and it’ll be fine. You don’t need nearly as much shaving gel / cream as you’d think (you just end up wiping that off with the razor rather than shaving anything), and it’s perfect for precision shaving – even if you just use a razor to tidy up your neck, a cut throat could make your life a whole lot better. It does take longer than a regular shave, but we’re putting that down to not having enough practise.

If cut throat shaving gets us one step closer to living the dream of those films Ryan Gosling always features in, or even mans up the grooming habits of the modern man, we’re 100% on board. Would you dare give it a go?

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