Razors

Straight Razors: Getting Started With Traditional Wet Shaving

The straight razor revival isn't nostalgia — it's the recognition that a single sharp edge at the right angle, prepared correctly, produces a shave that a five-blade cartridge with moisturizing strips cannot replicate. The closeness is different. The ritual is deliberate. And the straight razor itself is an object worth owning — precision-ground steel in a handle that outlasts anything from a drugstore shelf by decades.

There's a learning curve, and it's worth acknowledging honestly. Your first few straight razor shaves will not be your best. You're learning to hold a consistent angle (around 30 degrees from the skin), maintain appropriate skin tension, and read your beard grain to find the correct stroke direction. Two weeks in, you'll have it.

What to Buy Alongside Your First Straight Razor

A strop is non-negotiable — the leather that realigns the edge before each shave. A quality shaving brush and soap dramatically changes the result compared to canned foam. A small alum block handles minor weepers. That's the complete kit: razor, strop, brush, soap, alum. Total investment is less than two years of cartridges, and the razor never needs replacing — just stropping and occasional professional honing.