Hit 500 straight razor shaves last week, the count surprised me

I started tallying every straight razor shave I performed back in March when a client asked how confident I felt with the blade. Last Tuesday I added one more to the log and realized the number had crossed 500. That felt big because I only picked up the straight razor about 14 months ago after sticking to clippers and safety razors for nearly 8 years. The first 100 were slow and I nicked at least one guy every single day, but around the 300 mark my muscle memory just took over. What really changed was my prep routine, I now spend a full 90 seconds on the hot towel and lather before I even open the blade. Has anyone else kept a running count of a specific service and noticed the jump in quality at a certain number?

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1 Comment

sean_walker451mo ago

Hot towel and lather before I even open the blade" is exactly where I'd push back, because I think you're giving the prep too much credit. I've hit 400+ with a safety razor on clients and the jump in quality was more about learning their beard growth patterns than any fancy routine. The count matters, but the real shift came when I stopped overthinking the process and just trusted my hands, not the towel time.