Razor Ramblings: Repeat Performance

Normally I wouldn’t rate the same place twice, but these are extenuating circumstances.

Place: Next to the place we always have iftar
# of Nicks: I don’t remember any
Rating: 4/5

“Salaam, habibi. Shave? Shave?”

You know a shave is gonna be good when the guy starts off with that line (habibi means “my love” in Arabic).

I had had a haircut there the night before (ya, another one) and had left with the owner of the establishment, Nadr, kissing my forehead and hands in what I can only assume to be an effort to get me to come back. Smart man. Anyone that provides that kind of customer service is going to have me as a repeat customer.

The younger guy that had cut my hair was busy with another patron, so Nadr was left to deal with me. And deal he did….

The lather was normal, for Egypt. I realized then that there just isn’t the appreciation for the venerable “Shave Culture” here that there was in India. Not a problem, though. I can work with anything…but can my face stand up to a definite lack of foam on a weekly basis?

The Nadr went to town. Not literally, of course, but the way he was raking the blade over my face, he might as well been driving a road-grader. Now I’ve had some bad shaves, but there was something different about this one. It was, shall I say, painfully delicate. All I could do was just close my eyes, grit my teeth, and hope I still had some blood left in the morning. And, yet, he moved with grace and elegance, ensuring never to puncture or scrape the white, soon-to-be leather.

The second lather/shave came and went without incident, except for the technique. Nadr went up instead of down. Then, something remarkable happened. Expecting a shot of whatever spray comes out of the bottle they use, Nadr reached for the horsehair brush and proceeded to lather for an unprecedented third time. Simply amazing.

What earned the man his 4 rating was the longevity of shave effectiveness. Granted, I had the work done at 11:30PM, but I woke up in the morning feeling like I had just shaved normally.

So far, this was the closest shave I have ever had. Take that, Gillette.