Men have struggled with their beards for thousands of years, so it’s no wonder that shaving techniques and tools have changed significantly. According to cave paintings from the Stone Age, men trimmed their beards with seashells. The first shaving tool then appeared approximately thirty thousand years ago. Do you know which one it was?
Shaving was for the brave
Beard grooming was definitely not the order of the day as it is now. Beards used to be worn by men mainly from a practical point of view. The reason why they remained overgrown was protection from severe frosts. If someone did start shaving, they first used shells that worked on the principle of tweezers or tongs. Later it was flint blades, which are still seen as the first shaving tool.
Claws were replaced by a fashion hit
Copper razors in Mesopotamia, India and Egypt around 3000 BC clearly represented a huge turning point in barbering. Gradually, not only the shape of the razor changed, but also the material! With the development of metal processing, razors began to be made of steel, which meant further evolution in the form of straight and folding razors. “It was essentially the forerunner of today’s Japanese steel, which is often found in razors,” describes Monika Kovačovská from the BaByliss company. They began to be used more widely also for aesthetic reasons, as a well-groomed beard in a certain way casted the social classes. For example, Alexander the Great was a big fan of shaving and believed it made men look neater and cleaner.
The first folding razor comes from Sheffield, England, the center of knifemaking in the 18th and 19th centuries. The well-known steel, nicknamed silver, was produced in 1740 by Benjamin Huntsman using a special smelting process. Very quickly it became a premium and sought-after material for the production of razors. However, it was so hard that British craftsmen refused to process it further, and for that reason it had to be exported to France from the beginning.
A huge rivalry resulted in the first razor
This naturally sparked a huge rivalry between these great powers, eventually forcing the British to use Sheffield silver steel as well. It was sought after (and still is today) for its perfect shine and first-class quality. The winning end of the rope was clearly on the side of France at the end of the 18th century. Jean Jacques Perret took care of that with his first razor. This shaving expert’s genius idea was developed by KC Gilette and in 1902 he introduced a disposable razor with interchangeable blades that became an instant success! In 1928, the electric shaver was patented and, together with razors, it gradually replaced classic razors.
Japanese steel as a guarantee of quality
If we talk about the present, we should definitely mention Japanese steel, which plays a significant role in the hairdressing industry. However, this is nothing new, as it has been used to make knives in Japan since ancient times. “It provides better sharpness than ordinary stainless steel. It is a premium type of steel that boasts a very high carbon content. It is harder than German steel and also holds the edge longer than other lower carbon materials. It provides simply the best sharpness and thanks to it the cut is maximally precise. And that’s why we’re not the only ones working with her,” explains Monika Kovačovská.
Source: www.moda.cz
