The whole thing takes forty-five minutes and almost none of it is the razor. Most of the time goes into getting your skin and beard ready, which is exactly the part a cartridge razor at home skips.

First a hot towel, two or three minutes, to soften the hair and open the pores. Then lather with a badger brush, worked in circles so it lifts each hair away from the skin instead of flattening it.

The first pass goes with the grain and takes most of the length. The second goes across it, never against — that is where the closeness comes from without the ingrown hairs. Cold towel, balm, done.