Thread: A word of caution for beginners starting with a shavette for the first time

My only experience with shavettes has been at the local barbershop. They use them at the end of your haircut on the back of your neck and none of the girls know how to use them properly. Tons of pressure, they only use pre-shave oil, and almost at a carving angle. lol ouch!

Used a Bluebeard's Revenge shavette with both Feather and Derby blades. Feather lacerated my face with at least 1 spot of blood each time (21 individual nicks or cuts after my first every use) and Derby didn't quite work for me.

Very thick arms that hold the blade in place and an ultra thin sheet of metal as the razor with seemingly no bevel or good way to guide it around your face tends to lead to a lot of pain for little benefit. I started in March, stopped by April, tried a few times in August and September then just stepped up to buying my own straights/kamisoris (own one of each which are shaveable, both dull when bought, self honed to shave ready) and have hurt myself much, much less yet had better shaves.

Currently loving my kamisori and wondering whether to bother getting the 3" wide hones in the future as I am preferring the kamisori to the straights... and have a bad desire to purchase more natural stones after purchasing my Chinese hone and polishing it up to 1k grit W&D.

I started with a Dovo Shavette and have many of the same feelings as others here, and almost the same experiences as well. I did find it to be a fine learning tool in tandem with an Alum Block. The first couple of shaves were a LOT of burn and a great learning lesson as far as pressure goes. What I can say, however, is that even though the general theme is the same, the devil is in the details. Shave angles with the shavette need to be steeper for sure, and pressure even lighter than with a straight. Compounded by the difference in weight, even now I need a few shaves to get used to it again. I find that a real SE razor is considerably more forgiving, but I still enjoy my shavette from time to time. Blade choice is the key to the shavette, much like stropping technique varies from person to person and razor to razor....much is the same with the blade one uses.

What does it mean when your lather turns pink?

I had been shaving with a str8 for about 4 years when I first tried a shavette type razor. I figured it would come in handle for travel, yea, right. Worst shave of my life! Felt like I used a cheese grater........won't do that to myself again. Couldn't shave again for several days because I had to wait for my face to heal. I'll stick with a real str8 razor.

Shavettes are indeed less forgiving than a normal straight. You have to use an even lighter touch with them to prevent razor burn and cuts. Also, stretching the skin is an absolute MUST with shavettes even more so than with straights. One thing is for sure though, you will not get a closer shave than with a fresh blade in a shavette. The thing is, sometimes it is best to forego closeness in favor of comfort. When I use my Feather DX Pro I pretty much let the blade almost float above my skin, there is so little pressure. When I do that, I get a very nice, close shave that is comfortable.

These days I much prefer my straights for the consistant easy comfort and my Feather DX for travelling and the convenience.