Some Questions about Shavette/SR, Daily Shaving

Good afternoon gents,
So currently I am shaving with a Dovo Shavette, and I'm facing a lot of problems with irritation so I wanted to ask a few questions to you more experienced guys. Firstly I apologize because I'm sure these questions have been asked in other threads but I wanted to ask them in my own words and make this interactive.

My first question is, have any of you noticed a significant difference in the quality of shave when using a actual blade compared to using a shavette? I have very thick facial hair and I am able to get a very close shave with my shavette, but there always seems to be irritation. I have been meticulous about my technique, I take daily notes on my shave and have spent hours on youtube watching others shave, listening to tutorials, trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. One thing I've noticed is that my shavette is very light, is applying too much pressure consistent with razor burn and bumps?

My second question is about shaving daily. The reason I switched to shaving with a blade is to lead by example at work. I am expected to shave daily and enforce a standard EVERY DAY, so I want to have the best shave a man can have. I usually do what I believe to be pretty standard (from what I've observed), one pass following the grain and one pass against it. Could this be contributing to the irritation? Is it better to go across the grain on a second pass or just do several passes with the grain?

Looking forward to discussion :)

I'm interested in this too. I have been using a Dovo shavette for about 4 months and my neck has been constantly irritated. I've never been an aftershave kinda guy, but I literally just picked up some AOS Sandalwood balm. Ironically, my first real straight just arrived tonight as well. I'm going to give it a go tonight and I'll let you know if I notice a significant difference between the straight and the shavette (both before and after the AOS balm). Of course, that's assuming my head is still attached!

To the OP - what's your process? Are you using any aftershave to help tame the irritation?

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Originally Posted by Jondallas311

To the OP - what's your process? Are you using any aftershave to help tame the irritation?

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I've noticed a lot of things that have helped me so I'll pass them along at the end.

I start with a hot shower. I scrub my face with a regular old bar of soap and if I have more than a days worth of growth I condition it. While I'm in the shower, I have my brush soaking in a bowl of steaming hot water (another reason I love my jet-boil). After drying my face I use the AoS Pre-shave oil. I use about a dime size of it and rub it quickly in my hands for a good minute until its a little bit warmed up. I apply it pretty thick on my neck and chin then get the sides of my face. I shake my brush out just a little bit and put a fingertip of AoS cream in my brush and I lather. I've noticed that for me the razor glides a lot better if the lather is a little bit "watery", rather than being rich and thick. I almost get it to have like a slimy slick feel to it. Then I shave, I go with the grain and against the grain. For the right side of my face I use my right hand, then I switch to my left hand for the left side. After re-lathering and completing my second pass I splash my face with COLD water several times. Then I wet my allum block and dab it all around my face. I don't wipe it around or rub it on my face, I just dab it like using a paper towel to get something out of a rug. After my face dries a little I use the AoS Moisturizer. Same thing with that, I don't rub it on my face like I'm smearing sun screen. I do about 3 pumps into my fingers, rub it around between my hands and pat my face down.

The big things I've noticed that have reduced the irritation are rinsing with very cold water, watery shave cream, and not rubbing my face with the allum block and moisturizer. The last one was the biggest relief for me, made a huge difference in my shave.

Let me know how your shave goes, I'm anxious to hear.

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Originally Posted by CplOfMarines

I've noticed a lot of things that have helped me so I'll pass them along at the end.

I start with a hot shower. I scrub my face with a regular old bar of soap and if I have more than a days worth of growth I condition it. While I'm in the shower, I have my brush soaking in a bowl of steaming hot water (another reason I love my jet-boil). After drying my face I use the AoS Pre-shave oil. I use about a dime size of it and rub it quickly in my hands for a good minute until its a little bit warmed up. I apply it pretty thick on my neck and chin then get the sides of my face. I shake my brush out just a little bit and put a fingertip of AoS cream in my brush and I lather. I've noticed that for me the razor glides a lot better if the lather is a little bit "watery", rather than being rich and thick. I almost get it to have like a slimy slick feel to it. Then I shave, I go with the grain and against the grain. For the right side of my face I use my right hand, then I switch to my left hand for the left side. After re-lathering and completing my second pass I splash my face with COLD water several times. Then I wet my allum block and dab it all around my face. I don't wipe it around or rub it on my face, I just dab it like using a paper towel to get something out of a rug. After my face dries a little I use the AoS Moisturizer. Same thing with that, I don't rub it on my face like I'm smearing sun screen. I do about 3 pumps into my fingers, rub it around between my hands and pat my face down.

The big things I've noticed that have reduced the irritation are rinsing with very cold water, watery shave cream, and not rubbing my face with the allum block and moisturizer. The last one was the biggest relief for me, made a huge difference in my shave.

Let me know how your shave goes, I'm anxious to hear.

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Well, it sounds like you've got a pretty solid process and using good products. Mine is similar to yours but I don't do a cold water rinse, water down my shave cream (using Taylor) or use album block. So maybe I'm more different than similar...

Anyway, I was also anxious to try out the new razor (Aust 5/8 from SRD) so I didn't go through my whole process. Didn't even wash my face...just went at it! I'm still a noob, but these are my observations:

The feather razors in my Dovo shavette were sharper than the razor. Not tons sharper, but definitely sharper. I've got a beard right now so I'm only shaving my neck and cheeks.

The Aust had a tendency to skip a bit coming down the cheek. I'm chalking this up to me not following my normal process and my face was probably really dry. The good news is that had I skipped the shavette like that I definitely would have had a cut. I got nothing from the Aust at all. I thought it was really simple to use honestly.

Feel in the hand:
The Aust feels completely different to me. It's quite a bit heavier because of the full blade. I actually liked it a lot! It's not balanced very well because I just got the basic, cheapest one with plastic scales. Still, I prefer the feel of the blade much more than the shavette. The Dovo with a Feather blade felt like I was wielding a scalpel. This feels more like a tool.

Closeness of shave:
The shavette would win, but just barely and this is only my first shave without my normal process. I think if I followed my normal process this would be a dead heat. The shavette definitely gives you a close shave, but man I had some bloody mornings trying to use that thing. To me, the Aust feels a lot more forgiving. I know that probably sounds strange since shavettes are supposed to be more forgiving with angle, and that's probably true. But maybe it's really more of a case of me being able to feel what the blade is doing a lot better.

To me, after one shave, it's no contest. The Aust all the way.

I applied the AoS balm and it definitely helped a lot. Plus the scent is great. My neck wasn't near as irritated as it normally is with the shavette. There was some slight redness, but nothing crazy.

I'm going to try your cold water rinse, watery lather and allum stick in the morning and see what happens. It should be a good test for irritation since I already shaved tonight.

I know it's not a ton of information to go on, but I definitely think the straight will be better in the long run. Just one noob's opinion...take it for what it's worth.

My wife actually told me about the cold water. Cold water closed the pores. I actually stopped by AoS just to look around when we were at the mall today, cheapest razor they had was $350. Wasn't feeling that or the $95 strop.

Just added up my wishlist, came out to about $160. Not too bad actually, may have to sneak that onto my credit card

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Originally Posted by CplOfMarines

Just added up my wishlist, came out to about $160. Not too bad actually, may have to sneak that onto my credit card

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Definitely worth it. Plus the razor is honed by one of the best in the biz, and you get a free second honing too.

To answer your first question, the difference in shave between a shavette and a straight, I find the straight more gives a more comfortable shave. I get the same closeness with either of them - as long as the blade is sharp.

To answer your second question about shaving irritation. A lot of irritation is caused by pressure and angle. With a shavette you want to use as little pressure as possible, with a straight you want to use the weight of the blade as the pressure only. For both razors, the idea is to shave the lather off not your skin. In regards to blade angle, I use a shavette at about 35 degrees to my face and a straight at about 25 degrees. You have to play with the angle a little bit to find the sweet spot.

You may want to try a different blade manufacturer in the shavette. Some blades just don't agree with some people.

You may also want to try using witch hazel after your shave to cut down on irritation. I prefer the Thayer's alcohol free version, but if you like the burn, then you can pick up witch hazel in alcohol just about anywhere for a dollar or so.

Attachment 197074
I threw down, I'm very excited :)

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Originally Posted by CplOfMarines

Attachment 197074
I threw down, I'm very excited :)

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NICE!!! I think you'll be happy with your choice!

I should have updated you on the irritation too. I added some witch hazel to my routine and my neck irritation has been completely eliminated. I love my straight so much more than the shavette. There is definitely more maintenance, but I actually enjoy the whole process.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CplOfMarines

Good afternoon gents,
So currently I am shaving with a Dovo Shavette, and I'm facing a lot of problems with irritation so I wanted to ask a few questions to you more experienced guys. Firstly I apologize because I'm sure these questions have been asked in other threads but I wanted to ask them in my own words and make this interactive.


My first question is, have any of you noticed a significant difference in the quality of shave when using a actual blade compared to using a shavette? I have very thick facial hair and I am able to get a very close shave with my shavette, but there always seems to be irritation. I have been meticulous about my technique, I take daily notes on my shave and have spent hours on youtube watching others shave, listening to tutorials, trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. One thing I've noticed is that my shavette is very light, is applying too much pressure consistent with razor burn and bumps?

My second question is about shaving daily. The reason I switched to shaving with a blade is to lead by example at work. I am expected to shave daily and enforce a standard EVERY DAY, so I want to have the best shave a man can have. I usually do what I believe to be pretty standard (from what I've observed), one pass following the grain and one pass against it. Could this be contributing to the irritation? Is it better to go across the grain on a second pass or just do several passes with the grain?

Looking forward to discussion :)

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For me it's the opposite i dont get irritation whit a shavette but i do whit my straight, from all the advices i received it could be the angle of the blade or inproper stropping so for me i have to work on that. Has for the shavette shave i'm using the Bluebeards Revenge and i have no irritation or razor burn, 3 pass shave and real good shave

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jondallas311

NICE!!! I think you'll be happy with your choice!

I should have updated you on the irritation too. I added some witch hazel to my routine and my neck irritation has been completely eliminated. I love my straight so much more than the shavette. There is definitely more maintenance, but I actually enjoy the whole process.

Good luck and keep us posted!

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When do you apply the witch hazel? Is it like a lotion or a liquid?

I apply it after my cold water rinse. I let it air dry for a few minutes while I finish getting ready. Then I finish with my aftershave.

The witch hazel is in a liquid form. The stuff I got has 12% alcohol I think. It's advertised as a "skin toner" and definitely is working for me.