Looking for a first razor/tough facial hair

So I ended up inheriting very tough facial hair from my dad, and shaving has never been pleasant. I shaved with everything from disposable safety razors, to the multi-blade safety razors, to some electric shavers. While the latest electric shaver I have does a decent job at keeping the pain down, it irritates me and is still a chore, so I decided to try wet shaving and read up on as much as I could.

I hear it shouldn’t be a large problem with the coarseness of the hair if the razor is sharp enough, which brings me to acquiring one. I thought of getting a new carbon steel DOVO 5/8th, with a strop (assuming they are pre-honed) and do my best with that. My second option is to buy a used one (hopefully pre-honed), but I’m at a loss of where. I haven’t found much on ebay. I checked the ‘for sale’ forum, but those were a bit out of my price range (~$65 for new, less for used).


I read through the shaving FAQ thread, and through the ‘art of the straight razor shave’ pdf. My plan is to get a strop (hopefully I can find one for ~$20), a badger-hair brush (~25-30 I’m pricing out), and some Proraso ($10) and a styptic pencil. Looks like I won’t need a hone yet, since they aren’t cheap and I can make due without. I have glycerin face soap already, and am thinking of ordering Lynn’s DVD.

Does this sound reasonable/am I making decent choices? And what can I expect with my first few shaves, having coarse brittle? I had a shave at a barber shop with a straight razor, he commented on my hair and ended up making 6 or 7 passes.



Sorry in advance for a very generic first post :)

Welcome to SRP,

One thing you want is prehoned razor, so I'd scratch off ebay for now. Since you've read the FAQ that's currently in development, you know where to find these.
I myself am partial to restored vintage razors, but if you want new, you can't do cheaper than these Dovos. If you want vintage - B/S/T section is the place. You can also pm some of the honemeisters who have been restoring razors in the past and see if they've got anytihng available soon (joshearl, heavyduty, ???).

Just saw 65 is outside your price range for a razor, so that leaves only one option - B/S/T shave ready under 65 (a new prehoned Dovo will be 70 + s&h).

A $20 strop means ebay, if I were you I'd spend the extra 10 and get Tony Miller's starter strop as it will have the best possible leather you can find.

You can start with a boar brush - badger is nice and soft, but I'm not sure the badgers in the 20-30 range are better than a good quality boar. I seem to remember there's a cheap $10 badger brush by tweezerman or something.

The only other thing is the soap - I'm not sure whether your face soap is good as a shave soap. I'd say the trusty William's mug shaving soap for 99c would be a better option. I myself think Colleen's (thegentlemensquarter) soaps are one of the best. She has 1oz sizes for around 4, and I think if you want to experience a great soap you should at least give one a try. Not sure what's the proraso you're referring to, but if that's their soap/cream, that should be good.

I would suggest posting a WTB thread in the B/S/T forum for a honed and shave ready wedge, 1/4 or 1/2 hollow razor. These will have stiffer blades that some of us prefer for tough beards. Be sure to specify your price range.

Since your on a tight budget be aware that an old, wide belt will do as a strop. Just make sure there is no stitching in the sides. A boar brush is what I prefer. My badger brush sits unused.

By all means get a good soap. For me Williams just does not do it.

Hope this helps,:)