Thread: Painful Shave...

Hey all!

I´ve just joined the ranks of the newbies here and hope that some people can help... I recently purchased a Dovo Berschiger Lowe Straight Razor and all of the parifanalia that's needed (i.e strop, though mine has a handle and two different sides...etc)

The guy in the shop (which sells razors here in Spain) told me that it had been sharpened for me and was included in the price... I´ve gotten the razor home today and tried to shave... but I have to be honest.. I couldn´t find an angle that didn´t hurt as it cut the hair... So I´m a little confused now as to whether the blade has really been sharpened...

I´m also confused as to the strop, it´s got a bar down the inside and one side is red and the other is light tan.. the guy didn´t explain to me why i needed this specific one but it´s the one he said was best....

So, any ideas as to whether the razor is really sharpened and whether I am just a terrible shaver or whether you really think I need to have it sharpened again (and where on earth I could get that done here in Spain (costa blanca)). Also what the difference in the sides of the strop is?

Thanks!!

- Ricky

My first shave was painful also. I was so caught up in the excitement of trying out the straight I didn't put a lot of time that is needed in the pre-shave prep. On my second shave I did all the things your supposed to and there was no pain. It takes a little getting used to if you have never done it before but I must say it is a relaxing process. I ordered some PSO to add into the process and am looking forward to trying it out. So do a good prep and the pain should subside.

Need more info about your pre-shave prep and your shaving routine.

Welcome to SRP Ricky. I am don''t know that I can answer your question but I do have a suggestion. Read this post here and try to shave as described in the post. The SRP Wiki has tutorials on pre shave perperation, lathering and finally shaving that may be a big help. All thiese make a big difference in getting a close and comfortable shave. There are videos that may be of help here.

I'm not sure if your razor was truly honed...When I bought my first razor, also a Dovo, from a shop, the salesman told me all it took was a few licks on the strop and it was ready to go as is. Boy was he wrong, it was terrible!! I had to literally scrape the hairs off of my face. Chances are your razor hasn't been properly honed, and that's not something any amount of prep-work can shave.

But, then again, maybe it was properly honed and it's just your inexperience...hard to say without having the razor in front of me.... That wasn't a really good answer, sorry!

About your strop, if there are two sides to it, the smoother side is usually done last, and the slightly rougher side first. Just try both sides out to see which side is a smoother stropper. That's what I would do at least.

I just honed 1 of them and it belongs to srp member.This dovo blade is very good shaver.takes edge and gets shave ready condition easy.i should say i put this dovo in second place behind dovo frozen steel.Now why i am saying this ?
i think your blade wasn't shave ready condition.
There is a lot other factor 's affect shaving as all mentioned above,stropping,face preparations etc etc.
Try find some one will make your blade shave ready at first.
straight razor is not a knife and it needs to be sharpened right sharp edge.
hope this help

If you jumped from using a disposable cartridge razor to a straight, you need to change technique quite a bit. It is normal for it to take a few shaves before you get good - or even acceptable - results.

A lot of it is down to using ultra-light pressure. It's easy to say, and you think it's easy to do, but in reality it takes some practice. That's why the advice to start by shaving only the area under one sideburn is good.

And prep is important. With my Gillette Fusions all I did was splash water on my face, rub in shaving oil etc and swipe away. I can't get away with that using a straight. I have to wash my face, keep it wet for a few minutes to soften the beard, and make sure it never dries out.

Your strop sounds like a paddle strop. Leather on both sides with wood down the middle? Does it seem to have any paste/powder rubbed into either surface?

Also good lather is important. How are you making yours?

First of all razors that come from shops are usually honed at the factory. Generally, not always, shave ready. You may want to have it honed or strop the heck out of it.

Second, your strop sounds like a loom strop or some kind of paddle, pics help. It also sounds like the light part is untanned hide and the red is some kind of Latigoed hide. Generally you would apply strop dressing, or other abrasive to the untanned side and the tanned side becomes the stop. Or you could go the other way. The tanned side will probably have more draw than the raw side.

As far as painful, watch your prep, your angle, your pressure and your edge.

Hey again all and thanks again for the information and advice...

For those of you who asked about my pre shave process.. well.. Spain may be placed in the same grouping as italy and other country famous for their fantastic barbers as well as their use of straight razors but I have to say that it couldn´t be further from the truth in regards to where I am.. so some items were hard to get hold of...

Specifically shaving cremes... I managed to get hold of a brand called "La Toja" apparently this is the one for sensitive skin and does contain Glycerin.

I also have managed to get hold of a "badger hair" brush.. I put it in quotes because well.. I like to think I know synthetic hair when I see it, and the dark colouration in the middle is just a little bit too uniform and clean cut for my conscience not to question its validity. But as with most things in spain you have to take things with a pinch of salt...

In regards to the strop, I have attempted to take photos with my webcam. Apologies for the image quality.:

As the leather appears to be one-piece stretched around the mounting I can only assume that one side has been coated with something.. it certainly does feel a little rougher when stropping the razor.

Ok.. down to the actual pre shaving routine.. I had a long hot soak in the bath with pretty much the entire lower half of my head under water for about 15 minutes :P not a shower I know and I don´t know whether this was actually a bad thing considering the time I was in the bath for :P

While there I washed my face with unpurfumed soap and then, while still in the bath... whipped out the shaving cream, squeezed the tube into a bowl, ran the water on the tap to wet the brush and created a lather, though admitantly not as rich as I´ve seen on some of the movies... Lathered up my face and proceeded to shave.

Okay.. so i didn't exactly find out about this place prior to the first shaving experience.. but I´m glad it happened today when i have a few days off work to recover :P Least to say that it felt more like it was pulling the hairs out than actually cutting them... but I did do my entire face, do my own detriment I have to admit, but only one complete shave with the grain... I didn´t have the heart to go on after that as my face felt sore... I did actually make sure that the lather was still moist on my face by giving it a new swirl with a newly creme and water filled brush but it didn't seem to make much of a difference...

I got a few cuts, but that's just me not taking my time I assume, that and being a newbie, but also a few, almost like scrapes? where you get an area of lots of little prickles of blood.. if you know what I mean?.

Anyway.. I might have a go with the hot towel idea mentioned in the microwave tomorrow. But the biggest worry I have is that the razor is just not sharp enough, but seem to be having serious problems finding somewhere reputable or someone reputable which doesn´t involve lengthy international shipping... can anyone help there? I´m in the Costa Blanca in Spain.

As to whether I jumped from a disposable to this.. not exactly.. for a while I used to use Razor that you unscrewed the bottom and then place a proper razor blade (double sided) in the top.. but couldn't find the blades here 3 years ago when i moved so had to change razor ( I was getting a lot of skin irritation too, but that was probably because I was using regular modern shaving gel with no prep ). From there I moved to an Electric Razor that was ok, but never really gave me a close shave.. that finally broke so I thought I would give a straight razor a try.

Thank you again to everyone out there that has been answering my plea so far!

There are several honemeisters in Europe. Look in the classifieds to find one. I really think that is what you need.

Nice strop BTW.