Thread: Dovo Shavette, Shave #3

I considered making this into a journal, but I'm not sure I'll live long enough to complete the story. Shave #3 was better, a few nicks, one real nice one, and a somewhat less than passable shave result. I am getting much better at applying Styptic, becoming somewhat of an artist at that!

That's the good news. The bad news is it took half an hour to get a lousy shave, not as good as one quick pass WTG with my HD. I do quite well on my cheeks, but around the jawline and chin where angles start to change things get really interesting. I made some progress today in laying the razor almost flat and bringing the spine up slightly to begin shaving, but it's slow going around the chin. It's pretty intimidating because I'm well aware that the slightest errant move results in immediate blood flow.

If someone can give me good reason to believe that a real Straight is more forgiving than this thing, I'll be on the phone getting one Monday (if I last that long).

Originally Posted by ace

If someone can give me good reason to believe that a real Straight is more forgiving than this thing, I'll be on the phone getting one Monday (if I last that long).

Because those who have the experience of shaving with both say real straights are not as harsh. Decent straights can be had from the classifieds or whipped dog for very reasonable prices. Pick one up, and then you can be one of those who has experience with both.

I have been shaving with a shavette for about 8 months and for it the biggest thing I learned was angle and how to stretch my face. I just shaved for the first time with one of my xmas gifts, my new rescaled wapi. This was my first shave with a real straight and I immediately noticed a difference in how harsh the DE blades are when using the shavette. From my perspective the real straight was much more forgiving and way less harsh. It was a bit different shaving with that long of a blade though.

When shaving your chin I found that a softer beard helped as you don't have to push the blade through your hair. Also I found that pushing in any way (i.e. pushing the blade against the skin/pushing the blade through the hair) cause blood. The only weight I use is the weight of the blade. Back to the angle thing again, once I "got it" on getting the blade around my chin keeping the angle correct I stopped bleeding myself every time I shaved my chin.

Originally Posted by girdoom

I have been shaving with a shavette for about 8 months and for it the biggest thing I learned was angle and how to stretch my face. I just shaved for the first time with one of my xmas gifts, my new rescaled wapi. This was my first shave with a real straight and I immediately noticed a difference in how harsh the DE blades are when using the shavette. From my perspective the real straight was much more forgiving and way less harsh. It was a bit different shaving with that long of a blade though.

When shaving your chin I found that a softer beard helped as you don't have to push the blade through your hair. Also I found that pushing in any way (i.e. pushing the blade against the skin/pushing the blade through the hair) cause blood. The only weight I use is the weight of the blade. Back to the angle thing again, once I "got it" on getting the blade around my chin keeping the angle correct I stopped bleeding myself every time I shaved my chin.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will admit that I got so good so quickly with the Merkur HD that I may have cut back on pre-shave preparation because I really didn't need it with the weight of the head of the HD. I'm starting to "get" the angles a bit now, and maybe some better, more sustained prep will get me around the chin better. I'll find out tomorrow. Again, thanks!

I just came from 6 months of a dovo shavette and a straight razor is soooooo much better as far as nicks and irritation go. Don't get me wrong I got great shaves off my shavette but it was a learning curve. The transition to straight has been pretty bloodless and painless. IMO a straight gives a better shave than a shavette.

I had a similar experience with johnmorganjr.
I used the shavette for about a moth and I had plenty of nicks and irritations on eatch shave.
When I finally got my Dovo Bismarck I was very surprised to see 1 or 2 nicks and no irritations at all. In my opinion the straight razor is superior to the shavette in terms of quality of shave and nicks/irritations.

1/2 hour to shave when you're only 3 shaves in is actually pretty good. Some of us probably took twice as long as that the first couple of times. Hell, it takes me 35-45 minutes if I count showering and all the prep, and I've been at this for over two years. That's okay though, I shave for enjoyment, not for a quick efficient shave-n-go. But if all you want is a quick shave be advised that it will be a while until you are proficient enough to accomplish that without bloodshed.

I still have issues on my chin with the shavette. One day it'll go BBS, the next I'll irritate myself and get nothing done while the rest of my face feels great.

I can get BBS every time with my Shavette.

BBS stands for Bloody, Bruised, and Sliced right?

Figured a little something out today, I shaved the hard areas first while the razor was sharper and it went a little better than usual. Chin went BBS, and I almost got it on the underside of my chin where the hair goes sideways. I think I just need to go back to the real straight though.