So I got a Dovo Shavette for Christmas and that's all I've shaved with since.
I've picked up a couple of other razors (a Torrey and a Clover) that I'm slowly working on cleaning up as time permits. I did however see a nice little near wedge sheffield razor from Larry over at Whipped dog that I fell in lust with and got in the mail last Friday. I've shaved with it 4x since Sunday... On Sunday I had a few days worth of growth on my neck. In a past life I was a Sasquatch.
Anyway, with the Shavette I enjoyed the feeling of letting my beard go for 3-4 days then cleaning the brush out. It was nice and smooth and satisfying.
When I put the "real" razor up to my face and tried, it pulled like an Irishman in a potato field. After several painful passes I got down to stubble and it hurt significantly less. I didn't cut or nick myself but I felt every single neck hair being slowly tugged/sawed off. I made it a point for the rest of the week to not go more than two days between shaves. It didn't hurt as much but it honestly didn't feel as clean as the Shavette. With the Shavette I do a pass WTG, then a pass at a roughly 45degree angle XTG and my face and neck are smooth as a newborn baby for the next day or so. Nothing else needed.
Tonight's shave went pretty well with the wedge. No nicks or cuts, not too much pulling. Just a bunch of irritated skin from having to do 4 passes and ending up with a shave that feels 8 hours old. Today's shave was definitely the best in the last week.
I feel like I have to use a lot more pressure (not necessarily against the skin, but pulling through my facial shrubbery) to achieve a not super painful result.
Is this normal going from a Shavette to a "real" straight razor?
The first shave was with a "shave ready" razor.
I'm using the poor man's strop.
It seems like the more I use it the better my shave gets. I do about 10 passes after my shave, then put a drop of mineral oil on the blade and rub it around to prevent rust.
Before my next shave I do another 30 passes on the strop because from what I've been reading the big fat razors need more stropping due to edge thickness and that jazz.
I shave with Proraso or Real Shaving Co. cream. Tonight I used some kinda junky soap that lathers up thin but I added some liquid glycerin to it to help a bit.
With the Shavette I don't recall how often I replaced the blade. It came with one whole DE blade and I bought a 5 pack. I still have 3 whole blades left in the pack.