Picking a Razor for post lazer hair removal

Hi Guys

I am new to the forum and have done a lot of research. I have a pretty special situation here that I could not find an answer to.

I was suffering heavily from ingrown hairs in my neck from shaving. Causing pain and in some cases infections. It was also taking up to 10 minutes to shave my neck alone. I was shaving using a Braun 790cc electric shaver which is one of the best you can buy. I decided to go with laser hair removal for my neck to avoid the pain and time spent shaving. I was only shaving about twice a week.

So I started my laser sessions and thing got out of hand and I ended up also lasering my cheeks and basically giving myself a permanent facial hair style. I am about 8 sessions into facial and neck laser hair removal. I have about 4 more sessions to go. The last few sessions I have are for shaping the left over hair. This is currently what my face looks like except my sideburns running to my goatee is about an inch thick. I am not the guy in the pic btw:

http://www.internationalunity.org/wp...ling-small.jpg

I no longer have any hair growth on my neck or my cheeks (woohoo). I only need to shave around my goatee and sideburns to keep them shaped nicely. This is important for the last few laser hair removal sessions I have left since the better the shaping of my facial hair the closer I will get to the ideal look I want and the less amount of shaving I will need to do going forward. I have not been able to get the ideal shape I want with my trimmers and conventional gillette shaver. So... I started looking at straight razors.

After much research I decided to go with the DOVO "BISMARCK" SPIKE POINT 5/8" STRAIGHT RAZOR. I thought the spike point would be great to help me shape my goatee.

Then as I Was browsing I noticed some 4/8, 3/8 and 2/8 razors. I did some research on those and it seems they are made for sculpting which is exactly what I want.

I do not need to shave my face so I dont think I need a 5/8 or 6/8 shaver. I only need to trim around the hair lines I have not... goatee, sideburns etc.

So the question is... should I go with the Dovo Bismarch spike point 5/8 or should I go for something smaller such as a 4/8, 3/8 or even 2/8? I could not find much information on any of the smaller width razors.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to be as detailed as possible since I am kind of a special case here.

You can do trimming with the 5/8, even if the narrow ones might make it a little easier. Personally I would not go below 4/8, because the narrower blades are more difficult to keep flat on the strop and they are more difficult to hone as well. The 4/8 is fine, but if you go lower you get into much greater difficulty. Also, regarding the spike point, that spike is the easiest way to add a new scar to your facial repertoire. You have to watch where you put that thing because if you don't pay attention, you will see blood. That said, a spike can easily be muted (dulled) with just a few light strokes on a hone without changing the aesthetics of the blade.

Another option, depending on the precision of the sculpting you wish to do, would be a double edged safety razor. It's a lot less trouble for the minimal amount of shaving you will need to do.

Another option would be the Merkur moustache and bearde trimmer razor. It is basically a small, wedge shaped safety razor. Blades are fairly cheap and it works like a charm. I use one to clean up around my goatee and eye brows.

Can be found at Straight Razor Designs in the grooming section.

If i just wanted something for shaping my sideburns etc. I would probably consider something like the parker of dovo shavette. But as far as size go you should be able to shape pretty well with just about any standard size straight.

I ended up ordering the Dovo Best Quality Black 4/8"

I decided on that option based on the comments that any smaller size might be difficult to hone and stop.

It was also 45 dollars cheaper than the 5/8 BISMARCK.

If things go well I will upgrade to a 5/8 BISMARCK or Dovo SPECIAL 5/8

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kenan

I ended up ordering the Dovo Best Quality Black 4/8"

I decided on that option based on the comments that any smaller size might be difficult to hone and stop.

It was also 45 dollars cheaper than the 5/8 BISMARCK.

If things go well I will upgrade to a 5/8 BISMARCK or Dovo SPECIAL 5/8

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Glad you were able to make a choice, and that the info you got here helped. BTW, welcome to SRP! Be aware that depending on where you purchased your Dovo from it may still need to be honed properly before you can shave with it. Many a new straight user has picked up a "factory honed" Dovo and had a bad experience because they thought that meant it was ready to go.

Let us know how things go for you, and feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Peace,