Thread: Should I make the jump

I am considering trying out shaving with a straight razor. I used to use electric but it didn't get close enough (especially on my neck where the hair grows in a few directions). I recently switched to a Gillette Fusion which gets relatively close but it is irritating the crap out of my neck. I have a few questions for the experts here:

- I still have a bit of acne occasionally. What are your experiences with this? Will the razor cut them off? Will the razor help/hurt the condition?

- I am thinking of buying the DOVO 5/8 Complete SUPER Straight Razor set w/ 2 Strops from thewellshavedgentleman.com. Is this a decent set? Is this a good razor?

- Assuming I bought that set, should I have it pasted when I buy it? With what?

- I'm not afraid to pay for quality if I'm really going to like it. Is this a good price or should I buy a razor separate and maybe get one of the sets without the razor?

- I saw in a few posts talking about honing, pyramids, etc. How often does this need to be done? I read on a different site that most people hone 2-3 times a year but it seems that people here are doing it a lot more often.

Thanks for your help.

You won't go wrong buying that set, or dealing with the seller, Tony Miller. His stuff is top-notch, and he provides everything you need to get started the right way. You can always buy another razor later if you like it, but I think his starter set is the way to go. You know you're getting quality that'll be ready to use when you get it.

As far as the honing happening more often, what you're probably hearing is from guys with lots of razors, not just one. Lots of factors play in to how often you have to hone.

And get the pasted strop pasted by Tony the first time. It'll be done right, and if you ever have to re-paste (not often) you'll have a better idea of how to do it, than just slathering on some honing paste. Lynn Abrams (the founder of this site) has an outstanding video, as well, that covers 99% of the questions any new guy has, including honing, strop pasting, and the proper way to actually shave without curlicuing sections of your face. His is the honing standard around here, and he's been doing this quite a while so his advice is sound. If (or when, rather ) you decide to rescue an aging beauty from the abominable clutches of ebay, Bill Ellis has a great video for restoration, and presents an alternate method of honing that works very well....as well. lol

That's a lot of questions :-)

The wellshavedgentleman kit is a well thought out beginner's set. Tony's a straight shaver and a highly respected member of this forum. I'd get the paddle pasted with 3, 1, and .5 paste.

Can't help with the acne question, I've never had it.

Whether you buy the razor or get one on your own is up to you. There aren't a whole lot of options when it comes to new razors, it's pretty much Dovo and Thiers-Issard and a few $$$$ specialty makers, and though TI has a better reputation for shaving quality they also have well-known quality control problems, they tend to look like they're made by shop class students. You can get some really good vintage razors off of ebay but that's a real risky gamble when you're just starting out, if you really want a vintage blade your best bet is the buy/sell/trade forum here, and Bill Ellis and Joe Chandler also have web stores where they sell refurbished vintage blades.

There is a lot of talk of honing here, but many of the guys here (a) are still learning how to hone, so they're doing a *lot* of honing or (b) have a really bad case of Straight Razor Acquisition Disorder (SRAD), which involves rescuing lots of razors off of ebay and restoring them to shaving condition, which means they're doing a *lot* of honing, or (c) both, in which case they're doing little else *but* honing.

I personally give my blades a refresh on the pasted paddle every 4-7 shaves, but that's just a half dozen licks on the paddle and not a real honing with pyramids and stuff, all my norton really gets used for is honing exciting new ebay acquisitions not keeping my shavers going. If you just get a couple of razors and do regular refreshes on the paddle then you may well only need to hone them once or twice a year.

I can't speak from personal experience, but a lot of guys report that straight razor shaving has helped their acne. There are several reasons for this.

1. The shaving cream or soap you use will probably be better for your skin. Real shaving stuff has fewer chemicals in it than the canned junk.

2. The razor exfoliates your skin as you shave. Dirt, oil, and dead skin get scraped off.

3. Once your skin adjusts to the straight razor, it's actually gentler than the Fusion. One of the main purposes of shaving cream is to protect your skin against the blade. With the Fusion, the rubber fins and first blade pretty much remove all of the lather. That leaves four blades to scrape your unprotected skin. Per pass. If you did three strokes in each area with the Fusion, that would the the equivalent of running your straight razor over your face 15 times, and 12 of those without lather. Mega ouch.

My Mock 3 used to torture me every morning. Now I enjoy getting up and actually look forward to shaving.

Good luck, and don't be shy about asking questions.

Josh

Just noticed you're using the Fusion, that thing is really bad about scraping the h*ck out of your face. The Fusion is what finally convinced me that multi-bladed cartridge razors were never going to solve my shaving problem, and got me to jump ship to straights.

You are asking a bunch of straight-razor shavers whether going straight would be a good option for you? On a good note, the gentlemen have been absolutely correct with all of their advice.
As I still get the occasional zit, if the razor damages it, I just wait until I am done with the shave, clean the blade with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball and then use the cotton ball to put an end to the zit. A splash of aftershave after that and voila

Generally a straight will improve your problems with acne. It depends on how the blade is honed. An amaturish honing can actually cause acne. Overall, the experience with a straight will be an improvement but takes practice compared to your Fusion.

I would say, go for it. It's obvious that you
are interested in trying a straight or you
wouldn't have progressed this far. Go
ahead and give it a try, you won't be
satisfied until you do. I perdict that you
will be glad that you did.


Terry

With me, acne started at the age of 12. I didn't have to shave then, for I had no facial hair growth.

I started shaving at the age of 16. Started out with a DE, soon to be replaced by some 2-blade Gilette. I noticed the acne in my face became less by the time I had to shave daily.
I had a reference point, because I had acne on my back as well. I had it until I was about 21, by then the acne in my face had disapeared.

I'm not an medic, but wet shaving opens up your pores. The lather cleans them out (for it's just soap) and the blade cleans your skin by scraping off a tiny bit of the outer layer. Therefore causing the skin to renew itself time over time.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. But I keep saying that wet shaving really improved my skin those days.

For what it's worth: I hardly ever cut a pimple, because the blade just glide over it.

I don't have acne, but I have the wimpiest sensative skin you've ever seen. Maybe not EVER, but pretty close. If I shave with anything with more than 1 blade (I can't remember the precursor to the Mach 3, but I tried the Mach 3, the 4 bladed contraption, and the fusion), the skin between my chin and neck literally opens up and bleeds. It's bad enough that if I shave and then show my face to a corpsman, I can get a no-shave chit, and just let the hair there grow. It has to be pretty bad if the military will grant you mercy for it :P

So until recently I've just been using the electric mini-lawnmower to keep the whiskers down, but my facial hair grows quick, which means I have to mow twice a day, and while I don't bleed afterwards my face has always been sore.

I've shaved with a straight 4 times now. Today I was down to two nicks with the point of the razor, and the only place that is irritated is under my chin. I'm using aerosol lather, to boot, though I finally broke down and ordered one of Tony's kits minus the razor. I'll just have to mail it to myself a few times, heh.

I agree that once you start figuring out the technique, the blade glides right across your skin.