should i get started?

hi everyone

i'm thinking of trying shaving with a straight razor cause i cant find the right combination of blades/foam/post shave stuff for my skin that doesnt irritate it, trouble is i dont know if the same will happen with a straight razor! obviously its much more expensive to just 'give it a go' with a straight razor than an ordinary disposable, but is there a way to try it first without spending a fortune? i've seen things like the dovo shavette ( Dovo "Shavette" Razors ), does anyone know if these are any good and how similiar it is to shaving with a proper razor?

thanks

You might just go get a shave from a barber and discuss your problem with him/her. Whippeddog.com as some very inexpensive starter kits if you want to look at that. yes there are many more ways to go with a straight razor as you will find out from reading more. But some of the folks here have answers to your initial problem and using a straight may be part of it. Good luck and welcome to SRP ! If you can't find out what you need to know here, your not going to be able to Google it either.

2 things I should warn you about.... Cheap is not always the best option . check out the library and look for " Brands to avoid". And get it sharp what ever you get. A dull razor will hurt your face more than anything. Seems funny but that is the way it works.

Hey dtw. I was exactly the same, my neck was always very irrated after a shave and no matter what foam, gel or after shave balm I used, never helped. Neck and upper lip were always red and neck bumpy.

I started with a cheap boar brush and palmolive shave stick with my fusion and that got a closer shave and a little less irration. Then I went for a Dovo Best Quality, and a better soap and basic badger brush (knowing I'd still use these instead of foam). Irration disappeared straight away and only reappears if the edge is dulled. As I get better with the straight there's not redness any more and no bumps on neck area.

I went to a barber for a shave and they used a shavette. It was NOT comfortable. Nowhere as good as a proper straight. Then again, the person doing the shave didn't look much over 20 (if even that).

Two things:

If the only reason you're interested in a straight razor is to avoid hurting your face:

. . . try a DE ("safety") razor.

They're cheaper than straight razors -- anywhere from $5 Gillettes at antique shops to $35-40 for shiny, new Edwin Jagger (DE 89) and Merkur (34C) razors.

Blades are cheap -- ten cents to 50 cents each -- and last for a few shaves. No stropping, no honing. you can get a 'blade sampler' online and find out what you like, and what you don't -- blades differ.

The learning curve is much shorter than for a straight razor. And the chance for serious damage -- deep cuts -- is way, way lower.

Other people have gone from cartridges to DE's, and had good results -- closer shave, less irritation.

Second thing:

You haven't given any details on what you do for beard prep. The most common cause of irritated skin is simply too much pressure on the razor! The cure is two-fold:

. . . Use a good soap and brush to soften the beard, and provide a protective layer of lather,
. . . before the shave;

. . . Use a _really sharp_ blade (not a cartridge -- a DE or a straight) so that it cuts your
. . . beard with _no pressure_ on the razor.

Don't depend on aftershave products -- once your skin is raw, it's raw.

If you're allergic to soap ingredients -- if you get irritation just by lathering and not shaving -- that's a different issue.

. Charles

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cpcohen1945

with _no pressure_ on the razor.


. Charles

---

dtw I was in the same boat as you, and I took the plunge on both the DE and str8. When these guys say *no* pressure, they mean it - none, and the DE and the str8 will shave the beard with zero pulling, zero scratching, zero bumps, zero irritation. But it's much more of a skill than scratching the "comfort of 5 blades" tool through canned goop. There is a learning curve, but well worth it especially with those kinds of irritation problems.

...and for the record I'm still very much learning, but I've seen enough progress in 2 or 3 weeks to really start to understand what people are talking about when they say "no pressure" and "no pulling"

thanks everyone, good to know i'm not the only one who struggles!

at the moment i use a 3 blade wilkinson sword hydro cartridge and matching gel. i'm only 21 and can still (just about) get away with shaving every other day. its not great but its the best i've tried so far. i hadn't thought of the pressure on the skin though, will have to see if that helps. i definitely think i'll try a brush and 'old fashioned' lather as well and see if that makes any difference. i've looked at DE razors and (probably wrongly) assumed i would have the same problems as with cartridges so thats definitely worth a look, thanks. as for a straight, its on the 'to try' list at some stage in the future!

how often does a straight razor need stropping and honing?

thanks, dan

Needs stropped before every shave. As for honing, that depends. When you've developed good stropping and shave technique, I've heard once or twice a year. More often when starting out. I've only started about a month and a half ago, but started using soap and brush with the cartridge about over 3 months ago.

If you dont get started, you will never know!

Whether you go with a straight or
a DE be sure to stretch the skin and
use a light touch - let the razor glide
down your face.

Checkout the video link below. It
shows proper technique for both
a DE or straight.

Shaving videos - Straight Razor Place Wiki

There is a wealth of information
in the Library section of SRP and
lots of videos on Youtube showing
both straight razor and DE shaving.

Terry

+1 on whippeddog.com. You can get started using a cosmetically flawed but perfectly good razor and a not pretty but again perfectly functional strop for about 50 dollars. If you want you could probably go on shaving with just these things for a good long time, just needing to send your blade out for honing every so often. If you don't like it I bet you could even recoup some of your money reselling it here on the classifieds. There is a very affordable plastic DE razor on amazon.com for about 6 bucks which I heard is a decent razor to just give safety razors a try.

I've started using a shavette because the nice straight razor I ordered before christmas was delayed at uk customs so long that I'd gone back to Norway by the time it arrived at my parents house where I was staying. Now it's being delayed by Norwegian customs so I still don't have it. I bought a cheap shavette to be going on with. I got a bluebeards revenge one for £10 off amazon. A very affordable way to have a go at something close to straight razor shaving, although not quite the real deal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WoppA

If you don't like it I bet you could even recoup some of your money reselling it here on the classifieds.

---

That would depend on just how "cosmetically flawed" it is.
Sometimes it's safer not buy things sight unseen like parachutes & razors ;)

I noticed the same problem with my cartridge razor I had been using prior to starting straight shaving. The only way it wouldn't irritate me is if I ONLY shaved with the grain. Any time I'd try against the grain (yes even after WTG) I would get some irritation. Having shaved with a straight for about 6 months my shaves have improved, and minimal irritation. I didn't switch because of the irritation, the sheer bad-ass-ness of straight razors is what attracted me. However, my shaves are better and I can go ATG with minimal irritation. Sometimes I'll think an edge is sharper than it actually is when I go ATG and that will cause irritation, but now I have a few razors that I trust ATG. My honing is slowly improving as well. I'll occasionally get a little redness immediately after shaving, but it will subside after a half hour to an hour.

Skin clarity has improved a little as well, I don't know if I would give the straight razor the credit for this. As I have always had troublesome skin (mild acne), but I think it does play a role in my skin clarity. I'm still working on improving my shaves but if your willing to learn, I almost promise that you will think of shaving not as a chore anymore, but a relaxing time for you. I look forward to shaving every time I get to do it, which for me, is every few days. My beard doesn't grow fast, thick, nor do I need to be clean shaven every day.

Safety razors aren't a bad stepping stone either. I got my friend hooked on them (he said he didn't want a straight). Now he loves his DE and I think in the future he might want to give shaving with a straight a chance. He had to shave daily for work and his beard also grows fast and thick, so he went through cartridges FAST, he got excited when I told him how much blades for my DE were. He can notice a better shave, and can wait longer before having to shave again because of a closer shave. He too, can't go ATG with cartridge razors, and was skeptical at first, but I think he really enjoys his DE. He mentioned that he wanted to get another one, a full size DE, since his is a travel size. But shaving daily or every other day for him adds up, and saving money was what attracted him and the shave quality has him hooked.

As for straights, I haven't HAD to buy anything for shaving since July 2012. I did choose to get some blades to restore and some new soaps to try. It is a somewhat addictive hobby if you ask me. I never dreamed that there could ever be so much to shaving to learn. I love it, I'm sure everyone on this forum can agree with that.

Good luck in your shaving ventures!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cpcohen1945

Two things:

Blades are cheap -- ten cents to 50 cents each -- and last for a few shaves. No stropping, no honing. you can get a 'blade sampler' online and find out what you like, and what you don't -- blades differ.

---

when you said a 'blade sampler', what did you mean exactly? do you have a link to hand I could take a look at?

thanks

Dan

A lot of vendors sell sample paks
of various brands of blades.

Google DE blade sampler pak.

Pick the vendor of your choice.


Terry

For example:

Razor Blade Sample Packs | West Coast Shaving

I just read a thread (maybe here, maybe on BadgerAndBlade.com) that suggests that it would be better to buy a good supply of a "middle-of-the-road" blade -- for example, Astra -- and _learn to shave with it_.

I'm not sure what to believe, now.

I started off with a Gillette Tech and a stock of Feather blades, and did a little suffering in my first few weeks. But I eventually mastered that combination.

Everything after that has been easy.

. charles

Dovos are great. some of the top of the line and all you need to get a good shave. I have several. Make sure you get one professionally honed by Lynn Abrams at www.straightrazordesigns or www. vintagebladesllc.com they all come shave ready. There are several other sites that offer professionally honed razors and its quite relative so be careful. Another cheap way to go is Larry at whipped dog.com. Hs razors are vintage without flaws in the blade and come professionally honed. I bought from all these guys and highly recommend them. The notion that SR shaving is more expensive than disposables is a farce. Where the disposables get you is the blades. a good razor can last a lifetime. Of course RAD kicks in and you can by more but all you reallyneed is razor, strop, brush and soap. hope this helps