I ordered a nice new dovo square point razor in mid December and it finally arrived today. In the meantime I've been using a bluebeards revenge shavette because I got bored of waiting. Just had my first shave with it and it was an interesting experience so I thought I'd share. I also have a question or two and of course any other feedback or advice is very welcome.

First I prepared with a hot shower, then a nice hot towel on the face for a minute or so (first time I've done that) and then lathered up with edwin jagger shave soap. Then I dried my hands so as not to get any water where it shouldn't get, took my razor from its case and began to shave. It was very nice to hold, much better balanced than a cheap shavette. So nice to have the extra couple of inches of blade as well. It removed hair but not all that much and tugged at the hairs rather than slicing them. This is straight from the box exactly as it arrived, so not stropped (I was advised not to the first time out) but professionally honed before it was sent. I completed one pass with the grain with no nicks or cuts, and with a little less stubble at the end. I started with 5 days worth and after one pass it looked like 3 or 4 days worth.

I lathered up again and finished the job with the shavette and got a nice close shave. Finished by rinsing off soap residue with warm water, then cold water, alum block, dry and finally aftershave balm. Dried my nice new razor (although I was careful not to get it wet in the first place) stropped it 30 times on the linen (which has some white stuff on) and 50 on the leather, then put a drop of clipper oil on the blade and put it away. It's in its little blue tin which I hear isn't the best place to store it, but the vacuum cleaner I just bought came with a little bag of silica gel and I tucked that in the tin with the razor. Not sure if that was a good idea but I read a thread about rust yesterday and got scared.

So my biggest question of course is "Why did it not seem so sharp and what should I do next?" The usual answers seem to be proper honing and technique. I think I was getting the angle about right since doing the same thing with the shavette gave a good result. Do I need a slightly different technique with the straight? Has the sharpness of the disposable blade in the shavette led me to expect too much from the straight? As for the blade itself, I was wondering if being in transit for three weeks might have led to slight corrosion of the edge making it less sharp, but there's no corrosion visible. The blade was honed but possibly not stropped when it was sent out. Having stropped it, should I expect a better performance next time?

Last question: I got better lather in Sheffield than I do here in Norway with the same soap and technique. Is this just the different mineral content of the water and if so what can I do different?

Thanks for reading all that and for any feedback.
David