good shave with my dovo shavette tonight.

I've been shaving with my dovo shavette for a little while now. About 2 months-ish. Also my first experience with a straight type razor. Sometimes I do the whole shave with it(up to 4 passes but have been trying lately to stick to 2 due to irritation). Sometimes I do one or two passes then do the final pass with my DE89; and some times I just cleanup with the DE. Usually I have at least some irritation(alum block stings like hell) and a nick or two or three. Last night I needed to shave in a hurry so I just used my DE (2 passes and clean up). I mainly use the black insert with the long dovo blades but had tried the red insert with merkur blades. I didn't like it so went back to the dovo blades.

Today I mixed up some uberlather and went back to the shavette with a fresh long blade. I tried to be very mindful of stretching my skin, the angle and the pressure I was using. Everything just seemed to fall into place and I gave myself a really good shave. if I went for one more pass I think I could have gotten a DFS but I didn't want to press my luck. Just 2 passes and a little cleanup. No nicks and no irritation. although I did almost cut my thumb bringing my hand up to stretch my face. I think leaving it alone for a day was helpful. We'll see what happens in the future. Hopefully it wasn't an accident.

By the way, has anyone tried and liked the persona blades with the green insert? It looks shorter than the dovo blades so I would think the dovo would be more similar to a straight. And has anyone tried to use the open comb insert for anything? they say its for shaping I think but I wonder if it would be like an open comb DE or SE?

Hi,
your report sounds good. It can take up to three months for an averagely talented person to learn to shave with a shavette or straight without burn and cuts so keep up, its worth it.

I have a Dovo and just put the long blade in the combed insert to see what it looks like. It definately is not like an open comb DE razor. No comb on a shavette is always better than any comb as far as getting the foam out of the way is concerned. What it really is good for and how to use it, I don't know. As it seems, it can only be used from one side. I would do shaping with the normal blade. The green insert is in fact for so called "shaping blades".

I'm sorry that I have no experience with the green insert. I use the red one and put Derby Halfs in it. I always pull a new blade twice between my fingertips to take some of the harshness of the edge away and to make the first shave smoother. Maybe that would help you get out of the "burnzone" quicker. Finally, the key to smoothness is applying as little pressure as necessary.

Best wishes,
OldSalt

Thanks for the reply. I really did try to be very conscious of the pressure I was using this time. I think that is probably what made the most difference. Now that you mention it I recall hearing about pulling the blade through your fingers. I will definitely try it. Thanks for the input.

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By the way, has anyone tried and liked the persona blades with the green insert?

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The green insert with long gem style blades is all I use. The personna brand seems to work fine, but irritate me a bit. My go to blades are some vintage carbon blades (dubl duck brand) that I actually re-hone and strop. The spine blades seem to be more rigid and feel closer to a conventional straight. I would recommend you at least try them.

I started using a cheap shavette with persona blades and recently used it while my razors were being honed. Hit or miss it seems. Every other day seems to help. Still no replacement for my traditional steels. But a great travel option and they definitely hone your technique. When you mess up they remind you :-)