Thread: Trying to figure out why...

I am really new to shavette shaving. I have only 3 shaves under my belt with my push type Parker shavette. My second was better than my bloodletting, permanently scared, and otherwise disastrous first shave. I have tried a persona barber edition blade on my first, a Rapira on my second, and an Astra SP on my third. I realized after reading some other posts that I may need to use the blade more than once to let it settle down. The real problem I am having is when I go make my first stroke, the blade hits the hair and just stops dead in it's tracks. The same results with three different blades. That tells me that something else is afoot. I am using preshave oil consisting of olive oil, grapeseed oil, and castor oil. I have been using Col Conk Bay Rum soap while I am waiting on my Stirling to arrive.
I suspect I might not have the lather down yet as it seems to dry out my skin before I even get halfway finished. I am looking for any other suggestions my I might try this weekend for my shave.
Thanks for any help.
John

Lather is super important. You may want to try a little more water and try lathering in areas as opposed to your whole face. It works well to keep it from drying out and maintaining it's slickness. Later on as your shaving time decreases you can lather larger areas. As for the shavette blades I have zero experience.

Are you stretching your skin? Also are you putting the blade to your face then starting to move? Or starting your pass then touching skin? Reason I ask is stretching is vital! An I find for me starting my stroke before actually laying the blade to skin seems to work better in keeping things moving. An as rez mentioned lather slickness is also crucial. Take that advice an lather in smaller areas.

Originally Posted by RezDog

Lather is super important. You may want to try a little more water and try lathering in areas as opposed to your whole face. It works well to keep it from drying out and maintaining it's slickness. Later on as your shaving time decreases you can lather larger areas. As for the shavette blades I have zero experience.

I will give this a try in the morning. I do add water; I sometimes think I add to much and that is why it dried out. I used a little less this morning and got better results when I safety razor shaved.

Originally Posted by RollinCoal69

Are you stretching your skin? Also are you putting the blade to your face then starting to move? Or starting your pass then touching skin? Reason I ask is stretching is vital! An I find for me starting my stroke before actually laying the blade to skin seems to work better in keeping things moving. An as rez mentioned lather slickness is also crucial. Take that advice an lather in smaller areas.

I am stretching my skin, although it may not be enough. I will pull a little harder this weekend and see if that helps. I am going to keep the same blade and see if that helps also. I will also give it a whirl trying the movement first and see what happens.

Hello mate,

Those things IMHO are very hard to use. If you can, try a Feather Artist or a shavette that takes a full length blade you may find it easier to use. Also as stated above the skin pull is vital my shaves improved lots once I got that going correctly. Good luck.

I learned on the Parker SR1 shavette before jumping onto a SR.
Using the same blade more than once did help a lot. A brand new, sharp blade always gave be a rough shave, but once the blade settled from another use, my shaves were good.

Also, watch your shave angle. Try shaving with the blade close to, almost flat against, your face. That should keep the angle low and the blade moving through the hairs. The higher angles can make it hard to shave, and tend to cut the face.

Thanks for all the advice; I wasn't really expecting this. I think it's gonna be a matter of practice that develops my technique. This weekend I will try my Van Der Hagen soap as it seems to give a slicker lather than my Conk. I also think it was sloppy technique on my part as I am sure my elbows were sagging hence the slices.
Cheers
John

If your sure of your edge being sharp it's technique and that just comes with patience and lots of practice. You,ll get there , and I agree with above if your going to stay with a "shave tote style razor" go with the feather system , it's in a league all it's own. Tc

Sometimes I just get the jitters and the bloodletting begins Maybe a shot or two of Fireball Whiskey during my preshave will help.

I am also quite sure that as I get more accustomed to this type of shaving my collection of tools will grow.