Anyone else feel attacked by the shavette?

Hey everyone,

I have a straight razor and a shavette. Does anyone else feel "attacked" by the shavette when they use it.

I use it when I travel, but when I do I seem to cut the snot out of myself.

Any tips on what I am doing wrong?


J

I hadn't used one until I was a confirmed straight user so I found the shavette a piece of cake: right up until I forgot where the toe was and got a little nick:o They're like shaving with an aggressive spike point straight - funny no-one mentions that:D

In other words, keep your mind on where the front end of the blade is and things will improve

Well you can mute the tip of the blade on the exposed porcelain on the bottom of a coffee cup. I have a Weck Sextoblade and the blades are a wee bit longer with the corners lightly rounded.

I started out with shavettes and after about a year using them l moved to straights. The only shevette l currently have in my rotation is the feather artist club ss.

The following will help to improve your technique
-Good facial preparation
-Good stretching of the skin
-Go slow and use short strikes
-Apply zero pressure

You could also check out this video of me doing a shavette shave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg2YYcUAr0Y

I do feel that it attacks my stubble but not my skin. I use a Feather SS though, which, IMO, is better than a shavette that uses halved DE blades.

You just have to remember you are basically shaving with a boxcutter. You just need to watch your angles and pressure.

I'm more cautious with a shavette, but I get great shaves with them

There is no doubt that you have to be very careful with a shavette.

As well, all shavette's aren't created equal. My preference is for a Dovo shavette with a green guard with a Personna blade. The benefit is that it uses only one blade rather than breaking a double edge blade in half and comes closest to the experience of using a straight.

This same shavette has a red guard using a double edge blade broken in half. This guard is great for sideburns and tight spots, though not as much for a total shave.

My point in all of this is to make sure you have the best setup for your needs.

Maybe because the blades bend a little more ?????? They certainly aren't any sharper. More pressure bends the blade changes angles and adds more bite to the ends as they dig in easier. That's what I feel anyway.

I used to have that problem with my DOVO, but after watching some SR videos, I think I've got the technique down. I find that the blade angle has a lot do do with it. 20%, 30%, 35%, who knows? You're not gonna hold a protractor to your face while you shave. What I did was hold the shavette flat against my face and began a downward stroke. This, of course, wasn't cutting any beard. I rolled the spine of the shavette slowly away from my face as I was still in that downward stroke. Once I felt resistance, I knew THAT was the correct angle because it was now shaving. I shaved with the blade at that angle. Next, instead of making long strokes, I made a series of short strokes about an inch each. This combination cut down on irritation, increased beard harvest, and generally offered a very pleasant shave. The final thing I discovered was the lather. It really doesn't matter which shaving soap you use and believe it or not, the "wetness or dryness" isn't as critical as they'd have you believe, BUT.....I found that if you make a really great lather, with lots of head, and really dig it into your face, that seems to glide the blade for you. These three simple operations seemed to increase my comfort a hundred fold.