Thread: First try with a Parker Shavette was cut short! Pun intended!

Hi all,

I am new to this Site/Forum and decided that I wanted to try a straight razor shave. Since I dont own any, a guy I know shipped me a shavette to try out that folds like a straight and uses 1/2 of a DE blade. I DE shave and have for a few months or so with no issues.

The shave started out okay but for me it is hard to see where the small end is lining up by my side burn area but I managed to get my checks done okay and working my way down the side of my face to the jaw line. That was okay but not very close of a shave and may have been my angle but IDK for sure. Anyway, I do the jawline and some of the neck areas (the easier spots) then back up to under the nose and then under the bottom lip areas. As soon as I tried to get under the nose I felt a sting like a needle and yeah you guessed it, I got a weeper so I decided to come at it from the sides which worked easier and then moved to the bottom lip area. While I was figuring out how to go at that area and hold the shavette the right way, I started down from the bottom lip to my chin and then there is was, I got a nick that wasnt big by any means just a bleeder. Needless to say cause I couldnt stop the bleeding right away, I ended up cutting my shave short and just did one pass with the Wolfman DE so I had somewhat of an one pass shave, give/take a spot or two!

I guess my first impressions are that the shavette idea may be too small for my liking as it is harder for me to see the blade and angle with my hand on the handle where it is supposed to be. Another problem may be that I dont have great eye sight. I can drive fine (but who cant,right?) and see okay but I had an eye surgery when I was a young guy in grade school that didnt go as planned so my right eye is pretty much useless. My left is okay but has never been great, especially over the last year or two. I like to DE shave and have no issues doing so and not sure if it is easier as the handle is downward from the blade so my view isnt blocked or what but the shavette seems to put my hands in my sight line. Heck I even tried a few strokes using my right hand on my left side to see if that was better and it was than holding it in my left hand and having blind spots.

Anyway, not sure what to think at this point but now I might need a day to heal that spot up before shaving again so I will have a little time to think about this. Meanwhile I will practice "dry" shaving to see if I can work out my angle and so called blind spots.

Thx. and feel free to make some comments and suggestions!

Stick with it. It takes a little time to get used to it, but it's well worth the effort. Some ridiculously good looking fellow posted this video on YouTube. Hope it helps.

Shavette or Straight, most likely you are going nick yourself if you try to shave your whole face the first time out. Start out slow with just your cheeks WTG until you get the angle and pressure right. Then expand to other areas from there and start tossing in XTG and ATG as you feel comfortable.

Hey Mike, when I saw the title of this post, I thought it might be you. If it makes you feel any better, I nicked myself twice with that razor the first time out too. But like I told you a few days ago, the main reason I tried the shavette was to see if I could control it with my left hand. Once I realized I could, I moved to the straight and had much better luck. I don't know if that would be the case for you, but consider getting that straight you have honed and trying it after your nicks heal. It may just be me, but I find a SR to be more forgiving than a shavette.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Mike

Originally Posted by murf

Hey Mike, when I saw the title of this post, I thought it might be you. If it makes you feel any better, I nicked myself twice with that razor the first time out too. But like I told you a few days ago, the main reason I tried the shavette was to see if I could control it with my left hand. Once I realized I could, I moved to the straight and had much better luck. I don't know if that would be the case for you, but consider getting that straight you have honed and trying it after your nicks heal. It may just be me, but I find a SR to be more forgiving than a shavette.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Mike

Hey Mike,

Yep it is me! LOL

I have been thinking about trying it again but so far I haven't, just thinking I guess! I also think that a true SR is going to be better. I sent my straight out just the other day to get it honed and cleaned up. Probably have it back in about two weeks I am guessing! I might do what criswilson10 suggested and just shave the cheek area and see how it feels and if it is comfortable, I may try another area!

Thx.

Or maybe the best advice would be to grow a goatee and avoid those problem areas. Works for me.