Well walked through my front door last night and there it was waiting for me on the mat all wrapped up.
this is the Shaving Shack shavette. It's sold through the Shaving Shack website. It costs £8.49 but the shaving shack does a points system where you earn points for purchases and then you can redeem those points so I had enough to purchase this shavette and just have to pay for the p+p so in reality the shavette only cost me £3.
The shavette itself is very nicely made. the plastic handle feels solid enough and the rest is all metal, all very well made and no obvious blemishes and it all lines up nicely. Inserting half DE blade was a doddle and it stayed in there securely. Very impressed with for the amount of money it cost. So I broke a Racer blade in half and got myself ready. I'm using Racers in my R41 at the moment and they are a very comfortable shave and I know from the R41 they can also give a great close shave as well.
I lathered up with my Wilkinson boar brush and the wonderful RazoRock XXX.
First problems. I'm very right handed so trying to do the left cheek with my left was a weird sensation. I tried pulling my skin as tight as I could and proceeded with some trepidation. It sort of went ok but the other problem, and one I've read about consistently, is the lack of weight in the shavette. I'm used to DE shaving now and applying no pressure as the weight of the razor allows easily flow through the stubble with the lather but this seems to need you to have much better muscle control and apply some pressure just to take it in a downwards motion.
It also felt a little uncomfortable, not as smooth as the DE I use however left cheek and side of neck done and no real problems. then along came the chin. My stubble on my chin is much harsher then it is on my cheeks. I have badly acne pock-marked skin on my cheeks so I don't get the heaviest beard on there but I do get hair growing in all different directions. On my chin it's much thicker and harsh. First problem was that I really wasn't sure about the angle to attack it at even after reading a lot on here when it actually comes to it then it's a completely different matter and sure enough, wrong angle and cut. thankfully not too deep but I procedded and sttuggled to do the chin and the neck underneath it before switching over to my right and doing that side.After rinsing with cold water I felt around and the shave wasn't bad but not good enough to leave it so I lathered up to try a XTG pass.
Big mistake. I don't think I'd gone 2mm when a slight lump on my left cheek forced the blade to just stick and that was it. I decided enough was enough and not to chance it so the R41 came out to do the XTG and ATG passes.
So not a great and not a bad experience. The lump on my cheek isn't really a lump it's just where acne scarring has raised the skin but it's something I consistently caught when I moved in to DE shaving but have now mastered my touch with that so that I don't hack it any more (or rarely). this is going to be another challenge and next time I try I may have to go around it.
So not perfect but no serious blood letting. the cut on my cheek had stopped bleeding after the cold rinses between passes, it's there but not too bad and it was the only cut I had. There was a little more discomfort than I'm used to with a Racer blade though after the WTG pass.
I'll leave it now for the rest of the week and pick it up for go number 2 next week. I'm going to persist with it over at least the next month and see how I get on.
this is the Shaving Shack shavette. It's sold through the Shaving Shack website. It costs £8.49 but the shaving shack does a points system where you earn points for purchases and then you can redeem those points so I had enough to purchase this shavette and just have to pay for the p+p so in reality the shavette only cost me £3.
The shavette itself is very nicely made. the plastic handle feels solid enough and the rest is all metal, all very well made and no obvious blemishes and it all lines up nicely. Inserting half DE blade was a doddle and it stayed in there securely. Very impressed with for the amount of money it cost. So I broke a Racer blade in half and got myself ready. I'm using Racers in my R41 at the moment and they are a very comfortable shave and I know from the R41 they can also give a great close shave as well.
I lathered up with my Wilkinson boar brush and the wonderful RazoRock XXX.
First problems. I'm very right handed so trying to do the left cheek with my left was a weird sensation. I tried pulling my skin as tight as I could and proceeded with some trepidation. It sort of went ok but the other problem, and one I've read about consistently, is the lack of weight in the shavette. I'm used to DE shaving now and applying no pressure as the weight of the razor allows easily flow through the stubble with the lather but this seems to need you to have much better muscle control and apply some pressure just to take it in a downwards motion.
It also felt a little uncomfortable, not as smooth as the DE I use however left cheek and side of neck done and no real problems. then along came the chin. My stubble on my chin is much harsher then it is on my cheeks. I have badly acne pock-marked skin on my cheeks so I don't get the heaviest beard on there but I do get hair growing in all different directions. On my chin it's much thicker and harsh. First problem was that I really wasn't sure about the angle to attack it at even after reading a lot on here when it actually comes to it then it's a completely different matter and sure enough, wrong angle and cut. thankfully not too deep but I procedded and sttuggled to do the chin and the neck underneath it before switching over to my right and doing that side.After rinsing with cold water I felt around and the shave wasn't bad but not good enough to leave it so I lathered up to try a XTG pass.
Big mistake. I don't think I'd gone 2mm when a slight lump on my left cheek forced the blade to just stick and that was it. I decided enough was enough and not to chance it so the R41 came out to do the XTG and ATG passes.
So not a great and not a bad experience. The lump on my cheek isn't really a lump it's just where acne scarring has raised the skin but it's something I consistently caught when I moved in to DE shaving but have now mastered my touch with that so that I don't hack it any more (or rarely). this is going to be another challenge and next time I try I may have to go around it.
So not perfect but no serious blood letting. the cut on my cheek had stopped bleeding after the cold rinses between passes, it's there but not too bad and it was the only cut I had. There was a little more discomfort than I'm used to with a Racer blade though after the WTG pass.
I'll leave it now for the rest of the week and pick it up for go number 2 next week. I'm going to persist with it over at least the next month and see how I get on.
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