Focus blade razor

[Huxley]

After losing out on the mint micromatic i was watching my rad kicked in hard!!! so i thought well i can't afford a decent straight setup, well me being me i don't settle for second best so it would be expensive for me so what do you know i bumped into this little chap,a shavette i think?

What are your opinions of this, i just want a taste of straight shaving for now just to see if i do get along, i cranked my futur to 6.5 and found the lofty heights of less irritation and a better shave but i craved more!!!

Anyone tried it?

http://www.gentlemans-shop.com/acatalog/blade-razor.html

I hope you guys have an emt on standby.

 

[professorchaos]

Keeping in mind that I haven't used a shavette, my advice would be to get a reasonably priced, shave ready vintage straight and try that. You might spend a little more, but you'll get a real taste.

 

[Huxley]

True and i will do later on something like a gold dollar and filly strop but for now this will have to suffice, i just want it to give me an idea of whether a straight is for me or at least allow me to select a gentle blade to work on my technique first.

Then later on move onto a dovo mother of pearl later in the year if i do fall in love with the shave.

 

[michiganlover]

i just want it to give me an idea of whether a straight is for me or at least allow me to select a gentle blade to work on my technique first.

I have some experiences with a Dovo Shavette.

The general recommendation is to skip shavette style razors, as they don't feel very much like a real straight, and are a whole lot less forgiving.

I used my shavette with a half DE blade, and hacked my face up worst than I ever have with a DE/SE/Injector. One of the resulting cuts looks like it will be a permanent scar. Less forgiving than a straight = not forgiving at all.

As such, I can't recommend a Shavette that uses a split DE blade. The flexible thin blade is nothing like that of a real straight.

If you instead find a Shavette that can use the longer non-flexible blade with a spine on them (such as the Dovo Shavette with the Green adapter instead of the Red) the experience will be much more akin to a real straight. These blades are primarily marketed for use in a Hair Shaper.

Yesterday I attempted a shave (just my cheeks) with a Fromm Hair Shaper., which is basically a Shavette with a removable comb guard, the experience was much better. I got the Fromm from a local beauty supply store for about $5.

I also ordered the Green Adapter for my Dovo Shavette yesterday.

Here is what the Fromm looks like:

http://www.sallybeauty.com/Shaper-Razor/SBS-525107,default,pd.html

It uses blades like this:

 

[Huxley]

Hmm ok thanks you have both given me something rather interesting to think about, see im madly in love with a dovo stainless pearlex straight ok what would be good bits to start with bear in mind im from the uk.

Gold dollar 200
Filly strop
12k whetstone

Can i get away without an 8k/4k stone and cotton strop/paste for the time being, i might be able to grab that lot above in a month or two.

 

[michiganlover]

Not sure it was clear in my original post, but the Fromm with the comb guard removed ends up looking like a standard Shavette (sorry about the horrible quality photo):

 

[Huxley]

Yeah you were, they're just not available over here, i'll think about getting me that gold dollar and some cheap strop to kick things off, i might be able to step up to a dovo later on.

As i asked above what would be my next purchase after this can i assume a 12k polishing stone would be good?

 

[Huxley]

Ok i have decided to make the jump, i have now ordered a shave ready gold dollar 200 from ebay, apparently they are stainless which is nice.

All i need to do for now i suppose is find a good strop and later on a polishing stone for an occasional light hone when needed.

I'll still try the shavette though in the meantime.