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I get less irritation with shavette and cartridge razor than with a DE. What does that mean?

Way late to the party here, but to return to the first post, I would suggest concentrating more on using a shavette since it seems to be working for you. As a long-time straight razor user, I had a bit of trouble with shavettes because they would mysteriously nick me at times when a straight razor wouldn't. The shave itself also felt more aggressive and rawer, not as smooth. These were with all-metal models. Then, a few years ago, I tried a Focus R21 which has a plastic sleeve to hold the blade, rather than metal. Here, I found the shave smoother, and I was able to make my normal two passes with touch-ups without nicking myself, yielding close shaves. Thinking it might be about the plastic sleeve, I picked up an actual Dovo Shavette which also has one. It too provided smooth, close shaves.

That leaves the problem with your jawline and having a completely successful shave with just a shavette. For a long time, I had a problem with the area beneath my jawline. I would stretch and pull my skin taut and could get close with touch-up passes, but it was always an effort for me. Then, and based on my limited experience with a safety razor, I tried something new: after the second pass, an upwards pass from the base of my neck up to and just over my jawline. This worked much better for me, better than stretching to make an ATG pass from where my jaw meets the ear moving towards the chin.

May also have to do with what blades you are using in your shavette. If you haven't tried already, I would suggest trying a range of mild, medium, to aggressive blades to see if one of them improves things in the problem area.
 

OkieStubble

Dirty Donuts are so Good.
The Henson razor he is using is a aluminum razors. I don't think you can find anything lighter then that.

Well, I have no experience with a Henson, but I do with an aluminum Gillette Tech. It’s pretty light but not as light as a Super Blue.
 

Whisky

ATF. I use all three.
Staff member
Welcome to B&B. When you get a chance head over to the Hall of Fame and tell us a little more about yourself.
 
New to B&B. I've used a shavette for 5-6 years, me and my college roommates got them because we thought they made us cool :)

Really not very good at using it at first, but after a few years off and on got used to how much pressure and angle to apply and don't find it too difficult to use except on the angles of my jaw. I really quite like using a shavette on face and throat because I would hardly rinse since all the soap builds up on one side of the blade, and also I find it extra nice to use when I go a few days without shaving - seems to cut through everything easier/with fewer passes. However, still not super easy to use on angles of jaw or chin, so for the last 1-2 years my habit has been to shave face and throat with a shavette and then go over those again across or against the grain with a cartridge razor and get the edges too. (Note - can go across the grain for another pass with the shavette, but never against the grain.)

Recently got into DE razors because everyone online says that in expert hands, a DE has a superior shave and minimal irritation. 3-4 months ago picked up some soap and a DE razor from Stirling soaps. Probably a month ago picked up a Henson. I find that shaving with a DE generates more irritation - maybe because requires more passes to get it as smooth as I'm used to? I don't know, I'm sure there's a few things it could be chalked up to - technique, lather, etc.

Am I just crazy or what am I doing wrong? What tips/advice do you have for me?
No crazy at all. I have been wet shaving for nearly ten years and I have experimented with the lot - DE, SE, straights, and shavettes. DEs and even SEs give me more irritation that shavettes or straights. I think the reason is two fold. The blades are both thicker and of higher quality. My stubble is coarse and so blade chatter is definitely an issue with DE blades.

I recently went on a ten day binge shaving with DE and Gem blades. After a few days my face just hurt. So stick with whatever works best for you. My suggestion is also to experiment with your technique with view to getting rid of the carts.
 
New to B&B. I've used a shavette for 5-6 years, me and my college roommates got them because we thought they made us cool :)

Really not very good at using it at first, but after a few years off and on got used to how much pressure and angle to apply and don't find it too difficult to use except on the angles of my jaw. I really quite like using a shavette on face and throat because I would hardly rinse since all the soap builds up on one side of the blade, and also I find it extra nice to use when I go a few days without shaving - seems to cut through everything easier/with fewer passes. However, still not super easy to use on angles of jaw or chin, so for the last 1-2 years my habit has been to shave face and throat with a shavette and then go over those again across or against the grain with a cartridge razor and get the edges too. (Note - can go across the grain for another pass with the shavette, but never against the grain.)

Recently got into DE razors because everyone online says that in expert hands, a DE has a superior shave and minimal irritation. 3-4 months ago picked up some soap and a DE razor from Stirling soaps. Probably a month ago picked up a Henson. I find that shaving with a DE generates more irritation - maybe because requires more passes to get it as smooth as I'm used to? I don't know, I'm sure there's a few things it could be chalked up to - technique, lather, etc.

Am I just crazy or what am I doing wrong? What tips/advice do you have for me?
One of the biggest differences is with a DE, the handle needs to be pretty close to the face to not looking like you met the Jackknife barber. A cartridge requires enough clearance so the head floats on your face.
With that in mind, you could change to an adjustable DE. Change the angle at the shaving head, not your hand. I had good luck with one of them years ago, start mild and slowly work up until you're happy.. I have tendon problems, so, I need the built in safety of the floating head,
BTW. the DE blades are a lot better than they were in the 80s.
 
First off, as a long time lurker I would like to thank everyone on this forum and the moderators for being a place where similar interest are shared so politely and so many people are genuinely willing to help each other. It has truly been refreshing. I’m late 50’s, skin sensitive to sunburn and chemicals much more so than abrasion, can get a bbs with a credit card edge and dial soap on my cheeks but can’t get bbs to save my life on my older man neck and the wire that grows there without enough passes to cause extreme irritation. I’ve been wet shaving about 6 months (and lurking here) after opening a bag of ancestral razors from my mother including my great grandfather‘s New Long Comb on Dads side, her Dad’s 1912 Gem Jr and my fathers collection of Schlick injectors spanning 50 years. I would otherwise love the Gillette New, but it has a bent tooth and snags. I’ll send that on to BRG. Got RAD and have amassed a dozen Gillette TTO of all flavors but find most way too mild, a GC 84 and 68 SB. The only ones I really like and use are the GC 84 plate, Fatboy, Slim and Red Tip. I’ll never try the MMOC again, but I’m leaning towards the more aggressive, less passes idea considering my neck and irritation issues, and considering a ti Blackbird but also concerned it may be too much. I apologize for the length of my first post, but thought I would try to give more experienced shavers as much background as I can so anyone willing to help would be able to do so. The question is razor rotation- I see a ton of post that all seem to be about enjoying different razors, but does anyone rotate a mild razor behind an aggressive because the aggressive may be too much a second day or two in a row, and what’s a good smooth razor between a GC 84 and a Blackbird? Outside of a few collectibles and heirlooms, I would like to get away from adjustables and just have 2-3 nice working razors for my daily shaves. Thank you in advance for anyone who has suffered thru this book thus far…any advice appreciated and welcomed.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
New to B&B. I've used a shavette for 5-6 years, me and my college roommates got them because we thought they made us cool :)

Really not very good at using it at first, but after a few years off and on got used to how much pressure and angle to apply and don't find it too difficult to use except on the angles of my jaw.
I am guessing that you have not reached the perfect pressure and angle on the DE yet. Virtually everyone uses too much pressure in the beginning of the journey. Try less, and then less than that. If you're not dropping the razor in the sink you've got plenty of pressure.

I suspect much of the "too much pressure" comes from a (subconscious?) effort to compensate for incorrect razor angle. Less pressure is immediately available. Correct razor angle will take some time and experimenting.

Hang in there, it's not golf (you can learn it).
 
You’re doing exactly what I did when I got into wet shaving, your learning. My first DE shave…. SUCKED. I didn’t cut or nick myself but man alive I scraped the crap out of my skin. I was left with a ton of irritation and I didn’t even get a close shave, at all. Just don’t give up because a week later I was pretty much in full swing and loving it. There’s so many aspects to DE shaving and maybe this will help you. My first problem was I bought a shave soap and had no clue how to use it. I wasn’t using enough soap and enough water to create a slick surface for the blade to glide across. That may not be your issue but keep it in mind. Your lather is very important or else you can end up having a pretty miserable shaving experience. Also… I was putting WAY to much pressure, let the razor do the work of pressure. Angle was my next issue, to steep and your scrapping your skin and causing irritation, too shallow and it’s not cutting hair. Start below your sideburns, ride the cap of the razor then as you lower it tilt it until you feel and hear it cutting hair. One B&B’er described this as the sound of
‘buttering toast’. Just keep taking notes of what your experiencing and don’t be afraid to try different things. Another tip, don’t worry about doing multiple passes or shaving ATG yet. Maybe do one pass shaves until you nail it with zero irritation then add in a XTG pass. It’s not worth irritating your skin to get super close. Once you get it, trust me you’ll love this!!
 
When my father got into his 90's,
the skin on his face became very thin and sensitive
and a Trac II was the only thing he could shave with.
 
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