Hello all- not sure if this should be in here or the newbies forum but here goes
I was really interested in straight razor shaving, so my dad's friend popped in one day to give me an annie shavette he'd picked up in america as a gift
been using it for maybe 6 months now, and at first I would literally destroy my face everytime i'd use it- but now I can get a BBS shave out of it, but with a lot of blood (and a lot of stypic use)- tbh when I first got the blade I was kinda winging it and I really had no idea how to use it, I was using regular hand soap and had no brush. I now have a men-u boar hair brush and some handmade shaving soap I got in scotland, i'm having trouble lathering properly, I think this is because I don't put enough water in.
Every time I shave I get a nice close shave, but it takes ages and ages (time I don't have!), and even with 2 only passes my skin is still very red and I keep catching the edge of the blade on my skin, resulting in cuts.
Should I just ditch the shavette? I wan't to love it, I love being able to change blades (I accidentally dinged it on the tap and it didn't matter, 25p gone but no biggie, would hate to ruin a nice razor out of carelessness [also live with other students, so would have to keep it out of sight]) I would like to think that a real straight would solve the problems with irritation but is my skin just too sensitive?
the annie is extremely cheaply made and weighs nothing- so I was thinking maybe switch to a Monsieur Charles or even a feather- I was also thinking about giving some Derby blades a trial- atm i'm using wilkinson sword, and they're very hit and miss quality wise
I would love a straight razor, but i'd rather buy something that was nice to look at (gold on the blade, olivewood handle etc), but i'd hate to buy it and find it still makes my skin red
also i'm quite concerned about skin stretching- a friend of mine said that straights weren't were good because the constant stretching of the skin results in premature wrinkles, is this just a ridiculous myth or is this founded on truth?
Either I plump up the cash for a straight (also I can't really afford a strop, and hones are a definite no atm [although for the record can I just get away with a 4000/8000 stone?]) or I try the derby blades and switch to a DE if i'm still not liking the shavette
actually it's not that I don't like the shavette- I love it, it just demolishes my skin, and seeing as shaving takes so long with it I think a DE might be quicker?
Is it bad practice to use a DE on weekdays and a straight at the weekend?
I know this post is all over the place, but if anyone could help that would be magic- thanks
Clark
I was really interested in straight razor shaving, so my dad's friend popped in one day to give me an annie shavette he'd picked up in america as a gift
been using it for maybe 6 months now, and at first I would literally destroy my face everytime i'd use it- but now I can get a BBS shave out of it, but with a lot of blood (and a lot of stypic use)- tbh when I first got the blade I was kinda winging it and I really had no idea how to use it, I was using regular hand soap and had no brush. I now have a men-u boar hair brush and some handmade shaving soap I got in scotland, i'm having trouble lathering properly, I think this is because I don't put enough water in.
Every time I shave I get a nice close shave, but it takes ages and ages (time I don't have!), and even with 2 only passes my skin is still very red and I keep catching the edge of the blade on my skin, resulting in cuts.
Should I just ditch the shavette? I wan't to love it, I love being able to change blades (I accidentally dinged it on the tap and it didn't matter, 25p gone but no biggie, would hate to ruin a nice razor out of carelessness [also live with other students, so would have to keep it out of sight]) I would like to think that a real straight would solve the problems with irritation but is my skin just too sensitive?
the annie is extremely cheaply made and weighs nothing- so I was thinking maybe switch to a Monsieur Charles or even a feather- I was also thinking about giving some Derby blades a trial- atm i'm using wilkinson sword, and they're very hit and miss quality wise
I would love a straight razor, but i'd rather buy something that was nice to look at (gold on the blade, olivewood handle etc), but i'd hate to buy it and find it still makes my skin red
also i'm quite concerned about skin stretching- a friend of mine said that straights weren't were good because the constant stretching of the skin results in premature wrinkles, is this just a ridiculous myth or is this founded on truth?
Either I plump up the cash for a straight (also I can't really afford a strop, and hones are a definite no atm [although for the record can I just get away with a 4000/8000 stone?]) or I try the derby blades and switch to a DE if i'm still not liking the shavette
actually it's not that I don't like the shavette- I love it, it just demolishes my skin, and seeing as shaving takes so long with it I think a DE might be quicker?
Is it bad practice to use a DE on weekdays and a straight at the weekend?
I know this post is all over the place, but if anyone could help that would be magic- thanks
Clark