For anyone who's tried a shavette

I can't be the only one to have done this but I feel really daft now.

I only just realised that the plastic blade holder in the shavette actually slides out of the metal handle so you can easily slip in the half DE blade. You don't have to risk slicing your fingers trying to ram the things in when the holder is still in place! I gave myself some really nasty cuts to my index fingers doing that.

Maybe I'll give that shavette another go.

I've cut myself loading the shavette, but never badly. Mostly breaking the DE blades in half, even inside the paper envelope they come in. Now, my brother... he's got a great story!! Trying either to pull out or push in that little plastic holder, his hand slipped and he ended up slicing his finger open down to the bone. I winced over the phone when he told me. He got super glued back together at the ER- apparently it really hurt having the cut cleaned out. The nurse also told him, "Do you know what the difference between the superglue you have at home and the stuff we use here? Ours is purple and costs ten times as much."

Now, I keep super glue on hand just for that reason!

joto said:

I've cut myself loading the shavette, but never badly. Mostly breaking the DE blades in half, even inside the paper envelope they come in. Now, my brother... he's got a great story!! Trying either to pull out or push in that little plastic holder, his hand slipped and he ended up slicing his finger open down to the bone. I winced over the phone when he told me. He got super glued back together at the ER- apparently it really hurt having the cut cleaned out. The nurse also told him, "Do you know what the difference between the superglue you have at home and the stuff we use here? Ours is purple and costs ten times as much."

Now, I keep super glue on hand just for that reason!

Click to expand...

Good point, I've known about super glue used for cuts, etc., but I've never used it for that. Did the nurse mean that the stuff they use is the same as you buy in the store?

Back on the days I used a Dovo shavette, I used to break the DE blades in have using an old scissors, this way you don't get the bent edge.
As far as the shave is concerned, once you develop the technique, they shave as good as anything else or better, without beard prep, stropping, honing, etc

+1 on scissors

However, if you enjoy shaving with a shavette, I strongly recommend a real straight. It won't cost you much to get started with a shave ready straight (not on B&B) and a strop. The results are not comparables!

I used both and can't understand why I used a shavette for 2 years!

dpmtherrien said:

Good point, I've known about super glue used for cuts, etc., but I've never used it for that. Did the nurse mean that the stuff they use is the same as you buy in the store?

Click to expand...

Not quite. The stuff you get in stores is n-butyl cyanoacrylate, while medical grade superglue is octyl cyanocrylate. They're very similar, with the only difference being the side chain attached to the cyanoacrylate group. That cyanoacrylate group is what makes superglue, well, superglue, but that side chain does affect the properties of superglue to extent. Specifically the octyl group on the medical grade stuff makes it more flexible and better suited for closing up the skin, while regular superglue, which has that n-butyl group, is more rigid. Now that said, does it matter that much? Probably not. I sure most here would agree that as long as it seals your cut, it works.

Still if you yourself down to the bone like joto's brother, don't be stupid. Seek medical attention.

dpmtherrien said:

Good point, I've known about super glue used for cuts, etc., but I've never used it for that. Did the nurse mean that the stuff they use is the same as you buy in the store?

Click to expand...

I thought that was the case, but the last poster appears better informed than that nurse!! If that poster is not in the medical field, remind me never to go to that hospital!! I didn't mean to imply he should have taken care of it himself, I'd go to the ER too. But I have used regular drug-store style superglue to close small cuts on my skin rather than a band-aid; it's so much more convenient. Definitely want to clean the wound thoroughly first.

My toddler son also split the skin on his forehead open on a wall corner, and the ER used superglue to close the wound. I was pretty pissed in the end that I was charged close to $700 for an irrigation and supergluing, but then I took him to make sure he didn't have a concussion or skull fracture, not for the skin wound in and of itself. I tell you what though, a screaming baby with blood on his face... gets you bumped WAY up the line to get into the ER!! He's doing fine now.

Still, interesting uses for superglue.

Returning to the shavette though, they are only as sharp as the blades you put in them obviously. I use it once in a while for a WTG pass or two if I have gone too long between shaves. The super speed I shave with gets clogged if the hairs are too long, and the shavette is a great way to take down that initial extra growth, then I pick up the super speed and finish the shave. My technique sucks too much to try and use the shavette as a full shave device on a regular basis though. On the rare occasions I did really well with it, even ATG, I got amazingly close shaves that lasted for almost two days! Still, I almost always suffered some irritation and the inevitable cut from that.

Even using feathers, sometimes I have to apply some force to get it to cut my beard (especially ATG, and I got razor burn or nicks and cuts as a result. I imagine (hope...) that a well-honed and stropped straight would be much sharper than any DE blade. I find them a tantalizing view into the world of the straight shavers, but I am too much of a sissy right now to get a real straight and hack away at my face. I'm also kinda broke.

joto said:

I thought that was the case, but the last poster appears better informed than that nurse!! If that poster is not in the medical field, remind me never to go to that hospital!! I didn't mean to imply he should have taken care of it himself, I'd go to the ER too. But I have used regular drug-store style superglue to close small cuts on my skin rather than a band-aid; it's so much more convenient. Definitely want to clean the wound thoroughly first.

Click to expand...

Medical field? Nope, I just a humble chemist. Personally, I can't stand hospitals myself.