I did a head and face shavette shave today. I thought about your post.I am still working on this head shaving with the Feather DX.
I have learned a lot and can get a great shave at times. I even recently made progress on ATG on the scalp with the shavette.
A few recent lessons have been that I find guarded blades irritating and the cause of redness and scapes. Unguarded blades don’t irritate and rarely scrape, but they are more prone to cuts/nicks.
Additionally I learned that a the “one spine width angle” is better than a too low angle and pulling tension on the scalp helps in all grain directions, even required to achieve a decent safe ATG pass.
The trouble that plagues me is time. It takes longer and I have limited time in the morning (rushing is bad). Also, so far I can’t seem to shave with the shavette and an unguarded blade without causing 2-4 small nicks. These nicks red up on my scalp and take a week or more to fully disappear.
So, if I shavette shave 3 days in a week, I have accumulated 9 (plus or minus) nicks that are noticeable. That bugs me. Too many and then my scalp needs a rest.
I hope over time, I cause fewer and fewer nicks. I could tolerate one a week for example. But in the meantime, I go to work looking like I had a run in with an angry cat.
That said, I recently had the absolute worse shaving cut in my 4 years of head shaving with my DE safety razor, not the shavette. Just moving it around too fast on the back of my neck and whacked my self wrong. The shavette could have been worse, but I would never handle it in such a cavalier way!
Some things for your to consider:
- take your time. Rushing shave is not a good idea, especially with open blade.
Evening shaving is good idea as suggested by @Dave himself . Open blade shaving is little bit dangerous and requires full attention. That full attention and locking out everything else is very enjoyable - gives this me time.
The worst cuts I get is not from shaving, but results of loosing attention and involuntary movements.
- low you standards (at least temporarily ). Chasing a BBS is not necessary. Gather experiences and develop muscle memory. And in time BBS comes by itself. And if you change to evening shave there is no BBS in the morning anyway.
- it is not the blade that cuts you. It is yourself !
Blade does exactly what you command to do ! Analyze how you get cuts. Is it too steep angle ? Do you have any particularities on you head that require special attention and different approach ?
Have nice shaves !