Dovo shavette test
I’ve tested the shavette from DOVO as an alternative for my straight razors.
- Optic / Haptic: The first thing I’ve noticed is the weight; the shavette is a lot lighter than a traditional straight razor. It’s simply made of plastic, except the upper “golden” part (aluminium). The upper part holds a plastic carrier for the shaving system. There are three different systems (green, black and red). When the red system is attached, the blade covers only the half of the plastic holder as you can see in the picture below. The end of the holder was a bit longer than the blade and scratched over my skin, so I removed it.
- Systems compared: I tried the red system at first (with the bundled dovo blades). It is easy to set up (just break the double-edge razor blade into two pieces and add one of them to the holder). The sharpness of the blade is impressive but the feeling is not comparable to a straight razor shape. At first the blade is short, so the handling differs and you’ll need more time for the shave. In addition the blade is quite aggressive, compared to a straight razor. The black system feels better, it fits the whole length of the holder and you can handle it like a straight razor. At last I have tried the green system, which has the highest price per blade (factor 10x compared to the red system). The big blade seems to be as near to a straight razor as possible, but due to the design of the holder, only the last part of the blade is flexible, resulting in nearly no difference in comparison to the black system.
- To summarise: Each system is quite aggressive during shaving. The blades are very sharp and have a good ability to hold an edge. The blades are disposable which is not as ecofriendly as a straight razor. I wouldn’t recommend it, since the blade is too inflexible in every system. Compared to an real straight razor the shavette will cost you $ 40, where a carbon steel straight razor will cost $ 90 (I think it is worth it).
Picture 1. Different systems and blades.
Picture 2. Black system assembly