As I have never used a straight, I have no way to compare the 2. s for doing something stupid, I am new to shavettes, so I can not rule out stupidity or ineptitude on my part.
Shavettes are more unforgiving than a straight razor because the blades are very thin. If you can shave with a shavette, then it is an easy transfer to straights. However, going from straights to shavettes is not quite as easy.
Less forgiving means that you have a greater chance of cutting yourself if your technique is not spot on. With a straight razor, it has some tolerance for error, but not a shavette. If you land the shavette at a greater angle or put too much pressure than you will cut yourself. Whereas the straight razor may or may not bite you. I hope I made it clearer.
Never having conducted any highly controlled scientific studies, my experience and opinion is that a shavette blade is sharper than the solid blade of a straight. This applies the result of the slightest miscue into more blood. Thus the sense that shavettes are less forgiving of poor/sloppy technique than a straight razor. My 2 pennies.
One of the reasons for the glowing reviews on the Tedalus Essence is due to how securely the blades are held, giving the user something very much like a straight razor in face feel. A dedicated DE only razor is usually not a great shaver. The clamping designs for the blades is usually not optimal, which allows the blade to wobble back and forth, which messes up all kinds of things for the shaver. It's very hard to securely clamp half of a DE blade and not have it move. Movement makes it bitey, or more bitey than normal for an open blade design.
From what I've seen and read, blade movement is not an issue in those razors, or any other razor that takes this blade type. Ditto for injector razors. The most likely reason is that the blade (AC and injector) is inherently thick enough to prevent blade edge flutter. As for the razors themselves, the Artist Club/Kai clone razors all seem to have weaker springs, but in all other aspects they hold blades just as well as the originals they imitate. It's a glorified bag clip with a handle. The Feather Artist Club razors have been around for a while, 20+ years. The design is pretty close to idiot proof. It has two functions, hold the blade securely, and facilitate a touchless rapid blade disposal and reload cycle. It does both pretty well. Edit: I feel the Essence holds the blades far more securely, which ads to the illusion that the blade and razor are one chunk of metal. This does come with the drawback that blade loading and unloading is slightly less convenient and probably slightly more time consuming, and you lose out on the touchless thing as well.
My experience with my Dovo Shavette and my Parker SRB is quite different. I have very good technique and even when I was a newbie, I didn't have a problem. I rarely cut myself. If I did, then it was mostly weepers, not slices, etc.
Thus my word choice of "usually." There are good DE shavettes out there. The two you mentioned, and also the Focus AL razors, and Vanta and Universal style razors, and I suppose we should add Shear Mattaki as well. And the clone, Strong Jaguar. Probably a few others.
I Used the Kai today with a Feather SoftGuard Blade. It’s supposed to be for sensitive skin & I’d say it is good for that. It’s not as close as the Proguard and I had to go back over a few spots. But on the other hand, no cuts, nicks or irritation. (Maybe that’s the blade or maybe I’m just getting better at this. Too soon to say.)
@Trigger that’s the plan. I need to master the technique and accept that it will take some time. But the shaves are super-close. It’s usually about 5 days before I need to do my legs again. This is really nice in summer, when I wear shorts.
I am assuming you have used DE and/or SE safety razors. As a guy, I am still socially acceptable at 30 to 36 hrs before I need to shave again when I use a shavette or straight. Unfortunately, most people want to spend 30 dollars for a pack of carts. They don't realize that DE blades can be had for anywhere between 8 to 15 cents a blade and they can get a Van der Hagan Safety razor for under 20 dollars at Walmarts.
I have been using a DE for about the last 9 years. I am pretty comfortable with it and still prefer it for underarm shaves. A DE gives me a good leg shave, but the shavette gives me a closer result.
I am running into a minor problem with both the Kai and the Feather. It’s about removing a blade when I am done with it. For both, you are supposed to be able to squeeze the top & the blade should just slide out. It never does. I have to grab it with a towel & pull the front cover off. I could use some help here.
