Hi all!
I am sure you get tons of these types of threads, but please humor me with any responses you might be able to dole out

I started straight razor shaving by getting a parker "shavette" off of amazon last christmas with a box of shark, gillette, and derby blades. Now a year later... I'm still trying to shave without nicking, cutting, or giving myself major razor burn.
I do have some pretty stiff whiskers and sensitive skin to boot.

I generally try to do my pre shave with conditioner on my whiskers during a shower, or else I use the hot-towel method for about 3-5 minutes. Then I use Art of shaving pre-shave oil, then Art of shaving cream with a fine badger hair brush. I always start WTG, xtg in certain areas, and then ATG, but at this point, the razor likes to "stop" around my chin and will not glide through and cut the whiskers easily. I have tried different angles, and don't seem to get any better results. I find I am getting a lot of nicks and cuts this way. I get frustrated with being very delicate and eventually start losing my technique.... because I dont have 45 minutes to shave every day. Even so, I don't get a BBS shave.

My wife has mentioned buying me a traditional straight blade as an aniversary present. Would the heft of a traditional blade help me get a more comfortable shave? Or should I stick with the shavette until I figure this out? I'm consideriing a dovo 6/8 or something along those lines. 200+ dollars is a lot to spend for something that might not eventually pan out. I'm not ready to give up yet, but I'm not having much fun either.

Thank you all
Luis