Alright, the shavings going fine. Couple little nicks when Itry something new, but all in all, with good beard prep, it's all good.

However, I have wimped out on the lather. I whipped up my own, tried a few
cremes, soaps, and while they all seemed to work about the same, which was fine, the effort involved was too much.

So I switched to just a squirt of gilette gel in my brush, and look ma, no whipping. No stirring, no measuring, no too mcuh water, too little water, didn't last long enough, it just works.

It's slick, and I have no complaints. For a noob, I wou ld encourage any noob to try it, and then make their own lather later (if they feel the burning need), vs trying to bite off all the steps at once...