Larry's razors come shave ready. Stropping not necessary. Being new with stropping, you may have taken the edge off the razor. (have done so myself on my second shave) If you got the poor man's strop kit try refreshing the edge. When stropping the razor, pull firmly on the leather and strop lightly. Also when shaving make sure the first pass is with the direction of beard growth. Learning technique is about figuring out your face and adjusting to it. I've only been doing it a couple of weeks but the shaves are getting consistently better as I learn. Keep it up! Good luck.