I recently purchased a "ready to shave" dovo astrale from shavingsupplies.com . Along with the razor I also purchased a Jemico Razor Strop 18" Rindleder Leather Single Sided and a badger hair brush.
I started off by stropping the blade maybe 15 times, washed my face with warm water then lathered up with shaving cream and proceeded shaving downwards on both cheeks. I have to say that i have really thick hair and that the blade was pretty smooth until I reached the chin area where it was pulling and "jumping" as i tried to shave. Is this normal for someone who has really thick and dense chin hair?

Also, do i really need to have a double sided strop (linen/leather)?

Finally, whats the difference between shaving soap and shaving cream that comes in a bottle.


Thanks in advance