Just wanted to hop on here and thank everyone for their help so far and for building such a great resource in this site!

What a great feeling...I am on approximately my 7th shave and have been making steady progress. I have not got a BBS shave or eliminated all of the razor burn yet, but I am getting more and more confident which is allowing me to focus on utilizing more of the edge on each pass and keep a light touch. Tonight I had very little burn on my face (not neck) when I applied my aftershave. I have gotten fairly comfortable with the 1st pass on my face. I purposefully did not call it a WTG pass, because the hair on my cheeks grows diagonally and I am using a down stroke. So it is almost like a XTG pass first up. So here comes my first question. As I am sitting here writing this I had an idea. Should I try to alter my first pass to be more of a WTG?

Tonight I also started venturing into XTG and ATG passes. My cheeks and chin went fairly well. However, I am struggling with my neck...all of those curves, loose skin, and weird hair growth. I know that it will just take some time, but I have been known to lack patience. One thing I will say is that I did not expect my left hand (non-dominant) to be the one that I am most comfortable with using on my chin, upper lip, and neck.

So, time for my next question. I started by using Baum.be shaving cream. It lathers well and does not irritate my skin. Furthermore, it has a nice fragrance. However, I am moving a little bit slow during my shaves and find that by the time I get over to the left of my face the cream has started to dry and flake. Has anyone else experience this and if so what do you do to remedy it?

Ok, well I apologize for such a long post, but really appreciate the communal knowledge here. One last thing I wanted to ask is about Mentors. I have already asked if there are any in the Shanghai area and don't believe there are. If any of the forum Mentors would be willing to coach remotely, either through Skype or recordings, please let me know. I am keen on having an extra set of eyes on my shave and stropping technique.

,

Brandon