A little while ago I posted a new thread about my face/skin hurting while shaving:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ml#post1409081

I took on board what everyone said and I seem to have resolved the problem. Basically I shaved a few times with the straight razor but I only stropped it once. I checked out some videos and the advice given by one of them was to "use the ear as a guide". I was trying to get the same sound on the video as when I was doing my strop. I stropped for about 25 times, lathered my face and started shaving. To my relief my face was no longer hurting so I can only think that it was not enough stropping.

I am very new to the world of straight shaving and to be honest it's a lot harder than what I thought but having said that I do seem to be making some progress. I really want to stick at it because non straight razors are so rubbish I hate shaving with them. Straight razors though difficult to master do give me much better results and I find them very practical.

Before I shave I put warm water on my face, put shaving cream on and then I do the first shave. However after I've done the first shave I always do a second one and that's where my problems start. Shaving the first time round is ok but once that is finished the shaving cream is of course gone so I put water on my face again and re-lather. The second time though I find my skin is smooth but it has a lot of grip. I'm thinking the new grip is caused by the water. The first time the razor glides well but the second time is not so easy. I'm finding the razor is gripping on my skin even when there is hardly any hair and because I'm pulling I could very easily cut myself. I am thinking a pre shave oil might be a solution, any ideas?

Does a hot towel really help? I have a read a lot of material and it is often recommened that you put a hot towel on the face to soften the whiskers but I'm not really conviced it would help much. Besides, I don't have a special heater to heat the towel like they do in the barbers so the only thing I can think of is put hot water on the towel first and then put the towel on my face for a few minutes. Is that a good enough substitue? Will putting a hot towel really help much?

I don't think my razor is sharp enough because it's not giving me a close shave under my jaw. I must have dulled the blade while stropping previously. This leads me on to the next problem, how do I ensure I don't dull the blade while stropping?

Also I keep getting different information on stropping. Some say 25 some say 50 and some say even more than that so which was is the right amount to strop?

The last problem is after I have completed my shave my face gets very hot, sore, itchy and red. The obvious solution is an aftershave balm. I love Truefitt and Hill products so I am keen to buy one of their aftershave balms but is that the right solution? At the moment after shaving I'm just putting some basic moisturizing cream on but it's really doing a great job.

Any help would be much appreciated.