Thread: Question after first attempt

I wanted to report back now that I've just finished by third shave. I went with Larry's suggestion to use both oxide sides of his balsa refreshing strop, then did a good 60 laps on the leather strop; this was just to make sure it wasn't the edge that was the problem from my first shave. I don't think it was (I guess that's not news to most of you!) since this time the strokes on my cheeks definitely felt better. It seems to be a matter of angle, but also adding the right momentum to the stroke (in the cutting direction I mean, not into my skin obviously). I think I just had different expectations of what the resistance factor would be based on DE shaving.

Since it was going better, even though my left hand is still awkward, I continued onto my neck, chin, and a bit of my upper lip, too. This wasn't awful, but honestly, not great; I was missing spots, gave myself a half dozen nicks in various places, and once again my lather started to dry and crack despite it starting off shiny and slick (I think because I'm taking longer than I realize).

What feels trickiest right now: sight lines (how do I see the blade at the top of my side burn? wow); left hand control and when to use which hand where; and lather drying out as it sits on my face.

But, I will say that my cheeks were the closest they've been from the SR by the time I got to my DE clean-up. That's encouraging! Even though I still feel like a complete oaf with the razor, at least each of these shaves has shown small improvements!