Okay folks, this morning I had my first go at using a straight razor (this is after using DEs since later last year). I got a "sight unseen" razor from Larry at Whipped Dog, which is meant to be shave ready and even includes a note advising not to strop it before the first shave. All I did was wipe off the oil he had coated the blade with, using some tissue.

However, I'm a bit confused. I lathered up some CRSW Select, got it to what seemed like a nice slick point, then got going on my right cheek. Obviously it's a bit awkward at first figuring out angle and such. But the razor TUGGED. The friction surprised me; with a DE this sort of tugging or chattering tells me either the blade is dull or the lather isn't slick. But when I switched over to my DE for other parts of my face, the glide was just fine.

Oh, I should mention too that I had had a very close shave the day before, so this morning the growth was pretty minimal.

My first thought is that the razor just isn't sharp, but that would surprise me given Larry has a good reputation. Was I doing something wrong? Does SR shaving take significantly more cutting-direction force than DEs? I can't imagine that tugging feeling is normal.

For what it's worth, I didn't cut myself nor did I have any irritation or real alum sting, so at least there's that. But what's going on here?