First Straight Razor Shave

[Nicolas0103]

Hey guys,

So about a week ago I posted asking for advice on where to start with straight razor shaving, and under a week later with all the great advice from everyone, I had a successful Straight Razor shave.

First I'll start with the equipment. I bought the straight razor, a Stichter & Son from the classifieds here from a very nice person. I purchased a poor mans strop from whipped dog along with some Colonel Conk soap but I figured I wasn't going to receive those in time for my first shave. So from there I went on amazon where I purchased the alum block, Nivea after shave because I have semi dry skin, the proraso since I heard it was one of the best, and an Omega boar brush which also hasn't came in yet.

Now for the shave. I borrowed a friends synthetic brush since mine hasn't came yet and let it soak in warm water while I showered. After I squeezed the water out and started to make a lather with the proraso soap which went alright. Then I lathered my face well for about 5 minutes. Then I was ready to shave. I started with my right side and used my right hand. Everything was going smooth from the side burn to jaw that I went ahead for the cheek. The cheek went well and I decided to do a some of my neck. The grain on my neck grows upwards so I went with the grain on the right side and got out with no nicks or cuts. Then I moved to my left side where I tried to use my right hand but felt to awkward so just used my left. Everything was going well so moved on to the rest of my face and made it out with only one nick from my left hand near the jaw. The shave was very close on my cheeks and side of the face but got less close around my necks which I was expecting. I did a couple passes to get areas I missed and at the end was very pleased with how my first shave went. I applied the slim block to everywhere I shaved and did the same with the Nivea. The next day I didn't have any irritated skin or any bumps come up like I used to get with cartridge shaving so that made me really happy.

Now for the problems I had, since I was making sure to take my time with each stroke, the proraso kept drying out on my face and started flaking. Was this because I didn't lather it enough or just the nature of the cream? Another thing I noticed I didn't pay enough attention to stretching my skin and along with lack of technique I'm sure, I felt some tugging and pulling.

Now I'm waiting for my strop to get to me so I can strop my razor before my next shave. A few questions that I have:
1) Is it the nature of proraso to dry out or was that an error on my part, or so all soaps and creams do the same.
2) How long should I wait to buy another razor because I'm already itching with RAD.
3) What are other safe places like the classifieds here to purchase razors or are there any places where you can walk in and buy vintage razors?
4) I didn't really think to much about it at the time but for dissenfecting the blade I just washed it with soap and ran it under hot water. I read that it should be enough since things can't really live on the metal for long. Was this enough? Or in the future should I purchase barbicide or something like it ?

Thanks again to everyone who gave me advice,

Nicolas