I'm no newbie, but I'm still very much learning and adjusting my techniques for shaving and edge care. FWIW, I pass on an approach I've adopted that helps manage the many variables. Like most SRP'ers, I have multiple tools and supplies. I was finding that when I rotated these based on whatever my mood of the morning was, that my results were somewhat of a crap shoot from day to day. Even though most days I had good results (and some great!), identifying the nuances that made one day better or worse than another was hard with so many moving parts. So a while back I started picking a single razor/strop combo for a week at a time. This helps me focus more on my technique and better compare results day to day. I can find trends instead of reacting to each day's variances. It's easier to identify, and more importantly repeat, improved techniques. It's also giving me a better sense of what I like and don't like about any given razor/strop.

FWIW.

- Dale