nicks and cuts

i just had my third shave today and i noticed that i am getting a lot more nicks than before. my first shave i didnt cut myself at all but today i cut up my lip pretty badly as well as some areas around the jaw line. I did go against the grain on my lip the past two times so it may be that (i have some steel wool type hair on my lip and chin) But could it be that the razor is already dulling up because of my inexperience at stropping? i guess i might have been a little less careful this time....any suggestions?

One reads about all these perfect close shaves and pushes a blade into his face.
All what is needed is patience and forget about close shaves, do not rush them, they will come in its own time. As soon as you stop the desire to be perfect you'll start learning and gaining experience.
There should be enough pressure for blade to glade and shave but not enough to catch your skin, and if it does the blade should 'give in' in you hand not end up under your skin.
Another thing to watch out for is - no resting of the edge on your skin, it should be moving when you touch you skin and it should be moving when you lift it of.

And when your new don't do atg. Just work on with the grain. You have enough to learn without the ATG pass. Also make sure you are doing something like 50 LAPS on the strop and that you do it very carefully and slowly. Work on technique not speed. Good technique will save your razor, strop, and face even if it take a long time to do.

I had a similar experience in my first weeks. My only bad cut came 5 shaves in. On the first one, I was too overly cautious to do any harm. After I survived my first few I became more careless. Remember, this takes a long time to master, don't try too hard for experienced speed, ease, or results. Don't forget how much you still have to learn.

You just get complacent after a few uneventful shaves and figure you've got this thing down pat and whamo. You always have to be vigilant while wielding a straight even after years and years of shaving or whamo.

+1 on thebigspender's comments. Not that I am any kind of expert as I am only into this for a couple of weeks but he is dead on. I was 7 days in, thinking I had it all figured out and :cry: I put a nice gash in my upper lip (as in oh yea, that's going to leave a mark!). Paying attention is key and finding out where all of the flat planes are on your face. Remember...practice make perfect.

Make sure that the blade is sharp. I was cutting myself like crazy because my edge was dull. Also, give your face a few days to rest. Use a DE for a few days. I found that my str8 was opening up the same cuts every day. I would have at least 5 bleeding cuts every day. It felt like I was in a rut. After letting them heal a few days, I was able to get out of the rut.

I only go ATG with my Friodur, it seems to have a bigger heavier blade and isn't as flexy as my other two razor that are just scary going ATG.