Hi All, first I would like to thank everyone for the terrific forum, and all the great info here, you guys rock

tonight I finally went against the grain with no irritation, it was awesome! a little history, I learned to shave with straights from my grandfather when i was a teenager, now 30 years later, I made the decision to return to it, but over the years my beard got a little tougher, and for the past month everytime i try XTG I get a lot of irritation, for reference I have been using the folowing:

rotation of razors - boker, genco,dovo,frankfurth, and henckels
soaps - TGQ
preshave- co bigelow
aftershave balm - nivea or trumpers skin food

after reading a few posts about glycerin, i decided tonight to add a few drops of the trumpers skin food to my lather, maybe I had my water /soap balance right, maybe my razor angle was better, or maybe it was the trumpers, but my shave went the full 3 passes, with no irritation or burn !! its not a perfect BBS , buts its as close as i have ever come

it could have also helped that I shaved with a genco I bought from Don that has a terrific edge and is truly sharp!

moral of the story, an old dog can learn new tricks !! and to all the other noobs out there, dont get discouraged, just stay patient, take your time, and know that in the end, your hard work will be repaid with outstanding shaves !!