After nearly a month of reading, I finally shaved with a straight for the first time last night. The Wester De-Fi that I bought from the SRP classifieds worked well. I felt comfortable with the razor and didn't knick myself, though I wanted to start slow and only shaved my cheeks and sideburns. All in all the shave went well. I didn't experience the kind of hot-knife-cutting-through-butter feeling that I'd kind of expected - it took me two or three strokes to get all of the whiskers - but my shave is acceptably close.

My only issue was in my soap prep. I'm using the Col. Conk bay rum soap and Conk "pure badger" brush that I was given as a gift. I've been following the process illustrated on Badger&Blade, but I don't feel like the lather is as thick or abundant as it should be. Mostly, it is taking me much more time and energy than I think it should.

Any advice would be great. Thanks.

-Ryan