Don't feel bad. The same thing happened to me. I bought my razor from Straight Razor Designs which means Lynn Abrams honed it and after my first shave I thought maybe he forgot to do this one. I was completely wrong. It was my poor newbie technique and had nothing to do with the razor or its honing. After three weeks of learning, I am getting a much smoother shave. I asure you the razor didn't become sharper just by stropping. Make sure you are really stretching the skin; using proper angle and using very light pressure. Stick with it. It only gets better. And don't forget to read the posts at the very beginning of the newbie section.