Well, I couldn't wait any longer, so I screwed up my courage, brewed up some lather, touched the blade to my face and pulled down slowly. I only did one sideburn and cheek, but no blood and a "decent" shave. I finished up with a safely razor.

It did pull a bit at first, but I think that was lousy prep as the blade was sharpened by Lynn. I'm practicing stropping with a lousy razor, and will strop the new blade next time or the time after.

I must say that first scrape of the razor was a new experience, as I thought for sure I'd be needing stitches instead of a styptic pencil, but I didn't even need that.

Definitely baby steps for me, but looking forward to getting the hang of it.

Thanks, SRP.