I taught myself straight razor shaving by using it after my DE. Using it on your face when the skin is relatively smooth and moist will teach you a lot about how the blade moves on the skin, how your beard grows, and how a long blade feels moving around your face. Just getting that wicked blade to your skin the first time can be daunting. Pre-shaving helped my confidence grow --and as time went on, I started doing easier stretches of my face with the straight first, always knowing that I could go back and get the difficult areas and the stragglers with the DE. This is fun, take your time and learn to enjoy it.