Well, I'm four shaves in and so far have gotten to where I'm shaving the right side of my face and neck WTG/XTG fairly comfortably. The XTG isn't another pass--it's just because I can't hold the blade in a way to go WTG on some parts of my face yet. My hairs grow diagonal/sideways. The good news is that I have had one small nick in my first four shaves, I'm much more comfortable just handling the razor in general (trusting the angle, pressure, etc.), do not feel much pulling and am generally happy with the experience. If I can keep progressing like this, I imagine I'll be using a straight for many years to come.

The bad news is that it is taking me about an hour to prep my face (wash, towel treatment, hair conditioner and shaving oil, then lather), create lather, strop, shave with the straight, finish shaving both WTG and ATG with my cartridge on the other side of my face, re-stropping and oiling the blade when done, and cleaning up.

Is it normal for the process to take this long? It's very enjoyable but with a 3 year old and 7 month old and full time job, it's a lot of time to take. I'd appreciate hearing if this was normal for any of you for a while before gaining confidence and speed.

Happy shaves.

-Stub