Ok, So my wife thinks I've lost my marbles...Not the first time but its the stragiht razor thats perched on the sink thats giving her less doubt now. First things first, I bought a Dovo 6/8 to start my straight razor shave learning with.
Its a cellulose handle brand new and I've given it a whirl already.

Lets just say I got a shave with it but It looked like I was attacked with a weed whacker. I was a bloody mess and I havent been right for 3 days since.

So now Im sporting a 3 days growth Im ready to give it another whirl. I did learn a few things in the first hack job but I have questions now. Like any learned thing Im going to be learning as I go like everyone does.
Perhaps someone can give me some advice before I carve a flap in my chin or lose another pint to poor preparation.

I started off by washing my face then applying a very very hot towel for about 2-3 minutes. Having my instrument at hand at the ready I applied my Watson shaving soap lather, then paused and aligned my nerve with my hand and gave the down stokes of the first pass. It felt like I was snagging and burned like fire all the way down my face.
I didnt relent, I went on and continued. I tried to hold my hand at that 30 degrees as a U-tube video shows. My first question, Was my razor sharp enough out of the box new or do I need to Strop it? Shouldnt it be ready to shave with out of the box? Next, I re-lathered and proceeded to finish with the upstrokes. I had more success with this as far as cleaning up but by this time I was so raw it was more a means to get it over with than a shave.

My biggest question is the razor itself. I didnt feel like I was fighting to control it or it didnt not conform to my face I was just not used to its use so when I cut in I was trying to get too much too fast on the first pass. My own fault. But the razor I feel should have bit thru more being new is this true? How sharp should a new razor be? What test can I give it to see if it is sharp enough before I set at the task?
Also, I was given some Shave cream in a tube with the razor as a sales extra from the supplier. Is this to be used in lieu of Soap and if so how does it work compared to the soap? Thanks for reading and I appreciate any feedback it will do alot to help out a newbie before he renders himself a new nickname like leather head or flap jack or any of the other numerous nick names a guy who did himeslef ugly with a straight razor might inccur from his unscupullus buddies.
Regards.