I received my Dovo Special and strop from SRD yesterday. I decided to give a go on my two-day old beard. Although I didn't cut myself, I am not too sure about my experience.

The razor is beautiful. I decided to strop the blade a little. I managed to leave a few nicks at the edges of my strop but I think the blade was intact. I decided to go ahead and shave. I took a shower and used my GFT violet to create a nice lather.

I have a very thick Middle Eastern beard. I tried to shave the two sides of my face and use my Mekur to finish things off. Although I have nothing to compare against, but the blade was kind of noisy against my beard though I tried to maintain a 30 degree angle. I felt it was pulling and skipping on my face. I managed to do a pass on each side WTG but it was not smooth by any stretch.

Any ideas? Am I doing something wrong? Is my experience typical?

Thanks in advance for any tips you can provide.