First off, even though I acknowledge that I'm becoming frustrated with straight razor shaving, I have no plans of abandoning it and I am determined to figure out what my issues are, mainly because I do enjoy it and it's a fun hobby. But still, I can't help but feel pretty frustrated about how it's going. For example, I just shaved about an hour ago. I did three passes, WTG, XTG, XTG again. I was still stubbly. My chin barely felt shaved. Under my jaw felt half-shaved. My upper lip and soul patch area weren't shaved at all because the blade got stuck there like a weedwhacker in thick brush.

My cheeks, however, are incredibly smooth. (I ended up finishing the rest of my face with my new-to-me Gillette 40s Superspeed. It gave me a little razor burn on the lip but overall that was a fun experience too).

Each time I shave, I think oh, it was my stropping! Or, the angle was off! Or, I didn't stretch properly! And then I go off thinking I've got it all figured out, and then the next day I'm still having a bad shave.

I did pinpoint my strop as an area of issue...it was quite wrinkled and rough. Larry at Whippeddog was kind enough to replace it no questions asked and now I have a perfectly smooth strop that's quite the joy to use. After my shaving these evening, I noticed that I was most likely stropping unevenly across the blade. I adjusted how I stood and I think now I have much more consistent contact with the strop, but I won't know if that has an effect until tomorrow. I suspect it does, but I also suspect it's not the only reason.

I think I have good lather. It's wet, slippery and thick. It's no longer disappearing on my face or in the bowl. I have more than I need lately, so I've still got to perfect my formula to make a more appropriate amount. Tonight's batch still felt awesome after 30 minutes.

I seem to have this weird obsession that my blade isn't sharp enough, that I've mis-stropped it to the point of dullness. Is this possible? Last week I gave it 2 laps on the barber's hone. I didn't notice anything different.

Is there any element of this I'm missing or not thinking about?

In the meantime, I'll be practicing my stropping and shaving until I get it right.