The zen of cuthroat , Act 6 - Oh and one more thing...

This is a little bit of advise for my nubiee brethren. Stretch Your Skin! I dont think This is stressed enough in the posts here on SRP . This can easily be neglected as a beginner. Your concentrating on your technique as it pertains to how the razor is held , what angle you hold it at and the balance and consistency of your stroke weather it be log or short. You may start off stretching your skin with your first WTG pass but soon forget as that goes well and your right off to the next. I know this from my own experience. But as I progress and focus more on stretching my skin (or remembering to do so) My shaves get closer and closer to perfect.
Todays shave was with my newly restored Lakevile Cutlery Army & Navy Straight, Castle Forbes Lime Essential Oil Shaving Cream and the after shave of the same. My usual Hot shower , Swmbo's conditioner on the beard and so on. Pre shave oil and hot towels , my usual routine. The castle forbes lathers up really well really quickly. The scent is amazing. Clean & clear but not over whelming or artificial smelling.The shave was great . The best so far .I payed very close attention to pulling and stretching my skin. It took a bit longer but well worth it. Three passes with a couple small touch ups . BBS no nic's, no burn, just a great shave. Now this was my second shave with a restored blade and im starting to think my money is better spent on a $20-50 blade without scales and in rough shape and throwing another $100-200 on a quality restore. Rather than spending that or more on a new blade. I have gotten great shaves with both but theres something so much more satisfying shaving with a blade thats older then me and my father combined. I just might have gotten better shaves with the vintage blades though. Either way my technique is improving with every shave. My wife and brother's slick comments about cutting my throat by accident have been replaced with "mmm baby thats smooth" and "maybe I should try that" (the latter being my brother, LOL). It gets better gentlemen. Continue on this path It will reward you with a great sense of accomplishment and self satisfaction.
I bid you all good shaving.