Despite my initial success with a straight razor, things have turned for the worse lately and I'm looking for some clarification and/or guidance from some of the old hats. I've been shaving with a straight razor for about three weeks now, and I have a few questions regarding what a WTG pass with a straight actually is... especially in regards to shaving on the neck. Before starting with a straight, I had been using a safety razor for about three years with wonderful results. With the safety razor, my WTG passes were done like this: I start under my right sideburn and work inwards toward the goatee area with straight downward strokes. I then do the same procedure for the left side of my face, and then clean up the goatee area with the same downward strokes. All of the downward strokes stop at the jawline. Then I use straight upward strokes on my neck that stop just under the jawline. I then go back to downward strokes to clean up directly under the jawline.

I've tried going straight downward for the entirety of the first pass as well as trying to emulate my DE technique, and neither was has met with much success. One shave might be great while the next will leave me burnt. I know it's something that I'm doing, but I can't put my finger on the cause. The last two shaves have been with such a light touch that I'm leaving behind more hair on my neck that I'm taking off, and I'm still winding up with razor burn on my neck. That being said, my face has never been smoother!

I would love to hear what any out there might have to say regarding a situation like mine. I remember it taking a while to get good shaves with the safety razor, and I know that this is the same kind of situation but with even more of a learning curve, but it just seems like I'm not making progress and maybe even getting worse.