So last night I made a bit if a schoolboy error and shaved the bit of my beard coming down from my sideburns all wonky, so I had to shave a bit more than normal--below the sideburns and along the jawline--which I've only done a couple if times with a shavette and never before with a proper straight.

As it happened unexpectedly, I hadn't trimmed the offending areas, nor was lather and prep on those areas that great and I think I'm gonna hone the razor again (though that's good as I was looking for an excuse to reset the bevel on that one) but I was surprised at how well it went! Yes, there was redness and soreness but that was mostly due to trying to shave in ways and angles that I'm not used to. I didn't cut or nick myself at all and, although not perfect, my face is pretty smooth.

And the moral of this story is that good blade angle and minimal pressure are you're friends. Get that right and you'll be well on the path to good shaves.