Alright guys as promised I am reporting back after my first ever shave! I am proud to say I made it through with minimal damage to the face. Standing there staring in the mirror with the razor to my face definitely made me very nervous. However, I mixed up my best lather yet even though it was still a tad dry by the time i got to the chin and lips (this probably was due to the fact it took me about 30 min to get there ) . I was going to go with just the cheeks tonight as Lynn suggests, but felt a lot more comfortable than I thought I would and actually ended up doing 2 WTG passes to try and catch those whiskers I missed. Boy, was it exhilarating. I can proudly say I have a shave that would not be frowned upon in public even though it isn't even close to BBS. I found myself gripping the razor like a vice a few times and that was when I made the small nicks on my neck. Nothing my handy styptic pencil couldn't fix right up.

I decided to start out using left hand for left side of the face and right hand for right side to do it proper and i thought my left hand would fail me for sure, but it actually performed admirably and feeling my face now my left side is actually smoother than my right! Crazy. I stropped the razor before and after the shave and found it quite relaxing and not near as challenging as I thought it would be. All in all, I believe tonight was the first night in what will be a lifetime of straight razor shaving. It truly was all I hoped it would be and was the most fun I have ever had shaving in my life. So here's a thanks to you guys here at SRP and all the tips and videos posted here. I really felt comfortable and prepared for the shave and hopefully, someday soon I will be a shaving pro like Chimensch.

P.S. - What do you guys use to store your razors in? I oiled mine and put it back in the box it came in but that is just cardboard and I want something to protect it and not bang it around like the cardboard box does.