Great posts and as a new-comer myself I thought I'd wage in on something that hadn't been talked about yet.

I'm from the other side of the tracks. I started with a cheap shavette-style razor and was amazed after my first shave, I now have a cheap Gold Dollar honed by a local pro also.Shaving has always been a mere chore for me in the past. With extra-sensitive skin, I could never shave 2 days in a row, I also had tried many face-products for men and thought it was all rubbish. Only ever made my skin oily and more irritated.

Since I've been on SRP and using my shavette the biggest advancement for me has not been in the act of shaving, but learning about skincare, which sounds totally odd to me.Using products as simple as the humble Witch hazel has changed my skin from a hyper-senstive area, to maybe just sensitive, which is a massive jump if you've ever been there. Using a nice moisturiser (Currently using Bulldog original) and of course, none of the shave gel and bogus aftershave.

I've not got a little arsenal of soaps now from a stick of Palmolive (Which is the least lavish of my lot), a pot from Crabtree & Evelyn and have just recieved my first stick of Arko, which is brilliant! Worth the wait from Turkey, Absolutely.

I also went cheap on the brush, I got a $7 'Davinci' nylon bristle brush from Coles, figuring if I'm going to ditch it, I better not over-invest but all I was doing was getting a pretty crappy insight into SR shaving. I now have a silvertip Haryali brush which is suffice but worlds above the Davinci, their razors are trash however, as well as some nice wash cloths for wiping my face - much forgotten item!

My tip would be - Get into it how you can, but make a plan and recognise after reading and researching what your strategy is. I own a hot hatch, have over $15k in photography equipment (the other hobby) as well as saving for our first house, so I know that SR gear isn't something I should be throwing $400 nor could afford, but now I've been here a little while, I know how I'll progress. I recoginise that my equipment is below par, but if the shave is good and getting better with my stropping advancement, I know with a decent razor, better strop and loads more hands-on experience, it'll be the best thing I've ever done for my face.

Just to reiterate, don't forget the products - no matter how much your wife teases you for 'getting into skin-care'. The mornings I wake up without painful pimples on my face and neck are worth any harmless digging she likes to add in. Also to add on the shavette vs straight, a new razor in a shavette will always feel sharper than a sharp straight, they're different steels as well as you strop one, and not other (read: possible stuff one edge and don't touch the other).