As I practise honing and begin getting good results, my confidence is growing. Yesterday I test shaved a Heljestrand I picked up for cheap a little while ago, and I was very pleasantly surprised at how good a shave it was. Very smooth, very close. Unfortunately, there was some irritation afterwards.

This irritation is something that I find often happens after I hone a razor, and it usually only goes away after 2 or 3 shaves with lots of stropping. I have fairly sensitive skin, but I'm not using any different products or techniques, so I can only assume that I'm doing something wrong in the honing process. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Joel