Greetings CHAPS, ENTHUSIASTS and ADVOCATES of the MIGHTY STRAIGHT RAZOR!
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Well, I ran out of Mach 3 cartridges the other day, so decided instead of getting more of the multiple blade overpriced disposable BLADE ARRAYS,
I'd do things properly this time, and just get one, single blade of AWESOMENESS; a straight razor, and shave the proper, traditional, MANLY way!

I have got myself a DOVO S/R, a (middle of the range) badger brush, a strop and some soap and a cuticle stone, so am REASONABLY kitted up! ( I have purchased from "thesuperiorshave.com" in the US and they were very helpful in recommending a suitable strop and hone to COMPLETE THE ENSEMBLE and so am happy to recommend them for their FRIENDLY, QUICK and EFFICIENT SERVICE!

I've had a couple of shaves with it so far.. and WHOA!!! What an EXPERIENCE! It's absolutely FANTASTIC, my only regret is not converting SOONER!

I've been doing a bit of browsing on this BRILLIANT forum and other other sites and am starting to get the HANG of THINGS.

One thing I'm not sure of though with regard to stropping....>> I have the strop which has the Smooth leather on one side, and a bit coarser/rougher on the other side... and then attached to it theres another black/linen/synthetic type material as well...
WHICH side of the leather do i use to strop on ... Im assuming its the smooth side... also do I use the black linen thing as well?? (I'd assume so that's why its there??)

Finally I received some pastes with my strop but haven't applied any yet....>> not quite sure what to do with those.. one is in a white tube with a yellow band on it, the other is just ALL WHITE MAN!

Well Anyways, Thanks for reading my HELLO and in advance for your information and help!
All the best and enjoy that Close Shave,

Rick.