Well, I've been thinking about using a straight razor for quite a while, but I always got great shaves with my Gillette five blade razor. Until recently. It seems I've been doing something wrong for the last four months or so. I've been getting awful razor burn and bumps. I was using the same puck of soap that I've had for the last three years, so I thought maybe it was time to replace it. I've tried every soap and cream I could get my hands on. I even tried some of the spray can varieties. It only got worse. Finally I went to a dermatologist to see what he thought. Two rather expensive prescription creams later, I decided to do some research. I read that a number of people feel that the multi blade razors over exfoliate the skin. Makes sense to me. So I bought a new Dovo razor along with a new canvas and Russian leather strop, honed the blade on a water stone I had and stropped it. I've watched a ton of videos on all this so now there's nothing left to it but to do it.
I'll report back after I've staunched my wounds.