Hi guys,

Well I say "shave" I actually mean I spent ten tense and frustrating minutes trying to shave the left side of my face with varying degrees of success and no shortage of heart-stopping moments before throwing in the towel for the day and calling it quits and finishing the shave with my DE razor.

I only ever intended to shave one side of my face and get comfortable with that before moving on to different areas and then eventually a full straight razor shave. I've seen some guys here suggest that for a newbie and it seemed like sound advice.

Anyway, the razor I bought was a 5/8 full hollow "classic" from theinvisibleedge.com

It said it was shave ready so I lathered up and went to work.

At first I was very tentative. After 18 months using a DE razor and my whole shaving life (about 8 years) before using cartridge razors it felt completely wrong and alien to be using a straight razor. This knowledge didn't help and I began to psyche myself out. I could see the razor trembling slightly with my nerves so I had to stop to compose myself for a moment.

I know that you're supposed to use minimal to no pressure and let the razor do the work. Hold it at a 30 degree angle etc.

But as I was moving the razor down my face it was skipping/jumping. It was lose contact with my skin, then make contact, then lose contact etc. And quite a lot of resistance was met. Blade seeming to get caught in my beard. Like it was losing momentum or something. I'm not sure.

I'm wondering what you guys think?

Is it a confidence issue? Or an issue of technique? Or both?

And what do you guys suggest for me to go about fixing this?

Thanks guys. I'm a patient guy and am committed to learning my craft and paying my dues. I want to learn and knew it wouldn't be easy. But I won't let this deter me.

Thanks to anyone who responds.