I have never met anyone who shaves with a straight razor. I've talked with a few on the phone, so this journey has been largely through SRP, a Mentor whom I am careful not to bother too much and a video here and there. But I would now like to give thanks to a most unlikely teacher: a mole about 3/8th's of an inch above my top lip edge. After taking the top off (take aspirin every day and see how much a cut mole bleeds with thin blood) on the first few shaves I used my double edge to go over the mole. Then with more time and skill I found I could shave over the mole without any problems, mostly because I realized the importance of pressure....you could use less pressure and get the same result, or better results really. Interestingly, my mentor who had a similar problem in his early years just removed his mole with the razor---OUCH! So it is an odd activity and I would guess there are a lot of us....learning by a combination of experience and the virtual world. I like to think of those first guys who picked up a straight razor pre internet and learned without the vast amount of information that is available today...like on this amazing resource SRP. And finally I would like to thank my mole for being impatient with my ham fisted early hacks with one of the great tools invented by man---a straight razor.