I have the Revisor Beginners Set which consists of a 5/8 extra hollow ground razor complete with Herold 450*50mm Russian leather strop with a canvas backing.

I am only into my second week of shaving with the straight, but I think making good progress; I have achieved some really good shaves - comparable with my best DE results, yet they seem to last longer in as much as I find myself shaving only every other day.

My stropping technique is definitely improving, certainly my razor feels keener after and I'm not experiencing the same drag as before. However I decided the other day to buy some paste to experiment with; I bought the little red box of Stangan-Pasta produced by Herold that comes with the red (sharpening) and blue (polishing) pastes. On reading further on the subject I was advised to avoid using the same strop for both pastes, and when I emailed Revisor they suggested the strop I have was not suitable and that I should buy a different type such as the loom strop.

Questions:
1. Is my strop suitable for, or even needing the application of a paste?
2. Should I buy a second strop to use with each paste?