What did you learn from your last shave?

That my whiskers are getting coarser every year.

Blade buffing is getting easier. I only dare to attempt this when I get that perfect lather.

My skin is unhappy

You will never master the cut throat razor. You might have been adopted by the cut throat, learned its ways. But the Cut throat was born to it, forged by it.

Basically, always go slow. Never get comfortable with a cut throat, that is when you make a mistake.
I was shaving this morning, going wtg (south-north) over my adam's apple, and the blade actually got stuck on it. Luckily I was aware enough to immediately stop, then continue a lot slower.

I shaved with my GEM G bar, learned that using a CVS Personna blade more than twice is a painful lesson. Even tried stropping it on my strap. My neck paid for my insistence.

How to build a proper lather.

Learned a lot about blade angle and lather.

Newbie lesson taken to heart. Blade choice can make a world of difference. For me, Astra greens are a revelation after a few shaves with Derbys!
I didn't even realize what I'd been missing.

Bic Chrome Platinum blades and my face don't work well together

When shaving in the AM, shave before 2 cups of coffee.

After weeks of frustration that I wasn't getting it with honing, I used a brand new custom str8 this morning. The makers said " don't strop before you first shave to see what a professional hone is like." So, I didn't. And I learned that my honing is actually just as good. A str8 just isn't going to be as sharp as a Feather. But I still get a better, longer-lasting shave.

That I still love my fatboy.

My skin is liking witch hazel better than the alum block

I learned that I should be prepping better and that I should always have been using witch hazel.

3 passes over a small spot I's fine, 7 is not

I learned a hard lesson....

I use a Merkur Progress. After each shave I loosen the razor to facilitate cleaning and drying (you can probably see where this is going).

I set is to 2.5 and started shaving, I had forgotten to run it all the way down to 0 before setting it. Instead of a 2.5 setting is was closer to 15 and I nearly cut my face off . Before I realized what had happened I cut myself so bad that it took almost all day to stop bleeding. After many bandages it's OK now.

I am mad at myself because I know better, and because we are talking about a razor blade after all.

I am sure we all know this, but if you loosen your razor to clean it, be SURE you reset it properly before the next use.

I will now be taking a day or two off from shaving..... damn.

That my skin can be more receptive to a shave when it has an extra day to heal from the previous one. It's almost as though it get to a point where it's more ready to ditch the hair, and it cooperates better.

Don't try and shave while Skyping with SWMBO while you're on a business trip in Shanghai. It doesn't end well.

Never try to even up both sides of your mustache and goatee when you have had very little sleep. Feels weird with no facial hair...

That my neck doesn't benefit from stretching, but instead tilting my head down to create a roll/double chin.

I got a BBS shave with a one pass XTG shave with the Aristocrat loaded up with a Feather blade.