My first shave with a straight razor

Spending loads of money on razors that only last a few shaves for myself has always been a sore spot. Moreover the bladed would get jammed since my hair is rather thick so I though instead of going to n-blades what about going to 1? But I had no idea where to buy one. Finally the (common) store personal edge sells them. Seeing as they are quite difficult to shave with I started with a practice blade.

The practice blade is what you see in stores. It is a double edged rectangle with an odd pattern in the middle. You brake it in have and slide it into place on your razor older. The technique is the the same as a real straight blade but without the sharpening and preparing etc.

My first shave with it was less than great. The blade is shape especially for the skin but doesn't seem to be sharp w.r.t. my beard. It still pulled and scraped. So I didn't cut myself much (only once really) but it wasn't great. Since that I've only shave once more and learnt two things: make sure the part of your face your shaving is very warm and don't do it when your not completely awake yet. Hopefully I can get better with the technique and then try the real blade without massively scarring my face. The idea is that if it is really really sharp it will be easier to shave once I can avoid cutting the skin.