re: Just ordered my first DE shaving kit. Advice and tips are appreciated.

I went DE for about 3 months. Not worth the extra time IMO. To get a really close shave you have to go over a good bit of your face twice. The DE is great if you haven't shaved for a few days though as it doesn't get clogged like multiblade razers, so I'll still use it for that.

I did start using better shaving cream and aftershave which has made a difference.

I use Gillette Pivot Plus double blades tossaways which are cheap, usually get 5 or 6 shaves out of them.