At first I thought the straight razor would take longer but actually after a few days' practice it just takes a few strokes to clean each side of the face. Also at first I did not get nearly as good of a shave as with a store-bought razor, but a little practice with the shaving angle and I am smoother than ever.
That said, you do have to enjoy the whole process to really get into the whole straight razor thing. I'm not one of these that thinks your shave has to be picture perfect (unless we have a fancy event to attend or something). My main two reasons for going straight razor is that I like sharpening, I wanted to keep trash out of the landfill, and I am sick of paying $15 for a few plastic razors. I now know, after trying a good straight razor, what all the fuss is about. I am going to start making my own bay rum again- something I used to do and stopped. Again this is more for fun than need. The bay tree grows wild here. They smell like allspice- also make a great flavored rum.