I generally wash my face throughly with hot water(you might want to follow the other comments here), then I use shaving creme(whatever brand exists at your place) and shave first with the grain, and then a second go through, very carefully against the grain, to get the smoothest result. This is where the danger of cuts is the highest. If you want to practice I would recommend the evening, so any cuts heal over night, and you don't need to walk around with them. Having a sharp racor is important to getting good results. Places with looser skin(throat for me) are more difficult to get really smooth generally speaking.

This is all trial and error for me, possible that I am making mistakes. I have not read shaving theory. Also I have very different facial hair from yours, mine is bright and fine, so I don't know how much is applicable to you. Also every person has differently sensitive skin as well.