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"Biotic Silica" is the term used by Charles Roberts to describe the most notable ingredient in Hydrolast shaving paste. God knows what he meant by that. Limestone? I did not know he recently died. I sure hope it wasn't from being kind of a nut about shaving... he was only fifteen years older than me. I grabbed some downloads from his "Enchanté Online" site to remember him by. There is a certain familiarity in the tone of his ravings. I'll attribute it to his influence, and join the shaving world, for just a moment, to acknowledge a significant loss. I wish I could be the kind of educator he believed he was.

*****

I got away scot-free with my little indiscretion with Stirling and bentonite. So, rather than turning immediately to restoring the NMF, I tested my new, perfect shave method with modern disposable razors. Two face planers that have the right balance of traction and blade exposure, for me, are the BiC 1 and Dollar Tree's 6-bladed monstrosity. I haven't tried them all, by any means. I still have a reserve of twin blades and generic "sensitive" disposables, which I found, respectively, too gouging, and incapable of reaching the skin.

Even with my best hair softening, the six-blade skipped and choked under too much drag WTG. This is just a guess, but I'd say there was about six times too much downforce, causing short, jerky strokes. It only took a tiny piece of my neck, that didn't even really bleed, but I let the Bic 1 take over for second pass, sliding ATG, and only gave it another chance on direct ATG, where it acquitted itself nicely, giving me a (bit shady) BBS. And the leathery skin texture which that entails.

The Bic 1 was a literal hoot on WTG, making a train-whistle noise as the cutting sound resonated in its hollow, white handle. I thoroughly enjoyed the ease of use, as I have a terrible cold. But I was disappointed to see my old friend, the seborrheic keratosis on my right cheek, and all the collagenous defects of my face, exposed for nothing better than a CCS. The feel, rubbing ATG, is sharp and not "velvety" at all.

UPDATE: I don't remember the BiC 1 being that bad a shaver. I must have simply missed some spots. So I gave it a second chance with a more aggressive, region-oriented approach, and a less oily prep with gel as the top layer. This restored the NMF to "chipped" condition, at least, and only a few hairs were missed on a DFS. If I were going modern, I'd definitely choose the BiC 1 white handle.

My opinion of modern razors is unchanged.