One Razor?

Let's just assume, for a moment, that my Ming Shi Diamond blades are the ultimate. My first minimalist milestone has been achieved. I don't have to try any more blades -- I'm done.

I'm not quite there with soap. Not that there will ever be just one puck, but I envision a small variety of "fresh" soaps and creams, with a seasonal spin. It's not going to be associated with or proportional to my perfume collection, in other words; I have faced that monster. Aftershaves, on the other hand, are loosely associated with soaps, and serve as EdT on days I'm not willing to wear any (which is to say, most days). Aqua Velva Musk goes the furthest in that direction, following Palmolive Classic, for example. Brut follows the hard boiled Razorock sandalwood, Dollar Tree follows the muskier AOS Sandalwood, Lime Sec follows Tabac, Duru Limon follows Fresco Verde. Some splashes are better at soothing the skin than others; the factors in making a choice seem hopelessly multiplied. I think I can at least stop buying more. The brush situation may be similarly tied to the whims of my skin.

But a new target in clutter reduction has risen on the horizon. Having expanded my hardware collection recently has ironically turned my attention to perhaps the least obtainable goal of the minimalist: a single DE razor. And I am thinking just as I did at the very beginning: a three-piece ought to do it.

What I learned from the Ming Shi 2000S, and the Dorco PL-602, I had already some inkling of with the Slim: gap adjustment is more important, the lower the natural pitch angle of the razor is. The aim of modern fixed razors that wouldn't cut it for me, with their unreasonable demands on the nature of my skin and hair, was finally achieved. I got that taste of a low angle and high exposure, without the usual penalties of nicks, burns, or residual velvet.

With the Slim, I had used the adjustment to compliment technique, and accommodate ill-suited blades, because I can shave with the non-adjustable counterpart (a Tech) just fine. With these latest razors, it was simply accommodating the poorly suited geometry of the hardware itself. The fixed counterpart of the PL-602 is a BiC. The fixed counterpart of the Futur is an anchor-style razor. My skin was fed into the breech in ideal fashion, yielding smooth shaves, but fed nonetheless. Visible, shiny, but oddly comfortable exfoliation resulted.

"Chaoying" Baili BD191, with a Schmidt R10 handle is my most beautiful razor. It occurs to me that where I have customarily used the handle-loosening angle adjustment to get some skin contact, I have never tried a shim. Unlike the Tech, which is like a Slim turned to 8 or 9, Chaoying starts with negative exposure and greater blade curvature. This may be concealing some hidden, useful element of efficiency (which the Tech decidedly lacks). Today, I just did the usual adjustment with the Dorco blade that came with the PL-602, and it was handled more easily than in the Super Speed.