Today I decided to go “Deutsch” – Merkur Slant-bar razor, Tabac soap + Tabac cream for superlather, Muehle-Pinsel silvertip brush with bog-oak and nickle handle, fresh Treet Blue Special blade (Pakistan – the one exception), and Muehle-Pinsel A.S. cream followed up with Tabac cologne. I was momentarily tempted to use the Merkur platinum blade and keep it all in the family, but the Treet carbon steel blades have ruined me for anything else. Hundreds of platinum and otherwise-coated stainless-steel blades sitting in my drawer into eternity, all because of a little unassuming Pakistani blade that costs about $0.12!!! How’s that for irony?

I had expected the fearsome guillotine of the Slant-bar to take me to new heights with the Treet, maybe a 9.5 (well, I can dream, can’t I?), but it was not to be. The shave was nearly identical to the one a couple days ago with the pedestrian (no slight intended) Merkur HD on an Edwin Jagger Chatsworth ebony handle. A solid 9.0 again (nothing to sneeze at!), but my hopes and dreams were nevertheless dashed. There’s a lesson here emerging….I’m not certain what it is yet…but I’m getting the scary feeling that it goes something like this….”The razor doesn’t matter, its all about the blade”. Think about it. Those hundreds (maybe thousands) of dollars spent on all manner of exotic razors (see photo – these are just a few from the collezzione), may all hinge on a 12 cent Pakistani blade!!! Take a few deep breaths…Om….Om….Om. On the other hand, think about how liberating that would be were it true…just pick one razor you like, buy a few thousand Blue Specials, and “Bob’s Yer Uncle!”

I will keep testing this theory (with my just-arrived mint condition Gillette Fat-Boy from 1961 – second from left, front row) and report back on these pages.

BTW – I’m getting the same sneaky feeling about superlather – soap and cream together is greater than the sum of its parts and I may never be able to “monoshave” again.