After using the particularly nasty Hydrolast Shave Cloth this week and still managing to get a technically outstanding shave, I’ve come to the conclusion that once you get your technique down (usually anywhere from 12 -18 months of practice), its pretty easy to get a great shave with just about any accoutrement. I’ve noticed this now for the last 3-4 months: It doesn’t seem to matter what I shave with, including some pretty horrific experiments, I still manage to consistently get a near-perfect 9-9.8 shave (technical results only, not including “pleasure” factor).

The implications of this as a reviewer of shaving “stuff” is pretty significant: Basically, you really can’t trust anything I tell you about equipment or technique! Simply put, I have inadevertantly made myself redundant through practice – like one of my work colleagues who was once President of a multinational health care company and managed to create such an effective team that the business was able to function without him (guess what happened).

So, I am entering a new phase in my shaving review: From here on in I will report primarily on the more complex “pleasure” side of shaving, i.e. the things that move shaving from drudge to delight.