[Bruce]

It is interesting to read the collection of thoughts on how to achieve the best shave. Use the best cream (insert brand name), whipped up by the best brush (insert brand name and from what part of the badger it came), whipped in the best scuttle (insert brand name) filled with the hottest water (insert hardness value), after the warmest shower (note temp and duration of splash), using the finest razor (insert brand name, size, type of scales, and grind), honed on the finest stones (insert brand names and grits and progression), stropped on the finest strop (insert the animal which no longer is using its skin and the type of linen on the back side), the number and direction of passes, and whose baby is being used as a smoothness comparator.

Well this morning I may have achieved my smoothest shave yet - so smooth in fact I thought I may have grabbed a butter knife instead of a razor. And this was using the next blade in rotation, this week's strop, the I think I'll use this cream 'cuz I haven't lavendared for a while, and my usual shave before showering routine (I know it's wrong, but I can't get out of that rut)

I keep wondering what I'm doing wrong.

[Seraphim]

Same thing happened to me unexpectedly. It's the darndest thing...a surprise super-shave without even trying.

[Jimbo]

Fellas - there's so many moving parts that go into a good shave that the probability of fluking a great shave must be tiny. The estimate varies of course, and depends on whether you assume independence between events like "properly stropping" and "properly face prepping" as well, but a ball-park figure on the probability of obtaining a perfect shave by chance is approx. 0.000000000000000000000000000001.

I think you may just have to admit that you know what you are doing.... either that, or you really need to go buy a lottery ticket.

James.

[fccexpert]

Well darn, I always thought it was the geothermal energy that I pipe up direct from hell to heat my hot towels and generate hot lather that was the source of my great shaves. Either that or the sacred water from the blessed spring of Mirhr I use to soften my beard. What is the world comming to?