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The Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century ushered in a new era of rationality, ethics, aesthetics, and knowledge in an attempt to lead society toward progress after the irrationality, superstition, and tyranny of the Dark Ages.

Sound familiar?

I think ShaveMyFace is entering its own age of enlightenment as we speak. I'm heartened by the unmistakable signs of renewal now that its most tyrannical member has left to start his own site and taken some of the more regressive members with him.

Understandably, some of SMF's more codependent shavegeeks are having a difficult time right now, without a know-nothing bully constantly telling them how to think and what to buy. But like the palace guards in the Wizard of Oz who suddenly came to their senses and became good guys again once the Wicked Witch was gone, even the most reflexively hostile shavegeeks are starting to -- dare I say it? -- think for themselves. It's a great thing to see.

I'm very impressed by how Vince, the administrator of ShaveMyFace, stood up to the attempted coup last week of the site he created, and how he dealt with the shameful theft of the all of the forum's threads and member registrations by the unsuccessful coup plotter.

I've long respected Vince as one of the good eggs on SMF, and I wish him all the best as he tries to re-establish the site as a positive, friendly, gentlemanly place for shaving enthusiasts and newbies alike to share knowledge, discuss products and techniques, and enjoy the company of those who share their love of traditional wetshaving. Having such an obnoxious, ignominious member define the overall tone of his forum for so long must have been very frustrating for Vince, but now that he doesn't have to deal with that kind of nonsense anymore, he can look forward to a much more positive era for SMF.

As of this writing, there are three major shavegeek sites -- ShaveMyFace, Wetshavers, and StraightRazorPlace, for devotees of, respectively, safety razors, the Mach3 Power, and straight razors. Of the three, it is ShaveMyFace which has the most members, the most activity, and the greatest chance to be the most intelligent and progressive site for traditional wetshaving hobbyists on the Web.

Now that SMF has turned a corner and put its recent unpleasantness behind it, I feel very strongly that it has a much brighter future than I could've possibly imagined only a week and a day ago.

Okay, on to today's shave. I got one of the very best shaves yet from my Injector loaded with a modified Feather Pro Super disposable straight razor shave. I'm finding that even though the very first shave with this combo was extraordinary, it keep getting better as I learn how to optimize the shave with this unique razor. A Vulfix #2243 brush and Taylor's avocado shaving cream rounded out the rig.

One new thing I tried today was a sample of D. R. Harris's Aftershave Milk at the end of the shave. Excellent stuff! I've been extremely happy with Trumper's Skin Food as my post-shave poultice of choice, and I like a few others too like Proraso's liquid cream aftershave balm, but my face loved the Aftershave Milk. It didn't leave my skin greasy, and my face felt great all day. The Harris has a very light and pleasant scent that mostly disappears pretty quickly, but every now and then I'd catch a whiff and enjoy the echo. I'll definitely be buying a bottle of this very shortly -- highly recommended.