You are writing my words almost. I used my Rockwell 6s, a yaqi synthetic brush, arko/tabac soap, all the De blades I had from the box and nivea as for a year. The setup was excellent for me. I was becoming less active in this forum also...I used to chase a perfect shave. I was constantly trying new razors, blades, and soaps/creams believing the perfect setup for me was out there and that with enough trial and money, I'd find it. After going through lots of razors, trying tons of different blades, and buying way too many artisan soaps I came to the conclusion that I was making the whole shaving routine way too complicated. I shifted my thinking and focused on making the best of what I already had. My setup now consists of 4 soaps/creams, 2 DE blades, and probably 60% of my shaves are always with the Mamba 70. The other 40% of my shaves are rotating through my collection of razors just for fun (ATT Calypso and OneBlade get used regularly, and I use a straight razor normally on Sunday when I have time for the whole routine).
I no longer chase an all-over BBS shave. Now I get a nice BBS on my face and am comfortable with a DFS on my neck where hair grows in a swirling pattern. At some point I realized that no matter how close my shave was, by lunchtime the stubble would start to arrive. No one looking at me can tell the difference between DFS and BBS, but they can certainly tell if I have razor burn that leaves my neck red all day. Also, becoming comfortable with what I consider a great shave, I'm finally saving the money I expected to save when I bought my first DE razor.
For those of you that have arrived at "good enough," I'm curious what that is for you.
Then 2 months ago, I bought some bic metal disposable just to try. I posted in this forum.
Then I found (thought it was lost) my yaqi excalibur AC head and started to try it. I posted again in this forum.
Last week I ordered a De Razor over 100 usd including shopping. I am still posting in the forum.
The thing that I am trying to say is that the comments in this forum, the enjoyment of reading their experiences and the purchasing power of the members will push us to break "the good enough" status even when you find it!
Did I tell you that I was going to buy another Ac razor but I said to skip the purchase for some months?