30 Day Rule/Focus; August 2025. All Are Welcome!

Hi Everyone!

It has been a great month of shaves and I want to thank everyone for participating. I want to formally welcome our new members. I am sure you will improve your shaves and expand your den in the coming months as you glean the knowledge from this thread and apply it. Whatever season you're experiencing, may you take advantage of the appropriate activities and choose your shaving paraphernalia accordingly.

Monthly Themes

The theme for this month is Adjustable August which means breaking out your adjustable safety razors for the month. On the chance that some of you don't have any adjustable razors, then I propose a couple of more themes for this month. Arko August, Artisan August and Anything Goes August are my suggestions. ARKO August and Anything Goes August are self - explanatory. Artisan August caters to just using artisan soaps such as Stirling, PAA, HC &C, etc. It could also include razors and brushes made by artisans. Remember, you don't have to follow the suggested themes. You can make one up for yourself.

The 30 Day Rule

Take ONE razor, ONE blade, ONE brush, ONE soap/cream and use them EVERYDAY this month. Yes, everyday. But Trigger, I want variety! I know you do, but until you perfect your technique, it makes little sense to constantly change the variables of your shave.

The Focus

For you out there that are not up to the rigors of the Rule, there is this alternative:
Vary the gear for each shave, save for perhaps one or two elements.
This is a more accessible challenge for the majority of shavers. I like to pick a particular aspect of the shave, be it the lather, a certain blade or a new razor, that needs breaking in, and not change it daily, until I have mastered those tools.

Ok, to keep the thread on a nice even keel, I ask everyone to follow the thread etiquette as listed below:
1. New Members always welcome. Start anytime.
2. Old Members always welcome.
3. Respect everyone.
4. Refrain from political conversation.

I also want to suggest that we should try to assess our shaves as to why it was good or why it was not up to your standards and express these reasons in your comments. The spirit of this thread is to improve our shaves and if we share the reasons why a shave was good or bad, then we are giving our experiences to encourage good technique and discourage bad technique so that we have great info to get better shaves. I am not suggesting that we do it for every post, but I think it would make for a healthier thread if we start to do it more than we have in the past years.

Moreover, you don't have to do a rule or a focus. You are free to change your setup on a shave to shave basis.

Finally, I want this thread to continue to be a friendly place. It is ok to disagree because that is how we learn from each other, but let's encourage and respect every member. Yes, even if you think they are off the wall. Let's face it! We all are a little off because of our different Aquisition Disorders. Lol!

Let's have a group hug!



Also, let's have some awesome August shaves and fellowship.

Sincerely,

Joe (Trigger)

 

My shave today was a 9.5/10 due to one cut that I did separate of anything I did yesterday and I shaved the same the entire shave on dial 1 not sure how I got the cut that did not really leave a mark. I am using the newer blade Day 2 top with my shaving with a new blade one of the early King C Gillette blades I have as the paper is one part and as the logo on a hair thicker than the models after the ones I got after the first month they were out in the local Walgreens.

I used like always my Gillette Adjustable Shaver slim handle my no case H 2, the one I can date.

I used water on the blade/shaver head only because of how sharp the blade is, I need some feel.

The new book I got on July-31, King C. Gillette, the man and his wonderful shaving device https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316009377/?tag=thshde-20, my King C Gillete blade, and my Gillette shaver will be a great trio this month.

 

Excellent post and shave Casey.

 

-Friday-
no,22
simpson
lime
azur lime



good morning gents
lovely lime shave
aleppo soap face wash
slick lime lather
smooth 2 passer in the usual manner..
north-south,south-north,minor pickups
aleppo face wash after the shave
cold water rinse
thayers lemon and azur lime to finish
awesome
***
i will do an anything goes adjustable arko august..
have a fine friday everyone
​

 

Terrific shave Gary.

 

Great start to the month, Gary!

 

Good shave, Casey - and that sounds like an interesting book.

 

Excellent intro as usual, Joe!

I will probably do a mix of Adjustable, Arko and Artisan August.

 

Thanks John.

 

thank you Joe

 

thank you John.

 

Saturday Morning 02/08/2025

• Razor : Eclipse Alpha Shave Works DE CNC Machined 6061 Aluminum Black Anodized. (Hong Kong)
• Blade : Wizamet super iridium (1) (Russia).
• Brush : Yaqi caramel cats whiskers synthetic (China).
• Soap : The Goodfellas' smile Savage. (Italy).
• Aftershave : Genuine Ogallala bay rum and Sandalwood. (USA).
• Weight : 48 grams. (razor).

Hi all,
I had a brilliant shave this morning with the new Alpha eclipse aluminum DE razor.
This razor being only the 2nd modern aluminum razor I have acquired the other being the Henson +++ DE razor.
I normally prefer the extra weight of Stainless Steel and Brass razors but after such enjoyable shaves with the other alpha razors I have tried most recently the
Guido DE I couldn’t resist.
I have to say, with absolutely no biased towards any brand of razor. It gave me a superb shave very close and smooth paired with a Wizamet blade.
Even though the razor only weighs 48 grams (on my kitchen scales) it didn’t feel too light in my hand, I really liked the handle and excellent grip finding it very easy to maneuver around specially on tricky spots.

The Goodfellas’ smile Savage soap gave me great cushioning and aftershave feel as I would expect from these fine soaps.

Finished off nicely with Genuine Ogallala Bay rum and Sandalwood splash definitely my favorite bay rum range.

One pass WTG one pass ATG no touch-ups done.
No Nicks no worries.
Cheers.
PS will use an adjustable soon

 

The book is, I thought it would be more boring full of charts and graphs of the company but nope so far it has been interesting though Gillette Shaving company has just barely got off the ground in 1906 about where I am so far in the timeline with interesting things I never knew about the company in the early days of company with the first competitors. Book was well worth the $9.00 I paid for the book, it was $10.00 new in 1978 the first and possibly only pressing of the book.

 

Well done Paul!

 

2nd August 2025.



​

Shaving Recipe for today.

Prep: Warm shower:/Cien Men Kenya Shower Gel.

Pre:
Cold wet flannel to my face & head.
Pears Transparent Bar Soap.
Cold wet flannel to my face & head.
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Sagrada Familia Synthetic.
Bowl Lather.
Bowl: Tesco's Ceramic 'Cosmo' Side Bowl.
Lather: OSP Neroli Shaving Soap.
Blade: Lord Silver Star Super Stainless.(D1)
Razor: Ming Shi 2000s Futur clone. (Setting 3)

Post:
Cold water Face & Head wash with brush squeezing's, Cold Water Cold Water Face & Head Rinse./Alum Rub./Cold Water Rinse/Homemade (~Spring/Summer mix~) Lemon, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Essential Oils.3 Menthol Crystals Mixed Together With 200ml of Care+Witch Hazel./Nivea Men Fresh Moisturising Gel./Brut Sport Style ASL.

Greetings,

A new eclectic shave set up to start the weekend..

For the next month I'll be revisiting my Chinese clone razors pairing them together with another run with the Lord Silver Star Super Stainless & Shark Super Stainless DE blades for my combined face & head shaves.

It's been a while since i last added the OSP neroli soap to my soap rotation of which I've had some time ago now going off the samples of other OSP soaps that I tried and the wonderful grapefruit & menthol cream performance both have provided me with a super protective lather throughout each shave leaving an excellent post shave feel.

A flawless combined face and head shave with the Ming Shi 2000s / Lord Silver Star Super Stainless duo. Finishing the shave off with a generous splash of Brut Sport Style ASL.

My face & precious swede are is feeling smooth & smelling divine.

Keep safe, and enjoy your day ladies & gentlemen.

 

fine weekend affair..

 

fabulous way to start the weekend Barry

 

Thank you Gary. The Lord Silver Star blade are my new revisited favourite at the moment. Have a fabulous weekend too.

 

Lovely Pic and razor mate.
Cheers.