30 Day Rule/Focus; December 2023. All Are Welcome!

Hi Everyone!

It's the Christmas season! That's right! It's the time of year where most everyone will be celebrating with office parties and having holiday dinners with loved ones. It's a time of giving and receiving with a glad heart. For those of you with significant others, it may be the time for you guys to "give" suggestions to "receive" new shaving items. Lol! Sorry, I just couldn't pass on the play on words. Seriously, it's the time of year to count our blessings and to appreciate and remember the good things in our lives that made us smile. Whatever or however you celebrate, may it be the very best for each of you.

Moving forward, I know that I am repeating myself, but I thank all of you for participating last month on this thread. Without your commitment to posting your shaving sessions, the 30 DC thread wouldn't exist. For the most part, the shaves, the photos and the diverse gear were awesome. I am glad that the relatively new members have seen their shaves improved by gaining the knowledge here. You are to be congratulated.

Monthly Themes
We have an obvious theme for this month. It is DE December. This is your chance to just shave with DE razors all month long or maybe do a 1 or 2 week rule instead. That's up to you if you decide to go with it. Otherwise, it's your shave so do it your way.

Ok, let's continue with the basic tenets of this thread!

I want to welcome all the veterans of the 30 DC and all the newcomers. This thread is for the purposes of improving your shave technique so that you will consistently get great shaves. There are a number of ways to do it. These are suggestions so feel free to do whatever you want in regards to your shave.

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 great December shaves and fellowship.

Sincerely,

Joe (Trigger)

 

Looking forward to a great month of shaves and trying new things!

Im going to stick with my Super Speed all month so I can have a level playing field to try new blades. I have a sentimental attachment to this razor and am very experienced with it. If a blade does not shave in my SS, it has no place in my den.

Looking for suggestions from anyone who cares to share.

See picture of the blade assortment I received from Razor Emporium.



I picked this sampler because it had all three blades I really want to try. I went down the Russian rabbit hole years back and missed out on a few of these.

I’m going to shave with each blade for a week, so I need at least one more suggestion. I’ve also been shaving long enough to know what I don’t like, so I reserve the right to dump a bad blade quickly. This means I may get through five or more of these. On to the blades:

Feather, Personna Lab Blue, Gillette Platinum and Kai

I shaved with Feathers all November and the other three listed above are definitely getting a try this month. I don’t need suggestions on these, although opinions are welcome.

Astra Stainless and Derby

Have tried both in the past and both are a firm no. The Derby’s especially. I have a theory that only 1,000 were ever made and they just endlessly circulate around in sampler packs and PIF’s

Supermax Titanium, Gillette Perma Sharp, RK and Wilkinson Sword

These four I know little to nothing about, and would be the main four I’m looking for suggestions on. At least one will be in this months testing. Maybe more. Any opinions or experiences are welcome

 

Another very kind and inviting intro Joe, after that how can we fail to stick around a bit?
DE December, well that's all I got except for my cartridge and the electric razor.
Derby December maybe, soap or blade?
Do anything you want?
Dual shave could be an option, similar the Daily Double thread?
Any other D's anyone?

 

01 Dec 2023 (unDecided on the D)

Can’t believe November flew by that fast!

24 hours



Prep = Hot Water Prep and shave, Tabac in a tube as Pre shave

Soap / Cream = Saponificio Varesino Felce aromatica Beta 4.3, time I tried this
Brush = Semogue OC Cherry, Finest Badger 24 mm
Bowl = Timeless
Razor = Gillette New OC (short)
Blade = Bic Chrome Platinum (1) really nice and smooth
Passes = 2+ only today
Post = CWR, no Alum needed, liberal application of brush squeezings during cleanup
ASL = Proraso Rinfrescante, fistful of...Vetyver cologne
Scent = Additional Guerlain pour homme, my wife thinks this is too strong
Damage = none

Comments = I didn’t push for super smooth, I will only do that on 2 days growth, hence only 2+ passes. Good to leave some stubble for the next time. My skin appreciates a lighter shave if I do daily shaves. The Bic felt smooth, I will buy more of these at some stage

First use of the Saponificio Varesino Felce aromatica Beta 4.3 since I acquired this in July. The scent is heavenly. The puck is hard, being triple milled. Soaked the brush for 10 minutes, shook and squeezed out most of the water, 20 second loading from the lightly soaked puck. Bowl lathered. Super slick. Nice face protection after the shave. Very pleasing start to another month

Have a lovely Friday everybody

 

I’ll be traveling to Europe for a large part of the month, so I’ll be using my Fat Handled Tech, Astra blades and my DErby shave stick that has been rattling around in my dopp kit for a few years.

I’m heading to Austria to celebrate my 2nd son’s 30th birthday. Likely won’t be posting much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Well, have a great trip and post whenever you can Troy. You might be able to do some shaving shopping while you are there!

See, that's one reason I don't want to travel anymore, I can't take my whole Den with me! Anyway I suppose I need to put together a half decent dopp it.

Interesting word that: Dopp.

 

That's a very nice sample pack Scott. I found the Astra Blues very rough and shed some blood with those blades. The first four are known to be aggressive blades so you will like them. Derby blades are mild and do well with minimal growth. I have not tried RK blades so I can't comment on their quality. PermaSharp is sharp, but ok in smoothness. I love Wilkinson Sword blades. Finally, Supermax blades are decent.

 

I guess you will be going during the Christmas vacation. Enjoy your European getaway.

 

That's a grand opening act Chris. SV soap is definitely a top tier brand. Kudos to you for breaking it out.

 

Thank you Chris.

 

I am going to continue to do the same shave pattern like I did last month. On every 3rd day, I will use a safety razor for my dual shaves. The other 2 days will be straights and shavettes.

 

I've never understood how a blade can be aggressive or mild. All blades are sharp to a degree and will cut you if your technique is poor or if you're not paying attention.
I can understand some blades are sharper than others, some blades are rougher than others. But what makes a blade aggressive?
A razor is aggressive or mild based on blade gap and/or head geometry. But a blade?
Please help me understand.

 

For about the 5th or 6h time this year, I opened one month with the same shave I had for the close of the previous month. A cut in the middle of S. Porcupine cost me the "mother of all grades", as I did very well everywhere else. I had to do a little extra loading, as I must be a little weak due to my cold. Then after the first pass, I dug in for some more soap. I needed a "redo" for the right sideburn, and got it the second time around. As for the aftershave, I can't comment on how nice the Bill Neumann smelled, as I can't smell a thing right now. But I can comment on its strength as a skin-food supplier. It's GREAT at THAT. Most Outstanding.

 

Thank you Joe. I will call that one vote for the Wilkinson Swords as #4

You are correct BTW. Sharper the better for me...

 

Hi Steve!

My take has always been that folks on shave forums use "sharp" and "aggressive" as synonyms when it comes to blades. Just two different ways of saying sharp...

 

Beautiful Shave Chris! Keep us posted on how things develop with the Saponificio Varesino soap.

I'm ordering a puck of this next month. I'm so picky about scents that I purchased their AS sampler pack and it arrived yesterday. I will by trying and commenting on all the scents this month because I'm not spending $100 on a soap/aftershave combo without being in love with how it smells...

 

Hi Steve.
Feather blades have the reputation of being the sharpest blade in the wetshaving community. Although most DE blades have the same shape, different brands are machined differently and that causes different bevel thicknesses. Although the differences in bevel thickness is minute, it's enough to impact the sharpness. Also, different coatings will make a blade feel smoother.
Finally, take a Feather blade and shave one side with an adjustable razor. Replace the Feather with a Derby blade (less aggressive) and shave with the same razor on the same setting and you will find that the Feather was more efficient mowing down the growth

 

Safe travels and happy holidays to you Troy!

 

I'll agree Feathers are sharper than Derby blades; I don't like Derby. As they are not as sharp, the Derby tugs and makes for an uncomfortable shave.
Take a look at a wood planer. The blade is adjusted for a wider gap to take off more wood - more aggressive. Lessen the gap, a milder attack takes less wood. I still say aggressiveness is in the razor, not the blade.

 

Let's agree to disagree.