30 Day Rule/Focus; February 2025. All Are Welcome.

Hi everyone!

We just completed the first month of 2025. For the most part, we all had very good to super shaves. We maintained and/or improved our shaving techniques. Some of you acquired new hardware that was brilliantly displayed and utilized. Bravo to all of you! I know that I am repeating it when I say that you guys make this thread. Without your commitment to post here, then this thread would be nonexistent. Therefore, I appreciate and thank you all for being here.

Monthly Themes

Ok, the obvious theme for this month is Fatboy February. Yes, it's time to dust off your Gillette Fatboys. Another suggestion would be Favorites February. That means you get to choose your most favorite razor, or soap, or brush, or aftershave. It could be a combination of two or three components or the whole setup. Whatever you decide is cool. Another possibility is Freedom February. It means you decide on whatever setup you choose without any rhyme or reason. Mix it up. I encourage you to experiment and go where you never have gone before. Another suggestion would be Fine Accoutrements February. I think that title is obvious and doesn't need any explanation. My final suggestion would be Fougere February. If you have a Fougere/ Cologne type aftershave, etc., then go for it.

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 blade, one brush, onesoap/cream and use them for every shave this month. Yes, that's right!"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 great shaves and fellowship in February!

Sincerely,

Joe (Trigger)

 

Another great introduction to start February Joe. I like your "freedom February" comment, it describes most of my shaving focuses.

 

1st February 2025.



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Shaving Recipe for today.

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

Pre:
Cold wet flannel to my face & head.
Wrights Coal Tar bar Soap.
Brush: Wilkinson Sword Boar.
Bowl Lather.
Bowl: Ikea Kalas Side Bowl.
Lather: Wilkinson Sword Soap Bowl.
Blade: Wilkinson Sword Classic. (D1)
Razor: Wilkinson Sword Premium TTO.

Post:
Cold Water Face & Head Rinse./Cold water face & head wash with brush squeezing's,/Alum Rub./Cold Water Rinse./Homemade (~Autumn/Winter mix~) peppermint lavender, eucalyptus, + Tea Tree essential Oils Mixed Together With Care+Witch Hazel./Brut Splash-On Lotion./Cien Cocoa Butter Body Lotion.

(Face & Head Shave)

A new eclectic shave set up to start the month.

The inexpensive Wilkinson Sword shaving quartet worked together superbly. It just goes to show you don't need to spend a great amount on shaving products to a close acceptable shave. There is something satisfying about it.

The WS classic blade may not be the most assertive DE blade but they are super smooth which is something I like in a blade over aggressive sharpness all in all its a good blade which pairs up with the WS TTO razor very nicely and a great choice for head shaving.

As it's been a while since I done a head/dome shave with a DE razor which took longer for me to get my technique & shaving confidence after the long run using my Cartridge razors.

Overall the final result was BBS smooth with no irritation, or little Japanese flags appearing under the lather in between each pass.

Finishing the shave off with a few small dollops of Cien Cocoa Butter Body Lotion.

A very comfortable enjoyable close combined face & head shave, the cocoa butter body lotion is ideal for the bracing winter elements.

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

Stay safe, and enjoy the start of the weekend ladies & gentlemen.

 

fine start to the month Barry.
have a fabulous weekend

 

Thank you Gary.

 

Thank you for the kind words Barry. I always look forward to your shaves and the other members as well.

 

Awesome start to the month Barry! Maybe that could be a possible mini focus for you. Just saying.

 

01 Feb 2025

another day, another month...

1 Days growth

Usual Prep
Soap = MWF
Brush = Pura Setola
Bowl = Timeless
Razor = No 66 Gillette
Blade = Bolzano (1)
Passes = 3
Post = Usual CWR, Alum, rinse, pat dry, Thayers rose petal, Nivea Balm
ASL = Imperial Leather
Scent = The Body Shop Black musk
Score = 9.5 / 10 despite the slight mishap
Damage = small nick top lip in the 1st pass, gone by the end of the shave

Decided to get to revisit the MWF during Feb for some of my shaves. Never been too good with this soap....

On opening the puck in the porcelain (?) container it had dried out and shrunk. Previously I would have soaked this overnight, but that would usually result in some layering out of the constituents. Today I went at the dry puck with the Pura Setola and got enough prelather. Into the Timeless bowl but only managed to get more and more bubbles despite slowly adding water and giving the lather a decent bashing. It still tended to dry out toward the end of each pass. I will have to review the MWF threads and U-tube vids to see how I can improve this. Nevertheless the shave was a success and the post shave feel was excellent to set up a wonderful Saturday

Have a super Weekend one and all

 

Very nice start to the month Chris.

 

Delighted with my shave this morning. I'm about ready to flip th Koourous 2022 soap, but maybe I can get a couple more in*. The small amount left makes it hard to go for a minute loading, as it's a tough Loading Dock these days. Thanks to the strength of the Proraso Professional brush, I got a lot of soap on. No damage anywhere. 2 passes. Great close with the Fine Latigo A.S., a dupe of a classic Austrian brand called Knize 10. It's all leather, but fels calmer on the skin then other lesathers(say, from the Wild West or Russia). As Outstansing As It Gets.

*In fact, I flipped it just now, in favor of Stoylin Sheep, but there isn't much of THAT left either.

 

fine saturday shave Paul.

 

Another fine intro Joe

 

Stick with it Chris. I find that a 60-90 load of the Fat, ala Joe, @Primotenore, serves me quite well.

 

Excellent Wilkinson Shae all around Barry.

 

Shavette Shave # 245

Rating: 5 / 5

Razor: Parker SRX
Blade: Perma-Sharp
Brush: Ever Ready 200T
Lather: Wholly Kaw King of Oud
Aftershave: Wholly Kaw King of Oud
Additional Care:
Omega Alum

Excellent travel day shave. We are taking Anthony and two o his cousins to Shawnee Mtn in the Poconos for a day of skiing. . I will be spending my day in the lodge with a few hot tatties.

I had a nice shave that was close and error free. I did not realize that this was my 6th shave with the blade therefore it will be binned.

I am not sure what my focus will be this month aside from finishing off this soap.

Hope you have an enjoyable day.

 

cool Parker SRX shave Joe. i actually own one and have tried it once..it's a cool piece.

 

February 1, 2025

Freedom February

Razor - Merkur Futur (1)
Blade - (1)
Soap - Tabac (the real stuff)
Brush - Jayaruh JR#46
Finish - Tabac Cologne

I was wracking my brain for a February idea when Joe landed on the perfect one for me. Freedom February. I have quite a few razors I want to break back out and work with and this is the perfect opportunity. I might even mix up the blades and try out some of the ones I got with my sampler pack from Amazon that I've never seen before. No, there will definitely not be any Flying Eagles.

I bought a Q-shave back in the day, which is one of the cheap clones of the Merkur Futur. Recently I purchased the real thing. The differences are fairly easy to spot. The handle on the genuine Futur is bigger than the Q-shave. And, while I haven't weighed them yet, just my hand tells me the real thing is heavier. I mean, this razor weighs a ton! It's also an aggressive beast with all that weight and some truly gigantic blade gaps. For instance, setting 1 on the Futur is a gap of .044 inches. The Gillette Fatboy and Slim wide open at setting 9 have a gap of .045 inches. And the Super Adjustable tops out at .041. This razor has a bigger gap at its mildest setting than the Super, and just slightly less than the Fatty and Slim. The top out gap at setting 6.5 is .069 inches. You could debark trees with this thing.

My approach to this razor is to give it three days. Today, setting one. Tomorrow, setting three, and on Monday I'll open it up all the way to 6.5. That should give a good comparison of how it works on all settings. I'm using an Astra Superior Platinum blade. Gillette Russian made and they are excellent for sharpness and smoothness.

I used Tabac for the slick runway with the JR#46 today. Two full passes and some touch up. The weight of this razor does all the work it needs and more. And setting the angle is a bit of a trick as the head geometry is different from any other DE razor I've owned. I always enjoyed the Q-shave so I didn't take too long to adjust. The finish was a very smooth shave. Not quite perfect, by my standards anyway, but I can't complain. Good way to start a Saturday after getting home from work. Naptime then my "day off". Have a good one!

​

 

-The-Weekender-
r-3 super 84
yaqi silvertip
crown shaving co.



good morning gents
super 84 shave
fine crown lather built with the yaqi silvertip
smooth 2 passer with the super 84,minor pick ups
matching splash to finish
awesome
have a fine weekend everyone
​

 

Thank you Gary....that Proraso brush is really something.