Item of the Week

[OldSaw]

Hi Everyone,

I'm posting this to see if there would be any interest in doing a series of group review/tryouts of different shave items on a weekly basis. The idea is that a single item, software or hardware, will be featured and the participants will use that product/item for every shave that week and post about it. Everything else in your line up can be rotated as normal, but the item of the week would remain constant.

If there is enough interest, I will post a schedule so those who want to participate can prepare for the weeks that they have in mind. One week is usually enough for me to get a good feel for most items, but is not a major commitment like a whole month or a year. Also by having a schedule of weekly feature items, members can pick and choose which weeks that they want to participate in.

Just as an example it might look something like this:

Week 1: Tabac shave soap
Week 2: Aqua Velva
Week 3: Shave sticks (maybe one specific stick or maybe member's choice)
Week 4: Proraso cream
Week 5: 40's Superspeed razor
etc.

So anyway, let's hear your thoughts. Does this sound like something you would like to participate in occasionally? What items would you like to see featured (obviously they will need to be things that are readily available to have a good group discussion)?

I look forward to hearing from you.

EDIT: Reply to post #33 using the "Reply With Quote" button and add your name and/or items. As items gain interest we can take a poll to see what to add or maybe just use the information in the table. We can decide as we go, but this will give us a start.

EDIT 2: The schedule is in this thread over here.

 

[Haggises]

I'll follow.
Which week is Arko week?

 

[OldSaw]

I'll follow.
Which week is Arko week?

I'm sure it will be in there somewhere. I will probably lean toward going with a few items that I have on hand in the early weeks, just to make sure I can participate and get a good feel for how things are going. Then see where the group guides us.

I'm thinking there should be one thread to talk about what we want to feature and then start a new thread each week for the featured item. A main thread could be maintained (maybe even locked) just to keep the schedule and links to the other threads.

 

[Haggises]

You could link to the Topic Of The Week from within the main thread and/or get a mod to keep updating the first post with the new links....

 

[spaceboy2001]

This seems like a good idea. I'll join along if I have the featured product.

 

[dashmaverick]

I'm in.

 

[viper16]

It could be quite interesting, and a good way to force ourselves to use other things that we may have, but have been sitting for a while.

 

[TonyJoe]

I like this idea. I'll play along.

 

[Jayk]

This sounds like a great idea. I'm in, provided I have the product.

 

[cryhavoc]

I'll play

 

[eth]

I'm thinking there should be one thread to talk about what we want to feature and then start a new thread each week for the featured item. A main thread could be maintained (maybe even locked) just to keep the schedule and links to the other threads.

Sounds interesting, and I think that's a good way to run it.

 

[Demaskee]

I'd play from the sidelines. I'm a little new to be giving reviews.

 

[Coler]

I like this idea and would enjoy participating.

 

[Shutterbug57]

If you provide a schedule a month in advance, some may buy stuff to participate.

 

[OldSaw]

You could link to the Topic Of The Week from within the main thread and/or get a mod to keep updating the first post with the new links....

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[OldSaw]

I'm in.

I like this idea. I'll play along.

This sounds like a great idea. I'm in, provided I have the product.

Good to see such interest and "the if I have the product" was kind of what I was going for. On a weekly basis the rotation will go pretty fast and many will have something that will enable them to participate when they have the chance.

I'll play

Sounds interesting, and I think that's a good way to run it.

I'd play from the sidelines. I'm a little new to be giving reviews.

Don't worry about being new. It's not really a formal review as such where you write it from start to finish, but rather a discussion group that will by its very nature review the item. Each person's input helps to give a better picture.

I like this idea and would enjoy participating.

Good to have you.

If you provide a schedule a month in advance, some may buy stuff to participate.

That's totally OK as well. I have signed up for the 2013 shave purchase sabbatical, but if this thing really takes off I could possibly break away to participate with some of the featured items.

Thanks for all the input and it looks like we definitely have enough interest to get started. My posting time is fairly limited, as I work long hours and don't post from work, so once we get rolling I'm hoping for things to be somewhat autonomous and I will participate as much as I am able.

I think we should start tossing out featured item ideas so we can kick this thing off sooner, rather than later. The list can build and evolve as we go. If we start planning for next week with something, then others may see it and join in as well. We may not get all the details figured out by Monday, but the nice thing is that we can easily adjust as we go.

We could start deciding on the first few items in this thread and as interest develops we can decide if it's a good idea to keep the ideas going in this thread or start a new one, but each featured item will be a new thread and the schedule will either be one of the first posts in this thread or a separate locked thread (with mod help). Since I would like to participate in the first week I'll throw out a list of items that I already have and we can just pick one and get started.

Soap pucks:

Tabac
DR Harris Lavender
GFT Violets
Valobra almond soft soap
TOBS lavender (in the wooden bowl which has been discontinued)


Shave sticks:

Arko
Valobra
La Toja
Speick
Palmolive
Wilkinson Sword
Irisch Moos


Creams:

The Real Shaving Company (that's all I have that might last a whole week, sorry)


Razors:

EJ DE89L
40' Superspeed
Gillette Slim adjustable
Gillette Travel


Brushes:

B&B Essential
Omega 10049
Vulfix 2235
TGN silvertip in an old Ever-Ready handle


Blades:

Feather
Red IP's
I've settled on Feathers for my blades and the Reds are just leftovers.


Aftershave:

Aqua Velva
Aqua Velva Musk
Gillette Cool Wave
Afta
Gillette sensitive gel
Gillette sensitive lotion
Barbasol Pacific Rush
Barbasol Brisk

I have some other stuff, but it is not very mainstream.

 

[OldSaw]

Just got home from a very long day and thought I'd stop by to see what the consensus is. Anyone have any suggestions or do you just want me to pick the first couple of items. If left up to me it will be something pretty easy, like Tabac or Arko, which is pretty prevalent in a lot of guys shave dens.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[Soldierdan]

This sounds like a great idea. I'm in, provided I have the product.

+1

 

[Soldierdan]

You could try co bigelow or some variant of proraso if you're thinking software... Most have some kind of proraso, and most have the ability to goto bath and body works to spend the $5 on some cob if they have neither. Just a suggestion.

 

[Jayk]

Proraso is a safe choice for sure, it seems to be pretty much everywhere. AV and AV musk are also cheap and available everywhere. I also think that Real shaving company cream has become easy to acquire and is fairly reasonably priced. Arko and La Toja also seem to be common amongst our members.

What do you think of items that differ only in scent? For example if we picked DR Harris soap regardless of scent? The formula and performance I believe is meant the same between scents, so that might make it easier for people to participate. The are quite a few products like this I believe like Musgo or certain RazoRock lines.