S.Y.R.E. The Shave Yahtzee Rotation Experimenters Page 🎲 🎲

[ralph029]

Here it is folks, the official thread/club for those of us who have and who will participate in Shave Yahtzee. This is a forum that is open to ideas and suggestions as Shave Yahtzee grows from its very modest beginnings. Our first run at Shave Yahtzee turned out to be quite a bit of fun with several lessons learned for all of us. That original thread can be found here, Shave Yahtzee Anyone? - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/shave-yahtzee-anyone.633683/ if you're interested.
We are planning another run in June or July at this point but nothing says you can't "play the home version" yourself and keep us all posted. I think I'm going to implement some sort of modified version just to make sure I'm using all my different soaps.

 

[ralph029]

If anyone cares, here are the 14 day results of the combinations I came up with based on my chosen "participants".

Day	Brush	Soap/Cream	Razor	Blade	Lather Method
Day 1	Zenith Traditional Horse	Soap Commander Influence	Fine Slant	Feather	Face
Day 2	Omega Mixed Midget	Stirling Smoky Grapefruit	iKon Razor B1 OC	7 O'clock Black	Mug
Day 3	Zenith Manchurian 2-Band	Muhle Shaving Stick Sea Buckthorn	Merkur 45 Bakelite	Personna Lab Blue	Bowl
Day 4	Zenith Manchurian 2-Band	Stirling Smoky Grapefruit	Fine Slant	Feather	Hand
Day 5	Semogue Galahad C3 Premium IT	Chisled Face Cryogen	Fatip Storto Chrome Original	Feather	Scuttle
Day 6	Omega EVO E1863	Chisled Face Cryogen	Fatip Storto Chrome Original	Perma Sharp	Face
Day 7	Zenith Manchurian 2-Band	Fine Snake Bite	Merkur 25C OC	Treet Dura Sharp	Face
Day 8	Zenith Traditional Horse	PAA Clown Fruit	Muhle R41 Grande	Astra SP	Bowl
Day 9	Simpson Trafalgar T3	Soap Commander Influence	Muhle R41 Grande	Treet Dura Sharp	Scuttle
Day 10	Zenith Traditional Horse	Stirling Smoky Grapefruit	Fine Slant	Treet Dura Sharp	Hand
Day 11	Omega EVO E1863	Fine Snake Bite	Merkur 45 Bakelite	Personna Lab Blue	Scuttle
Day 12	Zenith Traditional Horse	Stirling Smoky Grapefruit	Fatip Storto Chrome Original	Personna Lab Blue	Bowl
Day 13	Semogue Galahad C3 Premium IT	Soap Commander Influence	Fine Slant	Treet Dura Sharp	Bowl
Day 14	Simpson Trafalgar T3	Muhle Shaving Stick Sea Buckthorn	Merkur 25C OC	Perma Sharp	Hand

 

[JKaboom]

I was checking out the original thread sporadically for a couple weeks. I like the general idea. It helps to use all the various tools, products, etc. I didn't realize there was an actual competitive aspect, I thought it was all just a play at home thing with the purpose mentioned above.

I have, as I'm sure pretty much all of us have more than 6 different selections of the various stuff. So, I downloaded a randomizer app that has an option to create lists. So far I've done one for the razor and handle.

I'll be adding one for:
Soaps and creams
Splashes, colognes, etc.
Blades
Post shave balms
Preshave soaps


So it sounds like I missed some significant information in the original thread but this is what the thread did for me. Thanks

 

[ralph029]

I was checking out the original thread sporadically for a couple weeks. I like the general idea. It helps to use all the various tools, products, etc. I didn't realize there was an actual competitive aspect, I thought it was all just a play at home thing with the purpose mentioned above.

I have, as I'm sure pretty much all of us have more than 6 different selections of the various stuff. So, I downloaded a randomizer app that has an option to create lists. So far I've done one for the razor and handle.

I'll be adding one for:
Soaps and creams
Splashes, colognes, etc.
Blades
Post shave balms
Preshave soaps


So it sounds like I missed some significant information in the original thread but this is what the thread did for me. Thanks

We all had fun with it. The goal is to force randomization and try combinations of things that we all just get into a habit of using. My personal intent was to re-try tools of the hobby that have ended up being put away because I wasn't impressed with how they worked when I bought them. That said, the blades for me were about trying new things I never tried before. Blades seem to be a more personal choice and I know you have to twist my arm to try something new on that front. This was the "arm twist I needed.

 

[ralph029]

Well, I'm getting back to the dice. Not our full blown Yahtzee mind you, just for soap. Decemboar and Shave Yahtzee caused me to go through all my stuff. I ended up going through my soaps and decided which I wanted to use and which I didn't. When it was all said and done, I ended up with 24 (well 23 plus what I am calling 1 to encompass all my samples). I will be marking them with a number and rolling the dice everyday to determine which one I get to use. I need to stop buying (and making) soap for a while. Oh, who am I kidding, I love soap! There will be more.

 

[JKaboom]

@ralph029 do you have a decent base soap recipe link you'd share? I can't make any this year due to GUYRE but I'm studying it. What I'd really like to do is find the recipe for Nablus soap, it is a body soap in production over 400 years based on a 1000 year old recipe with only three ingredients- olive oil, lye, water. It turned out to also be an amazing shave soap for face lathering. Its slick as can be.

On the picking of stuff I downloaded a randomizer app and use it to pick all the items

 

[ralph029]

@ralph029 do you have a decent base soap recipe link you'd share? I can't make any this year due to GUYRE but I'm studying it. What I'd really like to do is find the recipe for Nablus soap, it is a body soap in production over 400 years based on a 1000 year old recipe with only three ingredients- olive oil, lye, water. It turned out to also be an amazing shave soap for face lathering. Its slick as can be.

On the picking of stuff I downloaded a randomizer app and use it to pick all the items

View attachment 1598613

A couple things here. The recipe you mention for Nablus (as you list it) is simply castile soap. Olive oil and lye. (Lys is merely Sodium or Potassium Hydroxide and water.) If there are any fragrances added to Nablus, then those as well. On a very basic level sodium hydroxide and olive oil will make you a bar of soap, potassium hydroxide and olive oil will make you a liquid soap, and sodium hydroxide + potassium hydroxide and olive oil will make you a soft shave soap. I have not made a traditional olive oil castile soap because, well, I don't like castile soap, so I don't have any experience with it. That said, it's oil and lye and that I do have experience with and it is a very simple process. You don't get a lot of say in how much lye to use and there are calculators out there to guide you. This will help you pick the one you like working with. I'm not at my computer with my soap calculator on it, but a little later I'll go and plug in some numbers for for you and get a recipe. I only do cold processing so what I share with you will require the soap to sit for about a month before it's ready to use. I don't know if this falls into your GUYRE, but this is a great book! I'd be happy to help you in this endeavor however I can. I'd be willing to make the same batch you do and see how it turns out as well. Let me know what you need. One word of caution... This is another very very very deep rabbit hole!

 

[JKaboom]

A couple things here. The recipe you mention for Nablus (as you list it) is simply castile soap. Olive oil and lye. (Lys is merely Sodium or Potassium Hydroxide and water.) If there are any fragrances added to Nablus, then those as well. On a very basic level sodium hydroxide and olive oil will make you a bar of soap, potassium hydroxide and olive oil will make you a liquid soap, and sodium hydroxide + potassium hydroxide and olive oil will make you a soft shave soap. I have not made a traditional olive oil castile soap because, well, I don't like castile soap, so I don't have any experience with it. That said, it's oil and lye and that I do have experience with and it is a very simple process. You don't get a lot of say in how much lye to use and there are calculators out there to guide you. This will help you pick the one you like working with. I'm not at my computer with my soap calculator on it, but a little later I'll go and plug in some numbers for for you and get a recipe. I only do cold processing so what I share with you will require the soap to sit for about a month before it's ready to use. I don't know if this falls into your GUYRE, but this is a great book! I'd be happy to help you in this endeavor however I can. I'd be willing to make the same batch you do and see how it turns out as well. Let me know what you need. One word of caution... This is another very very very deep rabbit hole!

@ralph029 - Thanks a ton for the info! Yeah, I probably won't make a batch as if I tested it, it would put me out of GUYRE so I'll probably wait until 2024 but who knows. Yes, I could totally see this being yet another rabbit hole of the hobby LOL

 

[ralph029]

@ralph029 - Thanks a ton for the info! Yeah, I probably won't make a batch as if I tested it, it would put me out of GUYRE so I'll probably wait until 2024 but who knows. Yes, I could totally see this being yet another rabbit hole of the hobby LOL

If you develop the recipe using one of the calculators I referred you to, I'd be willing to give it a test . Obviously, I would double check the recipe but the calculators are pretty safe.

 

[ralph029]

Today begins the rolling for soap choice.

 

[ralph029]

@ralph029 do you have a decent base soap recipe link you'd share? I can't make any this year due to GUYRE but I'm studying it. What I'd really like to do is find the recipe for Nablus soap, it is a body soap in production over 400 years based on a 1000 year old recipe with only three ingredients- olive oil, lye, water. It turned out to also be an amazing shave soap for face lathering. Its slick as can be.

On the picking of stuff I downloaded a randomizer app and use it to pick all the items

View attachment 1598613

@JKaboom I have a recipe worked up. I'd be happy to make some and ship you a sample. If you IM me an address, I'll get it out to you.

 

[Guido75]

I have sorted out my razor rotation using the SYRE principles - but as I did it for the entire year I used a spreadsheet to help nee to my virtual dices.

And just now did the same thing for my brushes. Seeing the rotation for March makes for a nice variation.

Blades I will select using the true SYRE setup up. So I plan to select any 6 blades from my stash and roll the dice to select the blade to any given razor. I tend to shave for longevity of the blade so the frequency with which I actually roll the dice might be longer than weekly.

This is so much fun!!

Cheers,

Guido

 

[ralph029]

I have sorted out my razor rotation using the SYRE principles - but as I did it for the entire year I used a spreadsheet to help nee to my virtual dices.

And just now did the same thing for my brushes. Seeing the rotation for March makes for a nice variation.

Blades I will select using the true SYRE setup up. So I plan to select any 6 blades from my stash and roll the dice to select the blade to any given razor. I tend to shave for longevity of the blade so the frequency with which I actually roll the dice might be longer than weekly.

This is so much fun!!

Cheers,

Guido

Nice!
I've been using our S.Y.R.E. system to rotate between my 28 different soaps and 10 brushes. I agree, fun fun fun!

 

[Guido75]

All existing soap @ralph029 or your own doings?

Guido

 

[ralph029]

All existing soap @ralph029 or your own doings?

Guido

3 of my own soaps are in that mix. Since I make my own, I like to try what's out there for ideas and reference. It's certainly my deepest rabbit hole in this hobby.