There can be only one

[Jakebullet]

Thanks! Yes I find it strangely liberating. As you say, no hoarding or rotating, everything stripped down and simplified, it’s a good feeling.
My goal is one soap, one aftershave (I’m nearly there my final go to is alum followed by lucky tiger), one straight razor and one cologne.

 

[lancre]

Well, if "trimming the fat" is your thing, the obvious choice for your next soap is The Fat, especially since you appear to be in the UK.

 

[Tomo]

Well, if "trimming the fat" is your thing, the obvious choice for your next soap is The Fat, especially since you appear to be in the UK.

It also happens to be a top performer.

 

[Jakebullet]

I like alcohol based aftershaves, I love the burn, it seals the deal, makes the shave feel finished.
I have a bottle of lucky tiger which I love but not on its own. I use my alum block first for the sting, then I rinse, dry, then the lucky tiger.
I don’t know what they put in it but it’s the most soothing stuff I’ve ever used.
If I’ve got the time I use the alum and LT combination but when I’m pushed for time it’s an alcohol based splash
But, like my soaps, I’ve also been using up all my alcohol aftershaves.
There was a certain satisfaction as each bottle gradually got lower, and as each one finished so the others got used up all the faster.
And today finally I used the last glug of the last bottle and am again in the unusual position of actually needing to buy an aftershave.
Not sure which one to buy yet but I’ll only buy the one.
So now I’m down to one soap and (soon to be) one aftershave.
I wanted to get down to one cologne but that’s going to take forever and I’ve just been given more for Christmas.
I had an idea to go down to one razor (I have seven at the minute) but I think I’ll keep a minimum of two in case I drop one. It’s going to be tough to say goodbye to five of them.

 

[Marcus52]

I had maybe 10 different shaving soaps and creams in rotation, until about 18 months ago when I decided to buy no more, to just use up what I had and clean up my shelf.

For a long time very little changed, each day each seemed as full as the last.

Then one by one, all around the same time, I’d see a tiny ring of death appear at the bottom of each tub, and then to grow.

I’d finish one soap, then another and another.

As Each soap was finished so the remaining soaps would see more use until, ever faster, and with a great crescendo, each soap was done.

Finally I’m down to my last one.

It’s my glass jar of Tabac. It’s the last man standing, the warrior that outlasted everything else.

But now that it’s my only soap it’s days are numbered. There are no off days, no friends left to share the load, it will get hit hard every single day.

If it sees me through Christmas I’ll be lucky.

It was hard work getting through all those soaps and it was strangely satisfying when each one was done. I feel almost as if I’ve lost a lot of weight.

I’m going to keep to this minimalist one soap deal for a while.

I don’t know what my next soap will be until I’ve used the Tabac up, but it will be my only one.

I have 2 brushes, 8 straight razors and 4 natural finishing stones also in rotation, I love them all, but this trimming of the fat feels good.

There are times when the Highlander principle works well. Clears the mind and let’s you regroup.

 

[Jakebullet]

It’s been 2 months since I used up my last soap and began a more minimalist one soap approach.

I bought a tub of Trumper Sandalwood cream and it’s been fine, a nice scent and a great daily shave.
I’ve been using it generously but I’m coming to the end of it, maybe a week to go, so I need a replacement.

This last couple of months using cream has reminded me that I much prefer using soap.

So today I took a walk to a local barbershop and got a new one.

There was lots of choice but I settled on a puck of Truefitt and Hill 1805 which came in a nice wooden bowl.

I also needed an aftershave but they didn’t have anything without a scent so I got a bottle of Proraso green to use through the week.
I’m liking the streamlined approach and the lack of buyers guilt which comes from buying a new soap with ten others on the bathroom shelf. There’s a sense of the new soap being a necessity rather than luxury.
I’ll have a shave with the soap in the morning and post my thoughts.

 

[Jakebullet]

First shave this morning with the T+H 1805.
I loaded it as I would any other soap which is to take a soaking badger from the mug give it 5 gentle shakes then gently swirl for 30-40 seconds.
The thing I like about badger is that the soap is now loaded in the tips and the warm water is held in the body of the brush.
As I build the lather on my face using just the tips I can release warm water into the lather on demand by pushing the brush ever so slightly into my face and build the lather on my face like that.
This soap has a lovely silky, creamy feel and quickly and easily built up a very nice lather indeed.

There’s a really nice scent to the soap, I’d say a 7/8 out of 10 in terms of strength.
I’d describe it as very fresh but classy and traditional.
The lather is a big step up (at least to my tastes) on quality from the Trumper cream I’d been using.
Got a great shave today and finished with a splash of the Proraso green.
That was about an hour ago and I still get the occasion scent of the soap.
Ill be very happy to use just this soap until it runs out.

 

[Jakebullet]

This stuff is really easy to load.
Usually I load for 30-40 seconds on the puck with a wet brush but this was giving me an absolute ton of lather, so yesterday I reduced it to about 20 seconds and today just 15 seconds, or about half the usual time.
I got a big brushful, still more than enough for my four passes.
So while it seems outwardly on the more expensive side, it looks like it’ll last twice as long so price wise may turn out to be a real bargain.

 

[Jakebullet]

I’ve hammered this Truefitt and Hill 1805 every single day for the past 6weeks and can barely notice any wearing down of the soap from the day I bought it.
It’s a very hard soap and lathers brilliantly and easily and it doesn’t need much for a full four pass shave. It’s my only soap so let’s see how long it lasts. It’s al ready been great value for money and an excellent product.

 

[Jakebullet]

I bought this in February and used it every day since.
My only soap.
It’s now mid September, seven months later and I’ve finally broken through to the wooden bowl.
It’s a very hard soap so it’ll probably last another month or two but this is definitely the beginning of the end for it.
The time is near when I go shopping again with the strangely satisfying feeling of actually needing a soap.
Having a variety of great soaps to choose from was very nice indeed and I did always like to change things up, but I find that simplicity has a lot going for it too.

 

[Tomo]

View attachment 1520682
I bought this in February and used it every day since.
My only soap.
It’s now mid September, seven months later and I’ve finally broken through to the wooden bowl.
It’s a very hard soap so it’ll probably last another month or two but this is definitely the beginning of the end for it.
The time is near when I go shopping again with the strangely satisfying feeling of actually needing a soap.
Having a variety of great soaps to choose from was very nice indeed and I did always like to change things up, but I find that simplicity has a lot going for it too.

That’s held up well. I have the 1805 cream. Lovely stuff. What’s next?

 

[CCS]

It’s been 2 months since I used up my last soap and began a more minimalist one soap approach.

I bought a tub of Trumper Sandalwood cream and it’s been fine, a nice scent and a great daily shave.
I’ve been using it generously but I’m coming to the end of it, maybe a week to go, so I need a replacement.

This last couple of months using cream has reminded me that I much prefer using soap.

So today I took a walk to a local barbershop and got a new one.

There was lots of choice but I settled on a puck of Truefitt and Hill 1805 which came in a nice wooden bowl.View attachment 1412507
I also needed an aftershave but they didn’t have anything without a scent so I got a bottle of Proraso green to use through the week.
I’m liking the streamlined approach and the lack of buyers guilt which comes from buying a new soap with ten others on the bathroom shelf. There’s a sense of the new soap being a necessity rather than luxury.
I’ll have a shave with the soap in the morning and post my thoughts.

You know, that's the way it was for most men back in the day. I started in the mid-60's and had one razor (I think it was a Super Speed but I really can't remember), a brush (completely lost to me what it was), a puck of soap (Williams, most likely), a mug of some sort, a pack of blades, and a bottle of Old Spice. Over the decades, I'd pick up one thing or another so by the time I was in my 30's, I probably had 3-4 razors one of which was likely a Track II, a few soaps, Old Spice Lime to go with regular Old Spice, and probably 3 brushes (all long gone). And then God invented the internet...sigh. Now, I have 18 soaps and creams in the cabinet, 12 brushes, 10 razors, 1500 blades, about 8 bottle of Shulton Old Spice (no Lime), and God knows how many others necessities, like T&H aftershave balms, Proraso aftershave and, now, preshaves. BTW, I'm a big fan of T&H creams and have something like 6 jars of it in rotation, including 1805 cream.

I think I want to be 15 again without any disposable income...

Good for you for being stronger than pretty much everyone who's ever been a member of a shaving forum. We're all weak, very, very weak. See, you've made me want to go out and buy a puck of T&H soap. Grafton's scent is very, very nice.

 

[Jakebullet]

That’s held up well. I have the 1805 cream. Lovely stuff. What’s next?

Might stick with T&H for a bit, any other scents of theirs you’d recommend?

 

[taffy]

I only have one soap and one cream on the go, you then begin to realise how long they last I have a whack of cream and soap stored up and I now wonder why I bought so much.

 

[Jakebullet]

I only have one soap and one cream on the go, you then begin to realise how long they last I have a whack of cream and soap stored up and I now wonder why I bought so much.

They say variety is the spice of life and it’s lovely to have options and why not? Soaps and creams don’t cost much and they add a nice change up each morning so no one should feel guilty but for me it’s been nice to travel light for a while.

 

[Tomo]

Might stick with T&H for a bit, any other scents of theirs you’d recommend?

1805 is the best one. Maybe just a refill puck?

 

[Jakebullet]

View attachment 1520682
I bought this in February and used it every day since.
My only soap.
It’s now mid September, seven months later and I’ve finally broken through to the wooden bowl.
It’s a very hard soap so it’ll probably last another month or two but this is definitely the beginning of the end for it.
The time is near when I go shopping again with the strangely satisfying feeling of actually needing a soap.
Having a variety of great soaps to choose from was very nice indeed and I did always like to change things up, but I find that simplicity has a lot going for it too.

Today I finally finished the bowl of T&H 1805.
I scooped out the last useless dregs with my finger and gave the bowl a good clean ready for my next soap.
This one gave me nearly 8 months of daily four pass shaves and performed really well from the start of the puck to the end.
Once I broke through to the bottom of the bowl I got 2-3 weeks before it was all done.
I just ordered a new soap today, nothing original or inspirational, just a puck of Taylor’s sandalwood which has a great scent, different from the cream which I also really like.