• Brush: AP Shave Co Lemon Drop Handcrafted Shaving Brush Handle w/ 28mm Gelousy SHD Fan Knot #SHD

• Razor: Gillette Super Adjustable #DIAL

• Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum

• Lather: Le Pere Lucien - Rose de Pushkar

• Post Shave: Thayers - Rose Petal

• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Rose Santal

Today's Theme: April Showers Bring May Flowers - My soap, post shave, and fragrance are all rose-dominant (floral), and I don't know what u/Madflava81 is talking about but roses typically bloom starting in May from my experience so roses count.

Today's Challenge: Science or something - I didn't come here to GUTL like a nerd. I happily concede today's challenge. Marco Method Magic for lyfe

My theme for today's shave: Roses

So today I borrowed my fiancee's soap and brush and found out she's been demolishing this tub of LPL like a champ. Roses are a scent that I closely associate with my mom's house where she always had a bunch of rose bushes in the backyard. Her rose bushes were never particularly fragrant but they bloomed spectacularly. I also remember receiving a sample-size vial of Bulgarian Rose perfume (brand unknown) from a family friend when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old. It came in a wonderful wooden case in the shape of a small round flask and I remember it being the sweetest rose scent that I have yet to encounter in my life. For today's fragrance progression I find LPL's Rose de Pushkar is a "clean" rose, Thayers' rose petal witch hazel is a nice easy floral rose, and CL's Rose Santal is a nice deep rose scent backed with a little soapiness from the sandalwood.

For music today, I chose Social Distortion's Love, Sex, and Rock and Roll. Great album that is very much a masculine take on the feeling of longing. It felt like a good complement to a shave progression that was a masculine take on rose scents and I quite enjoyed rocking out to the raspy voice of Mike Ness. Happy Fourth of July, God bless America, please celebrate safely and I wish everyone a great day regardless of where in the world you are located or are from. #FOF #ROTY

July 4, 2023 – Hail Science

• Brush: Omega 40033 24mm #oldworld #hollow
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (2)
• Lather: Talent Soap Factory – Wild Flowers
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Bergamot Lavender
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli

Ah spring, season of renewal. A time to come out of the doldrums of winter. This is perfect timing actually as I’m still working to come out of the doldrums of my stupid mistakes day two. Perhaps, this theme day will provide the renewal I need to get out of the ~~dog~~ Airbud house.

Wildflowers seems appropriate, did you know wildflowers are the first thing to return after a fire and some flowers require a fire to grow? May I rise from the ashes of stupidity like the flowers. I will keep hashtagging and #FOF the scent progression seems somewhat obvious here, bergamont lavender (playing on lavender being a flower) and Y/R/P. Y/R/P is, per Shawn, based on the Missouri Botantical Garden, a place well known to all St. Lousians. While we may not go every year, we often make it out every few to see the flowers. My earliest memories of it are of going into the “Climatron,” a giant geodesic dome that holds an artificial rain forest. The humidity was a lot even for us Midwesterners and so you’d always get a punch to your breath when you walked in. Then go looking for the banana tree, because who doesn’t live bananas? (Soap to make appearance later.) Back when I was younger it seemed an expansive area, now it seems so small. We’re members now, but mostly for the butterfly house (which is much closer and more my kids style.) But (bringing us full circle) a little known piece of the garden is “Shaw Nature Reserve” out in Grey Summit, a massive property maintained as mostly natural land with…you guessed it! Wildflowers galore. It’s about a 35 minute drive and we go out a few times a year to let the kids run around in the prairies and play on the nature scape playground.

For the challenge: As I told u/merikus on the discord, I cannot go full shit post. It’s not my style. So I’ll be competing as much as possible still by trying to hit every challenge to the best of my abilities. As a former lab jockey, this one was right up my alley. But Beer brewing is where I devote my science skills. As a current research administrator I’m familiar with many aspects of the NIH many people can’t seem to care about. For example: Did you know the NIH has an Office of Alternative Medicine?. It changes names every few years to make sure it stays up to date with the most current technology (and out of the reach of people who may criticize it.) But to me it will always be OAM, shelling out millions a year test the boundaries of traditional ways of healing. And in the vein of a study designed to test “energy Chelation" on rabbits I present a study to test my ability to transfer my negative emotions to my stubble, ultimately to my soap, and down the drain.

Step 1: Find a quartz crystal. I am to understand quartz is essential for this project. However I have no quartz. Until I realize my bathroom counter is “artificial granite” which is basically ground up quartz held together by epoxy. I now have a 6 foot long emotional resonator.

Step 2: Choose brush. The Omega will do, the hollow handle provides a place for the negative emotions to build up and transfer to my lather. But wait you say, transfer to the lather? That goes on your face! Yes, but the emotions are inside me, so to the lather and ultimately down the drain. Step 3: Choose a lathering method known for attracting powerful emotions. GUTL it is.

Step 4: Build lather, during this process as I add water I imagine my emotions being poured into the lather.

Step 5: Shave, while shaving push your emotions into the stubble, causing them to be severed from the body.

Step 6: Rise away emotions. Repeat 5 and 6 for 2 more passes.

Based upon initial results I can report that I feel significantly better. I’m now only 30% pissed at myself. More importantly, this experiment can serve as preliminary data that, based upon my fairly substantial knowledge of the NIH granting process and OAM’s thresholds, would provide a serious chance an R01 devoted to the study of the mediative practice of shaving. I believe there’s enough here to propose the ApplIcation, appRopriateness and Benefits of Using Dedicated grooming thinking to help emotional wellness (AIRBUD) trial. I’ll have to see if u/cowzilla3 feels up to being Co-Investigator. R01 grants run about 700k/year plus F&A (Overhead).

On to #photocontest: Listen, I was serious about being able to only hold that schtick for so long, so here’s a picture that hits the SPACE theme, with our solar observing telescope. There’s a partial eclipse in October, and a full eclipse in April, and we’re preparing. Later we’re going outside to continue documenting sunspots, so my daughter can see how the sun changes over time. (The reflector scope was too damned big for the picture.) But also, please stop funding the OAM.

Am I DQ’d from #ROTY Unsure. But I’ll keep putting the hash all month long just to be safe.

Edited: Fixed some markdown. I hope this worked this time.

Edited again: effing hashtags. This isn't a bit I'm doing I just fuck up this much. Which is why being caught in the spam filter killed me.

2023-07-04 — It's July

• Brush: West Coast Shaving - Lantern Brush, Silvertip, Ivory
• Razor: QShave Adjustable #DIAL
• Lather: Extro Cosmesi - Liquirizia e Magnolia
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Obsidian (Glacial)
• Fragrance: Lulu & Bee - Magnolia & Orchid

Challenge Accepted: Science again! I said science again!
(I feel like I should disclaim that I am 100% pro-science. If at any point it sounds like I'm denigrating science, I am not. I also realize I'm very unlikely to be the only one to talk about this.)

Science is one of those things that people everywhere have very strong opinions about, though many—regardless of their stance—may not really be aware of what it is. So what is science?
"Why, surely it's the field of study that deals with hard facts and such, like physics and chemistry, yeah? That's why come our challenge today is all about precise measurements and such!"
Those are sciences, sure, but that's not what science is.

Science is a philosophy, a framework by which one can seek to better understand the nature of... nature. At its core is the Scientific Method, by which one forms hypotheses from observations, tests these hypotheses' predictions, thereby generating more observations, rinse and repeat. Ad infinitum (this part is pretty important).

Put another way, science says that, in order to best understand nature, we must first try to explain what we see, and then try to show that that explanation is wrong. In order for this to be possible, the explanation (theory) must be falsifiable. All scientific theories, by definition, can conceivably be shown to be false.

Enter pseudoscience, which is anything that purports to be science, but does not adhere to the scientific method. A common (but not exclusive) way that pseudosciences deviate from science is with regard to falsifiability.
It is common for pseudosciences to claim to be able to explain anything under their purview, but done in a "just-so" way. These explanations come after the fact; i.e. phenomena are shown to be explainable under the theory as those phenomena arise.
No predictions are made or tested. Why would they be? If the theory can explain everything, then there's nothing that can prove it wrong. If it can't be proven wrong, then it's not science.

Can you believe I actually pared that little rant down by at least 50%?
Oh shit, I'm actually supposed to do something sciency...

Relevant Post Shave and Fragrance: The lather's featured notes unite the distinct prominent scents of the otherwise disparate post-shave and fragrance.

Brush: I'm supposed to disclaim here that I paid $0.00 for this brush. Same story as yesterday: I was buying other stuff, saw that this brush was $0.00, and so I added it to my cart and paid $0.00. If they were trying to clear inventory, that's an effective way to do it.

Razor: This knockoff Futur not only checks off a hardware box, but I'm not convinced that the adjustments really do anything, so this also seems like a decent enough place to pretend to to some science. Hypothesis: if the adjustment settings do anything more than fuck-all, then I will be compelled to avoid a certain range of settings in favor of another. Not super precise, but I'm comfortable enough with the sciency-ness of it.

I'm relying on my subjective assessment of the shave, so I chose to start by going back and forth between extremes before moving to an intermediate setting, checking on those subjective assessments along the way.

Starting off with the lowest setting, it was immediately clear that that was awful. Hypothesis confirmed! The highest setting made for a bit too much blade, so I moved it around a bit from time to time and settled in around 3.5. Side note: I do not care for how much wider wider the head of the razor is beyond the length of the blade; it makes precision under the nostrils difficult.

Lather: I also went ahead and measured my soap usage, because why not. I've seen you guys with your little scales, so I followed suit: by comparing the weight of the jar before and after loading, I was able to determine that I used exactly 0.0 lbs of soap. Huh, I guess the jar's almost empty!

I love anise and licorice; in fact, Stirling's Obsidian was one of my first shave soaps. Fast forward to last year, when I saw this post by u/Marquis90, I knew I had to try Liquirizia e Magnolia.

#FOF

With both licorice and magnolia sharing the spotlight, this soap would be right at home on either Floral Day or Spice Day! I opted for the former, because I thought it best to err on the side of caution, just in case someone decided that licorice wasn't the right kind of spice (not that I'd expect that, especially if they'd tried the Amarelli licorice used in this soap; that is spicy and, speaking from experience, not unlike just chewing on licorice root).

The magnolia accord in this scent seems to envelop the licorice, serving to mellow out its spiciness. They interplay in a way that gives me the impression of an uneasy balance, like a cease-fire in which either one could easily overcome the other if it so chose. Either the magnolia smothers and suffocates the licorice, or the licorice breaks through and overwhelms the magnolia. But the balance rests in this uncertain push-and-pull.

Post Shave: Enter Obsidian, on the spicy side of the battle. Licorice and anise are not quite the same, and they seem interchangeable in my mind, but their subtle differences start to seem more apparent when side-by-side.
I find that Stirling's Obsidian tends to be a bit on the sweeter side (as determined by their supplier's harvest, as I understand), especially when faced with the bold spice of the Amarelli licorice. But they are on the same side of this war. (It's a war now)

Fragrance: Enter, uh... Grandma.

I don't know what I expected with this perfume (and it is a women's perfume), but all I get from it is "Grandma." It is the essence of a crocheted doily draped over a coffee table that is adjacent to a mauve recliner with... yup, some kind of crocheted doily thing on each arm. And the back. That's also where the bland colors of the brush fit in.

Now that I've put both of these on my skin, these two representative armies—the aftershave fighting for the glory of the spice vs the...knitting—continue to fight on my very person. I am really glad I don't have to be near people today; the anise is not winning.

#photocontest

Photo: Fruit
I was about to call this vegetable, considering that, botanically speaking, a vegetable is any edible part of a plant. And then I realized and confirmed that the star anise pods are the fruit of that plant. Science!

I'm compelled to science things up a bit more. The razor thing was in the interest of following the letter of the challenge, but this was my first idea. Forgive me for not formalizing a hypothesis here, but I am going to try to replicate the Ouzo Effect! If you're unfamiliar, anise-flavored liquors like ouzo, pastis, sambuca, and absinthe, when water is added, change from transparent to cloudy; this has to do with something from the anise being soluble in alcohol, but insoluble in water, so it separates from the alcohol when water is added.

First, I'm guessing I'm probably going to need some kind of anise extract, so under the assumption that I make that in the same way as vanilla extract, I'm going to need some of the purest vodka. I don't drink, so I'm just going to use non-alcoholic vodka. And to save time, I'm going to heat that up to boiling before adding the anise and letting it... extract for 5-10 minutes or so.

Behold our anise extract! As expected, it is transparent and non-cloudy. Now, when we add the water...
Horse shit! There you have it, people: I have disproven the Ouzo Effect! Yeah science!

July 4, 2023

• Brush: Maggard Badger #WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINGBADGERS
• Razor: GEM – Star #TWINS
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (1)
• Lather: E&S Rasage Traditionnel – O’Vert
• Post Shave: E&S Rasage Traditionell – O’ Vert
• Fragrance: Roberto Cavalli – Uomo

Difference between science and screwing around

Me: “Welcome to our new episode of Mythbusters – Lathergames edition. Today, we have a special guest. Let me introduce you to Mr. Science Link”
Mr. Link: “Ha,zig,yeah!”
Me: “We have an international audience, would you please switch to english?”
Mr. Link: “Okay”
Me: “We have seen a lot of Posts regarding GEM razors. Their reputation speaks of hard to use and unintuitive handling, which will be rewarded if mastered. Another myth we want to crush is that the maggards badger is not suited for samples and precision lathering. Mr Link, what will we use today?”
Mr. Link: “As you mentioned, we will use the Maggards no name badger brush. We will precision lather today. We also need to use a Gem. u/Teufelskraft send us a GEM Star to try today. Thanks to him. We will also use a sample from him called O`Vert as soap and aftershave to be on theme.”
Me: “But then we dickhole. Isn’t that bad?”
Mr. Link: “I have read your post yesterday. I dont think you consider a dick to be that bad!”
Me: “Let us start. I dressed in a bathrobe, because it looks a bit like a gown.”
Mr. Link: “I want one too!”
We will first soak the brush while we brush teeth. Mr Link, can you stop the time?”
Mr. Link: “You took 16 seconds to load your toothbrush and 86 seconds to wet your face and clean your mouth. That means we soaked the brush for 4 minutes and 32 seconds as we germans brush teeth for exactly 3:00. Did I mention that it’s unnecessary to soak a badger?”
Me: “I just like to soak my brushes wet.”
Mr. Link: “I also like things to be soaking wet, just like Yo Mama” Me: “We will now swing the brush to get the water out. 4 times should be enough to get it damp.”
Mr. Link: “Why did we soak it, when we use it damp?”
Me: “Because Cosmobarber said so.”
Mr. Link: “BeCaUsE CoSmOBaRbEr SaId So”
Me: “He was lathergames champion, and who are you?”
Mr Link: “I am the hero of time, and i see that you are wasting my time.”
Me: “Lets start to build some lather for 30 seconds and see how it goes… The brush swallowed all lather. We need more water”
Mr. Link:”MMMHHHH, feels so good to be right NSFW)”
Me: “We will add 8 ml of water and try to get some lather for 30 more seconds. Mr. Link, can you tell us about the waterquality here?”
Mr. Link: “14,8 dH”
Me: “Mr. Link, can you put that into perspective for our readers?”
Mr. Link: “Yes. Imagine you have a tea party than you do not need to serve crackers. How is the lather going?”
Me: “Its shaveable, but wont be great.”
Mr. Link: “I know.”
Me: “Why did you not say anything?”
Mr. Link: “You need to learn. Add more water!”
Me: “Thats what Cosmo would do too.”
Mr. Link: “Sigh!”
Me: “Lather is better, but we can get better. Add 12 more ml. It looks pretts good now. Mr. Link, what do you think about the brush and its clip?”
Mr. Link: “Looks sus to me”
Me: “I agree. But let’s give it a shot.”
Mr. Link: “Don’t bleed to death.”
Me: “Teufelskraft told me to hold the cap really flat to the face. Let’s see. It works damn well. I can barely see any hair on the razor but the result is fantastic, even for a first shave.”
Mr. Link: “You learned from the best.”
Me: “But the comb prevents me to get my mustache area clean.”
Mr. Link: “Then grow a mustache and stop looking like a baby.”
Me: “I ‘ ll look like a hipster if I do that and I don’t like them.”
Mr. Link: “You listen to synthwave and wetshave. You are a hipster!”
Me: “How much soap did we use according to our scale?”
Mr. Link: “Both scales are out of battery. In what kind of household do you live?”
Me: “At least I do not live in a trea with a cow. What do we say about the scent?”

FOF

Mr. Link: “It’s as grassy as it can get. It got heavy notes of fresh mowed grass in it. Before it overwhelms you, it turns earthy and moss comes out. The scent is as green as my armor.”
Me: “What will we combine it with?”
Mr. Link: “As grassy notes are rare in your fragrance collection, I bought you some Roberto Cavalli Uomo. Do not get confused by the scent description. Woody, oriental? Give it a try and you will see. Maybe you get an idea why i picked it for today.”
Me: “Mr. Link this smells interessting. It got woody notes, yes but its very floral.”
Mr. Link: “Correct. Black violet. Interestingly, although its a head accord, it stays very long and you will get it for a long time. It also got woody and honey notes, which are also on theme. Due to to violet it starts almost feminine. Give it a few hours and its a dark floral scent thats interesting to wear. You are now twice on theme. You have grassy and floral parts in your shave.”

FOF end

Me: “Mr. Link, anything else you want to add?”
Mr. Link: “Yes. Two things. 1. Nothing burned, not even your skin fromthe aftershave. Nothing exploded.”
Me: “But look at the Myths. We proved that GEMs are awesome and busted the myth that we can’t lather samples with the maggards brush.”
Mr. Link: “Because you are a morron. For how long are you wetshaving?”
Me: “Three years maybe?”
Mr. Link: “Disgraceful”
Me: “You wanted to say a second thing?”
Mr Link: “Are you aware that you are talking to a puppet for an hour now?”

July 4, 2023

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts X John Butcher 24mm "Mark" Brush with Tuxedo Synth Knot
• Razor: Gillette SuperSpeed #REGUS
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Grooming Dept – Soap (Kairos 2022)
• Post Shave: Lather Bros – Flora Colussus Balm
• Fragrance: Jimmy Choo – Flash
• Music: Dream Theater – Another Day

Happy 4th of July to everyone out there and a Happy Independence Day to my fellow American Shavers & Shavettes. For Americans, today is a day to celebrate declaring our independence from England by eating hot dogs, lighting off fireworks, and hopefully ending the weekend with the same number of fingers as we started with. And for r/wetshaving, we celebrate by shaving with spring-time scents! Today, we have florals, grasses, and petrichors. Oh my!

Today, I shaved with Soap soap by Grooming Dept, in the Kairos 2022 base. I specify that, because this Soap soap’s scent notes are white florals, rose, and fresh air, HOWEVER Grooming Dept has released a few different soaps called Soap, so things can get a little confusing. The good news, however, is that white florals and rose are spot on for a spring-time theme. When I smell this soap, the first adjectives that come to mind are fresh flowers and clean. I’m immediately hit with floral characteristics as soon as I open the tub and it continues on as I give it a good lather. It’s like I’m walking down a path of a botanical garden. I literally contemplated taking a Claritin thanks to the abundance of florals in this soap (note: I did note ACTUALLY consider taking medication because of the soap’s scent. By “literally” I meant “figuratively”). The soap smells great and performed wonderfully.

My commitment to #ridewithItchy and not dickhole for every day of the Lather Games continues, as I finished the shave with Flora Colussus, because what is the best way to finish a floral shave? With the COLUSSUS OF FLORALS! I actually don’t love this balm. I bought it randomly because it was on sale and it smells good, however, it is mentholated and it makes no mention of that on that front of the package or in the product description. The first time I used it, I thought my face was about to burn off. Seriously, I actually thought I was having an allergic reaction, but nope. I checked the ingredients and sure enough: Just menthol. The product description says “Besides healing and nourishing your skin after a shave, it also offers great relaxing and calming feeling for those stressful days.” Ummmm… It wasn’t calming or relaxing when my face was unexpectedly melting off! So, a note to all the artisans out there: Please make it abundantly clear if/when you add menthol to your products. I need to mentally prepare myself for that sort of thing.

For today’s fragrance, Jimmy Choo’s Flash was the perfect #FOF pairing. It was like Soap’s better-looking twin. It’s floral and perfect for Spring Day (in the Summer). If I had to literally (figuratively) take Claritin for Soap’s lather, then I’d definitely literally (figuratively) take Flonase after spraying this one on. Smells wonderful, like I’m walking in a field of flowers. It’s Spring in a bottle and you don’t need allergy medicine to enjoy it.

I was very fortunate my white roses are currently in bloom, because it made for a pretty good #photocontest pic. At first, I tried to perch the soap, razor, brush, balm, and frag in the bush and take a pic like that, but the branches couldn’t hold it, and I kept pricking myself on the thorns, so I cut off a few roses, and sprinkled on a few petals for good measure. Made for a better pic plus far less pain for me. #winwin

DISCLAIMER: I won this soap, “Soap”, through this PIF by u/GroomingDept. It has in no way influenced my opinion of the soap, “Soap”.

For today, we have a science challenge. And who doesn’t love science?? We’re here, discussing shaving on the internet thanks to science. You know the expression that “baking is a science and cooking is an art”? Well, yeah, I’ve always been better at cooking than baking. When I bake, it drives my wife crazy because I’m not the best a measuring things. If I have a 12 ounce bag of sugar and a recipe calls for 4 ounces, I’ll just eyeball out a third of the bag. And apparently that’s frowned upon. And like my cooking style, my shaving style also goes more by feel. So, a challenge like this is somewhat of a… Well…. Challenge. But, no one said the Lather Games was going to be easy! So, let’s cook I start of the shave by soaking my brush in warm water while I take a shower (about 10 minutes). After the shower, I go immediately to the sink and turn on the hot water, I replace the brush soaking water with fresh hot water again and fill up the sink while loading from the tub (approx. 30 seconds). Take the brush and swirl it in the soap tub until a decent lather starts up, then bring it to your face, and start to build a nice lather into your skin. Continue doing this until the lather has a nice sheen and the bathroom sink, counter, and mirror are covered with lather that went flying off the brush. The bigger the mess, the better you’re doing. When all is said and done, loading from the bowl will use a little less than a gram of shave soap. As far as the shave itself goes, the sharpness of the blade will decrease by approximately 7% after each pass. Upon completion of the shave, wipe everything down and tally up how much water you used. My sink faucet operates at 2.2 GPM, and I let the sink fill up for approximately 30 seconds while lathering. Fortunately, the water is already hot, so we don’t need to account for losses from getting the water hot, so I’m confident I used less than 1.5 gallons of water for my shave. Then, of course, I needed another 3 gallons for clean-up. All things considered, the shave took 13 minutes, 26 seconds. Yes, this is all standard, and no, I didn’t measure a damn thing, but who says science needs to be exact or accurate??

For today’s interview, I have the dude who made the shaving brush I used today – Stephen Joiner of Dogwood Handcrafts. I feel so fortunate that I just recently acquired one of his brushes and I really need to have him create a custom one for me at some point in the very near future. So, r/wetshaving’s favorite brushmaker was such an amazing sport with this request. I sent every artisan 10 typed out questions and u/Phteven_j asked if it would be okay to record a video instead. Ummmm… Hell yes it would! Originally, I thought maybe I’d type out his answers, then I watched his video. So, Stephen answered all of my questions and more in this 27 minute video. Thank you so much Stephen! You have no idea how much I appreciate you doing this. Since this is video format, I’m going to include the questions I sent him below with timestamps to his answers, but honestly, watch the whole thing. It’s insightful as all get-out and Stephen goes on a great tangent or two. Such a great dude to do this. And Fuck Mojo Handcrafts (you’ll get this once you watch the interview).

Ten Questions with… Dogwood Handcrafts

1) Have you always had a knack for creating? Whether it be art, or things that are functional, or the functional art that you’re known for today?

:50

(INTERVIEW CONTINUES IN THE REPLY)

July 4th, 2023 - April Showers Bring LG Flowers

• Brush: AP Shave Co - Ivory Purple 26mm G5A Premium SHD #PREMIUMPLASTIC
• Razor: Parker Adjustable Injector #DIAL
• Blade: Parker Injector
• Lather: Noble Otter - Rawr
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Rawr Splash
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Orris Forest
• Tea: Harney and Sons - Royal Palace
• Music: Mazzy Star - “Fade Into You”

#FOF

Happy Independence Day to my fellow denizens of the USA. I’d say Americans, but today’s challenge is all sciency and stuff, so saying Americans is just too imprecise. There are many countries in the American continents, so need to be a bit specific. I forgot to say happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north. That was Sunday and the work holiday was yesterday. My team at work is half in Canada, so I am learning more about the different holidays. Thanksgiving in October? Well the harvests are earlier the further north you go, so makes some sense to have it earlier.

Special Challenge:

Today’s challenge came at a very opportune time for me. Last week I bought a new kitchen scale for some recipes I want to try. All the measurements are in grams, so easier to get the scale than a bad volume conversion. How to perform a more precise lathering for my shave? Well weighing the soap was easy. I scooped a bit more than I needed and used 2g of Rawr. Now for the trickier part, I weighed my cheap kiddie bowl and brush (127g). 2g of soap was smooshed on the bottom of the bowl. I got warm water on the brush to start (approx 40C or a decent hot tub temp). I shook out most of the water and started liading the brush. The residual water got a bit over half the soap off the bowl and loaded into the brush. The weight of the initial water was 3g. I added more water in splashes of about 3g each and decided the lather was ready after 16g of water was added to the bowl. Before the shave started, the weight of the bowl, lather, and brush was 145g, so an increase of 18g, with 2g being the soap, and 16ml of water (approx. 1Tbs). I continued to weigh the set after each pass. An average of 2g per pass was used (5 total for 3 passes). My scale is only to the nearest gram, so I didn’t get a good reading on how much splash or EdP was used.

Today’s Theme:

This was one of the first lathers I picked for the games. I was having trouble with the Christmas/Winter theme and almost switched out. Noble Otter - Rawr is one of my favorite scents. It is frequently listed as a spring scent. I think it is the grassy dandelion note that brings it about. To me it smells of new growth in your yard after a good spring rain. I love that it is a celebration of fatherhood, and I can associate it with Father’s Day which is usually in late spring, but some years can fall on the summer solstice. If I had to juggle things around, I did have a few alternate spring scents, but I was happy to bring in my favorite.

Today’s sponsor spotlight:

Summer Break Soaps brings to mind two alternate choices I could have gone with today. To my nose, Prom King has a similar feel to Rawr. Plus Proms are a spring event. My other choice would be Field Day. My daughter’s school field day was in May. It is a great grassy spring scent. Recently it was announced that one of my favorite SBS soaps was being discontinued. R.I.P. Bellringer. I broke down and bought a spare tub. Not supposed to be spending more, but I need to have a good supply of that fruity scent (apple is the strongest note for me in Bellringer). Not intentionally a fall scent, but the scent of apples has a strong fall association to me. I’ll use it year round.

The other day was Wholly Kaw’s spotlight, and I didn’t get them in my write up. Their soap Eroe (Italian for hero) is a Father’s day tribute, and could also have been my choice today. I have a couple more WK soaps, but Eroe was one of the first artisan soaps I got, and I really like it.

Ok, how was the shave?

The shave itself took a little longer with all the measuring and prep. The lather was excellent (hard to get a bad lather out of Noble Otter soaps). For the Parker Razor, I’ve settled on 3 as my setting for this. Like my other injector razors, the head angle means holding the handle a bit less steep than a DE razor. It does a decent job of mowing the lawn, but I don’t think I’ll ever get BBS with it. Still a DFS and close enough. One strange thing for my beard, as I have aged, my beard has gone from a mix of dark blond, light blond, and red to mostly white and some blond. I don’t get 5 o’clock shadow anymore. My skin looks paler as the whiskers grow.

Today’s Fragrance:

Going through my set of samples and when I got to Maher Olfactive - Orris Forest, I found my spring scent. The description is of a nouveau fougère that is a flowery spring scent. It adds a bit of earthiness with the patchouli, oakmoss, and musk. The floral notes keep it from getting too dark. I am really enjoying these scents I picked up from MO and Chattilon Lux. While I would like to get the Rawr EdP someday (plus Barrbarr, Thè Noir, and Manoi de Tahiti), I like this combination. Strangely, they don’t have scent notes that are the same, but somehow Orris Forest is making the scent of Rawr stand out stronger for me. Usually an EdP can overwhelm the soap and splash, but to my nose, this one is lifting up the scents from the soap/splash. Today I think I got about my best mix yet. I’ll give it a solid A-, just edging out when I paired Treachery.

Haiku number 4:

The soap tributes Dads,

Add even more springiness,

Makes me shout out Rawr!

2023-07-04 Lather Games SOTD

• Brush: Yaqi Rainbow (26x55 Synthetic)
• Razor: Gillette Tech (1947-1950 English fat handle) #BRASSING #REGUS
• Blade: Permasharp (13)
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps - Field Day
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Bonafide
• Fragrance: Christian Dior - Dior Homme Eau for Men

Field Day meets every technical requirement for today's spring theme, but it's also exactly what my garden smells like on a fresh spring day after a good downpour... rainbow in the sky, irises blooming like mad and filling the garden with their luscious aroma, a hint of damp earth and ozone in the air... It's one of the most legit "this smells like it's supposed to smell" "nature" shave soaps I've ever experienced.

Followed it up with more irises via a Prada L'Homme dupe aftershave and some legit actual Dior Homme Eau, courtesy of /u/dganjo who bought too many bottles of it when it was discontinued and sold me one of his backups. :)

Hashtag #fof for wally.

July 4, 2023 – LG Day 4 – April Showers Bring May Flowers

• Brush: Maggard Timberwolf Synthetic 24mm
• Razor: Gillette Gold Ball-End Tech
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Super Stainless (Green)
• Lather: Noble Otter – Rawr
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Rawr
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – La Petite Prairie

We begin today by breaking out the drug scale – my Escali scale I use in my kitchen isn’t precise enough for Breaking Bad day. I measured out what I figured would be enough soap (NO Rawr) for a quick two-pass, gentle shave – it came out to 1.43 grams. After putting that soap in my Captain’s Choice ceramic shaving bowl, I pressed it down as smoothly and consistently as I could, trying to simultaneously minimize the loss of any soap on my thumb or otherwise. I then weighed my synthetic brush, which interestingly weighs 85 g on the dot. Once dipping it in warm water and shaking out excess, it weighed 89.51 g, indicating 4.51 g of water. I then loaded the brush with 140 counter-clockwise swirls around the bowl with moderate force. I then brushed the soap from the loaded brush onto my head, leaving a consistent but thin layer of Rawr. I then put my brush on the scale, tared the scale, and dipped my brush in water again, shaking out a bit less this time. This time, it was 7.81 g of water. I built a lather on my head with the wet and soapy brush, using 80 counter clockwise swirls over the entire surface area of my scalp. This was followed by 40 lateral swipes of the brush to even the lather for a more consistent shave. I then loaded a brand new 7 O’Clock SS blade into my Gillette Ball-End Tech, and shaved my head with 35 swipes across the grain.

It was at this point that I got simultaneously bored and overwhelmed with trying to keep track of everything, leading me to remember why I didn’t pursue the hard sciences. But I wasn’t just going to give up on the daily challenge. Instead, I shifted to what I know best – the soft sciences.

I’m a therapist/clinician specializing in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), an evidence-based treatment commonly considered the “gold standard” for borderline personality disorder, which is also strongly efficacious for transdiagnostic emotional dysregulation. For my second pass, I decided to use some core DBT mindfulness skills. While lathering and shaving during this second pass, I was able to shift my focus completely away from counting and precision, and rather notice what I was sensing and feeling, both emotionally and physically. I noticed the gentle feeling of a mild razor cutting the little stubble I had. I noticed my muscles become less tense as I was able to let go of concerns about having a precise or perfect shave. I was able to notice the feelings that Rawr bring – feelings of calm and peace, evocative of springtime and the outdoors, the childlike fun of playing outside without the adult concerns of yard maintenance and capitalism.

When I rinsed off my head, I was able to observe the pleasure of the temperature difference, with a warm washcloth wiping away any remaining soap, while leaving behind the pleasant fragrance of Rawr. I sprayed La Petite Prairie and immediately noticed a judgment – this is a sample I meant to put in the giveaway pile. Noticing this judgment, and careful not to judge myself for judging (a core DBT mindfulness skill), I allowed myself to step back and notice what I was sensing, instead. I noticed the tartness and sourness of rhubarb, which I recognized as the note which sparked my reaction. Allowing myself to be one-mindful, I also noticed the springy florals, and as I write this now, I begin to notice the woody undertones that become more prominent after the dry down. All of these notes mix into Rawr, interplaying in a way which allow me to enjoy both scents, free of those negative judgments. DBT also teaches me that even if that sourness was still present, I can distract myself, accept the things I cannot change, and tolerate my distress to continue on my path toward a life worth living. #FOF

July 4, 2023

• Brush: Yaqi 22mm Badger #WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINGBADGERS
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird #CNC
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Noble Otter – Rawr Soap
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Rawr Splash
• Fragrance: Giorgio Armani - Code

Happy Spring! The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the bees are buzzing. Spring is in the air… In July… Okay. Mentally, I’m channeling Spring today, and fortunately, I have Noble Otter there to help me out. Their spring-time scent, Rawr, smells amazing and has a cute little backstory about kids yelling RAWR to try to scare their dad when he got home from work. The soap smells great and Noble Otter was one of the first artisans I used after I fell in love with my wetshaving starter pack. Can't recommend this soap enough

It is spring in a shave – Bergamot, orange, dandelions, cedar, vanilla, and musk. The bergamot and dandelions really show through to me. (Sidenote: Did you know every part of a dandelion is edible?) I had an aunt that used to make dandelion wine and it was delicious!

I used Armani Code as my fragrance because it shares bergamot with Rawr and also smells like spring and citrus. They go great together and the Code really built on what Rawr left behind. #FOF

This was my first time using this brush is it has some serious stank to it. Like, a wet dog. Who is also homeless. And has been dead for a few days. And it wasn’t that soft either. I got in cheap from Yaqi and it shows. Hopefully once the funk comes out it, and it breaks in a bit, it will turn into a decent brush, but even if not, I got a hashtag out of it. I have a really nice Gelousy from AP Shave Co and this brush is clearly not in the same stratosphere as my Gelousy.

SCIENCE!

• Put 6 ounces of warm water in a mug and soak the brush for 10 minutes
• After 10 mins, remove an almond size chunk of soap from the jar (use an actual almond from yesterday’s shave if you have one for size comparison)
• Press the soap into the sides of a shave bowl.
• Swirl the wet brush into the bowl, occasionally adding a milliliter or two of water at a time until a nice lather builds up. This should take 2 minutes or so.
• The key to a good lather is hydration, so don’t be shy adding water. When in doubt, add water. If that doesn’t work, add soap.
• Rub the lather on your face and shave. Dipping your razor into the mug to rinse it off, when needed. The shaving part is the easy part. Let the razor do the work and don’t put any pressure on the blade.
• The razor should remain sharp for anywhere from 3 to 15 shaves, depending on your whiskers and your technique.
• And finally, if you have any questions about the science of shaving, or science in general, post a question on facebook. I’ve found that many of the people I went to high school with ended up being becoming science experts over the last 3 and a half years. It’s extra impressive because these are the same people who struggled with school when I knew them, so kudos to them for learning something new in their spare time when they aren't cashiering at the Walmart in town. It’s never too late!

Day 3 - April Showers

• Brush: APShaveCo - Butterscotch Handle with Synbad Knot.
• Razor: PAA - La Criatural Green #COLOR
• Blade: Astra Green
• Lather: Declaration Grooming - Bangarang
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming - Bangarang
• Fragrance: House Of Mammoth - Alive

I don't have any soaps that say they are for spring but Bangarang. The scent notes are all hit. Today I thought I would go for the colorful razor. I am on a quest to try ever shave soap but unfortunately I have not tried Summer Break yet.

For the fragrance, I looked up what a dickhole ment. As the guy from the Chappelle show skit I decided to make an effort to mix it up the rest of the month. With Spring and Bangarang on the mind I picked DG Alive. It has a nice green note and the smoke juxtaposed Bangarang floral notes well.

ROTY #FOF

DAY 3 LATHER GAMES! Test Subject MTS(MrTangerineSky), experiment #7423

• Prep: Water
• Brush: OUMO 30mm SHD G5A Fan knot synthetic #COMPOSITE #FAUXFUR #PREMIUMPLASTIC #SHD
• Razor: Henson AL 13 Medium #RAINBOW
• Blade: Nacet(1)
• Lather: Nordic Shaving Company - Lilac
• Post Shave: MacDuff's Soap Company - Spring Cabin Splash
• Fragrance: John Varvatos - Artisan

PIC OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

​

DAILY CHALLENGE+SOAP+LATHERING+SHAVING+AFTERSHAVE

"The Shaving Association" has been monitoring and studying subject MTS for about 3 years now. He has proven that he truly has a passion for this style of life.

Today's experiment has a couple of highlights:

• SOAP - When given an extensive list of premium products, test subject chose Nordic Shaving company. An odd choice, but we obliged nonetheless. MTS chose to use precisely 0.65 grams of soap, which is around the usual amount based on what we've documented as an average of 100+ shaves. Subject decided to go to his usual bowl lathering method, and spent an exact time of 2 minutes and 5 seconds completing his lather making process. Around 4-5 months ago, subject started weighing his water used to make a lather. During today's experiment the amount of water used was 18 grams, which flustered the test subject, cause he is used to using around 28(B&M) to 33(DG) grams depending on which artisan he is using. Main preferences are American based artisianal soap makers. After the shave was completed, there was the usual verbal confrontation with the subject, so we could get a deeper understanding of how he functions. Naturally he had questions about why, the lather behaved differently than what he was used to and what were the reasons behind that, so we explained it to him. It's simply the fact that Nordic Shaving Company's soap base is Coconut Oil forwarded, meaning it is full of Lauric&Myristic fatty acids which do not make for a good lather, they(Lauric&Myristic acids) are also very harsh on the skin. More on the subject here!(HR has warned us that our reports are too long so we're trying to keep them shorter)
• RAZOR - This was another key moment in today's experiment, which did not please MTS as much as we'd hoped. He was offered a variety of razors, of which he chose a Henson razor, one with which he was infatuated for a long time, but today's shave gave a different result. During the passing years test subject MTS has tried a variety of different razors and has narrowed down what he prefers and what he doesn't, but seeing he hadn't used the Henson razor in quite some time he wanted to relive some happy memories. That was not the case. Using a Nacet blade, which is a preferred blade by the subject, he did two ATG passes, the first of which proved almost fruitless. Filled with determination to get a good shave, he had to add a significant amount of pressure to the razor so that it would cut deep enough giving an acceptable shave. This did not result in any irritation, but it was a rough shave(feel wise) nonetheless.
• AFTERSHAVE - It was the first time that the test subject had used this scent and was giggling with excitement like a small child. Mostly because he was transported to his childhood memories of sprintime in the woods. Flowers and trees blooming, freshness surrounding. Walking through the woods and eating a fresh apple or tangerine while being serenaded by the chirping birds! That was what MRT described to us what the aftershave smelled like to him!

Experiment #4723 was a moderate success, clocked at 15 minutes, and we here at "The Shaving Association" are happy with how well MTS is progressing and we hope that one day he could be recruited and be part of the examining committee!

​

​

#FOF

Right, enough of this scheit... I've spoken about myself so much in the third person in the last few paragraphs that I can literally vomit....

This is the fragrance I chose for today, John Varvatos - Artisan. So far in this year's LG it is THE BEST I've gotten as a result of combining an aftershave with a perfume. Don't get me wrong the previous ones were good, but more on the OK side, I still am very happy I actually put some effort this time around cause it definitely shows, for me at least. it's not just some rando perfume with your Aftershave just to get points. Someday I will definitely get more into perfumes and become a RedMosquito myself, or a cheap imitation but either way, someone who is really in the perfume world.

What really stood out today from this combo are the feeling that are evoked deep inside of me. Sitting there on a table next to your mother, she's peeling tangerines for you and granting you warmth with her smile and affection, all while it's gloomy outside and it's pouring. That happiness can be matched by very few things. And if the shave wasn't the best, the scents afterwards surely made up for it!!!

LAST AND CERTAINLY NOT LEAST! HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL CELEBRATING

• Daily Lather Themes: 4/30
• Daily Challenges: 4/30
• Hardware Scavenger Hunt: 8/20
• Hardware Vendor Points: 0/2
• Software Vendor Points: 0/13
• Software Vendor Bonus Point: 0/1
• 30 Different Soap Brands Point: 4/30
• 30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point: 4/30
• 30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point: 4/30
• 30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point: 4/30

July 4, 2023 – April Showers Bring May Flowers

• Brush: Semogue SOC Mixed Badger/Boar #MISTURA
• Razor: CJB Kamisori Shavette #KAMISORI
• Blade: Feather ProGuard (AC) (4)
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps – Field Day
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts – Tres Matres
• Fragrance: London Razors – Mountain Laurel

Challenge: in order to have a more controlled lathering environment I elected to bowl lather for the shave. This will make it easier to account for water added to the lather and reduce the loss of lather that typically occurs when face lathering. At multiple intervals I will evaluate the slickness of the lather on the /u/ItchyPooter scale. The lather will be evaluated visually and using a peaks test.

8:55 wet brush to soak.
9:14 1/4 tsp soap in Captain’s choice bowl.
9:16 spread soap in thin even layer in bowl. Shake brush to remove excess water. 5 ml water added to bowl. Swirl brush to load soap and begin building lather. Still in proto-lather stage. 1/10 Pooters.
9:18 incorporate 5 ml water into lather. 5 ml looks like a lot of standing water. Will add water in smaller increments moving forward. Need more precise measurement device. Lather still pasty. 3/10 Pooters.
9:21 search for medicine syringe with smaller units fails. Will guesstimate 2.5 ml using medicine cup.
9:22 incorporate 2.5 ml water. Starting to look like lather. Still pasty. Lather is in WCS territory. 5/10 Pooters.
9:23 incorporate 2.5 ml water. Lather is developing a noticable sheen. Peak test performed. Peaks still hold shape. Lather is in Ruds territory. 8/10 Pooters.
9:25 incorporate 2.5 ml water. Peak test performed. Peaks form and disipate. 9/10 Pooters.
9:29 wet face and work lather into beard.
9:31 begin shave.

Time spent building lather = 11 minutes
Total water added to bowl = 17.5 ml

I noticed a flaw in my methodology. The Pooter scale is a measurement of the messiness of a lather. According to Pooter’s wisdom, the sign of a great lather is seeing soap sling off the brush. However, it’s impossible for lather to sling off the brush when lathering in a bowl. All of the lather is contained in the bowl. It is only when face lathering that the brush is free to sling lather onto the walls, mirror, counter, floor, and elsewhere. Meaning, it is only possible to achieve a full 10/10 Pooters through face lathering. This is scientific proof that face lathering is superior to bowl lathering. I’ll be awaiting my nomination for the nobel prize in wet shaving.

Field Day is the first Summer Break soap I used. It’s the type of unique fragrance you only seem to find in wet shaving. Summer Break says this fragrance is inspired by the smells of a spring morning. When I was a kid I thought watching my dad cut the grass looked exciting. There’s a pull cord which starts a loud motor. Hovering just over the ground is a whirling blade of (hopefully not human) decapitation. The coolest part was the switches and levers that controled everything. When the job was done, the lawn looked nice and there was an oddly pleasant and distinct smell. This fragrance is a dead ringer for fresh cut grass. Now I’m old and I know cutting the grass can be a pain in the ass. At least I still get to enjoy the smell of fresh cut grass.

Tres Matres is one of my all time favorite fragrances in wet shaving. Southern Witchcrafts refer to it as a floral petrichor. I get light floral notes similar to lilac or mountain laurel, ozone, moss, and damp soil. It has more earthiness than other ozonic fragrances I’ve smelled. It reminds me of tilling a garden and smelling good moist soil. It evokes the feeling of fresh air and spring flowers in a way only a Southern Witchcrafts fragrance could.

Mountain Laurel is probably my most frequently worn scent. That’s because it smells really good and is very approachable. It’s a gorgeous composition of light, fresh, sweet floral notes. It’s like standing in a field of flowers on a nice spring day. It’s not the most complex fragrance. I don’t notice any differences over time. The longevity is excellent. It last a full day on my skin.

#FOF

July 4, 2023 – Spring Science

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Declaration Grooming B16
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Alive
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Neon Sun

I graduated with a minor in Biology and, well, I do not love doing science or writing reports. On the final day of exams my last semester of college I wrote on the top of my Biology test, “I need X% on this exam to graduate” and while I did not know Dr. Buiser personally, I am so grateful that I got what I needed on that exam – whether it was my hard work studying or his generosity I will never know.

Anyway – I did some science and took some notes on it and now here we are. I proposed that I would get a good shave this evening and, well, I did. I know that’s not how science works, but, frankly I don’t care. I put my smush of Alive (<1g and my scale doesn't go lower than 1g so we're rolling with it) in my Georgetown Scuttle with 3mL of water on top. The scuttle was filled with water at 116 degrees F(reedom units) and sat there for 3:33:77 while I showered. My Dogwood B16 was then filled with an additional 22g of water and I lathered it on up. I didn't count the swirls. That's stupid. Shaving is as much art as it is science and I live in a world where the two can dance beautifully together. Lather was perfect, anyhow.

The scent on this ol' smush was not strong because my summer cold is still lingering and my nose is sus, but, I did appreciate the green notes and think this scent would really shine in splash form and u/USS-SpongeBob said it's a spring scent so it must be. I paired it with Neon Sun because Neon Sun is a bright scent like Alive (I think) and I love Neon Sun so it worked.

Part way through this “experiment” I wondered to myself, “why am I even doing this? Who cares about this tiny project. The judges have to read this, over and over, to what end?” I do not have an answer. Someone after me can come along, hypothesize, do some data, whatever. Call me a cynic; science it – I don't care, I'm not going to.

Solid shave, though – face feels great to end a very long and sweaty day.

FOF Haiku

Alive is apples
Neon Sun is retro lime
I smell freakin' great

July 4, 2023 – LG 4: April Showers Bring May Flowers

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps DG B9A #SHD
• Razor: Maggard V3 on MR11 Handle #RAINBOW
• Blade: Personna Stainless (3)
• Lather: Australian Private Reserve – Lavioletta
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Rawr
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Sonder

Lovely spring bouquet and scents today starting with the lovely APR lavioletta. A very floral, lavender and violet forward scent to match its namesake. It reminds me a lot of BM Just Right for a Tuesday, but perhaps a bit more crisp and herbaceous. While the soap was flower forward, the AS rawr is the ground in spring, ripe with green grass and dandelion notes, and the plethora of white florals one might find in meadows and fields (the body powder actually went to my painfully sunburned feet due to some extensive time at the lake). Sonder layers on top beautifully, more white florals but much creamier and woody underneath, with hints of citrus. #FOF #PHOTOCONTEST (vegetables, what is more spring than planting ones spring garden?!)

As for today’s challenge, if reading is not your forte, here’s the pictures. I’d say I’m halfway between Walter White and Jessie Pinkman on my approach. Opted for 2g of soap, as my old APR is quite firm. Added 8mL of water, but that was almost nearly all drank up by the dry SBS (oh hey, today’s sponsor, that was intentional! The beauty of leaving parts of the calendar open to wiggle) B9A brush. Got a new container tared, and added 12mL of water to it, and figured that should suffice. It gave me a nice 10:1 water to soap ratio. In hindsight, I should have used more soap, but the ratio was actually pretty spot on for my preference of hydration. I wonder how it would scale up though. I’d have to guess an additional 2-3mL of water were added to my face pre shave and between 1st and 2nd pass.

I will say I’m guilty of buying the rainbow shiny V3 head for this years LG, but I already had the blue MR11 handle (twas my 2nd razor purchase on my wetshaving journey). It completed my Maggard head collection which was nice, as I’d purchased, traded, and been gifted the others over the years.

soap brands 4/30, post shave 4/30, frag 4/30, post/frag linked 4/30, software sponsors 1/15, hardware sponsors 1/2, razor hashtags 3/15, brush hashtags 1/15, photo contest 4/30, daily challenges 3/25, special challenges 1/5