LG2024 SOTD- June 3rd “ Beef, it’s not what’s for shaving”

• Brush: Frank Shaving Pur- tech 28mm synthetic #FAUXFUR
• Razor: Razorock GC .84
• Blade: Astra Green (3)
• Lather: HAGS- Darkside mutton tallow base- base not scent description
• Post Shave: HAGS- Creatures of the Night splash, Maggards- Alum block
• Fragrance: Bleu de Chanel EDP

Darkside 1 (HAGS released this last year and released a second Darkside scent that is completely different) is one of my favorite soaps I own due to performance, scent, and artwork. I mean it’s just awesome.

Challenge: Do I have an alum block? Yes. Do I ever use it? No. But it’s lather games. Ok I guess I will. Does it add or enhance my shave in any way? Not really.

Today’s installment, could obviously be this. As I am assuming this is where the name for today’s theme actually came from. Thing is I don’t actually ever remember seeing this commercial.

I do however, remember fondly this series of commercials which feature the work of composer Aaron Copland.

I somewhat attribute watching them for my lifelong enjoyment and appreciation of classical music, particularly American classical music. Copland has composed many pieces whether you know it or not you have certainly listened to. Such as this. The featured piece comes from the fifth of his 5-part Rodeo ballet entitled “Hoe-down” and is quintessentially American, with its combination of lively strings and rampant use of percussion ie the woodblock it’s one of his most well-known pieces.

ROTY

June 3, 2024 – 2024.06.03: Lather Games Day 3 – Where’s the Beef?

• Brush: AKA Brushworx Blues Stanley Cup with 26mm Turn N Shave Quartermoon knot #FRANKENBRUSH
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24 #FLIPTOP #MODERNGEM
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (1)
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Dammusi
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Dammusi
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Dammusi

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Daily Theme: Where’s the Beef?

(It’s Arby’s. Arby’s has the beef)

Theme justification: House of Mammoth soaps contain Duck fat.

Relevant Post Shave & Frag: I went easy today, since it’s Monday. Today’s theme is Dammusi. First ~~dickhole~~ trickhole of the Games. I just love Dammusi too much to not use it all.

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Scavenger Hunt Justification:

Razor facts: The MM24 is a Modern Gem. They started production in 2021. It is also a flip top due to having the head of an EverReady Shovel-Head razor.

Brush facts: The brush has a handle created by AKA Brushworx and knot from Turn-N-Shave.

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Daily/Special Challenge: OnionMiOsma Day

To start off with, Osma is the GOAT alum. I even bought a second block at the Maggard Meetup since I was already there. Always need to have a backup, am I right? Going from Maggard brand alum to Osma was a total game changer in my shaves. Don’t know how my face survived using such a poor quality alum. This is not Maggard’s fault at all, it’s just that all alum is poor alum compared to Osma.

Osma was used on this shave despite it not being listed in my shave log. This is to not annoy the robojudge.

Now, as for /u/OnionMiasma, I’ve got to say he’s a pretty cool dude too. I can even look past his error in being a Cubs and Blackhawks fan. He was one of the first people to reach out to me when I joined this community and treated me (a total stranger at the time) as a friend. He offered to drive a few of us to and from the Maggard meetup from Chicago this year. Without that offer I wouldn’t have been able to attend. I’m extremely thankful of this gesture, as a great time was had all. Meeting y’all at the meetup was a lot of fun. I also got this great picture of the convoy (us along with /u/hugbckt & /u/fuckchalzone) when he dropped me back off at O’Hare (he’s the one in the Blackhawks shirt under the yellow arrow, I’m in the Blues hat with the blue arrow). I did edit the photo for privacy a bit.

Seriously, /u/OnionMiasma++. If you’re ever in OK for some forlorn reason, let me know and I’ll buy you a beer.

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Frag description

House of Mammoth Dammusi

I love this scent. So much so that it was the first ever HoM EdP that I purchased. It beat out Rumble to earn that honor. The first note to hit me is the citrus. As a citrus lover, this is what drew me in (which is the point of that note). After that, the pine really comes forward. It’s quite relaxing.

I’d like to point out at this point I really have no idea what I’m talking about most of the time when it comes to frags. The main reason why I’m doing the FoF is to force myself to articulate what I’m smelling. I’m hoping that my later posts will be much better than these early June ones.

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Now onto the shave!

This was my first time using a MM24, though I have used a shovelhead in the past. Much better experience than with the vintage GEM I used previously. I think with some proper practice it could be a very nice daily shaver. However, I’m not sure I will be putting in the time. It’s nowhere near the level of a weck, but I just have too many nice DE razors that it doesn’t really make sense.

The brush might be my favorite handle of all time. It’s a Stanley Cup handle in the colors of the St. Louis Blues. I felt this handle was appropriate for today since the Stanley Cup Final has been set (I'll be rooting for the Panthers). I currently have a Fullmoon knot in it and I really like the knot. It’s super soft and feels fantastic on the face. I’m debating about putting it in a new handle where I can set it a smidge lower, but I’m not too sure. I think it would improve with just a touch more backbone (seriously, not much at all).

The soap, as we’ve all come to realize from HoM, is spectacular. Top teir soap.

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Totals:

Razor Hashtags: 4/10
Brush Hashtags: 4/10
Hardware Sponsor Points: x/2
Software Sponsor Points: 2/16
Number of Lather Brands: 3/30
Number of Lather Scents: 3/30
Number of Post Shaves: 3/30
Number of Frags: 3/30

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Contest Hashtags:

#FOF

#ROTY

June 3, 2024

• Prep: Hot shower
• Brush: Badger brush I've had forever with the maker's mark rubbed off #RUNT
• Razor: Muhle Companion
• Blade: Astra Green (Indian)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Smash

According to the web listing, this soap has Mammoth tallow (checks notes), ahem, duck tallow. You know, I can't help but think this was a missed opportunity. And it's not like you'd need a regular supply of Mammoth. One must be enough. (Frantic typing.) According to the interwebs, a Mammoth is roughly 4,571 times larger than a duck. Is this soap made with duck genocide (speciocide?)?! Stop the speciocide, use Mammoth tallow!

OnionMiosma day challenge: I didn't use any alum today because, like most days, I'm a wussy and don't want to deliberately cause myself even more pain than I usually do in the shaving process.

ROTY

June 3, 2024 - Where's the Beef?

• Brush: Rubberset 400 w/ Maggard Synthetic #FRANKENBRUSH
• Razor: Yates Precision Manufacturing - Merica
• Blade: Gillette - Silver Blue
• Lather: Murphy & McNeil - Gael Laoch Orange
• Post Shave: Proraso - After Shave Stone
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Barrbarr Splash

Today we must all ponder the question: Beef, where art thou? In my case today, our beloved beef tallow is still there with the addition of "Duck Fat Potassium Hydroxide" in Murphy & McNeil's Gael Laoch Orange, an homage to Creed's Viking Cologne. I actually blind bought this tub and its a very nice scent. However, I think this Aon base is one of the better bases I've ever used in terms of slickness. I am ready to engage in verbal warfare with anybody who disagrees.

Today was exactly my fourth time ever using alum, but have never used Osma specifically. I can't tell yet if it makes any difference for my routine or not yet, but it does feel nice applying the block tactilely.

I definitely like onions more than alum, that's for damn sure. A robust fragrance, antimicrobial, and improved skin appearance? Sounds like u/OnionMiasma needs to cash in on this new wetshaving breakthrough and make some onion scented aftershaves and balms. PM when you are ready to send me my royalty checks.

ROTY

Jun. 3, 2024
Prep: Cremo - Coconut Mango Shave Cream - Preshave
Brush: Simpsons Chubby 1 Best Badger
Razor: RazoRock Lupo 72 OC #CNC * Blade: Personna Red [2]
Lather: House Of Mammoth - Dammusi - Soap
Post Shave:* Ariana & Evans - Pistachio - Aftershave

ROTY

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

Jun. 3, 2024

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Strata W/TnS Quarter Moon Synthetic #COMPOSITE

• Razor: Blackland Sabre #CNC #MODERNGEM

• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE [16]

• Lather: Stirling Soap Co - Glastonbury

• Post Shave: MontBlanc Explorer

• Fragrance: MontBlanc Explorer

Where’s the Beef?

I am old enough to remember when that commercial was new. It was everywhere, T- Shirts, bill boards, I’m sure if I went through old photo albums there’s pictures of my Step- Father sporting a Where’s the Beef shirt. I’m also old enough to remember when Wendy’s was actually good.

So for my 3rd shave of my first LG I chose Glastonbury paired with MontBlanc Explorer. I love both of them and this month is going to kill me because usually use MBE 2-3 times a week. I have plenty of Frags but I reach for this one a lot.

I have really fell in love with the SE format. I use the Sabre more than any of my other razors. It just works so well for me.

I don’t use Alum. It’s a dumb reason why because I know it’s just in my head but I have to watch my salt intake because of my heart condition so even though I know I’m not absorbing it into my blood stream I just don’t want to take the chance of any extra salt. But I will say that u/onionmiasma is the perfect strawman. He did not know me from Adam but helped me score some Spearhead! that I was on the hunt for and I will always be great full for that.

Soap justification. Glastonbury is made with Mutton Tallow

Frag. Glastonbury is very Patchouli forward as is Explorer they go great together.

Photo Contest: Theme Money

#ROTY #FOF #photocontest

• Brush: Stirling - synthetic 2 band. #composite
• Razor: Gillette - Lady Gillette.

• Blade: Gillette - 7o’clock.

• Lather: Mitchell’s - Wool Fat

• Post Shave: Proraso - alum.

Lunchtime shave! This challenge gave me trouble which could have been avoided with proper planning. After realizing I did not own non beef-tallow soaps I had 1 hour to get to the specialty shave shop before it closed on Saturday. I was ready to purchase Chicago Grooming’s Duck fat soap. Regrettably I did not make it in time and they are closed on Sunday. I frantically searched for other retailers, but there was nothing. How is that possible I thought to myself. u/OnionMiasma had answered my cry for help and generously offered a smush and even more incredible is local! Was it the notoriously horrible traffic that kept me away? The bad weather? Self sabotage? I’ll never know. I had to place an emergency order. Not ideal, but sometimes you gotta scramble and finally got my hands on the golden goose/mutton today. MWF was lightly scented , and very thirsty. Why I didn’t take up onion’s generous offer has me questioning my life choices. It could have been so easy. As for osma, sadly I have never used the brand. I did look at the fun alum matchsticks, but couldn’t justify them at the time. My alum is Proraso , but I prefer the Proraso gel. I don’t really use alum anymore, though it was nice when I was first learning. My daily driver Henson is low risk.

ROTY

03JUN2024

• Brush: Aurora Grooming Marquess w/25mm Paragon Boar
• Razor: GEM Pushbutton
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE [5]
• Lather: Bundubeard - Afternoon Tea
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo

Well I have reached am impasse. I did not participate in smoosh trading, (probably due to my laziness/stupidity/'tism), and therefore didn't have any sponsor soaps that were non-beef tallow. What I did have, however, was Bundubeard (again). So as my research has shown, Afternoon Tea is made with Sheep Tallow! Worked out in the end.

What to pair it with? Lather Games or not, Mammoth Monday must continue! Mood Indigo it was for me. It was my first time using this, and I must say as with all HoM products, I was impressed. It isnt the usual scent I go with, but it worked for me nonetheless.

Again I swapped the GEM blade back to the pushbutton for yet another excellent shave! And since I was using a smoosh in the old spice mug, I had to go with a taller handle. This time I opted for the newest shape I've released, the Marquess! Big thanks to u/jwoods23 for making me think about getting boar knots, u/EldrormR for supplying me with my first boar knot, and my own dumbass for becoming obsessed with them. I can't believe I ever had a prejudice.

Day 3 complete. I am so fucking tired today it's not even funny and I ALMOST didn't participate today. But the show must go on.

Edit: almost forgot. I don't have any alum blocks. Boo. Don't worry, not only have I been contemplating where I went wrong, I am also contemplating basically every life choice I've ever made to get me to this point.

ROTY

https://imgur.com/a/pdG4HEC

• Prep: PAA - The Cube 2.0
• Bowl: Naked Armor - Silver Fox Scuttle
• Brush: Timeless Brush with PAA Roswell Grey Hybrid Synth Knot #FRANKENBRUSH #HOLLOW
• Razor: Blackland - Tradere #CNC
• Blade: Gillette - 7 O'clock SharpEdge
• Lather: Bundubeard - Lemoenbossie & Appel Mutton Tallow Shaving Soap
• Post Shave: PAA - Ciderhouse 5 Star Jelly
• Post Shave: Omega - Alum Stick

Straight from Africa, Bundubeard Lemoenbossie & Appel Mutton Tallow Shaving Soap. Great slick, abundant lather. It overflowed my scuttle and made a mess! I had enough lather to shave for a week. Maybe it was the mutton? It was my first time using this specific soap and it was a great shave. When I ordered from Bundubeard they sent many extras, including 2 bars of soap and some blades, highly recommended.

Today's challenge: My Blackland Tradere was smooth today, but I got a little careless and had a small nick. It burned a bit with my Omega Alum Stick, but what really burned me was that the Omega stick fell out separated from its base (see picture) and fell into the sink! I wish I was using an Osma Alum! It wouldn't have fallen into the sink!

My own personal challenge for the lather games is to use a different razor and soap each day! I will also try to use all of my brushes at least once!

Having a great time so far! Who knew shaving could be so much fun!

#ROTY

SOTD - 2024-06-03

• Beard Growth: 24 Hours
• Prep: None
• Pre Shave: None
• Brush: Yaqi - Mysterious Space Synthetic
• Razor: Henson AL13 + (Dr. Squatch/Green Edition) #RAINBOW
• Blade: Gillette 7 Black
• Passes: WTG x1
• Lather: Declaration Grooming - Chaotic Nuetral
• Post Shave: Omega Alum Stick

• Fragance: Tom Ford - Costa Azzura EDP

• Comments: Dec. Grooming Chaotic Neutral - Bison Tallow, no beef here lol

Used the alum block, but was kinda unnecessary because the razor was so mild.

Tom Ford Costa Azurra - one of my all time favs, planning to buy a full bottle once I use up all the Tom Ford samples in my collection.

Also on a related note: I’m usually a vegan shaver but I had a tonne of samples lying around from a PiF, so decided to try out and go down the scent rabbit hole. Probably not gonna buy a tallow based tub but getting to try different types of soaps and scents is crazy!! Thank you gentlemen for organizing these games!!

#ROTY

Where's the Beef?

• Brush: Chisel and Hound Vitae Taper w/AP Shave Co 26mm Pure Bliss™ SHD Premium Synthetic Knot #COMPOSITE #FAUXFUR #FRANKENBRUSH #PREMIUMPLASTIC #SHD #TOLL
• Razor: Blackland Vector #CNC
• Blade: Schick Proline P-30
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Scots Pine Sheep
• Post Shave: Parker - Alum Block
• Fragrance: Demeter - Mountain Laurel

Daily Gratitude
Thanks to my dad for the alum block. Thanks to ShavinginCT for the soap and fragrance sample. Thanks to our wonderful judges and other people for putting this whole thing together.

Daily Mistakes
I decided for OnionMiOsma day I would use only an alum block as aftershave; I ended up having some irritation for a while. You could also consider bowl lathering a mistake, I'll talk more about it in the writeup.

Daily Writeup
No video today because my mom is back to work today and she was tired and when I finally got home from seeing the Garfield movie she was already sleeping; I think I will limit the SOTD videos to weekends because my mom doesn't work weekends and we both have a lot more free time and energy. I decided to fully bowl lather today (I usually use the bowl just to load the sample); I used to religiously bowl lather until I learned how to properly face lather, this was like WAAY TOO MUCH FOR ONE PASS so it wasn't the slickest shave because there was an inch of lather between the razor and my skin and I had to rinse the razor every 0.5 seconds. I watched the Garfield movie today with my grandma, definitely not nearly as good as the original Garfield movies lol, but fun nonetheless. Also when I got done shaving I walked out just to find the smell of burnt plastic because my brother turned on the wrong burner when cooking and there was plastic on that one.

Daily Theme Points
Stirling's Scots Pine Sheep is indeed not beef but rather sheep. Where is the beef? I'm unsure, you better ask Wendy.

Daily Relevant Post Shave & Fragrance Points
I didn't have any sheep tallow aftershaves or fragrances so I decided to just relate them all in the way that they are different than the other traditinal stuff I have in my collection. For the aftershave I used just my crappy Parker alum block that also coincides with the daily challenge. For my fragrance the thing making it different is the label is just a simple label instead of listing the brand and perfumer or having a fancy pants logo. The fragrance is also called Mountain Laurel and mountain laurels, like pine, grow in the mountains, so I thought it would connect. Also for people saying that my alum block isn't a stand alone aftershave, it is, according to Parker it's "A Natural Aftershave with Astringent Properties to Soothe Skin & Treat Shaving Nicks".

Daily Challenge
Man this Parker alum sucks, I wish I had Osma. First of all, it was waay overpriced, I bought it for like $13 at my local shave store because I didn't want to wait for any online shipping. When the guy at the shop took it out of the case he dropped it but none of us thought anything of it but it turns out the case cracked, but I didn't notice until I had already gotten home and opened it so I just keep on using it like this, so what some weird alum crystal water seeps through onto my counter. And that alum block must have been sitting in that shave shop for years because the weird outer plastic wrapping had gotten all cracked and even started to stick to the block so the first couple uses of it had random plastic pieces falling off. Hopefully I get some Osma soon because I'm sick of this. Also to honor Onion I decided to use the Onion photo contest theme today to coencide with the daily challenge.

Hardware Scavenger Hunt Forgot to mention this yesterday but if you want reasoning for the hashtags on the brush look at my day one post because I just copy and paste the brush in everyday I use it but I don't want to remove the hashtags. As for the razor hashtag of today, the Blackland Vector is indeed #CNC.

Photo Contest
Included a really old onion from my fridge that seems to be growing inside, good thing I found it for this so I could throw it out afterwards.

TL;DR
Long post, no video, alum is an aftershave, I win rookie of the year, thank you.

Side Contests #photocontest #ROTY

June 3, 2024

• Brush: Zenith Boar 24 x 48 mm #SMOLL #OLDWORLD
• Razor: Fatip Piccolo Slant Closed Comb
• Blade: Gillette Super Platinum (Black) (3)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Dammusi
• Post Shave: Master Soap Creations - Light Blue
• Fragrance: Chanel - Bleu de Chanel

For today's theme I'd planned to use Wholly Kaw, since donkey milk is listed as one of the ingredients. That would count, right? I was unsure. Milk has fat; but milk and fat aren't the same thing. Is donkey milk considered a tallow ingredient? I decided to play it safe, noting a number of posts featuring HoM soaps, but none featuring Wholly Kaw.

It was hot here today, so I went with Dammusi. The aftershave and fragrance were both chosen to complement the soap—though Dammusi has this great mineral or stone note that I don't associate with a lot of fragrances (Light Blue by Master Soap Creations is supposed to be a dupe of Dolce & Gabanna Light Blue). As for the Bleu de Chanel, I get a pronounced melon-y note that isn't listed.

I haven't tried using alum on my face. When I first heard of alum it was in art history class. The professor described alum as a fixative for dyes (used for sizing—preparing a paper or some other surface for drawing). A woman in the class said she used alum in cooking, to which the prof responded "I hope not!" as if to suggest alum is toxic. I learned later that alum is used in cooking, at least in small amounts. But yes, if you eat an entire bowl of salt it'll be bad for you.

Brush Strokes features two very different works of art on the theme of meat. First is Joachim Beuckeler's painting The Four Elements: Fire, a work from the 16th century that depicts various kinds of meat being prepared in a kitchen. Like many other works from the period that depict everyday life, this painting is often interpreted as a religious allegory—an interpretation bolstered by the presence of Jesus Himself, framed in the doorway in the background. It's a painting that contrasts the Flesh and the Spirit, with flesh given prominence, at least from the viewer's perspective.

The other work is this famous and tantalizing tromple l'oeil pork belly, made out of jasper, said to have once been in the Qing Dynasty imperial collection.

#ROTY