LGSOTD 22-Jun-24

• Brush: Wald - A1 #OLDWORLD #PREMIUMPLASTIC
• Razor: Shield - Predator (GEM) #CNC #MODERNGEM
• Blade: Personna - GEM PTFE
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana AS

Spooky Season

I've seen Banana mentioned once too often that it seemed to bury itself in my mind and I felt I needed to give this a go. So here we go with SW Boonana...

Opened the tub and was hit in the face by a not unpleasant hit of banana, but there's more in the background that gives it a bit more character. I couldn't tell you what it was without the scent description, but it actually wasn't bad.

The funniest reaction was from the Mrs, she bloody hates banana, can stand the smell or taste, and unfortunately (or fortunately depending how evil I'm being) that's all she caught from this one.

Won't be a daily user, but I won't throw it out of the den.

Daily Challenge: Halloween

There was zero chance of getting pumpkins here at this time of year. Luckily I just so happened to be intending to making pizza today, so had some peppers laying around. So here's my effort.

Photocontest

This one is aiming at 'Cactus'. Despite my best efforts at the garden centre I couldn't find a banana cactus, which frankly had I managed to find one it would have been better for humour, so sadly this background pic is my best effort.

Spooky shaves all.

Cheers

Marc

Update: 15 hours later and I can still smell this stuff on me, I previously said it 'wasn't bad', but this stuff is amazing. Is it the bourbon that's hanging about? I don't know, but whatever it is I stand corrected, this may actually end up in the regular rotation!

LAME challenge day

Lather: Chicago grooming co. - ag1889

Jickys second stronger scent profile is spice according to fragrantica.

Its also clear that none of the judges are bakers because if they were they wouldn't have come with what is literally a lame daily challenge.

For mayana who wont look at the pictures I post no matter what I do: the idiot judges asked us to use a razor on food to carve said food. The pictures show my (nice shiny new) bread lame and then it being used to carve/score patterns into douch and then the final result after baking.

For the kindness of yesterday. I really enjoyed all of the limericks, but feels it a bit weird to award any no scrubs yesterday. If I had have done hugbuckt deserves one for his beautiful song (seriously worth a listen) as well as anyone who mocked me as if you don't I'll become an egotistical maniac and flounce out of the sub over a perceived slight

Spooky Season

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving exclusive MOAR BADGER (Silvertip) #SUBBROOSH
• Razor: Wolfman WR2 (1.55 mm SB / 1.25 mm OC)
• Blade: Polsilver
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Autumn Ash
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts – Autumn Ash
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Autumn Ash

Challenge: the spookiest fruit of this sub is obviously the Boonana (thanks to today's sponsor, SW), so have a razorfin boonanashark (razorcut).

Theme, relevant post and frag: It's right there in the name.

The MOAR BADGER is the biggest badger I've ever tried, and while being comically large, it's super fun to use. Just a giant lather pillow with soft, soft tips. So nice.

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: Stirling Two Band Synthetic
• Razor: Van Der Hagen 85mm Safety Razor
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain
• Post Shave: Van Der Hagen - Unscented Aftershave Balm

LG Day 22- Spooky Season

• Brush: Aurora Grooming LG24 w/26mm Oumo Synthetic
• Razor: Karve Brass CB OC-F
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux (9)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana
• Post Shave: Stirling - Coconut Lime splash
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - Unscented AS balm

It's chilly and rainy outside. The perfect day for a razor with bloodletting potential and Boonana (thanks u/Tetriside). There is no question that SW has a top tier base. My problem has been finding a scent that I like. Sure, I could use their unscented soap, but that's the shaving equivalent of getting a banana in your Halloween bag (I wanted a Snickers, god damnit). Boonana might be the first scent that didn't make me wrinkle my nose or depress me because of the darkness. I actually liked it! Look, as much as I like my music dark and heavy (and maybe with the occasional Satanic invocation), I like to shave with some brightness. And dare I say, there is a wee bit of brightness to be found here, probably because of the bana...er...boonana. I also didn't draw blood with the OC-F plate because I had a nice slick base to work with. I had to add the Coconut Lime just to give me more lightness.

As to the Daily Challenge, some people might assume by my name that I might be the type of guy to carve Slayer into his arm, but you would be incorrect. Beyond spending hours and hours in a tattoo chair, I'm not a fan of mutilating my body. I'm not sure I've got anything carveable around here, but if I do, I'll edit for my skills later.

Try to enjoy your day and remember to be kind to one another.

SOTD * Brush: Chisel and Hound LG Massaranduba handle w. Synthetic knot. #SUBBROOSH * Razor: Gillette - Black Handle Flair tip.
Blade: Silver Star - Stainless * Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Desairology.
Fragrance: Noble Otter - Monarch.

Theme Justification: Desairology is described as a spooky scent on the classic barbershop . NO Monarch shares some of the same scent notes: lavender, sandalwood, vanilla.. it seemed closeish enough to be distant cousins.

I am continuously amazed at the generosity of the community and today want to thank u/ShavingInCT for this brush!

Challenge: this is not the time of year for pumpkins.

ROTY

June 22, 2024 – Lather Games!

• Razor: Titanium Henson +++, polished, tattooed ("Omnissiah Shaver"). #RAINBOW #TITANIUM
• Blade: Gillette Winner Stainless (3).
• Lather: The Club – The Graveyard
• Aftershave: The Club – The Graveyard
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Autumn Ash

This fragrance has a Halloween theme to it, so I think it fits here. The shave comes off wonderfully, as always, thus I'm thankful.

Have a nice weekend and try to stay cool out there.

#Challenge:

There once was a man named j33p,
Whose love for bananas was steeped.
He'd shave every day,
In a banana-y way,
And dance while howling like a creep:

"Bananas, oh bananas, so bright,
Your peel, your flesh, pure delight.
I'll shave with your zest,
And be the best dressed,
In my banana costume every night!"

There once was a man named EnnDeeGee,
Whose beard was as thick as could be.
He'd shave it all off,
And laugh at his staff,
Calling them all scrubs, absolutely!

Oh, and this little gem fell off the back of a CyberTruck yesterday: https://ibb.co/ThRhvKq

#LatherGames

Bonus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxpN2pQk-6o ← Shannon's Soaps Dark Roast | Shave & Chat

2024-06-22 - Sound and Light

• Lather: Declaration Grooming - Son et Lumière
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming - Son et Lumière
• Fragrance: Declaration Grooming - Son et Lumière
• Razor: Wolfman Razors - Guerrilla
• Brush: Yaqi Metal Timberwolf

Spooky Season: Many autumn-themed scents don't do much for me, so I was pleased as pepperspray when I saw the description for this scent:

[...] Son et Lumiere is a drizzly autumn walk through a (clean) city.

Unifying Theme: Doin' the triple

Halloween:
I expect a number of carved onions today, possibly with the Toyota emblem carved into them.

Alright, so there's this thing I picked up at a Goodwill a couple years ago for a Games photo. It's a pumpkin and I figure I can carve it with this razor.

I have no idea what it's made of, but it gave the razorsaw hell and it doesn't look like I should be breathing this stuff.

That slice does make it—strictly speaking—successfully carved, but I think I can do better. Before starting, I sawed off the stem in order to better clamp it down, revealing that the thing is hollow.

I wonder.... Hey, it broke!

What is that made of? I don't know how to identify fiberglass, but it doesn't seem to be outside the realm of possibility, so I'm calling that 1 legitimately-scary carved pumpkin.

#FOF
I realize I'm out of FOF now, but I just want to say that Son et Lumière is a contender for my top 5 favorite scents, among Abyss and Tobacconist. It's a rain-smell that doesn't exist (and not just because autumn doesn't exist).

Well, it's not a rain that I'm familiar with, but that's just because I associate rain-smell with creosote. It's criminal that there aren't any scents that feature creosote. But I digress.

I will add that once, when I was wearing this in the creosote-scented rain, I had the distinct impression that I exuded the unmistakable smell of wet dog.

#photocontest I don't think I'd ever encountered he name "Bokeh Balls" before, but you'd be hard-pressed to convince me you didn't have this exact label in mind when you chose to include it in the list.

User provides judge with a new understanding of what "doing the triple" is.

June 22, 2024 – Lather Games 2024 Day 22: Spooky Saturday

• Brush: Wild West Brushworks Hallows Maggard SHD 26mm
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (1)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Autumn Ash
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts – Autumn Ash
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Autumn Ash

Use of Theme: Spooky Saturday

I’m up early on a Saturday morning to get some pork on the smoker and today’s choice of software will help things along. The sweet, smoky goodness of Autumn Ash will remind me of cooler days to come, colorful leaves, lovely maple things, and camp fires. If I didn’t already have my rub planned, I would’ve slathered my meat in maple syrup and wrapped it in bacon. I’ll queue that one for the next smoke. The glory of Autumn Ash will have to do until then. It’s a Trickhole of that goodness today, because the glory is so glorious.

Daily Challenge: Carve a ~~pumpkin~~

What’s more spooky than carving a pumpkin at midnight? Sadly, there are no pumpkins in the Donut household until October, so I carved this instead. Consider it a harbinger.

Have a spooky shave and be kind to one another.

June 22, 2024 – 2024.06.22 SOTD: Lather Games Day 22 – Sppoky Season

• Brush: Paragon Shaving Plisson knot (28mm) with Paragon handle
• Razor: Yates Precision Razors – Winning v2
• Blade: Feather (DE) (2)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Pumpkin Spice
• Post Shave: Areffa Soap – Crazy Pumpkin
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Boonana

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Daily Theme: Spooky Season

Theme justification: Stirling Pumpkin Spice is an autumn/fall scent, hence why Stirling releases it in the fall. Plus, Pumpkin Spice is a fall scent/flavor

Relevant Post Shave & Frag: Areffa Soaps Crazy Pumpkin aftershave & Southern Witchcrafts Boonana EdP. The theme, continuing the fall-esque thought, is sitting on your porch with a pumpkin spice latte on Halloween with your carved pumpkins while you scare trick-or-treaters by screaming, "Boo!" You chuckle as the young kids scream and run away. Maybe becoming a ghost wasn't so bad.

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Scavenger Hunt ~~Justification~~: COMPLETED

Razor facts: N/A

Brush facts: N/A

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Daily/Special Challenge: Halloween

You know, surprisingly, I don't have a pumpkin in my house in the middle of June. So let's see if we can find anything that is carvable. Well, would you look at that. The first thing I see in my fridge is a nice, carvable, onion.. As everyone know, onions are fantastic, so this should be easy.

I take the onion, and a carving board, into my ~~bathroom~~ carving station. My nice Japanese knives would be useless for this. I need to use the sharpest of blades. Always wash your tools before working! Now I'm ready to begin. First step is the peel the skin off. Easy. The sharpest blade on earth was handy for taking the skin off. Next step was to slice the ends off. Again, easy work.

I cut out two eyes to start. It's coming together. Cut a mouth for him, and c'est fini. I shall call him, Mini Miasma!

Let's add some spookiness to Mini Miasma, for a better fit for the theme. There, that's more like it!

P.S.: the reason Mini Miasma has an onion sliver in his mouth is because he's ridding his body of evil onions though his mouth.

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Fragrance description

Pumpkin spice is a nice scent, but I don't use this soap too often. I don't get a burn from it like some, but It's just a scent I have to be in the mood for, you know? It does smell exactly like the good pumpkin spice mix you'd get at the store (or preferably make yourself).

Crazy pumpkin is probably my favorite Areffa scent I've tried. It's like walking through a pumpkin patch at dusk that's full of other flowers. The spice note also brings out the thought of a fire (without the smoke) in the pumpkin patch. I actually like it better than Stirling's Pumpkin Spice scent.

Boonana is fantastic. I get more bourbon and tobacco than banana, but the sweetness of the banana does cut through to make the other scents more palatable. Everything works in tandem to make sure this scent is a fall classic.

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Now onto the shave!

First off, I couldn't let that Feather blade go to waste. They're expensive! So I had to put it back in my razor.(please not that the floss pick is unused for teeth, and only used as a pick to remove some onion from Mini Miasma). All back together, so the shave can begin!

Stirling soap lathers up as expected, providing a nice lather. Shaving with a blade coated in onion juices might not have been the best idea, but at least it didn't seem to cause any issues (we'll see if my face decided to yell at me later for essentially putting onion juices on it).

The splash isn't on the level of NO or other artisans, but it's not bad at all. I'd say upper-mid tier.

Rounding out with Boonana made this shave (scent wise) oddly enjoyable. Love SW's EdPs (and their affordable prices).

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend! :)

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Totals:

• Razor Hashtags: 10/10
• Brush Hashtags: 10/10
• Hardware Sponsor Points: 2/2
• Software Sponsor Points: 13/16
• Number of Lather Brands: 22/30
• Number of Lather Scents: 22/30
• Number of Post Shaves: 22/30
• Number of Frags: 22/30

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Contest Hashtags:

#FOF

#ROTY

User created a mini-onion miasma using a feather, the sharpest of blades.

June 22, 2024

• Brush: Chisel and Hound Brasilia V18
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Feather (DE) (5)
• Lather: Talbot Shaving – Authors Ridge
• Post Shave: Talbot Shaving – Authors Ridge
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. – Gatlinburg

Spooky season! When we dust off our fall scents during the hottest month in the northern hemisphere. That’s probably the scariest part there. But we must travel the seasons in a month so here we go.

I got this Author’s Ridge set from u/EldrormR in a PIF train thing. I had never had a Talbot Shaving product before and thought it sounded interesting. And it is a wonderful fall scent, meant to conjure up walking through a cemetery on a New England Fall day. Could you get any more spooky season than that? No. I don’t know if there was a frag, but if so, I don’t have it anyway. So for #fof I’m pairing it with Stirling’s premier (and now discontinued) fall scent Gatlinburg. Now curiously Gatlinburg smells more like a walk through my area of the Ozarks than “Ozark” (which has too much pine). It’s a wonderful cedar scent, a bit brighter than Author’s ridge, but still in that “winter is coming” dark zone. So I’ve done an “all fall” set today.

For #photocontest, let’s return to the story of Cheetah, last seen being arrested for trying to rob u/priusaurus. As we can see he’s now in jail, which my daughter has decided is under the bed, because it’s dark. He’s being guarded so our dino friend can get a shave. But he’s waiting, plotting. It is in fact so dark in there we gave him some external light for the picture. But this one is “Darkness”

For the challenge. It’s hard to come by pumpkins in June. So we had to settle for something thematic to the games: An onion. Behold my u/onionmiasma figurine.. As it turns out carving an onion has logistical problems as they are not solid per se, but layered, and you cry as you do it. I carved it with a utility knife which uses what I think is a type of razor blade (post didn’t specify shaving razor blades!)

Day 22

• Brush: SmilezforMilez – 22mm Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Executive Fatboy
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: 345 Soap Co. – Rhumpkin Soap
• Post Shave: 345 Soap Co. – Rhumpkin Splash
• Fragrance: Yves Saint Laurent – Y EdP

If there was an autumn scent that no one asked for it’s this: Pumpkin & Bay Rum, with a little bit of apple added in for good measure. In the soap description, 345 said, ”Embrace the welcome of fall with this warm and balanced scent.” Do you know how to balance the scent of Pumpkin and Bay Rum? If you do, please reach out to 345 Soap Company, because I think they missed the mark with this one.

This scent is… interesting…. The listed scent notes are pumpkin, apple, and bay rum, it’s basically a pumpkin spice bay rum. For the basic bitch pirate, I suppose. I picked this up because it was on clearance and I can see why. It’s a combination that no one asked for, or needed - kinda like those pick-up truck cars in the 1970s. But I’m glad I did, because it is perfect for Spooky Season and to use to get the funk out of new brushes. I don’t reach for this set often, but it’s a must for a day to celebrate all scents that are spooky and spicy!

I matched this set with Y by Yves Saint Laurent because it’s kind of fruity with some spice, just like the soap and splash. Y has prominent Apple, Grapefruit, and Ginger notes, on top of more spicy base. It actually saved the day with its crisp, modern vibe. It's like a breath of fresh air after being trapped in a dungeon run by Pumpkin Spice Pirates. Cheers to Yves Saint Laurent for keeping my dignity intact... somewhat. #FOF

Sidecontest: #photocontest – PIRATES! Went to a place called “Pirates Cove”, so it stands to reason that anyone at Pirates Cove has to be a Pirate, right? So many real-life pirates in this picture! Balancing the shave gear on the was kind of a pain in the ass, so I’m holding onto the splash. Also got a few weird looks from the Pirates ordering food at Pirates Cove. It was almost like they had never seen guy taking pictures of his shave gear to get a Pirate sign in the background before.

Challenge: I carved a Scary Blueberry! He was so scary that no other fruits would go near him. So, I decided he needed a friend. So, I carved a Scary Grape! And they became Scary Best Friends. All is right in their scary world now. 🥰🥰

iamhonestlylying’s Daily Top 5:

In honor of “Spooky Season”… The Top 5 Most Underrated Candies to Get Trick-or-Treating

5.) Rolos – The caramel to chocolate ratio is absolutely perfect.

4.) Sugar Babies – Sure, they may rip out any fillings you have, but they are so good!

3.) Reese’s Take 5 – An under the radar, 5-tool candy. It has it all. Sweet, Caramelly, Crunchy, Peanut Buttery, Pretzel. I know it hasn’t been around as long as Snickers have, but they are so good and criminally underrated.

2.) Mike and Ikes – For when you want a break from chocolate.

1.) Reese’s Pieces – E.T. knew what’s up. I’ll take Reese’s Pieces over M&Ms every day of the week!

(Editors Note: Those fruit flavored Tootsie Rolls. Specifically, the Vanilla Ones would have been included, however, my mom wouldn’t ever let us eat anything like that we got from Trick or Treating because they weren’t hermetically sealed and she was convinced someone would put a razor blade in them. So, I'm not including them on a Halloween candy list but they are 🔥🔥🔥🔥)

LG SOTD 22Jun2024

• Brush: Yaqi Bali - 24mm silver tip synthetic
• Razor: Henson - AL13 Medium (black)
• Blade: Euromax - Platinum (2)
• Blade: Sharp - Hi Platinum (2)
• Lather: Stirling - Hot Apple Cider
• Bowl: Captain’s Choice - Copper, standard
• Post Shave: Afta by Mennen - Aftershave Lotion, Original

Happy Saturday, beautiful people. Welcome to the twenty-second shave of the 2024 Lather Games. Today's theme is Spooky Season where we shave with a lather featuring a fall, spooky, or spicy themed scent.

For today's shave, going for two out of three with Stirling's Hot Apple Cider. It is marketed as, "Apples, cinnamon, and clove make for a perfect shave as the weather turns cool and the trees turn", and it is one of their fall seasonal scents. It's nice that they give the notes description but this is spot on the smell of spiced hot apple cider; the name says it all. If you’ve been to a fall/winter school function or similar, you have undoubtedly been handed a styrofoam cup full of the stuff.

This is the remainder of a sample I purchased from Stirling during their 2022 fall release. I’m glad I held onto one of my PIF packed samples because I have zero qualifying scents in the regular den. I love fall, probably my favorite time of the year weather wise, but fragrance designers must perceive it differently because every fall scent I’ve tried was weird to gross. Held onto this because HAC’s only sin is being a spot on recreation of spiced apple cider and just wasn’t appealing as a shave scent (weird). I’ll take this over the burned leaves and composting coffee grounds that seem to form the core of Darkfall and similar fall themed scents. A common thought trying some of these fall scents is what sort of hellish post apocalyptic dystopia did they grow up in if this is what they associate with fall?

At any rate, had another great hotel shave. The scent is on the weird side for shaving but is otherwise a nice fragrance. I had the same sort of reaction with BaM’s Smoking Bishop - smelled spot on for mulled wine, which is a neat trick from a fragrance design pov, but doesn’t mean you should shave with it 😅

Unfortunately there will be no carved pumpkin (or banana) to present for the challenge. 1500 miles from home in a hotel with no access to fresh anything, I will forego these 0.2 points. Tomorrow’s challenge appears to be the same deal, shave in a kitchen might as well be shave in a thatched hut on a moon of Jupiter for me.

Enjoy your day!

——

Tournament of Blades Fight 422, Round 2. Euromax - Platinum (India) vs Sharp - Hi Platinum (Bangladesh)

I didn’t find these blades as black and white as R1 but it was still a charcoal and light gray comparison. Double no fault shaves from both blades for R2 but Sharp again had the smoother feedback between the two.

Winner of Round 2 and Fight 422: Sharp - Hi Platinum

June 22, 2024: Spooper Spoopy

• Prep: warm splash of water
• Brush: Yaqi Sagrada Familia Tuxedo 24 mm
• Razor: AtT S1
• Blade: Gillette Blue
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Hallows
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Hallows
• Fragrance: none

So good, so evil, so smooth.

SOTD: Jun. 22, 2024 - Pumpkin Cannon!!

• Brush: Omega 11047 Mighty Midget
• Razor: Karve Overlander Copper
• Blade: Dorco Prime Platinum [1]
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - Barrel Proof Recovery Splash

Pumpu-kin, pumpu-kin; pum-pum-pumpukin!

Also Barrel Proof just made sense in my head since they both share bourbon as one of their scent notes. The "barrel" also works for the extremely lame and forced "pumpkin cannon" pun/reference.

Didn't carve a pumpkin, but I used a Karve razor and a soap with a picture of a pumpkin on the lid.

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

Jun. 22, 2024
Brush: Maggard Razors Kit
Razor: Maggard Razors V3
Blade: Gillette Nacet * Lather: Barrister & Mann - Hallows
Post Shave: Barrister & Mann - Hallows * Fragrance: Perfums de Marly - Herod

Haven’t used Hallows since like, November, and I forgot how much I like it. To me, it’s a very gourmand scent, sweet and spicy rounded out with some darkness. I finished up with Herod which I think compliments it nicely.

June 22, 2024 - Saturday

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps "Tekamah" / 26mm AP Shave Co. G5C
• Razor: Yates 921-H
• Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (1)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Autumn Glory
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Nocturne splash
• Fragrance: Declaration Grooming - Darkfall EdP

Nothing screams autumn to me more than these three scents. Stirling is a fantastic soap too. I don't get the occasional chuds that crap on it just because of the price. Darkfall on a 90 degree day is a bit rough, but I'll roll with it.

June 22, 2024

• Prep: Hot shower
• Brush: Chisel and Hound Sakura with v21 Fanchurian
• Razor: Muhle Companion
• Blade: Astra Green (Indian)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Melange
• Post Shave: Zingari Man Sego Aftershave Balm Unscented

If it's spicy enough for the guild navigators, it should be spicy enough for the judges.

I'm impressed by this scent every time I use it. It's incredibly spicy, but still seems balanced. And despite the very strong scent, I don't find it overwhelming or off-putting. Kind of wish I'd picked up a whole tub.

ROTY

LG 22 - Spooky Season

• Brush: Sawdust Creatio Studio "Battle ship" - Oumo Manchurian Lotus 26mm
• Razor: Henckels Friodur 14
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Druantia
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Druantia
• Fragrance: Zara - For Him 2018

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Creepy Bonano has been a witness to today's shave. Take care carving with razor blades can harm your fingers, experience talks.

.#FOF The forest notes with the gourmand vibe of the fungs, orange, and ginger, mixed well with the Zara's sweet sandalwood/cardamon/bergamot accord.

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LG24-22: Spooky Season

• Brush: Farvour Turn Craft “Gandalf” 24mm FTC Two-Band
• Razor: Alpha Shaving Works Outlaw Cu
• Blade: Astra SP (32)
• Lather: Red House Farm - 9 Days Up Nort' - Shaving Soap
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Taiga - Aftershave
• Fragrance: ånd fragrance - Båre
• Passes: WTG, XTG, ATG
• Coffee: Tanzania. Mbeya. v: KENT. N39. p:24-36 Hr Fermentation. Sun-Dried On Raised Beds. r: 02/20/24
• Music: The Deep Dark Woods - Broadside Ballads Vol​.​III

Autumn in my neck of the woods means hunting season, and though I’m not a hunter myself (not a tradition in my family), many of my friends growing up marked their calendar for the start of “deer season.” Folks save up their vacation time, stock up on bright orange garb, fill up their giant Stanley with coffee (or, not-so-covertly, something with brandy in it) and prepare to freeze their patushkas off. u/Grindermonk’s wonderfully woodsy deer-tallow soap captures that spirit; I lathered it up with a turned-antler handle FTC brush and layered with additional woodsy scents.

Speaking of spirits, check out this spooooooooky jack-o'-lantern. You might be thinking, “Hey, that’s an apple! Where the pumpkins at, bruh?” You’ve clearly forgotten that this tradition started with gnarled root vegetables “such as a mangelwurzel, rutabaga or turnip”, so we might as well add a round colorful fruit to the mix.

Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain

June 22nd, 2024

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Simpsons Chubby 2 Manchurian
• Razor: Thiers Issard 7/8" Maple Straight
• Blade: N/A
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Pumpkin Spice
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Pumpkin Spice
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain

No other scent/fragrance/smell/vegetable/fruit is more associated with Spooky Season/Autumn/Halloween than Pumpkin. Is a pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable? Well a cursory Google search confirms it is in fact a fruit.

Stirling's Pumpkin Spice is amazing, it's a super cinnamony/nutmeggy pumpkin scent. I def get burn from it (probably the cinnamon) but it's definitely worth it for the scent alone. The aftershave smells much more apple like to my nose. I finished up the shave with some Samhain, which is of course Halloween/Pumpkin themed.

The hardware used was my "scariest" looking razor, and my most orange-adjacent (butterscotch) brush.

Here is my Halloween carving. I tried to make a jack-o-lantern, but it was trickier with a DE due to the width of the blade. If I were to do it again, Id use something narrower like an Artist Club. Anyway, I lit a paper towel inside on fire because I don't have any tea candles on hand, but considering what I had at my disposal and not being able to leave my apartment due to Covid, I'm really happy with how it came out!

OP makes due with limited supplies and more COVID than is preferred and still carves a pumpkin.

June 22, 2024

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts / DG B11 26mm
• Razor: Gillette Ball End Tech
• Blade: Gillette Platinum
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Pomona
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Pomona - Splash
• Fragrance: Kenneth Cole - Reaction

Headed back to Wisconsin for another day of tailgating and live music. Yesterday was an absolute blast.

Not sure why I always end up in 90 degree Wisconsin on autumn day, but here we are.

My scent theme for today is apple. KCR has green apple as its most prominent top note. This is the cologne that Mrs. Miasma picked out for me when we went shopping together in college, then just as friends. It's a really nice crisp and fresh scent, I just wish it lasted longer than 20 minutes.

June 22, 2024

• Brush: Elite Razor Neo-resinate 26mm Mother Lode

• Razor: River Razors 14 8/8" Full Hollow

• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Hallows - Soap

• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Hallows - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Thayers - Rose - Toner
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Hallows - Eau de Toilette
• Talc: Yardley Classic
   

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I enjoy Hallows, even in June. However, today is hot, so it is not the best match for the weather.

Jun. 22, 2024

• Brush: Marco Rinaldi Peacemaker

• Razor: Blackland Sabre

• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE [21]

• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain

• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts - Autumn Ash

Spooky Season is here.

I’ve been looking forward today, I bought Samhain specifically for this challenge and have had it for weeks just waiting to be used. I am not disappointed at all. Sensory overload in the scent department between Samhain and Autumn Ash frag. My wife complimented how I smell and how the bathroom smelled after I was done. She said if they sell candles in these scents buy them all.

My son went backwards this morning. Started throwing up again, but I think it’s because he swallowed to much air while taking his pills. He was gulping air and ginger ale and you guessed it, Linda Blare was in my kitchen. Even one of my dogs gave him a WTF look.He seems to be better now, he took a nap and ate a little and it’s still staying down.

Today’s Daily Challenge. This was a fun one from me I love carving Pumpkins but no chance finding them this time of year in Florida. So I used 2 apples, a strawberry, grapes and a butternut squash. Also used a PAL SE blade on the apples and strawberries and grapes. But I did use a paring knife on the Squash. Here is my carving masterpiece, the Strawberry skull I used grape skins for the eyes. You could not really see the carved out part of the strawberry without the grape skin. The other grapes are just for decoration along with the tomato’s. The one apple I carved like a pumpkin, the other apple I carved to look like a pumpkin.

All time favorite Halloween Candy

1. Baby Ruth
2. Snickers
3. 3 Musketeers
4. Kit Kat
5. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Also Halloween is the ONLY day of the year I know I will not be asked why I wear an eye patch.

Photo Contest: Theme Eyes Speaking of eye patches, I only have one eye, and some have none. So today I embrace the having one in my photo.

#ROTY #FOF #photoContest

Jun. 22, 2024
Brush: AP SHAVECO AP400B XL 28 mm (G5C)
Razor: Karve CB SS SB (B Plate)
Blade: Astra Superior Platinum [3]
Lather: Spearhead - Seaforth! Black Watch - Soap
Post Shave: Spearhead - Seaforth! Black Watch - Aftershave
Post Shave: Zingari Man - Unscented (Sego) - Balm

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

Fall SOTD:

• Razor: Rockwell 6s
• Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (9)
• Brush: Solid Set
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps - Back to School
• Aftershave: Summer Break Soaps - Back to School
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps - Woodshop

Had to do an afternoon shave today after spending the morning kayaking, which was awesome (my daughter went solo on a kayak for the first time), and then mowing, which was much less awesome.

For the first 2 years of SBS, I did seasonal releases. Field Day, Cannonball, Back to School, and Winter Break. Obviously, Cannonball became a huge success, while the other 3 faded into obscurity. All 4 are unique scents and represent their seasons well, but honestly my personal favorite to use out of the 4 is probably Back to School. It is just a nice woodsy fall scent. It always puts me in a good mood

** 22.06.2024 **

• Brush: Muninn Woodworks - 24mm AP Shave Co Cashmere #COMPOSITE
• Razor: Henson Shaving AL13 medium steel blue #RAINBOW
• Blade: Gillette Minora
• Lather: MacDuffs soap company - Autumn cabin
• Post Shave: MacDuffs soap company - Autumn cabin
• Post Shave: Mühle alum stone

Today is really day of the dead and I was to my father grave. We gives a cherrys to people and put them on graves. But I remembered my childhood carving a watermelon lantern. And make a little horror movie making my diner.

June 22, 2024 - Spooky Season

• Brush: Yaqi Surf 22mm
• Razor: Yates Precision Manufacturing - 921-M
• Blade: Gillette - Silver Blue
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Autumn Ash
• Post Shave: Old Spice - Indian
• Fragrance: Old Spice Eau de Cologne

Today's Theme: Shout out to u/hugbckt for the smush. It’s been awhile since I’ve used Autumn Ash and it’s a wonderful scent. Doesn’t seem to clash too much with Old Spice.

Today's Challenge: I didn’t have a pumpkin to carve but I did find a little pepper in my fridge. Beware, this may be the scariest thing you see all year.

ROTY

June 22, 2024

• Brush: Simpson Trafalgar T3 #PREMIUMPLASTIC
• Razor: GEM Damaskeene
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (4)
• Lather: Barrister & Mann/Zingari Man - Nocturne - Soap
• Post Shave: Chatillon Lux - Gratiot League Square - Aftershave

I can't believe these Trafalgar brushes are $45 now. I think when my wife got it for me they were closer to $30? Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

Anyway, assuming this is the knot they use, it's $21 at AP Shave Co. https://apshaveco.com/products/28mm-independent-synthetic-fibre-knot-bulb-uhd

2024-06-22 LG SOTD

• Brush: Semogue SOC Mistura with "butterscotch" handle but we all know it's really pumpkin-colored
• Razor: Wolfman
• Blade: 7 O'Clock - Super Platinum aka BLACK NINJA
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain
• Post Shave: Old Spice - Original
• Fragrance: Calvin Klein - Obsession for Men

My wife loves Halloween, I love Christmas. My soap collection reflects that: half a dozen full-size Christmas soaps and a small handful of Autumnal samples that I've been using to meet this day's theme for the last half decade that I've been playing Lather Games.

• June 22
• Brush: Chisel and Hound – 26mm AP Shave Co Synbad
• Razor: Aylsworth Razors - Drakkant
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Boonana

It’s a Boonana Day all around!

Ah, let's delve into the intriguing scent of Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana, a fragrance that's as complex as it is captivating, perfect for the autumn season.

As I opened the jar of Boonana soap, I was greeted by the sweet, ripe aroma of bananas that are maybe two or three days past their prime. Like the overly ripe bananas that you’d use to make banana bread. But there's more to it than meets the eye (or nose) with this soap. Mixed within are subtle hints of florals, adding a touch of elegance and depth. Yet, it's the undertones of bourbon and musk that truly transform this friendly, potassium filled-fruit into something enigmatic.

As I lathered up, the spicy accords start to reveal themselves, intertwining with the banana to create a warm, inviting scent that's reminiscent of a cozy autumn evening. Beyond the banana, there’s an air carrying a hint of spice and a whisper of something enchanting. The Boonana Splash takes the experience further. The dark and spicy notes came alive on my skin, mingling with the floral and banana elements to create a harmonious blend that's both comforting and alluring. The alcohol free splash felt amazing on my skin and left my face feeling great for the rest of the day. And finally, the Boonana fragrance itself. This is where the complexity reaches its peak, a symphony of dark accords, spicy warmth, and the lingering sweetness of banana. Combined together, there is an aire of sophistication wrapped in an autumnal embrace. Hats off to Southern Witchcrafts for creating a unique banana scent that is both a novelty and an extremely wearable scent.

Challenge: I looked at the produce I had in my kitchen and spotted my victim. Behold! The Haunted Mango! Never carved a face in a mango before and might never again, so I made sure to treasure this special moment. I kind of wish I had a banana in my kitchen, to complete the theme of the shave, but alas, I just had mangos.

A carved mango looks gnarly.

6/22/24 Lather Games shave

• Brush: Jayaruh #441 / AP Shave Co G5C synth

• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain

• Razor: Timeless TI (slim plate) w/ Gillette Platinum

• Post Shave: Dr Jon’s - Propaganda

No pumpkins or time this morning for other carving, but enjoyable shave regardless! Have a great weekend everyone 🤙

June 22, 2024

• Brush: Omega Penelli White HI-BRUSH Synthetic
• Razor: Smartly twin blade disposable #rainbow
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Samhain

Travel shave again. I did not check luggage so here we are but at least the tiny strip of green and the white (which is all the rainbow colors) disposable will get me a #rainbow. I have a new element of scent added with this shave, fire and brimstone that spewed from the sulfurous well water that I used in our cabin. How appropriate. This scent, minus the sulfur, is special to me because it’s the first my wife actually liked. Old spice may have the old spice guy, but Samhain should have a dapper headless horseman wearing this. I would put it as low medium sweet, as the incense, oud, and sandalwood balance out the pumpkin and vanilla. Maybe it’s the other way around. That duality and balance is what makes it so great. The Amber adds the depth of scent that I’m addicted to smelling. The well water may have stunk, but this soap is definitely one of my favorite scents. Overall, this scent evokes a feeling of a dark and comforting night. Rainstorms, cold rainstorms, the kind that chill you to the bone as they soak your boots and socks. Getting covered in mud. Then this scent, Samhain, to the rescue. It’s comforting, sweet encases yourself in the scent and warms you up. You could also say a warm drink scent like coffee or cocoa too but to me it doesn’t have that same feeling as Samhain. So it’s ironic it’s 90+ degrees and so hot my skin sears if I’m outside for more than 5 minutes. What a day for spooky Sunday weather.

Unfortunate that I like my fingers or I would have ripped apart this disposable to carve my apple. But, regardless, challenge complete with the only food with me right now.

Todays theme is the elements: air for my hot air filled surgical glove #photocontest

#fof

Don't have anything specifically autimn right now. It's in middle of summer?

• Pre Hot towel.
• Brush Omega 
• Lather HR Harris Lavender. Probably more winter than autumn
• Blade Rockwell. Inexpensive. I need to use them up. First use.
• Razor Henson AL+++

3 pass shave. BBS.

2024-06-22 Spooky Season

• Prep: Coffee, Face wash soap/warm water
• Brush: Stirling Soap Company - 24mm Synthetic Shave Brush
• Razor: Parker 11R - (3 Piece, horn handle)
• Blade: Bolzano Superinox, DE
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Hallows
• Post Shave: Barrister & Mann – Hallows

Today's Theme: Spooky Season - went with Barrister and Mann's Halloween seasonal Hallows! As you can see I have two different years. I like the cartoon graphic a bit better. Just more fun.

By the way Hallow means to consecrate, make holy, or set aside or devote for holy purposes and usages such as a spot for burial. In reference to Halloween the word hallows is short for another term for the night, "all hallow's eve." which in turn is another term for All Saints Day. In pagan practices this time of year was when the natural and supernatural were in closest contact and the time was known as Samhain pronounced SOW-in (Irish) although nearby places had other names. The Jack-O-Lanterns with think of as carved pumpkins originally were carved turnips (to bad, I did not have one of those on hand).

I picked the Parker 11R with it's carved horn handle because of all my razors it looks the most like bone.

Today's Challenge: finding no pumpkin in the house, not even in a can I went with another fall staple the apple.

• Here is my carved apple - Malum in commutari cucurbita hoc spooky diem

"The moon is full,

The trees are bare,

Dead leaves glide through The cool, dry air.

The night is silent as a grave,

Or some deep, dark, unfathomed cave

Beneath the stars’ cold stare.

The silence breaks With hollow moans

And beastly snarls And clacking bones:

The God-forsaken, restless dead

Awaken from their earthen bed

Beneath cold, carven stones."

• Adam J. Sedia, All Hallows Eve - 2021

Scents for the day:

Barrister and Mann's Hallows - vetiver, oakmoss, black pepper, cocoa, labdanum, and cedar

Take care and have a good one.

Great apple carving.

Today I shaved with Darkfall and a Proraso boar brush. I used a fat handle tech with a Polsilver blade. I followed up with Darkfall and more Darkfall. It’s not ideal for a hot and humid day, but sets the bar as far as fall scents go.

June 22, 2024 - Spooky Season

• Brush: ShoreShave Burnt Orange, Tangerine, PearlSwirl T4 Fan 26 mm
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird
• Blade: Wizamet (36)
• Lather: Declaration Grooming - Darkfall
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana
• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - A City On Fire

Challenge: I’ll come back to this if I have time…

Edit: Okay. First, who has a pumpkin in June? Here's an avocado. I carved it with a GEM blade.

Darkfall has a regional, geographic tie-in to where I live. The old L&L was based ~20 miles from my house before moving to Michigan and rebranding to Declaration Grooming. In the fall, it’s very common to smell burn piles. I can hardly leave my house without smelling burning leaves that time of year. The smoke in this fragrance takes me there. The note perfectly mimics the smell of detritus being consumed by flame. The dry soap is very smokey. Once it was lathered, I smelled a warm base consisting of amber, wood, and balsamic notes. It’s a cool fragrance, and somewhat of a novelty. I like the theme. It really captures GA in the fall.

Speaking of GA, Southern Witchcrafts is a GA based brand that makes great soap. Their two most popular fragrances, Autumn Ash, and Samhain, are both fall fragrances. They’re also two of my least favorite fragrances from the brand. Enter Boonana. There are notes of candy banana and lily up top which feel playful and make me think of Halloween candy. Notes of bourbon and tobacco provide warmth and darker sweetness to the mix. There’s a hint of spice from the tobacco. A note of vanilla rounds out the sweeter notes and keeps the banana and bourbon in balance. As I continue to smell this, the pumpkin note takes hold. It smells like the real thing, raw, freshly carved. It’s the note that ties everything together. Honestly, a lot of my criticisms of Autumn Ash could also be leveled at Boonana. It’s very sweet, the banana is artificial, and it can be a bit cloying. But, I like this one. Maybe it’s the Runts I ate as a kid, or my love of bourbon as an adult, but this fragrance is fun.

For the fragrance, I wanted to play off the smoke motif of Darkfall. I chose Imaginary Authors A City On Fire. It’s a little overwhelming at first. It’s deeply smoky. The smoke has a chemical-quality. It’s sort of like charcoal briquettes. There are other notes I smell, but in the context of the fragrance add the prefix “smokey” to them. I smell pine, slightly sour balsamic, and resinous sweet notes. It’s actually an interesting fragrance that's fun to nose through. I wouldn’t buy a full bottle because I don’t know when I would wear it. It’s not the type of fragrance that would draw complements.

#photocontest - fire, to go with the smokey fragrances.

#FOF

• Prep: Splash of Cool Water
• Razor: Fine Accoutrements - Worlds Finest
• Blade: Gillette - 365 Stainless (7)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - **Boonana
• Brush: Elite Razor - Manchurian Bulb - Stoya 26mm (1 uses)
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - History 101

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Gear Pic :: Video

䷀ General Notes

Today's Lather Games theme is Haloween/that season/spicy soaps, and I thought Boonana was a good fit. Love the scent.

Had to join the lather games if I possibly could, if even in a small way. Moving/selling house/divorce stuff is keeping me insanely busy these days.

Also wanted to honor the recent Juneteenth holiday by using an AS with old Abe Lincoln's pic on it, History 101. Glad to celebrate a day when finally all Americans were free.

And remembering Matt /u/120inna55 today, as I take an old brush of his for its inaugural spin in my den. A wonderful piece.

䷀ Razor and Blade Notes

^(Fine Accoutrements - Worlds Finest ::: Gillette - 365 ‹7 uses›)

The 365 blade continues to impress in this Fine razor too. Easily shaved multiple days' growth and was comfy as well.

Razor and Blade Performance/Comfort Rating: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)

䷀ Soap Notes

^(Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana)

Them: "This no ordinary banana scent – it is a complex and rich blend of dark and spicy accords that are perfect for autumn. Boonana elegantly combines fresh banana with florals, bourbon, and musk to elevate the humble fruit into something mysterious and wicked."

Notes: Banana, bourbon, tobacco, lily, neroli, patchouli, vanilla, musk, pumpkin, cashmeran

Me: On first use, I noticed the banana in three phases, and in each one it was never novelty or overdone. It was always in conjunction and harmonious accord with the other notes, such as vanilla and amber and hint of warm wood. There were others in the blend at play of course, but they were more well-blended and hard to identify.

In the first phase it was smelling it from the dry tub. It was a light note of banana that one might easily not get if you're not looking for it. It just plays so well to the other notes available.

In the second phase, the early part of the lather, it did start to have a more taffy banana style to it. But the other scents kept it from being novelty with their warmth and well-roundedness. this phase is where more of the scent came out in the other notes, and it was very interesting. While my first use was a blind evaluation, as I read the notes now, I can easily place the bourbon, tobacco, vanilla, musk, pumpkin, and cashmeran in my nose's recall of the scent. All existing in a wonderful blend.

In the third phase, near the end of the shave, the banana was pretty much gone, leaving that excellent supportive cast. Warm, amber, and vanilla were the notes/words that kept popping into my mind. The others are there in a great blend that were just too hard to pick out blindly.

The all these notes just play so well together. I'm afraid the funny name might make unknowing folks not take this scent nearly as serious as it is. It's very sophisticated. I could wear it all year, but today when I tried it, it was super cold outside, and boy did this one fit the bill. What a great autumn/winter scent especially.

SW knocks another one out of the park. This is creative, unique, and so intelligently put together. It's interesting to watch the banana come and go as the shave progresses. It feels all comfy and warm, but the musk and tobacco type notes keep it from being too much of a toy and give it strength and maturity. What a treat, /u/phteven_j and /u/kenzykat

Lather... 60 swirls to load and that was just fine.

Slurry went really well and was mature by the third pass. I already knew SW's base was SL compatible anyway.

Very slick and luxurious.

Hydration: Perfect (for me)

• 20 sec load with a Soaking brush
• = 3 passes of lather

䷀ Brush Notes

^(Elite Razor - Manchurian Bulb Stoya 26mm ‹1 uses›)

This is going to be a great brush to enjoy for many years. It's the kind of manchurian I like, where the tips are luxurious, and it has medium backbone to keep those tips on your face, but still keep an easy to splay nature.

It worked great with the slurry lather method, and I think is going to be awesome with any shaving technique.

This was my first use of this one, since I just bought it from the consignment sale for Matt's wife. So sorry to lose /u/120inna55.

---

During the Shave Feel:
  Cheeks: Felt blade but comfortable
  Neck: Felt blade but comfortable
After the Shave Closeness:
  Cheeks: Near BBS - About as close as I'll ever get
  Neck: Near BBS - About as close as I'll ever get

---

Shavers Map - here it is and also in the sub's sidebar.

Ending of Blades Ledger - entry form and the data spreadsheet

Spooky Seanson

• Brush: Yaqi Ferrari
• Razor: Muhle R41
• Blade: Bic
• Lather: Zingari Man - The Merchant

Spicy scent should be eligible.

photocontest

The Elements: Fire

Today’s Challenge:

Halloween

June 22, 2024 - Spooky Season

• Brush: Semogue Owners Club - Cherry Boar
• Razor: Solingen Silver Steel 6/8 Hollow Round Point
• Lather: Red House Farm - Prairie Dog
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Co. - Black Watch Toner
• Fragrance: Jean Paul Gaultier - Le Male EdT #FOF

Spooky Season:

This was a tricky one as I used my today’s sponsor Southern Witchcrafts already in the LG. Samhain is a solid choice for fall. Instead I was scrambling to fit something. As I was perusing the sponsor list, I saw Red House Farm as a sponsor of the No Scrubs side challenge. I have a soap that I won in a PIF from u/Grindermonk, Prairie Dog. I think a soap that evokes a warm fall evening is a good choice for the hottest day so far this year, and solidly fits the theme.

Scary Squash Slicing:

June is not even close to pumpkin season. I thought about sewing up a pumpkin today with some felt, but not sure I’d finish it. I just bought some Honey Crisp Apples this week. They are firm and kind of pumpkin shaped. Time to grab the weapon of choice, a Personna GEM PTFE blade. The scariest thing I could think of was how much time I’m spending doing challenges on Reddit. So I tried to carve a Snoo. The poor guy got absolutely destroyed.

Pro tip for Halloween, if you want to be the best house in your neighborhood. Four words sum it up: Full Sized Candy Bars. When I lived in New Hampshire it was in a great family neighborhood. In September, I saw that Costco had a crazy price on boxes of 30 full sized bars. I ended up over the next few weeks buying 7 of them. Altogether I spent about $70. It was a very good deal that year. Once kids saw we were giving out full sized bars, they went nuts. Several screamed, “This is the best house ever!” It was so much fun giving those out that year. I ended up getting relocated and moved away before the next Halloween and don’t get many kids trick or treating.

Feats Fragrance Kind:

Today was a tricky one, but it worked out to be a treat. Starting from Prairie Dog with base notes of incense and sandalwood, I went to Black Watch which is also built with the same. It adds some leather and oakmoss giving it more earthiness, but that works well with the clary sage and vetiver in Prairie Dog. So far working well to me. It’s a warm fall evening. Those fall days that are called Indian Summer. Leaves are starting to turn, and I’m enjoying it as the real cold weather hasn’t come yet. To cap it off, Le Male also has sandalwood in the base notes, plus vanilla and lavender, which comes back to Prairie Dog. What Le Male adds though is a bit of warm spice from cardamom, cinnamon, and caraway. Cinnamon stands out for me from Le Male. I considered using Black Watch as the fragrance with Prom King as post shave, but I get a bit more spice from the EdT original. That felt like a better progression to me.

June. 22, 2024 - SOTD 

• Prep: Splash of warm water
• Brush: Oumo O4 Venus SHD Badger Brush 26MM
• Razor: King C Gillette
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain
• Post Shave: Nivea Men - Sensitive Soothing Aftershave Balm

June 22, 2024 – LG 22: Spooky Season

• Brush: Maggard Purple Swirl Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Voskhod (6)
• Lather: Storybook Soapworks/Australian Private Reserve – Carnivale
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Lyssa
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. – Gatlinburg

All software is fall themed today for our #FOF. Storybook/APR Carnivale is a perfect fall scent. To use their words, “Carnivale. Elegant Fall Molecules.”. Also described as “Carnivale is the story of festivals and celebrations that occur during the cool months of autumn.” I mostly get stone fruit, touch of spice, woods. It opens with dried apricot and plum but I don’t really get the citrus (perhaps in other mediums it comes through better), quickly enveloped by muscatel grapes – though not juicy per se. It’s supported by soft woods and mellow spices, non of which I’d pick out individually. There’s a slight dankness to it, the faintest whiff of jazz cabbage, and you know, r/usernamechecksout. Lyssa was dubbed ‘zombie repellent’, and is another fall scent (Oct 2019 release). It’s quite spicy, with sage and nutmeg leading the charge. There is a floral sweetness though, coming from rose and violets. All resting upon a mossy and patchouli base. Stirling Gatlinburg was a setting out to “make a fall scent that might stay all year long.” It’s woody, peppery, and mossy. Though lavender and bergamot give it some faint brightness to keep it from getting bogged down.

For #PHOTOCONTEST we went with baseball. Got to Wales today. Interestingly enough, my cousins husband who is Welsh is an Oakland As fan and I live in Oakland, small world.

For our challenge, here’s my quick work of a chocolate digestive biscuit, carved with a razor blade.

LG SOTD Jun 22 2024 - Courgette O' Lantern wakes up in the woods and goes Bananas as the Fog Cowers on Hallows

#photocontest

Theme: Wood

• Brush: Black & Yellow Merit 99-5 by Heritage Collection Shaving / AP Shave Faux Boar Synthetic 24mm
• Razor: Henson AL13 - Medium #RUSTYBUTTRUSTY #CNC #RAINBOW
• Blade: Treet - Carbon Steel [1]
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Hallows - Aftershave Splash
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - The Fog Cowers (sample)

LET'S START TO TALK ABOUT FOOD

Pumpkins (or "Zucche", in Italian) are mostly an Autumn sight.

During the Summer, they are harvested while they are still young babies: not a full-blown Zucca, but a small Zucchina, also known internationally as Courgette.
The freshest ones are sold together with their flower, which you can use for many recipes.

Then, there are also the round courgettes, harvested while they are still young, just like the long ones. These are sold without flower, so that no protruding element will distract from their promising roundness.
Because of their soft skin, they are destined to be carved, stuffed with other ingredients, and then baked in the oven. A google search will reward you with plenty of options.

THE STORY OF COURGETTE O' LANTERN

Born under the Summer sun, a round courgette was harvested together with her sisters and cousins, all looking the same, all looking forward to the same baked destiny.
The following morning, they were all in a box on the shelf of a greengrocer in the big city.

Throughout the day, all her companions got progressively Picked Up and went away with their new human partners. By the time the greengrocer closed shop, our round courgette found herself left over, all by herself in the big empty box. Suddenly, a deep soothing voice with a sexy foreign accent resounded in the darkness of the closed shop: "What are you doing up here all alone?"

"It's just a matter of time, my partner should be picking me up any minute now..."

The courgette's skin was suddenly reached by a sensuous smell. At first, the sweet scents of flowers and vanilla made her nostalgic for her past life under the sun. Then, a darker accord started to creep in, with notes of tobacco and something boozy, something forbidden...

In the darkness, young courgette barely saw the shape of the tall yellow stranger leaning on to her, then felt a sharp cut on her soft skin, and lost conscience.

She woke up light headed and surrounded by the warm embrace of a variety of woods - some smooth, some rugged. A faint smell of lemon was lingering in the air. "Am I finally meeting my destiny, am I on a chef's chopping table ready to be transformed into a human meal?".

"Your transformation is a thing of the past" - the voice was coming from the branch of Fir that was almost surrounding her with its soft yet spiky embrace - "Can't you feel this smell in the air?".

All around her, beyond the faint lemony resin of the Fir, another sweet yet dark scent was lingering around her soft skin. If the tall yellow stranger at the greengrocer's had seduced her with intoxicating notes of vanilla and booze, this time there were notes of cocoa, and then aromatic green/woody notes of vetiver and cedar.

While trying to smell all this, Courgette felt something different on her skin.

"You have been touched by the Magic of the Rotting Blade", explained Fir. "You are now one of us. Not living, yet not dead".

Courgette's desperate scream was muffled by a thick Fog that was starting to Cower in the woods. The air was filled with more moss and musks, as well as heady flowers from somewhere Beyond.

"Today is All Hallows, the day of the Unliving" said a familiar voice. Round Courgette suddenly noticed that a whole pack of bananas where surrounding her, all lit by an unnatural light.

One of the strangers was still yellow, untouched by decay. She immediately realized it was the same yellow tall stranger who had approached her at the empty green grocer, on that lonely night. The other bananas, however, showed the black streaks of having trespassed the threshold of ripeness.

"Embrace your destiny, you little zucchina" - said Tall Yellow Stranger. The Magic Rotting Blade gave you a new purpose. Your undead name will be Courgette O' Lantern. From now on, your immortal duty is to forever glow in the darkness, luring other fruits to this unholy ground, where they will join us for the rest of eternity"

"But what is this place?" - asked Courgette, with her last glimpse of sanity.

"Just shut up and shine, my dear, you must learn to shine and wait"

"Wait for what?"

"The only thing worth it. The Next Coming of the Once and Future King!"

"Who?"

"They call him the Grave Fruit. That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die"

#FOF

#ROTY

OP tells a scary tale of scent, undead fruits, and the glowing Courgette O' Lantern.

June 22, 2024

• Prep: House of Mammoth Embrace Doppio Bath Soap
• Brush: Bristle Brushwerks 28mm Hucklaration B3
• Razor: J.A. Henckels Friodur 472 13/16 Full Hollow Square Point
• Edge: Griffith's (14)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana - Soap
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana - Eau de Parfum

Fantastic afternoon shave. Boonana++

Jun. 22, 2024
Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts/Briar Brushworks Hybrid Declaration Grooming B15 Badger #Composite * Razor: Yates 921-M
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain - Soap
Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain - Aftershave
Post Shave: Osma - Alum

Autumn Theme…

Personally, there are only two or three true “Spooky” scents. Lyssa and Hallows, plus this one.

I really really like this scent. The base, is amazing, but the thing that I have admired the most about Southern Witchcrafts is how many of their scents are inspired by literature and films. Carpathia is another one, and of course, Valley of Ashes.

Next year is the 100th anniversary of the release of “The Great Gatsby”. I would love to see West Egg, East Egg, and VoA available again.

Anyway, I bought this Yates 921M a while ago. It’s #68, (yes, there’s a joke there somewhere). I have the short handle too, another top cap, and a hybrid and a High plate too. The hybrid plate is brass, and has OC on one side.

The pod casts are great. 👍

2 passes. No issues.

No fruit were slaughtered for this shave. Pumpkins are not in Season.

Random Meme

June 22, 2024 - ** SPOOKY SEASON**

• Brush: AP shave Co. - Tuxedo 24mm synthetic Black & Butterscotch signature series
• Razor: Schick - Krona 1960s TTO DE
• Blade: Personna - Platinum
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Autumn Ash
• Post Shave: HAGS Artisan - Ritual Splash
• Fragrance: Wholly Kaw - Timmermann Red Label 1869 EdP

SOAP This Vegan base soap is very comparable to other artisans out there. Same level of silkiness and slickness. This soap is a bit Smokey and sweet so to elevate these notes I used ritual splash which also has a big sweet smoky back bone. And top it all off I went with WK timm red EdP which also has a sweet Smokey tone to it! (Shout out to u/curbside_champ for the ritual sample)

RAZOR - The blade is still holding on for its dear life!

THE THEME - I LOVE dissecting stuff since I was young. Bugs, lab animals, anything that can be taken apart I wanted to try it. In essence Halloween was at the epicenter of fun since it’s okay to be gross!! BUT unfortunately I can’t find any damn pumpkins around right now so my local market offered me the next best thing. A melon! Don’t get me wrong I love melons. So sweet and succulent! You can juggle them and caress them, oh so much fun!! So I put my carving skills to the test using an old razor blade.

Pretty tricky at first PIC2.

And I finally had my FINAL RESULT!!

I think it sums it all up on how I feel so far doing all these challenges!! 🤣🤣 And following the theme of spookiness I couldn’t just let the corpse go to waste so on to the morgue it went!! FINAL RESTING PLACE!

Stellar carving.

June 22, 2024 – LG Day 22 – sp00ky szn but in June

• Brush: Maggard Timberwolf Synthetic 24mm
• Razor: Ever Ready 1912
• Blade: AccuTec Pro Premium
• Lather: Declaration Grooming – Darkfall
• Post Shave: Hub City Soap Co. – Friday Night Lights
• Fragrance: Kerosene – Blackmail

Darkfall, the essence of fall in Georgia a la burning leaves, is pure smoky goodness. My partner would say it smells like smoked meats (she might not be wrong), but once lathered that quality drifts away. The birch tar is strong, but as it fades, a pleasant smoke with warming spices and woods remains. With our splash, we move over to fall in the Midwest, where the local high school football game is a true community event. Or rather, the party after the game. If it were realistic, the prominent marshmallow note would be replaced with eau de Bud Light, but I’m thankful they opted for the vanilla approach. The campfire element is fairly subdued here, and though I usually wish it was stronger, a softer, smoother scent works nicely in this lineup. Blackmail is a lovely finish to the shave, although the region it represents is likely more in fantasy land. Berries and two smoky elements, incense and woodsmoke. Maybe a land where the folks at the bonfires in Friday Night Lights are roasting berries instead of ‘mallows, or an American South where raspberries fall from the trees and are alit with the coming of autumn. #FOF

I’m tempted to take us on a horticultural and capitalistic journey where I explain why pumpkins aren’t available at the supermarket in June, but I’m tired after spending quite a long time carving my masterpiece.

I popped over to the grocery store to get my in-season canvas and sauntered to the shave den to grab my tools. After a test run on the backside with the sole intention of scaring Jeffbot, I got to work. An hour and change later, I’m quite proud of the final result. Quite spooky, if I do say so myself.

That's a crazy carving

Jun. 22, 2024 - what a party!
Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts B11 Badger
Razor: The Alberta
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Autumn Ash - Soap
Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Gravefruit II - Aftershave
Fragrance:* Southern Witchcrafts - Gravefruit II EdP

Lovely shave this morning. Hosted 25 people at my house to celebrate my mothers’ 85th. That took up my day so no pumpkin carving, unfortunately.

Now I’m spent. Shave on!

SOTD June 22, 2024 

• Prep: Splash of warm water
• Brush: Stirling Synthetic 2-band 24mm
• Razor: Van Der Hagen 85MM Safety Razor
• Blade: Van Der Hagen Stainless
• Lather: Southern Witchcraft - Samhain
• Post Shave: Nivea Men Sensitive balm

Samhain is the best autumn soap ever created and I will not be accepting any rebuttals to that assertion.

June 22, 2024

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts X John Butcher - "Mark" - 24mm APShave Co Cashmere Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Aristocrat Adjustable
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Samhain Soap
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts – Samhain Splash
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Samhain EdP

The judges know it’s not pumpkin season, right? So I guess I better carve a the pumpkin of the Summer: A watermelon! I was so excited to carve the little bastard with my kids I completely forgot to take a before picture, so you all are going to have to trust me that I didn’t buy a watermelon that was pre-carved.

Anyway, we carved up a watermelon, and set him up with my gear for a SOTD pic but then I realized he wasn’t quite camera ready. He’s looking a little scraggly. I can’t have my new friend looking not his best in pictures. And it didn’t seem right that I be the only one to shave around here. Let’s clean him up a bit, shall we? You guys know the drill. First comes the lather. Let’s pause for a quick picture to commemorate the occasion. My little melon’s first shave! They grow up so fast. Now, let’s clean you up, buddy. I gave him a BWS shave, wiped him down, and bingo! He looks about 10 years younger, doesn’t he?

A little behind the scenes: This was a fun challenge, judges. My kids had a blast with this one. However, my wife’s sister is visiting from out of town and staying with us while she’s here. Having to explain to her why we bought a watermelon only to scoop out the melon, and carve it up, slather lather all over it, and then shave it was an interesting conversation. She went along with it, but I’m pretty sure she thinks (figured out?) I’m a crazy person. Kitchen shaving with her around tomorrow is gonna be interesting…

Now, on to the #FOF:

In my humble opinion, there is no better Autumn Scent than Samhain. It actually ~~may be~~ is one of my favorite scents in wetshaving, so I’m using a trickhole of it today because it’s the best. It’s warm and inviting, a little gourmand, but still balanced enough for anyone to wear out for any occasion. Not all SW scents may be for me, but the ones that are for me, are phenomenal.

Using Samhain is like stepping outside on a fall morning, where the air is crisp with the aroma of fallen leaves and autumn traditions. Its warm scent envelops me in a wonderful sensory embrace, weaving a story that lingers long after the first whiff. The fragrance opens with the inviting sweetness of spiced pumpkin and nutmeg, reminiscent of a freshly baked pumpkin pie. This initial burst of warmth and comfort is quickly accompanied by the rich notes of bourbon and a hint of tobacco.

As the scent continues to develop, it reveals layers of complexity, reminding me of the scents I would smell trick or treating in New England or attending Harvest Festivals in the fall. Notes of sandalwood, incense, and amber reveal the spirit of a New England harvest festival and I can almost hear the leaves crunching under my feet as I stroll in the cool breeze and listen to kids running and playing. To put a finishing touch on the whole experience, there’s smoky allure of burning embers and aged woods, that transport me to a cozy bonfire under a starlit sky. It's the final whisper of one of my favorite times of year that brings this fall-time shave experience together, leaving me with a sense of both enchantment and nostalgia.

For me, Samhain is more than just a fragrance; it's a journey back through back to the autumns of my childhood – and one I hope my recreate for my kids as they get older. It's a perfect blend of pumpkin and spices, with the crisp whispers of fall leaves, and it absolutely create a captivating symphony for the senses. This scent is Autumn in a bottle.

Challenge: Obviously.

Soap Theme Justification: From SW: “Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the ‘darker half’ of the year.” It is celebrated from October 31 to November 1 to welcome in the harvest

Relevant Post Shave & Fragrance: Trickhole.

June 22 2024: Spooky Saturday

• Brush: Dogclaration B9A
• Razor: Solingen Best Silver Steel 6/8
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana
• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Bois Marocain

Perfect day for Southern Witchcrafts to be the sponsor, since they made a perfect spooky season scent, Boonana. It's mysterious and spicy but also banana-y. It paired well with Bois Marocain, which is similarly mysterious and spicy, though woody instead of banana-y. Great stuff. I also used my Dogwood handled brush today for sponsor-shave synchronicity.

DAY 22 LATHER GAMES! SPOOKY AUTUMN!

• Prep: Water
• Brush: Stirling Synthetic 2-Band Brush
• Razor: Filarmonica 14 Sub Cero 8/8 #STR8SNOB
• Blade: Filarmonica 14 Sub Cero 8/8
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Ozark
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Ozark splash
• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - A city on fire

Now first things, first. Ozark by definition from Stirling is an Autumn scent, so it fits the theme.

Short horror story

Chunks of food were muddling his reflection while he continued to hurl his lunch over the railing, he knew he shouldn't have trusted that sea platter at the docks earlier.

• We're almost there Mr. Tangerine!! - exclaimed the captain

"Thank the Gods" he thought, his place was not on a boat, and why would it, no Tangerine should suffer the cruelty of the sea. Lifting up his head, in the distance he saw clearly the silhouette of an island. His sea sickness was quickly replaced by excitement of the awaiting expedition. Years of research had led him to this island, the mythical island of Tangashaknoquinoa. There resided a tribe of Tangerine people, deemed to be extinct.

• What do you think waits for us there? - Tangerine asked the captain.

The captain himself, an old and burly coconut, dark as bronze due to years of exposition to the sun scoffed and remarked:

• I couldn't care less sir, my job is to get you there and wait for you on this ship.

Mr. Tangerine man just shook his head and sighed, for he knew that the intricacies of his expedition were completely lost on the captain. Soon they had docked and set foon on the sandy beaches of the island.

• Are you going to come explore with me captain? - Tangerine asked
• Naaaah gonna stay here and bask in the glory of the sun!
• Suit yourself....

"Idiot" he thought to himself, knowing that this was a once in a lifetime chance. Tangerine started walkign towards the jungle to explore but remembered one more thing he wanted to ask the captain.

• Captain?
• Yeah?
• What should I do in case....

His sentence was interrupted by an arrow that whistled by him and landed straight between the Captain's eyes, dropping him dead on the spot. Shock filled Mr. Tangerine's body and as he turned to the direction of the arrow he saw what could only be described as horribly disfigured and tattooed tangerines, the native tribe of this island. Before he could utter a word they charged at Mr. Tangerine, his attempts at escaping, futile. He was quickly captured and incapacitated. Given the dire situation, Mr. Tangerine's profession did take over as he started to study with his eyes the people in front of him. They spoke a harsh language he had never heard of before. The tribe people looked so primitive, like ancestors of Mr. Tangerine.

• Hey, what will you do with me? - he interupted their conversation.

The leader of the pack kneeled down to Mr. Tangerine sky, looked him for a second and gave him a big whack on the head with his stick. "Shit" Mr. Tangerine thought, "this ain't going well" as the light faded and he lost conciousness.

Several hours later Mr. Tangerine awoke to a cacophony of sounds that consisted of incoherent yelling and loud tribal music. His head hurting and pulsating from the hit he took, he fixated his gaze on the scenery to see what was happening . It was clearly some kind of ritual ceremony, but for what, he did not know. In one of the corners he saw the captain, or what was left of him, they had took the top part of his head off and took every organ out, he was just a shell of what he used to be. Tangerine felt like puking again, but what shocked him and totaly made him freeze was the big poles in the ground next to the captain. On each poll there was the empty husk of a Tangerine, some looked like Mr.Tangerine, some looked like the tribe members. It dawned onto him, these Tangerines, they were Tangiballists, they ate their own kind, and that was the fate that awaited Mr. Tangerine. He started yelling and squirming, but to no avail, all he did was made the locals laugh. As soon as he made it know that he was a wake, the chief of the tribe walked over and grinned, with what teeth he had left. Bloodlust in his eyes and saliva dripping from his mouth, the tribal chief took out a dagger and started stabbing Mr. Tangerine. "No, this can't be it, it can't end like this, it must be a nighma...." his thoughts started fading, body going limp, in his last concious moments Mr. Tangerine heard the chief laugh and say one word, that filled his dying body with dread, he recognised that word....

"Scrub"

Daily Challenge

Now the daily challenge was exactly what I have written in the story. Since there were no pumpkins I decided to go with tangerines and be a cannibal/tangibal. It was way trickier to carve them out cause of how soft the skin was, but I managed, using a spoon, but for the faces I used a Feather(Valet) FHS-10 blade to make the eyes and mouths. Three is the lucky number so here is what I ended up with:

Side to side

And of course it would not be a LG post if there wasn't a STACKING photo. Have you ever seen a Tangerine o lanterns stacked on each other? No! You're welcome!

Daily Lather Themes: 22/30

• Daily Challenges: 20/30
• Hardware Scavenger Hunt: 20/20
• Hardware Vendor Points: 2/2
• Software Vendor Points: 13/16
• Software Vendor Bonus Point: 0/1
• 30 Different Soap Brands Point: 22/30
• 30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point: 22/30
• 30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point: 22/30
• 30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point: 22/30

Bravo. User writes a story, and then carves his namesake fruit.

June 22, 2024 – Phoning it in.

• Brush: Great Grampa’s old brush handle with a CDMG G5 synthetic knot #fauxfur
• Razor: Gillette Tech Fat Handle
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Samhain
• Post Shave: Old Spice – Old Spice Original

Most low effort I got for the games so far. On the road, big day tomorrow. Spooky spicy so good vegan lather. And a retro spicy Grampa splash. Enjoy your shave between the blades, cheers!

https://imgur.com/a/RtYsEc8

• Prep: PAA - Chocolate Cube
• Bowl: Named Armor - Silver Fox Scuttle
• Brush: AP Shave Co. - Cashmere 30mm with Black/Clear Handle
• Razor: Colonial - The General Version 2
• Blade: Kai - Captain Titan Mild Protouch MG
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Pumpkin Spice
• Post Shave: PAA - Atomic Pumpkin
• Fragrance: PAA - Atomic Pumpkin Solid Cologne

I'll admit it, I was afraid today. I planned to use my newly acquired Kamisori, but I couldn't do it. I have never shaved with a straight razor folding or a Kamisori before. I didn't want to end up like the person formerly known as Dave from my limerick yesterday. I loaded a blade into it, but just couldn't start the shave. I will save my first straight shave until next years lather games. Instead of shaving today with the Kamisori, it was used on poor Mr. B (short for Banana). His faced was carved using it and then he suffered a fatal blow when it struck him in the head close to the stem. Here are the crime scene photographs.

Challenge of the Day: https://imgur.com/a/8rhS0Hm

All told a nice shave with Pumpkin Spice soap and Atomic pumpkin aftershave and Solid Cologne.

Different blade, brush, razor, soap brand and aftershave 22 days and still going!

ROTY

Jun. 22, 2024 - Boooooo

• Prep: CeraVe - Hydrating Facial Cleanser

• Brush: Trotter Handcrafts Burnt Butterscotch v11 Fanchurian Badger

• Razor: Everyday Razors Stinger

• Blade: Feather Hi-Stainless (2)

• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana

• Post Shave: Thayers - Cucumber

• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana

Daily Challenge: Check out that pic that I carved my soap name into the banana! Yes that is a bread lame, I used it to carve my banana!

Daily Theme Justification: Boonana is the epitome of the fall season, it’s a dark take on banana that we know and love from Southern Witchcrafts.

Relevant Post Shave & Frag: As we learned last year, banana is a berry! But did you know that Cucumber is botanically a berry? While we didn’t keep the ~~banana~~ berry day from last year it did give great knowledge! Today’s theme is berry scents, all are botanically berries!

Jun. 22, 2024 Spooky Season * Brush: Chisel & Hound Quartermoon
Razor: Maggard V3M/MR5
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana
Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Pomona * Post Shave: Osma - Alum
Post Shave:* Jack Black - Double-Duty Face Moisturizer

Challenge: Jack O’ Lantern: Tortilla Edition * Tortilla: Mission White Corn Street Taco * Blade: GEM PTFE

ROTY

LG2024- June 21st “No trick but a smoky then sweet treat

• Brush: Elite Razor Custom Birch Synthetic
• Razor: Razorock GC .84
• Blade: Voskhod (7)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts- Autumn Ash
• Post: Stetson splash

Shave: Autumn ash is the quintessential fall scent for me. It’s the type of scent that transports you to a place like few other. I absolutely love it.

Challenge:

My options were raspberries, cherries, strawberries or a pineapple.

Spooky Strawberry

ROTY

June 22, 2024 – LG24 Day 22 - Spooky Season

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan Knot set in DS Cosmetics Queen Red handle
• Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .76-P
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (3)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Autumn Ash
• Post Shave: Black Ship Grooming Co. - Davy Jones AS Splash
• Fragrance: Symmetry Lab - Oud & Spice EdP

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Autumn Ash is marketed as "The quintessential Fall fragrance" (and it has Autumn in its name to boot), thus making today's soap on theme.

Woody and amber are two of Autumn Ash's main accords. I leaned into them when selecting my post and frag. Post is a "woody, amber-moss scent mixed with a spicy Bourbon and vanilla blend". Frag (a dupe of Tom Ford Oud Wood) is in the Amber Woody group of scents. Collectively they complement each other nicely.

The Shave: Yesterday I grumbled about shaving without a mirror because our Bali villa's bathroom doesn't have one above the sink. u/Mayana8828, our "sub's most active blind person", gently challenged me to continue practicing non-mirrored shaving. I joined Lather Games to get out of my comfort zone and to learn new aspects of wet shaving not previously experienced. While not an LG-official challenge (at least not yet), it's a worthy one nonetheless, so I went mirrorless again today. Instead of whining about what I didn't have, I laser-focused on my available senses (touch and hearing) and was pleasantly surprised by how much "seeing" I could do without my eyes. I still have no idea on how to trim my sideburns without a mirror, but with enough practice I should be able to figure it out.

Daily Challenge: I didn't anticipate the carving challenge. I know what you're thinking - carving was THE obvious challenge for today - but I've been focusing on supporting my son and his team during the Bali7 U14 soccer tournament. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!

During a tournament break, I perused today's LG SOTDs (via the reddit mobile app) and u/Enndeegee's post immediately caught my attention. He baked bread and used a bread lame (complete with razor blade) to carve it. A high effort challenge execution if there ever was one.

I demonstrated on Dupelgänger Day my affinity for low effort. Since there's precedent in doing the same thing over and over (for instance u/Priusaurus making an artform out of the Urban Outdoor Shave (TM pending) and u/tsrblke making his shaves a Family Affair!), why can't I make low effort my thing. Hmmmmm... Baked bread - I have that. Razor blade - How about the DE blade I just shaved with. Lame - Doing a carving of a scary face with a DE blade on a piece of sliced sandwich bread is about as lame-ass as it gets. Here's my low effort scary carving!

SOTD Pic Note: My SOTD picture was staged prior to flying out the Philippines to Bali. I brought with me samples/smushes/decants of all needed software for LG use during this trip. Here's a pic of today's wares taken just prior to shaving.

June 22, 2024

• Brush: Stirling Soap Co. Finest Badger 24mm Fan Knot
• Razor: “Screwy” (GEM Damaskeene)
• Blade: Personna GEM
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Autumn Ash
• Post Shave: Captain’s Choice - Cat o’ Nine Tails
• Fragrance: Oriza L. Legrand - Chypre Mousse

Meet Screwy the Damaskeene Razor. Screwy is over 100 years old. Screwy has been a good razor but is showing his age. Specifically, the latch-thingy in the middle of his head, meant to hold the blade in place, has weakened. This seems to have affected Screwy’s mental state—lately he's displayed certain disturbing tendencies (see below).

Today’s I went with Southern Witchcrafts Autumn Ash. SW was one of the first shave soaps I tried, and certainly the most offbeat in terms of scent. In addition to Autumn Ash, I got samples of Carpathia, Valley of Ashes, Necromantic, Fougere Nemeta, and Lycanthropy (the latter two, I believe, have since been discontinued).

I chose Captain’s Choice Cat o’ Nine Tails because the name sounded sinister and Halloween-y. It turns out to be a reference to seafaring—the notorious lash—with the fragrance being warm, spicy, and boozy.

Oriza L. Legrand Chypre Mousse is among the strangest fragrances I’ve tried. It’s been around since 1914 (even longer than Screwy) and has a kind of baroque complexity and sumptuousness that one doesn’t encounter much these days. I wouldn’t normally have chosen it for today’s theme, but the artisan describes it as an autumn scent. It has earthy, fecund qualities—the smell of undergrowth—that echo some of the dirt and mildew notes in Autumn Ash.

As a razor Screwy has performed well since arriving two days ago. Jamming a screw into his head has helped to keep the latch in place. Last night, however, he went on a rampage. He murdered an orange, devoured its insides, and then proceeded to make a mask out of the orange’s skin and wear it. This seems needlessly sadistic and evil. No sure where things go from here.

For an autumnal painting I’ve selected “A Corner of the Park at Bellevue, Autumn, Sunset” a 1902 painting by Henri Rousseau.

#ROTY

Users razor "screwy" makes mask out of skin and wears it. (Just an orange peel, but, sadistic razor nonetheless)

Jun. 22, 2024
Brush: AP Shave Co G5C
Razor: Karve CB
Blade: Rapira Super Stainless [5]
Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain - Soap
Post Shave:* Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain - Aftershave

I bought this soap and splash because last year it was popular. It did not disappoint. I didn’t realize how soft the soap was and overloaded but hey was a super luxurious lather. First time using southern witchcrafts. I smell like a fancy pumpkin rn and we will see how the wife likes it when she gets home. I’m not in it to win it this year so passing on the challenge because the only carvable thing requires too much effort, or is the banana I’m gonna feed my kid tm. Also can we talk about the electrical tape style wrap that is crazy to get off of SW splashes? Was intensely difficult lol. Also did not expect the splash to be white.

Cheers!

!June 22, 2024 – Spooky Season!<

• Brush: Semogue 2000
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (8)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Autumn Ash
• Post Shave: HAGS – Ritual splash
• Fragrance: HAGS – Ritual rollerball EDP
• Song: Ice Nine Kills – It is The End (music starts at 4:35)
• The Lather: Southern Witchcrafts makes a fantastic lathering soap. I had no issues whipping up a fantastic lather, but unfortunately something in the base just doesn’t agree with my nose. I have no idea what it is, but it gets my allergies going every time.
• The Shave: No complaints with todays shave. Smooth, simple, and quick.
• Aftershave/Frag: HAGS claims Ritual to have a “dark, spicy, sweet, and smokey” scent that blends perfectly with the “spicy, dirty, smokey, sweet” scent of Autumn Ash. The scent notes may be different, but they accomplish about the same goal. Aside from scent Ritual’s label just fits the spooky bill way too well with its Baphomet image and the connection between its image and (Southern) Witchcraft.
• Theme: Autumn Ash is about as autumn a scent as it gets.
• Challenge: Carve a pumpkin, in June. That was about as impossible feat as there could be, so I opted for a watermelon instead. Unlike pumpkins, watermelons are not hollow and are full of juicy red flesh. I opted for the less traditional rind carving with a small cutout of red to fit today’s theme. Judges if you have no desire to learn how to do this, just skip to the end and see what I did.
• So how does one carve a specific design into a watermelon. Well the first step is of course watermelon selection. A darker watermelon will lend itself better as the contrasting white and/or red inside will be much easier for visualization. Next draw your design on the outside of the watermelon and go along the line poking holes at regular intervals into the watermelon. I used a wooden skewer for this step. With the holes all placed rub a small amount of flour on the outside of the watermelon so that it is much easier to see your design. Next take your cutting utensil (shavette in this case) and connect you dots cutting about 3 mm (1/8 in) into the watermelon. Once you connected the dots begin cutting out the desired section. Personally, I found taking the blade out to be easier as the tough watermelon clogs up the shavette. Eventually you will end up with a completed design.
• Now that you know how, allow me to introduce my design for the day. If the song didn’t give it away, maybe my cutout will. For my carving I opted to go with my favorite horror movie character, Pennywise. I loved the original way back when it came out even though it scared the crap out of me. Personally I think the original is better, but the new one lends itself to a scarier carving so I used that image. Here is a short clip showing all 3 carvings on the same pumpkin, or if you prefer just photos see them here.

June 22, 2024 - apparently you can carve a cucumber

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts w/ 25mm Muhle STF #PREMIUMPLASTIC
• Razor: Karve Christopher Bradley (brass, SB-D)
• Blade: Wizamet
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Braeburn
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Screamin J

All three of these products are on theme today. So we've got relevance by spicy/fall theming. Boonana is explicitly marketed as an Autumn scent. Braeburn mentions "it's a bastion against the coming cold," which, paired with the fact that it's an apple scent made in the US screams that it was intended to be used as a fall scent. Lastly Screamin' J is just spicy in all the best ways. It really tied together the fresh apple of Braeburn with the spices and other fruitiness from Boonana.

Everyone knows that SW soaps perform awesome, so let's talk about the stuff I used today that was new to me. The D plate for the Karve is noticeably different from the C plate, and I'm struggling to get a good shave on my neck with it without irritation. I think it's something I'll be able to fix with practice, but it doesn't make me think good things about the larger blade gap so far.

This is my first time using the Muhle STF knot. I set it a day or two ago, and finally got to use it today. This is probably the best synthetic knots I've used to date. It splays great. The backbone is middling enough that you don't have to mash the thing into your face but you don't crush the knot into your face with the lightest pressure like a Motherlode. The tips are extremely soft, and the knot has effectively no scritch unless you really mash it. Love it.

For the daily challenge I carved an eye into a cucumber so that I could make my pic also meet a photo contest theme. I probably should not have used a GEM blade to do this, far too unwieldy.

Photo contest theme for the day is Eyes. I carved an eye into the cucumber. I'm just trying to hit themes at this point man. #photocontest

June 22, 2024 - Spooky Season

• Brush: Paladin Dark Holler Jack

• Razor: 1934 Gillette Aristocrat

• Blade: Wizamet

• Lather: MacDuffs Soap Co. - Haunted Cabin

• Post Shave: MacDuffs Soap Co. - Haunted Cabin

Great shave as always with this 34 Aristocrat. Quite possibly my favorite vintage shaver because I just don't think I've ever had a bad shave with it. Absolutely love MacDuffs soap base, but still on the fence about the splash with the slight tacky feeling. Regardless it was a really good shave after an extremely long day.

June 22, 2024 - Spooky Season

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: Semogue SOC Butterscotch #OLDWORLD
• Razor: Tatara Masamune Handle w/ Nodachi Base and Head #CNC
• Blade: Voskhod (8)
• Lather: Soap Commander - Heritage
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Hallows
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Hallows

I had a great shave with the Tatara today. Soap Commander always performs well enough for me, and the pair with Hallows was perfect. My wife and I celebrated our 14-year anniversary today, and she even commented how she was glad I used Hallows.

Halloween in June?! Fine, here you go. It is not quite a pumpkin, but you may not even know if you squint.

Side Contest: #PHOTOCONTEST—The elements: fire. This evening, I built a fire so the wife and I could spend some time outside talking after the kids went to bed. I figured I might as well take advantage and grab a picture.

22 June 2024 Complementary Non Dickkhole Caties Bubbles Midnight Dreary

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: Ouomo Unsullied 25mm
• Razor: Karve Brass SB E
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (21)
• Lather: Caties Bubbles - A Midnight Dreary (1)
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Joker A/S
• Post Shave: Thayer's Concoction
• Post Shave: Good Oleo
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Unscented Balm
• Fragrance: Penhaligons - Lothair

What's spookier than a Poe Inspired Scent? Probably the looming DQ hanging over this SOTD.

Enjoyed todays shave.

Lots of crazy weatehr today.

Cheers

OP tells it how it is and gets DQed. And he wasn't lying about the weather.

(Sorry dude. 😘)

6/22/24

• Brush: Muninn Woodworks w/ C&H V19 Fanchurian
• Razor: Ralf Aust 6/8, Full Hollow Square Point
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z Aftershave Balm

This is one of those soaps I wish I had a splash to go with. It's a super interesting scent, and it surprised me. I also wish I had more to say. It was a super long day, and I am beat!

Spooky Season

• Brush: Chisel and Hound Vitae Taper w/AP Shave Co. 26mm Pure Bliss Knot
• Razor: Yates Precision Polished Winning Razor #CNC
• Blade: Gillette - 7 O'clock SharpEdge
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Fougere Classique Aftershave Splash
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Santal Auster

Daily Gratitude
Thanks to ShavinginCT for the soap and frag. Thanks to engineeredshave for doing the winning passaround. Thanks to the judges and fabulous people for putting this whole thing together.

Daily Mistakes
Forgetting to press markdown so I had to redo a bit.

Daily Writeup I'll get this straight, this was the worst shave of my life, I'm in the middle of no where with no running water and there are a ton of bugs and i'm really sunburnt. Soap smells nice and today was a good day so meh.

Daily Theme Points I think there are cobwebs on the soap art or something.

Daily Relevant Post Shave & Fragrance Points
This aftershave smells kind of spooky and its green and that is halloween. Frag description says something about rituals or something.

Daily Challenge In the SOTD photo album there is the squash I carved with a duck eating the inside.

Hardware Scavenger Hunt
Nothing new today.

Photo Contest
Fire is an element.

TL;DR
Bad shave, spooky, sunburnt, duck pumpkin, fire, I win rookie of the year thank you very much give me my prize.

Side Contests

photocontest

ROTY

OP has no running water and still gets in a shave.

June 22, 2024  

• Brush: Dogwood – Badger  
• Razor: Merkur 34C  
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Samhain  

Theme: there is a carved pumpkin on it. It doesn’t get any more autumn than that.

Challenge. Would have loved to, I can make a turtle from a watermelon. But today I drove up to camp and there just wasn’t time. proof of turtle carving abilities

LG24-22: Spooky Season

• Brush: Farvour Turn Craft Harvest Moon 27mm Lotus Manchurian (LM-1) Badger Knot
• Razor: Karve Shaving Co. Christopher Bradley Aluminum, SB-E
• Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (Green) [3]
• Lather: MacDuffs Soap Company - Autumn Cabin - Soap
• Post Shave: MacDuffs Soap Company - Haunted Cabin - Aftershave (Alcohol Free)
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Leviathan - Eau de Toilette

I didn't have anything to Karve, so how about a spooky story instead?

The Autumn Cabin

The cabin had been a picturesque Autumn retreat nestled deep in the heart of a forest just past peak foliage. While charming with its rustic wooden walls and vintage decor, it held a dark history that the locals whispered about but never dared to fully explain.

Professor Arnold Graves of Miskatonic University taught ancient lore and the occult. Recently, his research into the history of this forest had led him to the cabin. The previous owner was rumored to have enacted dark rituals in a secret basement.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the forest floor, Arnold arrived at the cabin's creaking front porch. The air was thick with the scent of fallen leaves and the hint of something metallic, like blood or rust.

Inside, the cabin was exactly as he had imagined—cozy yet eerily silent. Old, dusty furniture was arranged around a stone fireplace, and faded tapestries hung from the walls. In the center of the room, a heavy oak table covered up wooded slats in the floor that were newer than the rest.

Breathing heavily, the professor had managed to move the table enough to access a basement opening in the floor. He climbed down into the basement armed with a Zippo, only providing enough light to see the tunnels in front of him. He walked for a little ways until the tunnel opened up into a big circular room with an ornate table on the far side.

The altar held a strange, black-bound book with a giant serpent-like creature etched on the surface. Decades of searching had led him here to the Leviathan Tome. With trembling hands, Arnold opened the book. Instantly, the atmosphere changed. A cold, growling wind whipped through the tunnels, extinguishing the fire from his lighter and plunging the room into darkness.

The professor struggled with the lighter, sparks cutting through the gloom and then a light slowly revealing the first of the book's sinister illustrations: a monstrous entity with tentacles, rising from the depths of an ocean.

Arnold felt a chill run down his spine. He turned, and directed his flickering flame towards a shrouded figure standing in the room. Its eyes glowed with an unnatural intensity, and under the shroud its barely visible face was twisted into a malevolent grin.

“Welcome, seeker of forbidden knowledge,” its voice a guttural howl. “Tonight, we shall welcome the Leviathan.”

Then, the pages from the book on the table started flipping wildly as if caught in a storm. Upon settling on a page, the dark figure had somehow appeared over the book, reciting an incantation in a lost language.

A bright portal of light appeared in the center of the room. From its depths, a shadowy tentacle shot out, wrapped around Arnold’s leg and wrenched him off his feet. He screamed, the sound echoing through the tunnels like a death knell.

As he was dragged toward the portal, Arnold's last thought was a fleeting regret for the curiosity that had brought him here. The Leviathan Tome closed with a resounding thud, the professor was gone, the figure had vanished, and the room fell into a dark silence once more.

In the following days, the locals noticed the cabin seemed more menacing, its aura darker than ever. They avoided it at all costs, spreading new tales of the professor who disappeared, consumed by the haunted cabin and the cursed book within its belly.

The legend of the Autumn Cabin and the Leviathan Tome grew, a warning to all who sought knowledge too dangerous to wield. And somewhere deep in the forest, the cabin waited, ready to ensnare the next unwary soul drawn by the promise of forbidden secrets.

spooky story

June 22, 2024 – Lather Games: Day 22

• Brush: Simpson Special S1 Badger #SMOLL #RUNT
• Razor: Blackland Osprey
• Blade: Astra SP (Green)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Autumn Glory
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Autumn Glory

I really don’t know what to say about the scent of Autumn Glory. Per Stirling’s description, “Imagine walking through the damp woods on a brisk fall morning with the falling leaves in all their autumn glory. That’s the scent.” Well, I don’t get that at all. I get the scent of a cologne or something similar. I certainly don’t think of damp woods. With that said, the scent is still quite nice in my opinion.

Today’s Challenge: I had to use an apple. https://imgur.com/a/OaEcxmP

June 22, 2024

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps Handle w/ 28mm AP Shave Co Silksmoke Synthetic

• Razor: Karve Christopher Bradley OC B Plate

• Blade: Ladas Super Stainless

• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Hallows - Soap

• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Hallows - Balm

• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Hallows

Hallows is "a seasonal fragrance perfect for the cool and bitter late October days" and inspired by the churchyards and swamps of Boston. SCARY STUFF! I love this scent, though I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. The more I smell myself, the more I wish it was already fall. I think for me it's the earthy cocoa part that I like most.

For the challenge, well, obviously nobody has pumpkins in June (???), so I instead mutiliated this perfectly good grapefruit.