LGSOTD 26-Jun-24

• Brush: Wald - A1 #OLDWORLD #PREMIUMPLASTIC
• Razor: Blackland Razors - Sabre #CNC #MODERNGEM
• Blade: Personna - GEM PTFE
• Lather: Noble Otter - Monoi De Tahiti
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Monoi De Tahiti AS
• Fragrance: Noble Otter - Monoi De Tahiti EDP

User dares to use actual shaving gear rather than motor oil and a hedge trimmer (#Scrub).

Sorry all, once again failed to get sponsors slotted in elsewhere and had to bang this in here. I'll try again next year and perhaps manage to do something radical!

Challenge - Clean Brush Talk

I would assume this is a very standard affair, but Post Shave have water rinsing through whilst hand lathering until it runs clear. Then a few more under the tap followed by squeezing and flicking out the excess water. Finally a little brush on the towel and leave out to air dry in the bedroom before eventually (read that as when the table is overflowing with brushes and the Mrs raises an eyebrow) popping back into storage. That's about it really, I did give a few of them a deeper clean with gentle shampoo, but didn't seem to do much above what I do as normal so I'll probably not bother again.

Photocontest

With the user having the audacity to use actual shaving gear I give you a shocked otter aimed at 'Humour'. Well I found it funny, but then my sense of humour is very much pitched at the childish.

Have a grand one all.

Cheers

Marc

June 26, 2024 - Wildcard Wednesday

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: Omega S-Brush Silver Beehive - 24mm Synth
• Razor: Yaqi AC Blade Excalibur
• Blade: Red ProTouch mg (8)
• Lather: Talent Soap Factory - Cakehole
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Gravefruit II
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts - Gravefruit II

I had such a fun idea planned for today. However, because of the audible, I had to call on Monday; I am using my Talent Soap smoosh to count towards software vendors today since it is the only day left it can be on theme. That said, I stayed up late to shave and get this posted. Software is all linked by being a gourmand scent.

As far as brush cleaning goes, I have always soaked any that needed cleaning in some Dawn, lathered it, and rinsed it. When I used the egg on Wildcard Wednesday, though, I just had to pull the knot and replace it, as nothing I did got it completely clean. I hope everyone has a great rest of the day.

Side Contest: #PHOTOCONTEST - Donuts

June 26, 2024 - Wildcard Wednesday

• Brush: My hand
• Razor: RazoRock Lupo Silver
• Blade: Wizamet (40)
• Lather: Tostitos - Salsa Con Queso
• Post Shave: Mtn Dew - Mtn Dew
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps - Remote Learning

Challenge: I hardly ever clean my gear. I use ZM’s brush cleaner if I feel like a brush needs to be freshened up.

Video

The day has finally arrived. From my first (maybe only?) use of Remote Learning I said the soap smells like cheese powder. It lacks the tortilla chip corn smell of Doritos. So, to commemorate Remote Learning, I shaved with Tostitos Salsa Con Queso. It smells like nacho cheese and peppers, which might have bothered me if I wasn’t so concerned with queso dripping all over the place. It shaved better than some of the soaps I’ve used this month. Post-shave, the cheese smells a bit like vomit, which is fitting for a shelf-stable cheese-product.

I did the Dew. Mtn Dew did nothing to tighten or hydrate my skin. It’s a terrible aftershave. I’ve heard Starburst candies aren’t flavored. They’re only scented. i.e. your brain thinks “strawberry” because that’s what it smells like, not what it tastes like. I don’t know if that's true. But, I realized this soda (I’ll refrain from calling all soda Coke for the purpose of this post, even though that's what we do in Georgia) doesn’t smell as strong as Remote Learning because there’s no fragrance. I’m only smelling the flavors in the beverage, which aren’t strong in the context of aftershave. It was no match for the nacho cheese.

The Remote Learning edt is truly the smell of spite. Well, You Did This probably tops it. But, that was meant for /u/cowzilla3. The cheese note is bracing. It’s like inhaling the cheese packet from a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese (KD/Kraft Dinner to our Canadian wetshavers). Then, because smelling like fake cheese for 4-5 hours wasn’t enough, there’s also Mtn Dew. I bought it because it was funny and I wanted to be in on the joke. But, these things don’t smell good together. It’s revolting. It reminds me of a boardgaming store I used to play at. It’s true. Some nerds have bad personal hygiene. Of course saying this smells bad is like saying Snakes On A Plane is a bad movie. I knew what I was getting.

#photocontest - Fill the Frame

#FOF

Edit: took another SOTD pic

Jun. 26, 2024

• Brush: The CaYuen Workshop Diablo Badger

• Razor: Blackland Sabre

• Blade: PAL Blue Blade #STAINLESSLESS

• Lather: A A Shaving - Gale - Soap

• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Co - Seaforth! 3 Scots

• Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Co - Seaforth! 3 Scots

Wildcard Wednesday.

I normally shave in the afternoon after work, but I’m up early today to use this soap. I needed the Sponsor points and I wanted to use it day one, but there was a screw up at the vendor and it did not make it in time. Anyway the soap is ok for me. Lathers well, but the scent is not the strongest. It’s there but it disappears pretty quickly.

I used a PAL SE blue blade for the hashtag. My face is not happy with me.

Daily Challenge I make sure to rinse my brushes after every use. I hold it to my ear and run my thumb through it. If I still hear soap I rinse again. I have one brush that it hogs so much lather that I actually soak it in a cup of warm water for a good 15-20 minutes after I do the initial rinsing. When I get a new knot. I use Zingari Man brush cleaner then I’ll use Proraso green to wash the knot, then I use Stirling Baker Street to finish getting the funk out. I’ll lather the knot for a few days in a row before I use it. Synthetic I just soak in some water to get any dust and dirt out.

Photo Contest. Bucket

#ROTY #FOF #photocontest

2024-06-25 - ~~Stir-Fry-Day~~ Wildcard Wednesday

First, go ahead and check the spelling for yourself here. No blushes, razers, or flagrants this time.

• L​a​t​h​e​r​: Viet Huong Three Crabs Fish Sauce
• P​o​s​t​ ​S​h​a​v​e​: Emperor - Shao Hsing Cooking Wine
• F​r​a​g​r​a​n​c​e: Kilbrin - Irish Whisky
• R​a​z​o​​r: Micromatic Open Comb (MMOC)
• B​r​u​s​h​: ~~Ikea - Tillagd Fork~~ Hand

Unifying Theme:
As before, this is inspired by one of my favorite kitchen concoctions: stir-fry. I was never comfortable with how I had the fish sauce in all three software slots in last year's fakeout, so I brought in other ingredients from my stir-fry sauce—or have used in it, anyway; the whisky I've used only once in stir-fry, though I'm not sure whether it actually did anything to the flavor.

I'm frankly opposed to the idea of shaving with bizarre, non-descript, non-lather slime, and not just because I'm not a fan of the idea of shaving with this horrible fishy ooblek. My original plan was, like last year, to mix the tapioca in to thicken it up and help it stick. Do you remember ooblek, from when you were a kid? It's a non-newtonian fluid and it doesn't stick to anything. So mixing in the tapioca was never an option. I figured the MMOC would be able to handle the paste, but that's kind of moot considering the paste isn't plausible.

Side note for Clean Brush Talk:
At least when I'm using the "brush" I intended to use, I can just throw it in the dishwasher!
When using an actual brush with actual lather, I generally just give it a thorough rinse and squeeze/shake after the shave. Very rarely, I've been known to give a brush a soak in a vinegar mixture, but I don't find it all that necessary.

A discovery I've recently made on the topic of gear-cleaning is for razors: gun-cleaning solvent is fantastic! Not CLP or Hoppe's #9, though. No, just the cleaning solvent, preferably one that's odorless. I started using Shooter Lube, and I hear Clenzoil is similar in this regard. Soap gunk gone in a flash (no pun intended)!

But I digress.

#FOF Here's what you should know about fish sauce: 1) Adding a bit of it to scrambled eggs makes them incredible; 2) it stinks. Bad. Bad enough that rubbing a bunch of it around your nose-holes will make you want to vomit. The smell does not go away. Even after a shower. For a while. I'll let you know.

The cooking wine seems like it would provide relief, but that's only in contrast to the fish sauce. It's also a horrible smell. It's just wine, after all. Cheap wine (not that that makes any difference, really).

Pile on top of that irish whiskey? I have no desire to consume the stuff, and this experience... well, it reinforces that. I guess that, when cooking, it's supposed to help bring out other flavors; I think it performed similarly for the fish stench.

So no, I'm not interested in doing any of that, and you can see how today's little experiment confirms that it's horrible all around. Plus, I promised u/tsrblke that I was only going to use actual shaving products for my LG shave today.

The djudges will find that the portal agrees that this is my actual submitted shave for today:

• Lather: Wild Magnolia - Bourbon Tobacco
• Post Shave: Henri et Victoria - Cognac & Cuban Cigars
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. - Haverford
• Razor: Gillette Travel Tech
• Brush: West Coast Shaving - Two-Tone Synthetic

Unifying Theme: Tobacco Pairings
That is, they're all tobacco plus another flavor (bourbon, cognac, and vanilla, respectively).

Oh, and that's my dedicated beanbag-shaving razor, which was the very purpose it fulfilled today.

#photocontest Hobbies
I'm not really thrilled about having yet another photo like this, but the topic is relevant to my ramblings for today's challenge, plus it's my most recent buy-too-much-of-a-given-thing rabbit hole, plus I just wanted to draw more attention to my real SOTD setup.

Part of the reason I don't like bringing attention to this particular hobby, such as it is, is that it's strongly associated with a particular kind of ~~person~~ douchebag. Like, just as one example that barely scratches the surface of the tip of that iceberg, you would not ~~believe~~ be surprised at the wild misogyny that's celebrated in some of those subs. Holy shit.

June 26, 2024 - it was a shave I guess

• Brush: Yaqi 26mm Tuxedo
• Razor: Gillette Red Tip
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Ocean Potion - Sunscreen SPF30
• Post Shave: OFF! - Unscented Insect Repellant
• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - A City on Fire

I hope I beat everyone to the sunscreen. Post shave is relevant because I’m getting prepared to do things outside all day and there are so many god damn mosquitoes out here. Fragrance is relevant because, in the vein of outside activities, family is doing a bbq today so I might as well smell like smoke the rest of the day too.

This shave fucking sucked. I did one pass at home before going out to get this picture for the photo contest. I put some sunscreen onto the brush then painted it onto my face like I would with a cream. The slickness kind of worked? But you get one swipe and that’s fucking it. No going back for me here at all. I used my mildest razor so that I would guaranteed have no cuts to irritate when I splash bug spray on my face instead of aftershave. Fucking worst thing ever here.

To clean out this brush I’m going to do a couple dish soap lathers then let it dry out real good. I don’t know what else yall expected from this daily challenge.

Today’s photo contest theme is Baseball. There was a little league baseball complex on the way to my family’s house so I stopped for a picture. I think it works. #photocontest

Day 26

• Brush: Boti – 28mm Synthetic
• Razor: Silver Star Vintage DE
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Wholly Kaw – Project Leather Soap
• Post Shave: Henri et Victoria Cognac & Cuban Cigars Splash
• Fragrance: Mont Blanc – Legend EdP

So last year, I had no idea people used ridiculous things for Wildcard Wednesday and then the first two posts of the day were u/OnionMiasma using Motor Oil and u/Priusaurus using KY Jelly. And I told myself that I want to do something fun for Wildcard Wednesday next year. And here I am, using Wholly Kaw’s Project Leather. I don’t have a lot of Wholly Kaw in my shave den and didn’t have another place to put this, so here we are. It’s risky business relying on Wildcard Wednesday for a Sponsor point, but I like to live on the edge!

Today’s shave is one that made me feel like Ron Burgundy. Starting off with Wholly Kaw's Project Leather, I felt like I was transported into a high-end leather workshop. The lather exploded with a strong deep scent of leather, with the unmistakable addition of cigars, bourbon, and vanilla. This is exactly what I’d imagine Ron Burgundy’s house smells like. For my splash, the Henri et Victoria Cognac & Cuban Cigars was the perfect fit. The scent was a brilliant blend of smooth cognac and rich, earthy tobacco, keeping me right there, hanging out with Ron Burgundy at a sophisticated gentleman's club. The splash not only soothed my skin but also left me feeling like a debonair connoisseur of the finer things in life. To finish off scents, I used on Mont Blanc’s Legend EdP. Legend is Ron Burgundy in a fragrance – It’s leather, woody, and masculine. Using it brings an aura of sophistication and timeless elegance, and completely unjustified confidence, and that’s the Ron Burgundy way! #FOF

Sidecontest: #photocontest: Wood.

Challenge: I like the method of using warm water, a drop of dawn, and a little vinegar. I've only done it once, and I'm honestly not sure it made a difference, but it made me feel good about giving everything a cleaning.

iamhonestlylying’s Daily Top 5:

In honor of “Wildcard Wednesday”… The Top 5 Songs with the word “Wild” in the Title

5.) Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams – Tay Tay is an absolute musical juggernaut. She will be on damn near any top 5 music list anyone does these days.

4.) Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa- Young, Wild and Free ft. Bruno Mars – Just in case you didn’t know, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, and Bruno Mars (1) get drunk, (2) smoke weed, (3) have fun, and (4) don’t care who sees.

3.) Steppenwolf - Born to Be Wild – I like to blast this song as I drive in my Honda Civic with my hands at 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock, going safely 5 MPH over the speed limit.

2.) The Troggs - Wild Thing – Kinda funny to think these guys were the badasses of their day.

1.) Will Smith - Wild Wild West ft. Dru Hill, Kool Mo Dee – To this day, I don’t know if this was supposed to be a joke of a song, or serious. Either way, with Will Smith as a rapping cowboy, I’m absolutely here for it.

June 26, 2024

• Brush: BBQ Baster
• Razor: Bic Sensitive #rainbow
• Blade: whatever comes in a bic (1)
• Lather: Schnuck’s – Bragging Rights St. Louis BBQ Sauce
• Post Shave: AB-InBev – Busch Beer
• Fragrance: Schnuck’s – Liquid Smoke, Hickory

WCW has arrived. My #photocontest right now has no props! Because this shave embraces the edible by itself. Sure it’s not “Sugar and Sweets” except it contains a lot of sugar, and the sauce is sweet. Let’s explain: I’m following in the long line of food themed shaves but putting my own spin on it. Let’s walk through the #fof that is a STL BBQ shave.

Now, purists will note STL BBQ is more like “grilling” which is true, we slice pork but about 1.5 inch thick, grill it and simmer it in sauce for the remainder of the day. The end result is delicious, and this shave pays homage to that. STL BBQ sauce is traditionally Mauls (Don’t base your Bar-b-que MAUL IT!) but Maul’s went out of business a while back. Partially because most stores put out their own rough equivalent, and that’s what we’re using today Schnuck’s brand “Bragging rights” STL style BBQ sauce. Now Maul’s was popular because it was really just a base for other things, and no STL BBQ is complete without BUUUUSCCCCHHH. You throw some in the sauce to thin it (then add brown sugar, mustard, spices, etc.) and drink the rest. So, I’ve incorporated it as today’s splash. Finally, to capture the smoke flavor, dabbing some liquid smoke on as EdP. This is more accurately extrait strength, but you get the idea. (It’s probably also applying concentrated carcinogen to my skin….).

Now, we don’t grill inside, so what does that mean? Back to the patio for an outside shave. But it’s raining. That’s OK, confidence in your strategy is knowing you can wait for the rain to end before shaving. Also no worrying about wall placement this time, we can set up at the BBQ. In my…exposed back yard. All good though, I’m out here a ton fiddling with the BBQ pit so this probably won’t even register with the neighbors. As I set up the rain started to move in again. This meant I wouldn’t be able to get good pictures. So I moved back into my kitchen for the purposes of getting a video done. I kept it under 3 minutes for the judges (worst shave of the game so far.)

Now today is my anniversary, so you’re probably thinking “WTF he slathered himself in BBQ sauce?” But oddly, this is thematic. See, I proposed to my wife in Memphis, TN, right after we went out for dinner at the Rendezvous. And when I handed her the ring, and looked at her…she had a bit of BBQ sauce on her cheek. I wiped it off, later when we headed down to the lobby of the Peabody Hotel to watch the ducks, she noticed I too had BBQ sauce on my cheek. So here’s to 14 years.

Since I now have to go clean up, for the challenge I’ll talk about my brush cleaning routine. It’s fairly standard. I use Zingari brush cleaner. I follow up by lathering in a tub of Stirling Bonafide to restore any necessary fat/oils to the hairs. This tub is only used for brush cleaning (I maybe shaved with it once.) I got it on clearance (it was a Black Friday soap and I picked it up when they were liquidating all the scents.) It’s a dupe of someone’s L’homme (Prada I think.) It’s an ok scent. Stirling defined it as “office friendly.” But didn’t really wow me. But since it’s fairly non-offensive I find it useful for finishing brush cleanings, especially on the pass arounds. I’ve cleaned a lot of brushes for those pass arounds, so the tub is lower than you’d expect.

Wildcard Wednesday

• Brush: My - Hand
• Razor: Fromm Hair Shaper Razor
• Razor: McDonalds Fries #KAMISORI
• Blade: Fromm - Hair Shaper Blade
• Lather: Double Dips - Fry Sauce
• Post Shave: McDonalds - Sprite
• Fragrance: Noble Otter - Jack Solid Cologne

Daily Video

Daily Gratitude
Thanks to my grandma for the razors, lather, and aftershave. Thanks to anyone who watches the whole vid. Thanks to the judges and fabulous people for putting this whole thing together.

Daily Mistakes
I had to stay late for marching band and my grandma was late for work.

Daily Writeup Fantastic shave today, I 100% recommend you to watch the video. This was my first time using this soap and it lathers so nicely, and the slickness during the shave is incredible, not to mention the wonderful smell!!! Oh man, and I forgot to mention the taste, oh boy it is better than any soap I have ever tasted. Fry sauce is definitely a Utah thing but if you are somewhere else you can just go ahead and follow the following recipe to make your own:

Cuisine: American Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 0 minutes Total Time: 5 minutes Servings: Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients 1/2 cup ketchup 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Instructions Combine the ketchup and mayonnaise in a bowl. Dip fry or scrape off face. Think about what you have done.

Daily Theme Points IDK how but I am the first person to shave with fry sauce today.

Daily Relevant Post Shave & Fragrance Points
Today I chose McDonalds Sprite because some folks have claimed that it is spicy or even burns, so what better aftershave than something with a burn! As for the frag I did a bit of explaining in the vid but I am also the first person to use it today.

Daily Challenge In the video I have the full tutorial of how to clean a brush (a real brush not just my hands that I used today). But in short you use water.

Hardware Scavenger Hunt
McDonalds fries do not have a folding handle and make them #KAMISORI form factor (judges lmk if you want me to edit that part out before midnight).

Photo Contest
Money!!! And it's just as real as the rest of the shave!!!

TL;DR
Fry Sauce let me win rookie of the year thank you very much give me my prize.

Side Contests #photocontest #ROTY

June 26, 2024 – LG 26: Wildcard Wednesday

• Brush: Rx Shaving Maggard 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Voskhod (8)
• Lather: Geo F. Trumper – Rose Cream
• Post Shave: Taylor of Old Bond Street – Royal Forest
• Post Shave: Truefitt and Hill – Apsley Balm
• Fragrance: D.R. Harris – St. James 1684

All your obscure “liquids” and “soaps” today. What’s more wild than rolling the dice and using one of the world’s more common brands. That seems like the wildest riskiest move of all. And waiting until later in the day, that’s truly daring.

Today, I planned my quest, with 4 stops to make. On my jaunt today I made my first stop to get some soap (aka cream). On to stop 2, the famous TOBS store, it was actually quite happening in there, where I got some AS cream. I continued my journey for stop 3, where surprisingly I went with an unsolicited recommendation for EDT. That said, the man was kind and just doing his job. Lastly, I made it to stop 4, where the lady was way to liberal with her sprays. Sadly, they had no splash, so I went with another balm (which was outrageously overpriced). All in all this quest was likely only matched by Frodo and the fellowship on their quest to destroy the one ring. However, instead of being a semi-hopeless hobbit, I felt like this at all of the stores. In case the judges need me to spell out the connection, these were all purchased today on site and the England storefronts.

For our #FOF, the geo f is a straight forward rose. The TOBS royal forest is like a fruity vanilla floral. The T&H is a very grapefruit citrus forward ‘cologne’ like blend with touches of lavender. Lastly, the DRH is a versatile unisex frag that again opens quite fruity, and mellows to soft florals.

For #PHOTOCONTEST, I’m going with humor today. Dry sarcastic humor is more my speed, and what is more humorous than spending tourist level prices and mid and low range products when I have an overflowing den of choices at home…

As for brush cleaning tips… I don’t really do that except the occasional dawn if I’m to sell. Though I’m open to suggestions after this ube mishap earlier in the LG.

Todays sponsor. I like my Henson, but I also got it for free in the inaugural Adventus Calendar. It is a fool proof razor and I’m glad it’s helping folks switch to wetshaving. The owner/spokesperson seemed like a bit of a tool though in his latherhog podcast.

Wildcard Wednesday

• Brush: Yaqi Ferrari
• Razor: Nobel Prize Anatole France Straight Razor #RUSTYBUTTRUSTY #REVENANT
• Blade:
• Lather: Grey Lab - Kyoto

photocontest

DIY

Today’s Challenge:

Clean Brush Talk
Usually I don’t clean my brushes often, it is soap we use, isn’t. Now and then however i just use ordinary soap and clean it.

June 26, 2024

• Brush: Muninn Woodworks purple burl AP Shave Co. 24mm MiG
• Razor: Karve CB SB-D
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Red House Farm – Sedona

I am slow to post this so had all the brands I didn’t use yet as a backup in case I get sniped. Today I used this lovely scent from Red House Farms, a soap maker I would encourage others to give a try. Pretty affordable, works well, and scents are nice. Sedona’s scent is based on what would be encountered in Sedona, Arizona. I never been there but assume it is desert, or at least partly. I get a lot of pine, but a woodsy natural pine, which I find different than the balsamy not as woodsy pine scent. Yes, balsam is natural but its association with the holidays probably did that to me. I imagine low, bushy evergreens in a clay desert. Which the soap ironically kind of looks like clay. I think the patchouli is giving me the clay notes. I find it true to its intent, and brings me to a dry, dusty, piney desert. Extremely pleasant and naturey. It reminds me of a memory of a summer wedding in Lake Tahoe. Not a desert by any means but huge pines and it was very dry and dusty. Hiking was amazing. The bride and groom did not expect the low temps at night during the reception (destination wedding). It was frigid. Table clothes turned to blankets, I got a radiation burn on my face from the outdoor heater, and to top it off they did not like cake so replaced the wedding cake with ice cream. It actually was a great trip and fun wedding, just cold but that forced everyone to dance to avoid frostbite.

Clean brush talk: I used to have hard water and I felt this was much more noticeable prompting me to clean my brushes. I diluted vinegar, no scientific amount, and then “lathered” gently while letting it sit for a minute or two. This removes the hardness. Then rinse well. Then dish soap lather to remove the vinegar. Finally, lathered with a citrus type of shave soap (Stirling clementine was my go to). I did this maybe every couple months. Now that I have a softener, I honestly don’t do it much if at all.

Today I used the theme grass for the photocontest, which is probably my last easy one to get #photocontest

fof

June 26, 2024

• Prep: Shower
• Body Soap: Spearhead - Spiced
• Brush: Wild West Brushworks - synth
• Razor: Henson - Al13 Mild
• Blade: Feather
• Lather: Spearhead - Spiced
• Post Shave: Spearhead - Spiced
• ** Fragrance:** Spearhead - Spiced

Brush cleaning game is non existent. I rinse and hang.

Will follow up with photo in edit. Can't be risking getting my shave snaked . Already tough enough as a nightshaver

Edit:

meme for you

Here is my photo for #photocontest https://imgur.com/gallery/kXCuHIm Theme is elements: fire. Had to wait till late to grab this photo. Left the fragrance out of this pic for fear of it going up in flames.

photocontest