SOTD Jun 29 2024 - Limits, Control, Will

• Brush: Alpha Brush & Shaving Co. - Bully Boy 28mm #TOLL
• Razor: Henson - Al 13
• Blade: Gillette - Nacet [1]
• Lather: Grooming Dept - Sandalo Nobile - sample
• Post Shave: Catie's Bubbles - Retreat - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Acqua di Parma - Sandalo

More often that I'd like, I am quasi-anosmic to (the various reconstructions of) the scent of sandalwood.

I wish it wasn't like this, but it's the way my brain is wired.

More often that I'd like, while trying to tackle an issue I do not understand (but wish to sort out), I am not able to communicate effectively, and the void of misunderstanding becomes filled with fear and anger from people I have no beef with.

I wish it wasn't like this, but it's the way my brain is wired.

We are all wired a little differently.

I have been happy to participate to the Lather Games because I am usually not a daily shaver.

Also, I do not usually have the habit of trying to connect my shave to some broader themes.
I tried to have fun thinking and writing my posts. Some people liked them, some others didn't, and that's life. Judges complained about posts length. I replied that I didn't mind being DQ for length: I am who I am, and overall I can't claim that I managed to express myself in a more judge-pleasing way. That's on me, and I will live with the consequences.
For me, it was important to discipline myself to go all in, every day. Not to win against other people, not to please everyone, but to work towards a purpose that was meaningful to me, sharing posts that I was hoping could've been meaningful also to some others.

I guess it's like when you go jogging: some people (myself included) do it to improve themselves, not to win competitively against others.

On the latest Air Bud Rule Podcast, I understood that also u/airbudruler promotes the enjoyment of doing things for ourselves.

TODAY'S CHALLENGE: GIMME THE PRIZE

I cannot claim to know better than the judges who's most deserving of the various prizes.

What I can do is mentioning who I think has been most thorough in their determination to will their award into existence, writing in their posts about the moment they will receive the prize:

Main LG2024: Priusaurus

ROTY: Bacconchop

They will both have my applause.

Side category: #ROTY

Jun. 29, 2024
Brush: Stirling 2-Band Synthetic Brush
Razor: Rockwell 6C - Gunmetal
Blade: Gillette Platinum [8]
Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Sandalwood - Soap
Post Shave: Kroger - Witch Hazel - Aftershave
Post Shave: Stirling - Alum Block

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

June 29, 2024

• Brush: Zenith B33
• Razor: Mongoose Alumigoose
• Blade: Kai Captain Mild
• Lather: Storybook Soapworks - Hallward's Dream
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Awesome AS
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - unscented balm
• Post Shave: Olay Complete

Another dead brand. Back in the day this was a popular brand, not on the level of some other brands' popularity, but it showed up a lot in SOTD posts. As with most (all) my other dead brands and bases this one still works good for me. The scent on this one is very much sandalwood forward. My caveman nose can smell only the sandalwood.

Jun. 29, 2024 - The Best of the Games

• Prep: CeraVe - Hydrating Facial Cleanser

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Mighty Duck v19 Fanchurian Badger

• Razor: Blackland Era OC LVL4

• Blade: Astra Green (2)

• Lather: Red House Farm - Sandalwood & Bourbon

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder Balm

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Sandalorian

Daily Challenge: Well it’s been a fun month and TBH I’m not sure why will win. I’m going with u/MrTangerinesky as the overall winner this year! His posts have shown real dedication to competing no matter how crazy it is.

For ROTY: I’m pulling for u/bmac92 to join the elite ranks of ROTYs. I just hope you come up with something better than green tea soap!

For the Photo contest: I haven’t been tracking the points but I think that u/Chronnoisseur42O will win the overall best shot with his purple Lego Lavender shot! There’s a reason it won the sidebar contest.

For FOF: I have enjoyed u/hugbckt’s entries this year. I especially resonate with how a scent makes you feel. I am terrible at picking out individual notes but love when a scent brings out a memory of a place or feeling.

I also picked out one post from every day that I enjoyed! Some ended up being Legendary, some were not, they all stuck out in my mind. This in no way is an all encompassing list. For that check out r/wetshaving102

1: u/Priusaurus Shaved with his bling

2: u/TheBunnynator1001 Made his country proud

3: u/Environmental-Gap380 Hones his alum skills

4: u/jeffm54321 Kept it simple like he has all month long, using only one item

5: u/jwoods23 Bowled his lather

6: u/cowzilla3 Was thirsty for an Old Spice drink

7: u/Priusaurus Mows down his stubble

8: u/bmac92 Spent a lot of money to not spend a lot of money

9: u/whosgotthepudding Is the king of the barbershop

10: u/alg82 Collaborates with his own formatting

11: u/iamhonestlylying Keeps raining the top 5 of the day

12: u/TheBunnynator1001 Invited us inside his crib

13: u/rocketk455 Was reminded why he doesn't make his own soap labels

14: u/enndeegee STACKED

ALL

THE

THINGS

15: u/jwoods23 Successfully hunted a Mammoth

16: u/Newtothethis Honors her late father by being the honorary scrub judge

17: u/MrTangerinesky Really jacked things to a new level

18: u/chronnoisseur42O Found APR at Tjmaxx

19: u/tsrblke Makes sure no meme is left behind

20: u/throwa-waaaay Shaved inside while also outside

21: u/tsrblke Gives his kids more things to talk to a therapist about

22: u/enndeegee Shows how lame this challenge was

23: u/hugbkct Cleaved his hair off

24: u/cowzilla3 Burns himself twice

25: u/hugbkct Ghosted the judges

26: Everyone who didn’t use a soap!

27: u/enndeegee Overloaded his shaves

28: u/InfernalInternal Bends the rules for his cheapest razor

Daily Theme Justification: Sandalwood & Bourbon! 2 notes but Sandalwood is definitely the star here. The bourbon just darkens the scent a bit.

Relevant Post Shave & Frag: All three scent names start with the letter “S”

June 29, 2024 – Lather Games!

• Brush: Cayuen Abalone w/ 28mm Timberwolf Synthetic.
• Razor: Titanium Henson +++, polished, tattooed ("Omnissiah Shaver"). #RAINBOW #TITANIUM
• Blade: Gillette Winner Stainless (2).
• Lather: B+M – Leviathan
• Aftershave: B+M – Leviathan
• Fragrance: B+M – Leviathan

Loads of Sandalwood here, but I can readily see why St. Bandicoot claims this scent comes across as smelling like cigarettes. The scent is moderately strong but it fades quickly. I got an absolutely sublime shave with this, so I'm pleased.

Have a great weekend!

#Challenge: I think Mr. u/Impressive_Donut114 should get it this year, if for no other reason than he has more shaves in than the rest of us mere mortals.

#LatherGames

Bonus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWQwa833aac ← Beowulf: The Mysterious Fertility Cult Origin Of The Anglo-Saxon Legend

LGSOTD 29-Jun-24

• Brush: Chisel & Hound - 'Bone Lilly' V23 #COMPOSITE #SHD
• Razor: Merkur - 39C #ZAMAC
• Blade: Wizamet - Super Iridium
• Lather: Sir Henry - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Sir Henry - Sandalwood AS

Bit of a delay in posting today, it was supposed to be my sleep in day today whilst the Mrs takes the little one to dance class. Alas, the other half finds out last minute it was the final class of the term so all parents were able to go and watch...Mrs came and shook me awake, not even a chance to shower and shave until now. Ah well, I'll sleep when I'm dead.

Despite the disrupted morning, and my now 'otherwise' mood, it was a pleasant shave with the Sir Henry Sandalwood. I've got a couple of their sets and they are actually quite nice, I find the soap a little drying but their splash makes up for it. I prefer their Quartet (Barbershop), but this is decent.

Daily Challenge - Do Our Homework Day

ROTY

If I'm right I think there's only been 3 or so contestants that have picked up all the ROTY tags (bmac92, BossHoggins10, Brokenjaw622), might be wrong if course. Of those I would say bmac92, certainly effort had gone into the posts and by the look of it he's going for max tags and bonus points.

Photocontest

This is a tough one, as to the actual photo contest in terms of points I have zero clue. But there have been some real standout pictures that have seriously drawn my eye. iamhonestlylying's day 20 cannonball pic was brilliant, brokenjaw622 on day 9 for darkness was great but I think my favourite was chronnoisseur420 on day 11, the Lavender set with the lego just looked amazing!

Feats Of Fragrance

Absolutely no bloody clue, I have zero clue when it comes to Fragrance, so people could be talking utter rubbish for all I know. But I'll pick schontzm because the name is somewhat like schnoz.

Overall Lather Games Champion

This feels like it could be anyone's game at the moment. I mean ok, not anyone's but there seems to be a good few viable contenders. Could Priusaurus be the first back to back winnner or will someone be able to prise it from his lathered hands (or I think it'd be the first), perhaps MrTangerinesky will romp away with the win, or will hugbckt and his excellent memes take crown (I enjoyed those). Though I've not been keeping score (who has time for that), I think I'll give it to MrTangerinesky. That's not for one singular thing, as frankly I think it's too close to call without masses of spreadsheets or a clever judging portal to hand! Saying that, I could have completely overlooked the top contender and completely ballsed up my guess!

Photocontest

Aiming this one at 'Trash' (Rubbish), because, to quote u/tsrblke "here's theme, because I need to hit theme.".

Might be completely off so either which way, happy shaves and have a grand day all!

Cheers

Marc

June 29

• Brush: Maggard 30mm Synthetic
• Razor: Silver Star Vintage DE
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Sir Henry’s – Black Tie LVS Soap
• Post Shave: Sir Henry’s – Black Tie LVS Splash
• Fragrance: Diesel – Only the Brave Street EdT

When I learned what sandalwood smells like, I thought kind of smells like a lot of typical “masculine” fragrances. Like if something doesn’t smell manly enough, let’s throw some sandalwood in there to make it more tolerable for the masses. If something is too “manly”? Let’s toss a little lavender or vanilla in there to soften it a bit!

“Hey, what do we have here? This is a perfectly, nice, inoffensive, generic fragrance! Let’s sell it!”

And that’s kind of the impression I get with Black Tie LVS. The LVS stands for Lavender, Vanilla, and Sandalwood.

The lavender shows through right away and it is tied to Vanilla, but underneath that tasty floral sweetness is the sandalwood to turn the volume down a little bit and make it more masculine. It’s a really nice scent the checks a lot of boxes and I think I can use something like this year-round. But honestly, I barely use it because the scent is just… Not special. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it never calls to me. Sir Henry’s performs alright, but not my favorite soap base either. I guess I’m as I’m typing this out, I’m realizing why I barely ever reach for this set.

I finished the shave with Diesel – Only The Brave Street because it’s woody and spicy, so I thought it would help bring out the sandalwood from the Black Tie LVS. Here’s where the magic happens. The sandalwood in this fragrance is the backbone of a scent that beautifully bridges the gap from the splash to the fragrance. It’s bold and has a little vanilla that makes it subtly sweet and it’s got that unmistakable woody undertone. It’s the perfect partner in crime for Sir Henry’s, adding an extra layer of depth to a day celebrating sandalwood.#FOF

Sidecontest: #photocontest – Humor. Software telling shaving jokes.

Challenge: You judges HAVE been keeping score, right? I think u/Priusaurus did the damn thing again. Last year, it seemed like u/OnionMiasma was really close, but this year, I don’t think anyone was playing at the same level he was. I said it last year, and I’ll say it again this year: If Prius doesn’t win, we riot.

For the photocontest, I hope my Summer Break Soaps pic (the current sidebar) has a shot at best photo, but Chrono’s lego pic was great too.

And for ROTY: I think u/bmac92.

For FOF: No idea.

iamhonestlylying’s Daily Top 5:

In honor of “Do our homework for us”… My Top 5 Posts of the 2024 Lather Games

5.) u/chronnoisseur42O turning himself purple

4.) u/MrTangerinesky builds lather using a lifed car tire brush

3.) u/Priusaurus takes public shaves to a new level and shaves at his office copier for Dupe Day

2.) u/hugbckt lathers his head with a kitchen gadget, then shaves with a big ass knife and meat cleaver

1.) u/Priusaurus shaves his legs, in the car, with his kids in the back seat after trolling everyone into thinking he wasn’t going to do the challenge

2024-06-29 - Sandalwood

• Lather: Haslinger - Sandelholz
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Oud Sigma
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. - Oud Sigma
• Razor: Wolfman Razors - Guerrilla
• Brush: Yaqi Metal Timberwolf

Unifying Theme: Wood

Sandalwood: That's what Sandelholz means.

Do our homework: "Do our homework" has never made sense. Why not reframe this as something like "Sportsmanship" or "Fellow Player Appreciation"? Focusing on the judges detracts from that.

Then again, the judge notes lead me to believe that at least one judge has a habit of assuming ill intent behind earnest gestures of good faith, suggesting they may need all the help they can get.

I haven't been following a lot of the activity during these Games. I know u/Priusaurus had prepared a whole list of things in advance, which may or may not have been derailed by daily challenges.

I have the impression that u/tsrblke has been doing good things, although—by my own fault, not his—I couldn't tell you what, except that he probably established himself as a contender for that "Friend of the Games" before it was even announced.

Also, a nod to u/batmanbrady: I wasn't sure what to expect, what with his account being created only just before the Games. It was cool to see him with pretty good posts, and then he unwittingly triggered a whole thing by mentioning his brother-in-law.

#FOF
I'd tried exactly one solely-sandalwood scent before this, and I didn't care for it. Sandelholz succeeds in being not only inoffensive, but classically soothing.

Oud Sigma is a scent that I bought the whole trio of solely because I was overcome with excitement by the name. As scents go, it's not bad, but its overlap with Razorock's Tuscan Oud leads me to the conclusion that I do not much care for oud.

#photocontest Pirates
I nearly forgot that I meant to break out the Jolly Rogers again before the end of the month.

LG Day 29- Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Omega Pro48
• Razor: Schick Eversharp G
• Blade: Schick Injector
• Lather: TOBS - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: D.R. Harris - Marlborough
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - Unscented AS balm

It's too bad that this is the first introduction to sandalwood for a lot of folks because it kind of sucks. So why do I have it? I bought it because I like sandalwood and this is one of those longstanding scents. I figured "why the hell not?" Yea, this is just not the scent that works for me and I should just put this up on the 'zaar and move it on. Cyril Salter makes a much better sandalwood scent if someone desparately needs a cream from a more traditional artisan. Now the Marlborough splash righted the wrong of the TOBS cream with its cedarwood/sandalwood mix.

As to today's challenge...I think you have to hand it to my fellow Pine Tree Stater u/hugbckt who is really bringing his A-Game this year, shitpost and all. Look, the dude transformed into a cupcake right before our eyes, along with other feats of shaving strength. u/tsrblke is also killing it this year. Of course, I think we'd all like to be a fly on the wall of his daughter's future therapy sessions where she talks about the trauma of having to wear a bucket on her head or shave her dad for "internet shaving points". It's been a damn entertaining month for sure and I suspect the winner will just scrape by with a fraction of a point.

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

June 29, 2024

• Brush: Declaration Grooming - Jefferson Thaw B16 - 28mm Artisan Tied Badger
• Razor: Wolfman - WR2 1.15 w/WRH2
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Vanilla Sandalwood Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Vanilla Sandalwood Splash
• Fragrance: Tumi - Kinetic [--:-- GMT] EdP

^(If) I did it.

Is anyone here able to pinpoint one moment when their world almost came crumbling down? One moment where you realized that from that point on, nothing could ever possibly be the same? One moment, where you were accused of something so absolutely horrific, and you feared your good name and reputation that is beyond reproach may have been forever sullied?

We'll folks, I can tell you exactly when that moment was for me. It happened yesterday at 4:50PM EST. It was when u/Enndeegee pointed out to the world that I have hands. Big beautiful hands, that can both hold a shaving brush AND slather ~~lather~~ Nacho Cheese Sauce all over my face.

And because I used my big beautiful hands to lather on Wildcare Wednesday, Mr. Scrub, u/Enndeegee brought forth the accusation that could alter the very fabric of these Lather Games. An accusation so bold, it made all of r/wetshaving, stop and begin to wonder if I am a legitimate Champion or an I someone that plays fast and loose with the rules. You know the type of person he means, right? The type of person who would remove a vendor from a DNB list in exchange for free soap. Last year’s first runner-up, u/OnionMiasma, even called for me to have my title vacated and for me to give up my 2023 prize. As an act of defiance, I am using my 2023 prize brush today. These are incredibly serious accusations and something that no one should take lightly.

You see, I entered my hands as my brush for my SOTD markdown on Wildcard Wednesday, and since I didn’t pay money for my hands, he maintains they automatically became my least expensive “brush” in my den, and as such, I needed to use my hands as a brush for yesterday’s frugal shave to earn the Special Challenge’s .5 bonus points. But I didn’t. I used a brush from Dollar Tree that cost $1.25. And I can see how a simpleton like NDG would say something like that. And we all know that u/Enndeegee can’t spell, but I didn’t know he couldn’t read either. The rules to Frugal Friday clearly state: “Products obtained at a discount or for free should use their everyday price for this calculation rather than their discounted price.”

Sure, I didn’t pay money for these beautiful hands, but the fact I obtained them for free does not factor into The Frugal Friday Rules. Their everyday price is what matters. And I challenge anyone, anyone at all, to procure a set of hands like mine for less than the $1.25 I paid for my Dollar Tree brush. Do you want to know the actual value of hands? Well, I could just throw out any number, but I’ll let the lawyers at Parker Waichman LLP tell you: The USA National Average is $144,930 per hand. And remember, I entered both hands as part of my den, so we’re looking at a value of $289,860.

So, Mr. Scrub, please enlighten me: Which value is higher? $1.25 or $289,860?

I know you don’t usually think about things in American Freedom Dollars, so I’ll give you a minute to do the math. Don’t forget to carry the 1.

$1.25 is lower. The Assured for Men Dollar Tree Brush is indeed the least expensive brush in my shaving den. I rest my case. You can see yourself out.

I expect a full apology, and will be seeking damages for the pain and suffering I’ve experienced since your post. My reputation has suffered incalculable harm and all the little shavers that once looked up to me, may never see their Champion the same way again. I don’t know how you sleep at night. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Please don't bother replying. you're getting on my tits now.

BTW – I’m confused. Are you Los Dupe now? Or is he on your side? Are you still hunting him? Am I Los Dupe? Do we know? You have a lot of loose ends to tie up and the Games end tomorrow. You’re running out of time on this.

For the #FOF thing: The scent of Stirling’s Vanilla Sandalwood is a beautiful harmony of creamy vanilla and rich sandalwood. The sandalwood added an earthy depth to the sweet vanilla, creating a scent that is both comforting, sophisticated, and a little sweet. The scent is like a warm hug lingering just long enough to keep me enveloped in its cozy embrace. The sandalwood here is perfectly balanced with the vanilla, neither overpowering the other, but instead dancing together in olfactory harmony. To cap off the shave, I opted for TUMI Kinetic [--:-- GMT]. The frag took the sandalwood experience to a new level, infusing it with vibrant spice notes that complemented the smoky vanilla and sandalwood base. The sandalwood in Kinetic [--:-- GMT] truly shines through to provided a robust, grounding note that carried the sweet and spicy elements with damn near perfection. This was an absolute joy for me to use.

Challenge: I don’t know who won, but I can tell you that I hope I did. I’ve been going all out and never taking my foot off the gas. And I’ve been trying to play like I’m behind and have nothing to lose. I made it known that I want to be the Tom Brady of The Lather Games, so hopefully I showed that every single day. The competition has been tough - u/hugbckt truly stepped up this year and demonstrated what he’s capable of and u/MrTangerinesky played a stellar (well behaved) game as well. He is one of the most creative people on this sub and his brain works in a way that is great for The Lather Games. Avoiding Spite Shaves was probably better for both of us, even if it wasn’t as much fun… But winning is fun too. I wouldn’t be shocked if either one of those guys won. At this point, we all have done just about all we can do. One more day, shavers and shavettes! What a great ride it’s been!

For ROTY, it’s going to be u/bmac92.

For FOF, I think u/hugbckt.

For Photocontest: No comment.

My favorite posts (that weren’t mine): u/chronnoisseur42O turning himself purple, u/hugbckt’s Christmas Story, damn near everything that u/MrTangerinesky does

Soap Theme Justification: What’s that word after Vanilla? Oh yes, it’s Sandalwood! It’s right there in the name.

Relevant Post Shave & Fragrance: Tumi’s Kinetic [--:-- GMT] has a base of two scent notes: Smoky Vanilla & Sandalwood, which is obviously the two scent notes in the soap and splash I used.

User calculates brush price, finds he had used the most expensive piece of hardware in lather games history

June 29, 2024 - Saturday

• Brush: Chisel & Hound "The Duke" / 27x61 Omega boar
• Razor: Yates 921-H
• Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (?)
• Lather: Zingari Man - The Traditionalist
• Post Shave: Fine Accoutrements - Santal Absolut splash
• Fragrance: Zingari Man - The Traditionalist Extrait

Two of the GOAT sandalwood scents right here. I love them both. It's a shame that Santal Absolut was discontinued because I would love to have a lifetime supply of it.

To be completely honest I haven't been paying close enough attention to know who the front runners in each contest might be, but good luck to them whoever they are.

Sandalwood SOTD:

• Razor: Gillette Flat Bottom Tech
• Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (15)
• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Acrylic G5
• Lather: Wholly Kaw - Man From Mayfair
• Aftershave: Barrister and Mann - Cheshire
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Treget

I've always thought Man From Mayfair was one of the more interesting barbershop scents out there. The prominent sandalwood note is definitely a big part of that. This also provides a good excuse to try out the Treget sample I received yesterday, which is fantastic!

Lather Games 2024-06-29 Sandalwood Saturday

• Prep: Coffee, Face wash soap/warm water
• Brush: Cloud Shave - 18mm Nylon #FAUXFUR #RUNT
• Razor: Stirling Soap Company - Stirling Stainless Steel "SSS" (Austin Handle / HA plate)
• Blade: Gillette 7 O'clock Super Stainless (green), DE
• Lather: Lodrino - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Company - BASH
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps - Remote Learning 2023 Meme Addition

Today's Theme: Sandalwood

Went with a sample of Lodrino's Sandalwood. This is a one note sandalwood scent. Sandalwood is one of those notes that for me if it is gonna be the dominate note then you gotta be careful with the supporting notes. Otherwise things can get weird fast. So I opted for a single note sample. As a supporting note sandalwood seems more forgiving to me. But again as the main note, let's just say I would want to sample first.

Other notes about the shave, Bash is a sample from the Maggards Razor's meet up two years ago. I have no idea what the notes are or what it is a dupe of. I just remember it is a dupe. And I think there is some sandalwood in there. The Remote Learning fragrance is just for fun.

By the way, the Cloud Shave brush was a freebie and is a terrible shedding nightmare. The thing is Stabby enough it could work for a nail brush. It appears to be attempting to look like a blond boar. The wood of the handle is totally unprotected and should anyone attempt to use it much will fail less than gracefully given much time. I ended up using to get in the RUNT tag. Now I have to clean a lot of fibers out of my sink. Ha ha oh well - free! Save money right?

Today's Challenge: Do Your Homework

Who is winning - Main Contest? (Probably) u/Priusaurus or possibly u/MrTangerinesky

Who is winning - ROTY? (Probably) u/bmac92

Who is winning - FOF? (Probably) - I have not been following this one that well but I'm thinking it looks like u/hugbckt.

Who is winning - Photo contest? (Probably) I've not a clue. Maybe u/Chronnoisseur42O because that looks about right.

Take care and have a good one.

ed: typed FOF twice...shuld be u/Chronnoisseur42O for photos.

June 29, 2024 – 2024.06.29 SOTD: Lather Games Day 29 – Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Paragon Shaving Plisson knot (28mm) with Paragon handle
• Razor: Aylsworth Drakkant
• Blade: Wizamet
• Lather: Proraso – Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Spiced
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Fu Dao

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Daily Theme: Sandalwood Saturday

Theme justification: I'm using Proraso Sandalwood with Shea Butter](https://maggardrazors.com/products/proraso-sandalwood-with-shea-butter-shaving-soap-5-2oz), colloquially known as Proraso Red. Its scent is sandalwood.

Relevant Post Shave & Frag: Red is the theme for the day. All the software in today's shave have red as their main color: Proraso Red (as linked above), Spearhead Seaforth! Spiced aftershave toner, and House of 福 (Fú Dào). Red all around.

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Scavenger Hunt ~~Justification~~: COMPLETED

Razor facts: N/A

Brush facts: N/A

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Daily/Special Challenge: Do Our Homework Day

There have been lots of great posts this year. My favorites have been:

• /u/hugbckt turning himself into a cupcake
• /u/cowzilla3 writing a song about /u/OnionMiasma
• /u/Priusaurus doing leg day after saying he wasn't going to do leg day

There are several more, but those made me chuckle the most.

As for the contests:

FOF: I have to say /u/hugbckt has it for me. His descriptions have been great.

ROTY: I'd like to say myself, since I'm competing in the contest, but if I don't win, I think /u/bacconchop has done a good job.

Photo scavenger hunt: /u/tsrblke photos have stood out to me.

Lather Games winner: Gotta give it to /u/hugbckt. Why? His posts have been great, on theme, witty, and funny. Plus, we don't need a repeat winner. /u/Priusaurus has done extremely well, though, and if he did win it would be deserved.

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Fragrance description

Proraso Red is a lightly scented sandalwood, which I did enjoy. It's not bad at all

Seaforth! Spiced is pretty much a classic around here, and for a reason. The mandarin and cinnamon stand out to me.

This is the first time I've worn Fú Dào. Wow. The first thing that hits me is gunpowder, and a lot of it. Perfect July 4th scent, IMO. After the gunpowder dies down, the other notes start to sign through, and it reminds me of a community celebration. Takes me back to blowing up watermelons with m80s with my cousins when I was a kid.

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Now onto the shave!

Thanks to /u/Eructate for the smush. First time using Proraso, and it's not bad. Not my favorite, but if it is all I had I'd probably be content. Did a 3-pass shave with the Drakkant and a Wizament and ended up with a smooth face and neck. No irritation to be seen.

Hard to believe that this is the penultimate shave for The 2024 Lather Games.

Tomorrow is going to be a big one. :)

---

Totals:

• Razor Hashtags: 10/10
• Brush Hashtags: 10/10
• Hardware Sponsor Points: 2/2
• Software Sponsor Points: 16/16
• Number of Lather Brands: 29/30
• Number of Lather Scents: 29/30
• Number of Post Shaves: 29/30
• Number of Frags: 29/30

---

Contest Hashtags:

#FOF

#ROTY

Today I shaved with Proraso red and a Proraso boar brush. I used an old type with a Personna blade. I followed up with Proraso red aftershave and a shot of Iceberg Man edt.

I clearly dominated the competition once again, but I am nowhere in the portal? I gotta go raise some hell on the daily questions thread.

June 29, 2024 – Sandal(wood)s and Shorts

• Brush: Aurora Grooming LG 2024 with 26mm AP Shave Co. Pure Bliss #FRANKENBRUSH #PREMIUMPLASTIC #SHD #FAUXFUR #SUBBROOSH
• Razor: Gillette Slim
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (3)
• Lather: Stone Cottage Soapworks – Coconut Sandalwood
• Post Shave: D.R. Harris – Sandalwood
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Sonder

Sandalwood. I probably couldn’t identify if in a lineup if you asked. But this soap is called Coconut Sandalwood, so it fits the theme.

When thinking about today, I thought of sandals, shorts and beaches. So naturally here, on the penultimate day of Lather Games is where I stuck the planned leg shave, I promised u/newtothethis. Just because the judges made me shave my legs once does not mean I’m skipping this one. So, my legs will be smooth going into the 4th of July Holiday. (Judges take note, you sprung it too early. Imagine if everyone had gotten to the second to last day then realized they had to shave their legs for shorts and sandal(wood) season.

For #fof, I’m pulling Sandalwood through the shave. Obviously the first 2 are sandalwood focused. I get a lot of sandalwood off Sonder too (or what I think is sandalwood, again I’m bad it). It’s probably the base notes just pouring through my sus nose. It’s in the notes, so every part of this lineup has a sandalwood element.

For #photocontest here’s a soccer ball. How does it tie in, listen I pulled 28 days through the theme very well and I was out of ideas for this one. They can’t all be bangers. This one is just straight up gotta get the points. Or we can say “sandals, foot, football.” Your choice. I saved the challenge for last because it’s the hardest. I think for ROTY u/bmac92 has been killing it. He’s thrown himself into this first year with gusto.

For #fof, u/hugbckt beat me last year he’s going to beat me again. (Also, Sorry wally, my #fof posts have been lackluster this year. Granted they were lackluster last year, and you gave me 3rd.) For #photocontest, best shot will be u/chronnoisseur42O, as his photography is on point. I’d give myself overall winner, but looking at the notes it appears they may have DQ’d my use of the empty tub for “trash.” It’s fine, we’ll stick with me.

For the overall winner, I put together a good game, but I think this is a runoff between u/priusaurus and u/hugbckt. Both are killing it. I’m hoping for 3rd, but u/MrTangerinsky and the aforementioned u/bmac92 are both bringing strong games too. So we’ll see. It was a tough year. Yes, both u/onionmiasma and u/RedMosquitoMM (two huge competitors) turned judge. Several others in last year’s top 5 had to slow down to trips and such, but we are going to net about 5-7 more average daily shaves than last year suggesting several more new competitors that kept it fresh. So the real winner is the sub, which will hopefully see this activity uptick continue.

We also have the Airbud contest, no idea who wins there since it happens in DMs. And the Friend of the Sub Award is new this year. I don’t want to look like I’m pandering there so we’ll stick with u/onionmiasma as most helpful and forgo predicting the other categories. I do like that idea though and hope it continues.

Last, but not least, the No Scrubs. I wish everyone could get a tub of the soap. I can’t decipher the scoring, so I have no guess. I’d like to think I’ve done well? Of all the prizes at stake, I feel like u/grindermonk bear soap is the most special somehow.

SOTD 2024-06-29 The Duke of Sandalwood and Lady Persephone

• Brush: Semogue 830
• Razor: Fatip - Piccolo open comb
• Blade: Dorco - Titan (3rd use)
• Lather: Henri et Victoria - Duc de Santal
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming - Persephone balm
• Bowl: Captain's Choice Standard Copper Bowl

How great is the classy sandalwood scent of Duc de Santal?
Even better is the sandalwood mixed with pomegranate in Persephone.
Listen as I tell you in verse; like those ~~terrible~~ bards in videogames.
Look, it's shorter than when I did acrostic A Christmas Carol.

!Welcome to the inferno!<

All day do I think of you, Persephone!
Beyond words is my love for you.
Any time you pass and I catch a whiff of your lovely fragrance,
Never has my heart not skipped a beat.
Duke of Sandalwood, I
Of noble birth to Henri and Victoria,
No lady of the court has charmed me as you do.

Any day without you is,
Lonesome as a day without sun,
Lonesome as a night without stars.

How I long to be with you, my lady Persephone!
Over and over doth my heart yearn for you.
Perchance hoping that you'll glance my way as you pass by.
Even by a glance warms my heart.

You spoke my name.
Even that alone made me giddy.

What fragrance compares to that of my lady Persephone?
How elegant is the sweetness of pomegranate mingled with sandalwood!
Oh how I would have you near me every day!

Ever did I long for you.
Not a day did pass that I didn't watch for your passing.
Then you came over to me,
Even happier was I than I had ever been.
Rest by my side always, my beloved Persephone.

How wonderful is your presence.
Even our time apart has not diminished my love for you.
Return to me, always my arms will be open to you.
Every time we part.

Jun. 29, 2024
Brush: Proraso Professional
Razor: Gillette Ball End Tech
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue [2]
Lather: House Of Mammoth - Santa Noir - Soap
Post Shave: House Of Mammoth - Sh2re - Aftershave
Osma: Osma - Osma
Scuttle:* Georgetown Pottery - G20

When I looked at my den this morning I was like, shit. How do I have not a single sandalwood soap? It’s one of the most singular notes in wet shaving. How did I miss this one?

Fortunately, proto-Judge /u/PrideTwo was there in the chat to help me: “Santa Noir?”

I replied, “That’s sandalwood? I thought it was Christmas Magic.”

Well, he linked me to the !s bot command thing and indeed there is sandalwood in there.

Now is it prominent? Well, /u/pridetwo is basically a judge, right? He wouldn’t steer me wrong. Right? Right‽

Sigh

Anyway, after that DQ, the judges think I won’t spill the beans on who is winning. Well, SOME of us have access to the portal. And, therefore, SOME of us will give you the top 5 in order, right now, so I get at least some points out of this:

1. /u/airbudruler
2. /u/endeegee
3. /u/cowzilla3
4. /u/j33pguy13’s feet
5. /u/old_hiker

Congratulations to all the winners!

In all seriousness, since I do have inside information I won’t tip my hand. I’ll just say that, personally, my favorite post of the games was /u/hugbckt’s cupcake head shave. It was great on its own, but the pictures really made the entire thing for me.

June 29, 2024

• Brush: Yaqi Bali 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Bic Metal
• Lather: Edwin Jaeger - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Santa~~l~~ Noir
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Santal Austere Extrait de Parfum #FOF

Today’s Two:

Edwin Jaeger Sandalwood, Santa Noir, and Santal Austere are all Sandalwood forward scents. Shaving from hotel today and noticed we have a view of the Front Range. I can even make out the Flatirons. I was inspired to make my SOTD selection into a mountain peak.

Doing the djudges work:

There has been a lot going on this year. I started the month trying to read everything, but the last week or so been working on a Q2 closing meeting, so harder to sneak in time during work for Reddit.

Right out of the gate u/Priusaurus came out strong declaring himself the champion last year for a reason. -1 point for not working in getting confused for a Target employee during that shave. Red shirt and Khakis? I accidentally wore similar to the Target in Dubuque IA. Never again, people kept asking for help, and giving confused looks when I said that I didn’t work there. Maybe he was channeling Jake from State Farm.

Next was the beef between u/OnionMiasma and u/cowzilla3 over the missing dupe smoosh. Just brilliant shitposting while the feud was going.

My MVP for the games is u/tsrblke. I think if you add up all his comments and memes, no one else came close to being as active and engaged as him. Make him a djudge next year so we can all move up one.

Others to mention, last years no scrub list was fun, and this year there is some bear fat on the line. Thanks to u/Enndeegee, u/OnionMiasma, and u/grindermonk for making the side challenge happen.

u/Newtothethis rated so many leg shaves, but left out mine. 🤨 I will say my lower legs have very little hair, so maybe not as big a challenge. I did shave up to my boxers, and no blood this time. Seriously though, putting in a ton that day, and last year all the help with how to shave legs.

My award for the most verbose goes to u/alg82.

Adding u/chronnosseur420 once again for #FOF

Today’s fragrance:

I am typing this up in a hotel near the Denver airport. I f’d up my original plan for today, but 1/3 stayed. Edwin Jaeger - Sandalwood sample I picked up last year. I’d planned on trickholing Santa Noir, but had to pivot when my planning research turned out to be missing a key fact.

Pre-games I stumbled upon a short documentary about the production of sandalwood oils. Crazy that this stuff costs more than printer ink per ml. This sandalwood soap is a pretty light level of fragrance. Just a mild creamy woodiness. Santa Noir is a lot more complex than a simple single scent, but there is no denying this is a sandalwood scent. It adds some Xmas elements but with sandalwood instead of the evergreen scents of pine/spruce/fir. Absolutely a great scent for Xmas, but not amiss whenever you want. Santal Austere takes the sandalwood into darker, muskier territory. Really this is accidentally better than my planned shave. Each step layered more onto the base sandalwood.

FOF

June 29, 2024 - Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Stirling - Synthetic 24mm
• Razor: Schick - Krona 1960s TTO DE
• Blade: Personna - Platinum
• Lather: Captain’s Choice - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Captain’s Choice - Sandalwood Splash
• Fragrance: Goodfellow & Co™ - No. 2 Juniper & Sandalwood Men's Cologne

THEME In my years of darkness before discovering wetshaving, fragrances were just something nice I put on in the mornings before work. Now, much more educated, I actually know what the fragrance is and sandalwood was something I enjoyed before I knew what it was. Cap Choice sandal is just that! Straight out sandalwood at its core. No fluff, butter-me-up, messing around stuff just straight to the point as far as I can tell! So for being such a blunt scent it is awesome if you like strong scents. The lather was thick and the scent overwhelmed my bathroom as the shave went on.

In order to keep things thematic used their splash as well and finished it with a more subtle and gentle fragrance from goodfellow. The sandalwood is definitely there but gets mellowed out by the juniper.

CHALLENGE: Well this is tough! Here are my best guesses!

Top prize: I think it’s going to be one of these three possibly -
u/Priusaurus
u/tsrblke
u/MrTangerinesky

ROTY: maybe u/bmac92.

FOF: possibly u/hugbckt , ~~ujwoods23~~

Photocontest:
u/chronnoisseur42O
u/curbside_champ
u/tsrblke

These are my best assumptions but this year the participants posts were a tier above! So it’s anybody’s game I believe.

June 29, 2024 - Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Omega - Bambino #RUNT
• Razor: Yates Precision Manufacturing - 921-M
• Blade: Gillette - Silver Blue
• Lather: Proraso - Sandalwood (Red) Cream
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Barrbarr Splash
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge Balm
• Fragrance: Old Spice EdC

Today's Theme: Proraso Red is strictly a sandalwood scent and a decent one at that. The lather from Red is not as good as Green, but still gets the job done.

Today's Challenge: From a quick glance and attempting to stay up to date with this month's madness, I think u/bmac92 takes the dub for Rookie of the Year. I also enjoyed u/Impressive_Donut114 posts throughout the month, especially his shaving cream and car buffer brush contraption.

ROTY

LG23-29: Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Chisel & Hound “Chakte Viga” 26mm v14 Fanchurian
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Gen 2 "Peerless" Clog Pruf
• Blade: GEM (29)
• Lather: Oz Shaving - Woodchopper - Shaving Soap
• Post Shave: Long Rifle Soap Co. - Voyageur - Shave Tonic
• Fragrance: ånd Fragrances - Sånd
• Passes: WTG, XTG
• Coffee: Tanzania. Mbeya. v: Peaberry KENT. N39. p:24-36 Hr Fermentation. Sun-Dried On Raised Beds. r: 02/20/24
• Music: Crowded House - Woodface

Three very different takes on sandalwood today.

Woodchopper obviously focuses on the woody aspect of sandalwood. The cardamom note is inspired and really elevates this from cut wood to a proper blend.

I've sung Voyageur's praises before. It's just oakmoss, sandalwood and patchouli, but simple is often what I want in an aftershave. The sandalwood here is a little creamy and the patchouli is a little chocolaty. Easy to wear.

Sånd is the weirdo here. For the most part, each fragrance in Simon Constantine's ånd line focuses on a single material, and the style of each blend is often a surprise. Sånd leans into the creamy, savory qualities of its namesake. A subtle banana opening is colored by black pepper and cardamom (a nice callback to today's soap), layered over sandalwood and resins. The drydown is super smooth and the spicy-woody blend is warmly comforting.

I'll abstain from today's challenge. I definitely have my favorite posts, at least one of which will come up during our next podcast, but I don't want to influence our players. You're on your own for this one!

We're almost there gang.

6/29/24 Lather Games shave

• Brush: Jayaruh #440 / AP Shave Co synth

• Lather: Barrister & Mann - Leviathan

• Razor: Blackland Brassbird (lite plate) w/ Astra SP

• Post Shave: Thayers - unscented witch hazel

• Post Shave: Eleven - unscented ASB

You know what’s a perfect soap for a hot day where you’re about to jump on an airplane and be in close quarters with people? Leviathan. It’s mellow, unassuming, inoffensive… oh wait no, no it’s none of those things. So in an attempt to tame the beast I got a couple layers of unscented post shave on there, but it is definitely still kicking.

I hope everyone has a great weekend 👍

• lather: barrister and mann - softheart sandalwood.

Best sandalwood scent. Still using the Wilkinson sword black beauty because it's ace.

In terms of the daily challenge I thought I'd go through and work out who I thought would win each main award and then side award. But then I didn't rwalise how many there are. God it's amazing quite how many people sponsor side contests. You all rock.

Anyway here's my list.

1. LG CHAMP: ME
2. ROTY: ME
3. FOF: ME
4. PHOTOCONTEST : ME
5. SCAVENGER HUNT: ME

And then the side awards

Participants

The velocepidic award for dead accounts - u/2SaintsDude

The semaj3000 award for services to football - u/AdWorried2804

The itchypooter award for shitposting u/alg82

The raymoonie award for services to advertising- u/Allisnotwellin

The j33pguy13 award for teenage dirtbags - u/bacconchop

The ktturtlesue award for keeping it in the family - u/BatmanBrady

The Yates award for dedication to a sponsor - u/BossHoggins10

The theme Thursday award for shitposting SOTD titles -  u/BourbonInExile

The 2saintsdude award for weekly reading - u/Breadheater9876

The Phteven award for. Best brush - u/ChrisDaBombz

The crossan1983 award for Welsh shaves - u/chronnoisseur42O

The airbud award for services to old spice- u/cowzilla3

The mrlamper1 award for representing the UK nations- u/Crossan1983

The mrtangerinesky award for Bulgarian of the games - u/djanovshaving

The latherbot award for technical support - u/djundjila

The wyze0ne award for tub art - u/Engineered_Shave

The pppork award for long form shitposting u/FireDragonMonkey

The chrisvanmeer award for photography - u/gcgallant

The auto moderator award for totally not a robot - u/georgejo314159

The marquis90 award for innovation- u/ginopono

The adoreyou award for sweet scents - u/hugbckt

The cosmobarber award for repeating a theme - u/iamhonestlylying

The visceralwatch award for videos - u/Impressive_Donut114

The merikus award for lazy judges - u/J33pGuy13

The alg82 award for shitposting - u/jeffm54321

The impressive donut award for all-rounders - u/jwoods23

The hugbkt award for friendship and lighthouses- u/loudmusicboy

The priusaurus award for losing a spite war - u/mammothben

The djanova award for second best Bulgarian - u/MrTangerinesky

The pridetwo award for ROTY - u/MudAccording

The enndeegee award for scrubbing - u/Newtothethis

The SpongeBob award for judge visibility- u/OnionMiasma

The shavinginct award for well formatted posts- u/PhilosphicalZombie

The onionmiasma award for coming second - u/Priusaurus

The chewbaccrrra award for antics - u/raymoonie

The djundila award for winner turned judges - u/RedMosquitoMM

The mammothben award for highest placing artisan - u/rocketk455

The jeffm54321 award for PAA is on the sub DNB list -u/sandmanct1

The wallygator award for fragrant writing - u/schontzm

The newtothethis award for cojones - u/socialkittielynx

The robodjudge award for missing the cut off time u/solongamerica

The hairykopite award for crimes against tea - u/souleater7173

The chuckfalzone award for crimes against poetry - u/Str8_Razor

The cowzilla3 award for airbud - u/TheStallionPartThree

The doctor award for rule loopholing - u/throwa-waaaay

The old_hiker award for promoting the countryside - u/tsrblke

The str8_razor award for dedication to straights - u/whosgotthepudding

June 29th, 2024

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Zenith 506U N
• Razor: Gillette RFB
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Taylor of Old Bond Street - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Floid - The Genuine
• Fragrance: None

Like Frugal Friday, I'm sure I am using the most popular soap of the day. Arko yesterday, and TOBS Sandalwood today. Djudges, please remember, the challenge isn't the most unique Sandalwood, but rather if it prominently features Sandalwood, which TOBS does.

I will reluctantly satisfy today's challenge. I don't like to encourage cheating, but the Djudges have been working overtime this month, so as nod to them, I will make an exception this one time (until next year I'm sure when this daily challenge returns)

u/Priusaurus is bringing a strong case for back to back champion. Getting his wife to drive him while he shaves his legs in the car speaks almost more to the strength of his marriage, than his commitment to the Lather Games.

u/Enndeegee is my favorite non-scrub, and if I were a Djudge, I would just give him the title.

u/whosgotthepudding straight up opened a barbershop, which is some serious commitment. Can you get tax breaks for a "home office" now?

u/MrTangerinesky I don't even know what to say, he always brings it, in fact, I picked him as the winner for this daily challenge last year.

u/bmac92 is my shout for ROTY. Like the tortoise, slow and steady wins the race.

u/tsrblke I can't believe I forgot to shout you out, your meme engagement and response time is elite, I vote the Tsar as CEO; Chief Engagement Officer

June 29, 2024

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps w/Maggard 28mm Silvertip Badger
• Razor: Wolfman Guerilla (Gen 1)
• Blade: Bolzano Superinox (German) (17)
• Lather: Proraso - Red - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. - Varen - EdT

Proraso Red is the only soap I have, that I know of, that has any sandalwood in it at all. Luckily it's all sandalwood, so there's no question about it meeting the requirements of today's theme.

Jun. 29, 2024
Brush: Dogwood Declaration 3D Printed B12 Silver tip Badger
Razor: Edwin Jagger DE86RC
Lather: APR / HOM - Santal Noir - Soap
Post Shave: APR / HOM - Santal Noir - Aftershave

Perfect shave….

3 passes, cause it’s so damn good.

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

LG SOTD 29Jun2024

• Brush: Yaqi B&R - 24mm boar
• Razor: Blackland - Era SB-L4 (using Maggard MR18 handle)
• Blade: Gillette - Platinum (3)
• Lather: Stirling - Vanilla Sandalwood
• Bowl: CaYuen - Dark Nebula, large
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Aftershave Balm, Embrace

Welcome to the twenty-ninth and penultimate shave of the 2024 Lather Games. Today’s theme is Sandalwood Saturday where we shave with a sandalwood centric lather. There’s also something about doing the judges’ jobs for them, but I’ll get to that later.

First, we must shave. Today’s lather has been in the den since September 2021 and was purchased as a sample from Stirling. It fell into the “no but finish” bucket - a soap that isn’t tub worthy but I still like enough to finish out the sample, which in Stirling’s case equals years in a den with a soap selection that moves beyond practical 😅. At least another four shaves to go so possibly kill it before 2025.

Sandalwood is one of those descriptors that is almost useful but not really. For some the scent is almost spicy, think the Proraso Red version. Some it’s kind of nutty, ZM’s sandalwood comes to mind as a version of that. Then there are the ones like Stirling’s Vanilla Sandalwood where it’s a pleasantly aromatic wood-ish scent, not at all in your face, and nothing weird. Recently I tried a sandalwood from Smitten Soapery, ancestor to the current ZM, and wouldn’t place it with any of these recognizable buckets, wouldn’t even classify it as a sandalwood if I were in charge, so there is a lot of room for variation under that single scent descriptor.

This brush is the second boar that I have and though more broken in than the Stirling is not as good. Not sure why I keep it around, or why used it today when there was no good reason 🤔

The razor is not one that gets a lot of love since I got the Karve CB. The Era is a razor that elicits a lot of mixed opinions from me. On the positive side I think they nailed an American made tech-like that is rock solid in construction and shaves well, that’s why it’s still in the den.

On the other hand, they screwed the pooch with project management and product support, and overhyped what was clearly not as slick as implied in prerelease marketing. I was marketed a $150-$200 caliber razor for $75, what I got was, checks notes, decent but not particularly competitive even for a $75 razor in a world where the Gamechanger exists. More importantly, I was hyped a Blackland product that was fully subcontracted and when the second contractor bailed after delivering one, repeat, one set of parts, they canceled the whole project leaving many customers unable to purchase additional plates because they had no capacity to support the product as Blackland proper. They can spin it however they want but I won’t be getting any more Blackland razors after my experience.

Called an audible and switched to the HoM Embrace over Afta for the post shave, it was a good call.

——

The day’s challenge is to tell the judges about our favorite posts. That is a bit arbitrary since so much skimming and selective attention goes into looking over other people’s posts, so I decided to be a pseudo judge for Dupelganger day (everything I know about commercial fragrances was learned here and this is a good way to learn more). I read over every single post from 13June2024 and provided comments:

• alg82 - No formatting, no explanation of what it was a dupe of or even if was a dupe. No challenge participation. Whatever the penalty for DQ's were, this one gets them all.
• OnionMiasma - On theme for lather, presumably had matching theme for fragrance related BS. Low effort but compliant. No challenge participation.
• socialkittielynx - On theme for lather. Don't see how the post-shave fits with the other fragrances. Decent write up but "Nancet"???. No challenge participation.
• USS-Spongebob - On theme for lather, matching theme for fragrance related BS. Low effort but compliant. No challenge participation.
• gorgbob - On theme for lather, barely. No points for the challenge - if that is original work, it's nice, it also doesn't become shave label art because you title the imgur upload of what is clearly an unrelated wall piece, "label art" lol.
• GroundbreakingRole45 - On theme technically but taking away 25% (0.5 points). Is it a dupe? Yes, but it shouldn't be on the judges to do your job for you. This is the lowest effort post possible that could potentially qualify.
• jwoods23 - On theme for lather, matching theme for fragrance related BS. Good write up with clear justifications given. Challenge completed.
• dean_peltons_sister - On theme for lather. No challenge participation. Decent write up with bonus points for thumbing the nose at the theocracry by using PAA in the games, this sub member approves.
• oswald_heist - On theme for lather, matching theme for fragrance related BS.
• tsrblke - On theme for lather, matching theme for fragrance related BS. 0.1 points for challenge - disregarding whether AI prompted images should count, they ought to at least be in the form of a damn label, these were just themed pics, low effort but at least better than taking a snap of a wall poster. High effort post, could be tightened up, but solid and the interview was amusing.
• hugbckt - On theme for lather; don't know if fragrance BS met, don't recognize the stuff and he didn't explain. Nailed the daily challenge, best so far. Decent write up.
• InfernalInternal - Technically on theme for lather and qualified for related fragrance BS, 25% penalty for sending the judge to google machine to do what you should have done yourself. Challenge completed. Low effort in general.
• rebdoomer88 - On theme for lather. No challenge participation. Minimum effort post.
• BossHoggins10 - On theme for lather. Challenge completed. Decent but modest effort write up.
• SufficientKnee - On theme for lather, 25% penalty for no statement of what it's a dupe of. No challenge participation. Very low effort post.
• Str8_Razor - On theme for lather, matching theme for fragrance related BS. Challenge completed. Hashtags appear correct. Short but decent write up.
• ShaveyMcShaveface - On theme for lather. No challenge participation. One hashtag was questionable, other two seem legit. Very low effort post.
• Breadheater9876 - DQ'd from me. I've used Trade Winds, I've used Old Spice, and invoking Cowzilla's name as though it's imbued with magical bullshit does not make Trade Winds even tangentially an Old Spice dupe, sorry. Good effort :). Challenge completed.

Judged all shaves for dupe day and chose their winner. (Didn't get challenge point)

• June 29
• Brush: Omega 10098 Boar Brush
• Razor: Aylsworth Drakkant
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum
• Lather: Proraso - Red
• Post Shave: Proraso - Red
• Fragrance: Kenneth Cole – Mankind Rise

Today’s shave was brought to you by the classic scent of sandalwood.

I kicked off the day by shaving with Proraso Red. I never used Proraso before today and I must say, I was impressed. To be fair, I had zero expectations for it, but it performed and smelled way better than I thought it would. With the scent, I felt like I had been transported to a sandalwood forest. The nice, creamy lather hugged my face like it knew exactly how tough my morning was. The sandalwood scent was warm and inviting, like a cozy campfire on a chilly night. It had this unique blend of earthy, woody notes that helped me feel grounded and ready to face the day. For the splash, it hit me with a refreshing burst of sandalwood that was really nice. It felt like a well-deserved pat on the back after a great shave. The scent lingered just long enough to make me feel like I had my life together, even if just for a moment. Did I mention it was a rough morning yet? The sandalwood in this splash had a slightly sweeter, more refined edge, making it the perfect follow-up to the soap.

To finish off, I used Kenneth Cole’s Mankind Rise. This fragrance took the sandalwood experience to a whole new level. It added a modern twist to the classic scent, with hints of citrus and spice that played perfectly with the woody base. The sandalwood in Mankind Rise is sophisticated and subtly powerful, kind of like a scent that makes a statement without shouting. I very much enjoyed this scent.

Sandalwood is the star of today’s show, with it’s rich, creamy, and slightly sweet aroma. It's a scent that has been cherished pretty much since the dawn of time, used in EVERYTHING. It’s extremely versatile and can provide a calming yet invigorating experience. To me, sandalwood brings a sense of timeless elegance and grounded stability.

Challenge: Can u/Enndeegee win? He provided the most entertainment to me. And I think the most logical pick has to be: u/Priusaurus. He’s gotta be the winner. His leg shave day was my favorite post of the games.

June 29, 2024 – Lather Games 2024 Day 29: Sandals

• Brush: Perfecto Pure Badger
• Razor: Gillette Super Adjustable 109 P-2
• Blade: Gillette Wilkinson Sword (Saloon Pack) (2)
• Lather: Zingari Man – The Traditionalist
• Post Shave: Proraso – Sandalwood
• Fragrance: Outlaw – Blazing Saddles

Use of Theme: Sandalwood Saturday

Several years ago the Donut family went to the Maple Syrup Festival at Malabar Farm State Park. Aside from seeing demonstrations on how maple syrup has been made throughout the years, we ate breakfast and listened to live bluegrass music in the Pugh Cabin. If you are a film history buff like I tend to be, you’ll appreciate that the Pugh Cabin and grounds were used in filming of the opening sequence of The Shawshank Redemption. All you see in the opening of the film is right there and almost the entire movie was filmed in nearby Mansfield. Pretty cool. So cool that when I had the opportunity to purchase a shaving brush handle made from the famous Shawshank tree, I jumped on it. I haven’t set a knot in it for fear of doing something rash, like using it for the Lather Games. So it sits on my shelf.

I do have a wood handled brush, though poor it may be, the Perfecto will have to do the job of representing the wood half of the theme. The other half is a strappy little number from Mrs_Donut’s side of the closet. We put the two together and we have Sandalwood Saturday!

Oh, it helps that we are using Zingari Man The Traditionalist. It has Sandalwood right on the label. Proraso (Red) Aftershave also is sandalwood scented. Our Fragrance, Blazing Saddles, though it smells more like a cowboy’s chaps after a long, hot, August trail ride, does have some sandalwood in it to round things out.

Daily Challenge: ~~Roast~~ Do the Djudges’ Jobs for Them

It’s been a heck of a month. Too much to keep track of and too busy with life.

Here is my initial thought on judging.

Hugbckt, Priusaurus, Endeegee, and many others brought out their A games this year. We’ll see how it all shakes out.

Sandal and wood shave featuring painted nails and a razor held by a hand through a sandal. Worth the 3ish minutes

June 29, 2024

• Brush: Wald Stratos Goldvein 29mm A1 Fan

• Razor: Parker 510 13/16" Square Point Full Hollow

• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Sandalwood - Soap

• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Sandalwood - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Thayers - Rose - Toner
• Fragrance: Floris of London - Santal - Eau de Toilette
• Talc: Yardley Gold
   

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Great shave. In terms of today's theme, it's all in the name, isn't it.

As for today's homework? I don't know. A bear ate my homework. Apologies, but I pay no attention to what the point system is for the various challenges, and I don't read the posts from the perspective of a judge.

However, as in past years, I am extremely impressed with the spirit of this community and with the grace with which the Lather Games is run and played. The commitment and fun that everyone (participants and judges) has in this global, text-based environment continues to amaze me. The players and the judges are all winners in my book.

This year my post reading has been sporadic at best, and I'm still several days behind realtime but the content I have read has been terrific!

However, in particular, I feel it necessary to point out u/whosgotthepudding's post on his honing technique on June ?? (yeah, I don't remember). Some of his other posts like shaving a friend and shaving his wife's legs, and using a bowie knife to shave, fit well in the LG context. However, only if you've done a lot of honing, seen posts on sharpening forums, and if you have interacted with Jarrod (the primary proponent convex honing), can you fully grasp this masterpiece shitpost on razor honing. Personally, I owe Mr. Pudding an apology. When I read that post (and I'm sure it related to the daily challenge), I thought, "Oh, I need to comment on this!". Naturally, I forgot until just now. A bear ate my memory.

June 29, 2024

• Prep: Hot shower
• Brush: Chisel and Hound Sakura with v21 Fanchurian
• Razor: Muhle Companion
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Black Ship Grooming - Captain Scurvy
• Post Shave: Zingari Man Sego Aftershave Balm Unscented

The scent notes for Captain Scurvy are lime, vanilla and sandalwood. To my nose, it smells like rich orange with spicy oatmeal. Whatever, I still like it. And the sandalwood is definitely present. Oh, and my deodorant is Dove Men + Care Orange + Sandalwood. Nailed it!

ROTY

LG 29 - Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Aylsworth Razors - The Altare - Oumo HMW Silver Tip
• Razor: Filarmonica 13 Novodur
• Lather: Eufros - Santal Yuzu
• Post Shave: Eufros - Santal Yuzu Balm
• Fragrance: Zara - Vibrant Leather & Sandalwood Elixir

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Luxury shave, after the frugal day. My face feels great.

.#FOF Sandalwood flood, smooth creamy wood like an old library's wood shelf.

.#Challenge Respect u/kind_simian! for the great work of summarizing the achievements of the participants. My main source of information has been the LatherCast, until now. Thank you,man! You have my vote.

.#photocontest Darkness Animal (leather background)

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June 29, 2024

• Prep: House of Mammoth Embrace Doppio Bath Soap
• Brush: Summer Break Soaps Decatur 28mm Maggard Premium Boar
• Razor: Wade and Butcher Celebrated Hollow Ground For Barber's Use 15/16+ Half Hollow Barber's Notch on custom bone scales
• Edge: Griffith's (1)
• Lather: Catie's Bubbles - Retreat - Soap
• Post Shave: Catie's Bubbles - Retreat - Aftershave

Who won? Well, me. I got to play along and didn't have to do anything that made me feel like a twit. Good times. Who got first place? I couldn't say, but it sure as hell isn't me, and I'm more than fine with that. Cheers all! It's almost over!

June 29, 2024: Savory Sandalwood

• Prep: warm splash of water
• Brush: Yaqi Sagrada Familia Tuxedo 24 mm
• Razor: AtT S1
• Blade: Gillette Blue
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Leviathan
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Leviathan
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Leviathan

Leviathan with the good logo. It's perfect.

Sandalwood Saturday, The Penultimate Challenge

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving exclusive MOAR BADGER (Silvertip) #SUBBROOSH
• Razor: Eversharp-Schick Hydro-magic (I2, NOS)
• Blade: Personna Injector Blade
• Lather: Proraso – Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Taylor of Old Bond Street – Sandalwood
• Fragrance: Le Labo – Santal 33

I can't believe that LG is already almost over again!

Theme: Proraso Red is a dry, warm, slightly dirty sandalwood scent.

Relevant post and frag: Both the post and frag are completely sandalwood-forward frags. I smell like dry twigs on a sunny patch of forest floor.

Challenge: It would be a bit unethical for me to answer since I know the current rankings. Well, now I do, but I knew this challenge would come, and I answered today's challenge on day 1, before I had relevant knowledge. Here's my answer:

• Main ROTY will go to u/MudAccording. He's going full hog right out of the gate. The other two roty prizes are random so your guess is as good as mine.
• photocontest goes to u/Crossan1983, that black and white shot looks well set up, like he means business.
• FoF u/Hugbckt: Great write-up, someone to watch.
• LG goes to u/Tsrblke. He was a joy to follow last year, and this first post looks like he's full of energy this year, plus, he has that racing team!
• No Scruba: The real winner here is going to be everyone (awww!) I'm looking forward to u/Enndeegee's no scrub list, and dread his scrub list.

Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Chisel and Hound Scholar V20 #COMPOSITE
• Razor: J.A. Henckels Twinworks Friodur No Stain 451
• Lather: Proraso - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Pinaud Clubman - Classic Aftershaev Lotion
• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - Every Storm a Serenade

Daily Video

Daily Gratitude
Thanks to OnionMiasma for the soap sample. Thanks to ShavinginCT for the frag (and the bag that the frags came in for the eye patch). Thanks to anyone who watches the whole vid. Thanks to the judges and fabulous people for putting this whole thing together.

Daily Mistakes
I've taken these games for grantid and I will miss them.

Daily Writeup These games have been incredible and it's pretty crazy that they are almost over. I also have been postponing the planning of tomorrow's shave because I thought these would last longer so I have to rush and find international stuff for tomorrow. Today was the first time in months that I have used a straight razor and I wasn't great back then and I'm even worse now.

Daily Theme Points This is the classic sandalwood scented soap.

Daily Relevant Post Shave & Fragrance Points
For today I went with a personal theme of classic or personal favorites in my collection, Proraso Red is their classic scent so I went with Pinaud Clubman's classic aftershave. As for the frag I went with one of Imaginary Author's top scents, Every Storm a Serenade. I also matched with my favorite brush (that I just got back from C&H). As well as to finish it all off I went with a super classic razor that almost everyone has, a Friodur.

Daily Challenge I gotta say, since day one, u/bmac92's posts have stuck out to me, they aren't necessarily special but they are just very well formatted and easy to read. But I gotta be completely honest, I usually don't have time or energy to read all the daily posts, one that I can mention that was great was u/AdWorried2904's Wildcard Wednesday SOTD whewe he used all parts of the coconut.

Hardware Scavenger Hunt
Nothing new today.

Photo Contest
I'm a pirate using a cable and the black bag that ShavinginCT sent all the frag samples in lol. Only one more photo contest theme for tomorrow and it will be hard because my mom thinks it's bad feng shway or something to have a certain desert plant in the house.

TL;DR
Great games, classics, coconut, pirate, either bmac or I win rookie of the year thank you very much give me (or him) the prize.

Side Contests #photocontest #ROTY

2024-06-29 LG SOTD

• Brush: Semogue 1250 (22x55mm Boar)
• Razor: Ever Ready 1924 PAF (1919-1924)
• Blade: GEM PTFE
• Lather: Proraso - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Aqua Velva - Ice Blue
• Fragrance: BRUT - "PARFUMS PRESTIGE" glass-bottle version with gold medallion this time

Same stuff as yesterday, except today I used my most-expensive version of BRUT instead of my cheapest

Today's Challenge:

"Let the judges cheat off your homework and tell us who you think won the various contests and why? Which were your favorite posts and posters of the month?"

Afraid I'm not going to be much help there... Honestly I don't think I read more than maybe 10 SOTDs all month. Too busy working on my hobbies to spend my time reading about people shaving.

** 29.06.2024 **

• Brush: AP Shave Co 28MM G5A SHD
• Razor: Yaqi Remus
• Blade: Feather Professional
• Lather: Taylor of Old Bond Street -Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Taylor of Old Bond Street -Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Mühle alum stone

I know this soap is favorite to Geo Fatboy but I don't know why I don't like it. I like sandalwood in notes of scents but like main note in this case I don't have pleasant shave. But I prefer it hundred times then vetiver. TOBS was my first favorite brand with Lime zest and Tobacco leaf.

Like I say I am now in one mountain village and what you see on picture up in the dish is traditional meal "Patatnik". I can described more close to your potato pie. Grated potatoes, eggs, Bulgarian cheese, spices etc. ( if someone want I'll give the recipe). In this case I eat it with Bulgarian sheep yogurt and home made drink Bulgarian Rakia ( 48° alcohol traditional drink ). And today is my Name day. Saint Peter day and I drink with friends having this view and leave them to writing this post so I'll be quick. I really want next year Lather Games to be more free to read all comments bit I have to tell you I have view to u/Tangerinesky and I know behind curtains how much efforts put in this crazy videos and ideas. This month he is extremely busy and this cost him a lot to entertaining us. See you tomorrow with hangover!

SOTD Sandalwood Saturday * Brush: Omega - 10098 Boar Brush.
Razor: Henson - AL13 mild.
Blade: RK - Stainless.
Lather:* Cella - Buongiorno Al Sandalo.

“Good morning sandalwood” Simple and straightforward shave today. This is my first sandalwood soap that I’ve used that I’m aware of. It’s a pleasant, masculine smelling scent, nothing amazing, but it’s okay.

Challenge: I think everyone is a winner for sticking it out this long. I wish I had time to read each and every post , watch every video, see all the pictures, but given the time differences among us that’s makes it really challenging to keep up with in addition to my non Reddit responsibilities. I will say everyone has been incredibly welcoming and supportive of myself and other newbies which is pretty incredible and unheard of.

I think ROTY is tough and I’m glad I’m not a judge. I’m guessing u/bmac92 though I think u/MudAccording deserves an honorable mention. I really enjoy the posts from all the ROTY players and early on saw my competitors post and knew I didn’t have a chance, but greatly enjoyed going along for the ride anyway.

For non rookies, my vote is for u/hugbckt , u/enndeegee, u/TsrbIke , u/MrTangerinesky. Each showed unwavering commitment, creativity and oneupmanship. Well done!

ROTY

June 29, 2024 – LG 29: Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Maggard Purple Swirl Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Voskhod (12)
• Lather: Captain’s Choice – Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming – Cerberus Liniment
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Sandalorian

All the wood today. Generally speaking sandalwood or wood scents on their own are not my go to, but I know they are found as base notes in so many frags I do appreciate. The cap choice is honestly quite mellow, but it’s also an old sample that could be losing its steam. Cerberus is bold, dark, and has like a rich stone fruit jammy resin thing going on. Sandalorian is like that on steroids, as it was also the precursor to cerberus. Despite its dark depth, there is an airy quality to it keeping it from bogging you down, almost as if the two suns on tatooine never set at the same time. #FOF

For #PHOTOCONTEST there is wood floor, some cool wooden coffee table legs I thought were pretty neat, and some wooden wall. Sadly the latter are painted which seems blasphemous for the old Victorian flat the photo was taken in.

For today’s challenge I reckon I won’t have the most informed opinion, as I’ll admit following other people hasn’t been happening as much this year while I’m traveling. It’s sort of a shame as I feel that is where a lot of the joy and community (or spite shaves) come from during LG. Since I’m managing shaves while traveling, that should be automatic effort points for me, just sayin’. In terms of possible winners, I’d wager u/Priusaurus stands a good chance at defending his crown. That said I feel like u/MrTangerineSky has been great this year again, u/impressive_donut114 put up another solid run. Seems like u/tsrblke is doing well too. Lastly, u/hugbckt has been good as well, and has my nod for #FOF likely too. For photo contest I think u/crossan1983 has put up a lot of nice shots. I really liked u/iamhonestlylying’s cannonball photo too. Can’t say how well people have been doing all the categories for photos. ROTY u/bacconchop had his mom filming which is so wholesome and legendary at the same time, so I say him. u/bmac92 seems to have done well too.

Jun. 29, 2024

• Brush: Paladin Sumo

• Razor: Blackland Blackbird

• Blade: Personna Lab Blue [6]

• Lather: D.R. Harris - Sandalwood

• Post Shave: Proraso - Eucalyptus

• Fragrance: Bath & Body Works - Black Tie

Sandalwood Saturday.

I had no Sandalwood forward soaps when the calendar came out so I grabbed the D.R. Harris sample from Maggards. Oh what a boring shave. Really no noticeable scent. Lathers fine, slickness was there but just boring. The Proraso Eucalyptus was fine, nice smell reminded me of my step grandfather, I guess this is what he used to use, so that put a smile on my face. B&B Black Tie is the most Sandalwood scented fragrance that I own. If there is another Sandalwood day for LG25 I have to be better prepared.

Todays Daily Challenge Overall Winner I really have no idea who is going to win it all but from reading everyday I think it’s coming down to u/Priusaurus, u/hugbckt or u/Mrtangerinsky.

ROTY Even though I am a participant in this years ROTY I think it’s u/bmac92 all the way. I’ve enjoyed reading his posts everyday.

FOF I have not paid attention and honestly even though I am participating in it, I have not really been paying attention and I know even though after tomorrow I will be 30/30 I really did not put much effort into my FOF posts.

Photo contest

This one I have paid attention to because I think out of everything this is the one side challenge I really worked at but I’m not exactly sure how the scoring is going to be on this one because everyone did a fantastic job. But for photo of the year I think the nod goes to either

u/schontzm for this one

Or

u/chronnoisseur42O for this one

That’s all I got

Photo challenge theme Steampunk Searching for the right art for today’s picture has given me inspiration for my next tattoo.

#ROTY #FOF #Photocontest

Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Proraso
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Astra
• Lather: Taylor of Old Bond Street - Sandalwood

photocontest

Water Vehicles

Today’s Challenge:

Do our homework day. Actually, it is a little exhausting to take part in daily themes and challenges for an entire month. Checking all the posts each day can turn you off wetshaving. So shoutout to all of judges for their hard work! Many of the SOTDs are really great and many wetshavers have put a lot of work in daily challenges. If choosing some posters, may it be u/Tsrblke and u/enndeegee

Jun. 29, 2024
Brush: AP Shave Co G5C
Razor: Karve CB
Blade: Perma-sharp Stainless [1]
Lather: Razor Emporium - Sandalwood - Soap
Post Shave: Thayers - Witch Hazel Original - Aftershave
Post Shave: Zingari Man - Unscented - Balm

u/priusaurus kitchen aid post was top tier and I can’t get over it

Jun. 29, 2024 - there’s sand in my wood
Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts B11 Badger
Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24
Blade: Gem PTFE [20]
Lather: Oleo Soapworks - Sandalwood - Soap
Post Shave:* Noble Otter - Bare - Aftershave

This is quite a mild sandalwood scent. But the canard base is great. MM24 made for a fine rainy afternoon shave. That’s about as exciting as things got today. Happy Saturday!

Also, not doing the judges’ work. We are all winners here! But baconchop does stand out to me these games.

June 29, 2024 – Sandalmeh?

• Brush: Great Grampa’s old brush handle with a CDMG G5 synthetic knot #fauxfur
• Razor: Gillette Black Beauty
• Lather: Zingari Man – The Traditionalist
• Post Shave: Panta Rei – Ibla
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Desairology

Okay so I guess im not one for sandalwood. I picked up stirlings sandalwood last year for this day and was unimpressed but chalked it up to maybe weak scent concentration. This year I thought I’d knock off a sponsor point and use Zingari Man’s most sandalwood forward scent, The Traditionalist. Sandalwood • Musk • Pepper is what’s listed on the label. Just smells like a woody creamy caramel or butterscotch to me, still not a fan. The Zingari Man was a great base tho.

I tossed on the only splash I have that lists Sandalwood, Panta Rei’s Ibla, which is mostly bright wood and herby but it seems like the sandalwood rounds it out. As for Desairology I really can’t pick out a definitive sandalwood scent but it’s not an unpleasant scent.

Today’s Challenge: Just like back in middle school I’m going to be “inspired” by other people’s homework. I honestly am amazed how everyone has kept up with all the players and posts in this game. I feel like I’ve missed so much as this month has flown by, luckily the podcast has kept me up to date with everyone’s shenanigans. Seems like for the most part the cream rises to the top.I’m just going to list out my favorite players by their alternate universe name…

u/embracepail had my favorite overall post with his icing shave. That candle on top had me laughing.

u/insightodon is going to make it back to back win though.

u/señornaranjaatmosphere gave him a real run for his money and had some of the funniest write ups despite English not being his first language.

u/aliumstank despite becoming a djudge played a strong game.

u/beefmonstertres kept it light all games by playing his own games.

And u/EmmCeeBee wrapped up his annual tally of those that brought the posts with abrasion or without abrasion, here’s to hoping for that deer tallow soap.

Enjoy the shave between the blades!

June 29 2024: Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Omega 11137
• Razor: GEM MMOC
• Blade: Personna PTFE (23)
• Lather: Henri et Victoria - Duc de Santal
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Monoi de Tahiti
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Santal Auster

Sandalwood. The note that wetshavers crave. Duc de Santal has a strong sandalwood mixed with a bit of patchouli to spice things up, Monoi de Tahiti uses sandalwood as the base for a tropical, coconut and ginger combination, and Santal Auster is creamy with a bit of oud and patchouli to connect it back to Duc de Santal. Great combination.

My favorite post of the games was u/enndeegee’s ten pass shave, and my favorite overall poster was y/alg82. Well done xirs.

June 29, 2024

• Brush: Stirling x Zenith 510SE-XL
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Vanilla Sandalwood

Today, vanilla sandalwood is on theme by prominently displaying sandalwood. This is Hawaiian sandalwood, which has a woody sweetness to it compared to the more spicy and peppery, cologne-esc woodiness that sometimes comes through. It is smooth and the sweet sandalwood is a great simple pairing for vanilla (which is one of my favorite notes anyway). Not sugary sweet either, even with the vanilla which is a plus. I would describe it smooth but not going as far as fully saying buttery or creamy, with the vanilla just adding to the smoothness. Light enough for summer, warm enough for winter, good year round. Edit: almost forgot my memory! This scent, along with a couple others reminds me of how I went nuts with samples from Stirling to get an idea of scents and simple scents. This, sandalwood, Christmas Eve, witchy woman, and probably 10 others. It’s a testament to how awesome Stirling is to have that many options and allowing people to try them out. Every time I use a Stirling sample, I can’t help but think I have another 12 waiting for me.

For my top contestant picks….its tough. I think u/hugbckt, u/mrtangerinsky, u/priusaurus, u/impressive_donut114, and u/tsrblke would be my overall top 5 picks for consistency but there are honestly a few others who could bump anyone from the top 5. For ROTY, u/bmac92 for again consistency. For photocontest, going with u/crossan1983 and u/chronnoisseur420. For fof, I actually haven’t followed as closely as I should have so I will go with u/enndeegee. Airbud contest is going to be an upset and will likely be u/onionmiasma. Favorite post overall is barbershop day with u/whosgotthepudding and turning his home into a barbershop using only barbershop scents. Biggest shaft of the games is u/alg82 – the portal screwed u/alg82 over.

I went on a journey to a summer camp to make sure I got the requisite theme: water vehicles. And made sure it was plural, as demanded by the literal reading of the rules for #photocontest

fof

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: Stirling Two Band Synthetic
• Razor: Van Der Hagen 85mm Safety Razor
• Blade: Gillette Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Lodrino - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Van Der Hagen - Unscented Aftershave Balm

June 29, 2024 – LG Day 29 – Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Shave Forge 24mm Horse Hair x Muninn Woodworks Handle #HORSESASS #FRANKENBRUSH
• Razor: Schick Injector
• Blade: Ted Pella Single Edge Injector
• Lather: Cella – Buongiorno al Sandalo
• Post Shave: Epsilon – Scottish Spirit
• Fragrance: West Third Brand – Smoked Sandalwood

Today’s shave is very far out of my comfort zone in terms of fragrances. Despite sandalwood being super popular in fragrances, there’s something about it that’s not quite my jam. However, I think I’ve come to the point that I can tell when a sandalwood scent is “good.” And I can say with a great deal of certainty that Train Emoji Cella is good. I had initially assumed that this would be a straight sandalwood scent based on the name, but rather, Buongiorno al Sandalo does an excellent job at building an accord that highlights the sandalwood. Greater that the sum of its parts and whatnot. The 🚂🚂🚂 gang knew what they were doing when they a) started the train and b) got Maggard to start selling this. I’m thankful that it’s strong, because Scottish Spirit…just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not sure why this is still in my den. It has sandalwood in the mix to be on theme, but it’s not as sandalwood-forward as I want it to be. After some googling, I believe it’s supposed to give the impression of Scotch whiskey, but in practice is not doing so particularly well. It’s a bit directionless to my nose. Finally, WTB Smoked Sandalwood brings us back firmly to the theme of the day. The cedarwood in the base notes comes off as a bit stronger than the sandalwood to me, which is a pity considering the name. It’s a very different take on sandalwood than the Cella; it’s smoky and spicy, with a particular herbaceousness to it which is quite delightful, while the Cella is a highly aromatic take with an unmistakeable sandalwood base. #FOF

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I certainly couldn’t say who’s winning this. I can say that these are not the words of someone who is confident he is going to win.

I look forward to the Lather Games every year. They are the pinnacle of this community. The Games are joyful, fun, and silly, but inspire such passion, hard work, collaboration, and creativity. Some highlights for me in the past month include:

• Everything u/enndeegee has done. I know he’s playing his own version of the Games and hence can’t win, but has posted some of the funniest and most creative content this month. A particular favorite for me is the Los Dupe nonsense.
• u/tsrblke and his cardboard Prius, which led me to have to decide if it counted as a model or a “real think” for the photocontest
• u/iamhonestlylying and their top 5 lists
• u/throwa-waaaay and their outdoor shave technicality. Granted, this is the type of thing that leads to the Air Bud Rule.
• u/Crossan1983 and u/tsrblke being willing to have their little ones drag a blade across their faces
• u/Priusaurus and his commitment to public shaves (especially the one at his office)
• u/Impressive_Donut114 and his commitment to daily videos, all of which I will get around to watching one day
• u/jeffm54321 and u/alg82 and their commitment to conciseness and playing their own version of the Games
• u/FireDragonMonkey and their acrostic poems
• Spite Shaves and friendly ribbing
• Every time someone shaved or lathered with a non-traditional implement
• u/loudmusicboy and his very New England den tour (and for putting up with my BS)
• All the sincere posts, particularly the Father’s Day post by u/BossHoggins10 and the Christmas post by u/jwoods23
• Users who actually know how to make good memes
• u/Priusaurus eating lather so I didn’t have to
• u/Newtothethis for sticking around despite a frightening lack of gender diversity in the Games this year
• Everyone who engages beyond just posting, especially u/tsrblke, the king of engagement
• u/enndeegee creating a thoughtful award for every single participant today

I’ve had a blast this year. Thanks to everybody for the wonderful memories.

June. 29, 2024 - SOTD 

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

DAY 29 LATHER GAMES! ALMOST THERE!

• Prep: Water
• Brush: Yaqi Barber Pole 22mm
• Razor: Razorock Lupo 0.72 AL
• Blade: Nacet
• Lather: Henri et Victoria - Duc de Santal
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming - Chaotic Neutral
• Fragrance: John Varvatos - Oud

Sandalwood day! You know what that means? That’s right, I put on my sandals, put my bathing trunks and I went to…. the autoshop(car repair shop). In my hometown there is an autoshop, where I got to fix up my car, and the dudes there are so chill that you can sit in the shop, drink coffee, smoke cigarettes and talk smack all day with them, if they like you of course. Well I’m probably either lucky or as crazy as they are, so there is mutual respect and I go there at least once a week when I’m for a longer period in my hometown. I was in luck, because they also work on Saturdays till 1PM.

Yesterday, while wondering what could I do to stand out, a light bulb lit in my head, reminding me that I need to change my oil. A call was made and an hour was reserved. Off I went there, saying “hi” to everyone and throwing the banter around as usual, after which I approached the head honcho of the service and asked him “Hey man, listen, there’s this shaving competition, you don’t mind if I shave in here at the shop while you change my oil, would you?”, he laughed and exclaimed “Hahaha yeah man, no worries, you do you, it’s a slow day anyway so all is good”.

The guy who changes the oil and tires is one of my favourites there, he’s a metal head and appreciates music and the arts a lot. So I took a chair, set it up in such a way that it wouldn’t be a problem for him to go around and about and did my thing. He already knew I was a shave nut, he even offered if I wanted some oil to use as an aftershave, but I informed him that the day for such shenanigans had already passed, we still chuckled though.

Here's my car at the shop when all was said and done.

I have never shaved there even though I could have had the chance all these years past during the LG, but it never came to my mind to do it. So I had a great time shaving today. As for the gear, the AL Lupo did great, no complaints, splash gave nice fruitiness and the EdP solidified it with warmth, that was initially given by the Sandalwood.

Daily Challenge

Last year I wanted to do this, but didn't have the patience, this year I will follow through and it seems u/jwoods23 had the same idea. Let me tell you something... Going through 29 days of posts in one days is EXAUSTING....

P.S. - For the sake of how I am playing this year and not wanting to polish my own horn publically, I will not mention myself even once.

Due to this post becoming HUUUUUUGE and going over the limit, I will share with you who had the post of the day for each day of the lather games

June 29, 2024 - Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Zenith B15 #OLDWORLD
• Razor: Eldrormr MM24 #FLIPTOP #MODERNGEM
• Blade: GEM PTFE (1)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Proraso - Sandalwood
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Santal Auster

Challenge: You can have a pop-quiz, but pop-homework-assignment makes no sense. However, I knew this day was coming, and I’ve been trying to make note of good posts.

u/bmac92 is killing it in the ROTY race. u/bacconchop is also in the running.
u/Environmental-Gap380 has done a good job with fof thoughts.
u/ginopono has taken some incredible photos for the photocontest.
It’s always hard to tell who’s winning the games. Sometimes, I hear certain players mentioned a lot on the podcast. I feel like I’m not doing well because my name doesn’t come up. But, those legendary points don’t always result in top place finishes. u/Priusaurus has made a strong (and verbose) effort in his attempt at a repeat victory. However, there’s strong competition from the likes of u/hugbckt, u/2SaintsDude, and u/bmac92.

Theme: Soap is called Sandalwood. Aftershave is called Sandalwood. Frag is called Santal (Sandalwood) Auster.

My lather today is Barrister and Mann Sandalwood in the Soft Hearts base. Sandalwood is a classic men’s fragrance. This soap is the only straight sandalwood I have much experience with (I’ve used Proraso once). The fragrance is rich and has a dryness similar to notes of teak I've smelled in other fragrances (Torchwood, anyone?). It’s very woody. It’s simple, masculine, and smells amazing.

I shaved with a smoosh of Proraso Red/Sandalwood for sandalwood day last year. I also had a sample of the aftershave from Maggard’s. I can’t find the aftershave sample. I may have added it to the Big Box of Samples and forgotten about it. So, I ordered a bottle from the rainforest store to make sure it would get here in time. Proraso’s Sandalwood fragrance is light. I smell a citrusy lemon oil top note. It’s kind of boring, and doesn’t have much staying power. The splash isn’t very moisturizing. But, it feels nice on my face post-shave.

For Sandalwood Saturday I’ve chosen Maher Olfactive Santal Auster for the fragrance. The sandalwood is creamy and kind of sweet. It's bolstered by oud which contributes to the impression of creaminess. After the dry down, an earthy note of vetiver. A powerful amber note wafts to nostrils. It's deeply resinous, almost sulfuric. After a couple of hours, the oud is slightly stronger than the sandalwood, but both are still present. The base smells richly balsamic. There are traces of vetiver. This is the polar opposite of Proraso Sandalwood. Proraso is a simple, light, sandalwood which veers sharply away from heavy notes. Santal Auster builds off of sandalwood to create a rich, dark, balsamic fragrance with a procession of woody, earthy, and resinous notes. It feels intimate.

#photocontest - Baseball

#FOF

User points out that quiet quality posts don't make it into the podcast very often.

Provides a quiet top quality post.

June 29, 2024 – LG24 Day 29 - Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan Knot set in DS Cosmetics Jade Green handle
• Razor: Gillette Mach3
• Blade: Gillette Mach3
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Vanilla Sandalwood AS Balm
• Fragrance: Frage Parfums - 021 EdP

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: The product page for today's soap lists one note, Hawaiian sandalwood, and the product's name reinforces that it is all about one scent, Sandalwood. Like the soap, today's post and frag also prominently feature sandalwood. For the post, sandalwood shares top billing with vanilla, and for the frag (a Le Labo Santal 33 dupe), sandalwood is again the star of the show.

The Shave: During a pre-LG discussion with u/tsrblke, the elimination of the leg shaving special challenge came up. Tsar considered doing his own leg shave day, and I committed to doing it with him. We settled on Sandalwood Saturday as the best day to do it. Even though we had a Leg Shave Daily Challenge, my commitment was never rescinded. With Tsar shaving his legs today, it is time for round 2 of the Leg Shaving Challenge.

To ensure I had enough quantity, I loaded 50% more soap then normal, and bowl lathered it until sufficiently drippy. I went with the Mach3 and decided on one pass since I'm only dealing with a couple weeks growth. The lather worked well for leg shaving, and I finished both legs in short order. Here's some pics of the shave.

Daily Challenge: The 2024 Lather Games Scoring Hot Strategy Tip noted "The point spread between the top five players was less than three points", so missing one LG SOTD virtually guarantees being out of the running. Scanning the DJudge Portal, I noted that roughly 45% of the participants posted SOTD posts for every LG day, and of the daily posters, around half were chasing points. Having done my homework, now it's time to answer the challenge:

• Lather Games Frontrunners: u/tsrblke, u/hugbckt, u/MrTangerinesky, u/Priusaurus. I believe that Legendary Points separates them from the rest of us. If I counted correctly, the Tsar has 2 LP, Hugs and Sky have 3 LP and Prius has 4. I am admittedly biased, but I have seen Tsar tirelessly plan for these games (dating back to last August) and confront the Jurassic Juggernaut head on. Collecting more Legendary Points is still possible, so I'm giving Tsar a fighter's chance to take it all. Hugs has been consistently awesome throughout the games, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see his given the crown. Tangerine Sky has been a force of nature. I like how he lives on the (razor blade) edge every single post. He's my dark horse selection. And finally, there's Pruis. Since Day 1 he has not let off the gas and is performing at or higher than last year's championship level of play. The LP numbers are with him, so don't be surprised to hear Bruce Buffer scream "And Still...".
• Feats of Fragrance Frontrunners: Every time I read one of u/chronnoisseur42O's fragrance writeups I can visualize what he is smelling. That may not be the criteria used by the judges, but that is what FOF is to me.
• Photo Contest Frontrunners: u/ginopono, u/chronnoisseur42O and u/raymoonie consistently posted thoughtful, eye-catching photos.
• ROTY Frontrunners: u/bacconchop is my sentimental favorite, but u/bmac92 has a Legendary Point and his posts have been consistently high quality, so he gets the nod.

June 29, 2024 – Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm
• Razor: Blackland – Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (6)
• Lather: Captains Choice - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Captains Choice - Sandalwood splash
• Fragrance: Duke Cannon - Huron EDP
• The Lather: To say this soap was hard would be an understatement. It literally cracked apart as I tried to smash it down into my bowl. I give the soap a little water to try and hydrate it for a min before building my lather, but in the end the lather was pretty bad. As far as the scent, not a fan. I like scents with sandalwood in them, but I just cant get into it as a single scent note soap.
• The Shave: As the old adage goes, crap in crap out. In case your not familiar with how that saying applies, bad lather made for a bad shave. Thankfully no major cuts, but not a smooth shave in any way.
• Aftershave/Frag: I used the matching aftershave to double down on the straight sandalwood scent before applying Huron over the top. Huron’s 3 labeled scent notes include aquatic, vetiver, and you guessed it sandalwood.
• Theme: Todays theme is Sandalwood and with the soap being named Sandalwood, I think no more needs be said.
• Challenge: While I think there is still quite a possibility of movement in the pack these are my picks for the winners
• Overall: I think u/Priusaurus will come out on top again, with u/hugbckt, u/MrTangerinesky falling just slightly shy of the crown. I've seen a number of his posts but I have to say Day 1 just really set the tone for another good year for him.
• FOF: I haven’t followed this one as closely, but ~~Cupcake, Destroyer of Worlds~~ u/hugbckt is probably the best pick I have for this one. Who would have guessed a man who made himself into a cupcake would be so good at explaining scent notes.
• Photo: I just really liked the photo u/chronnoisseur42O took on the 11th that purple really popped. I know there were a number of other good shots taken, but that one just keeps coming back to me so he has my vote.
• Friend of the Sub: Since judges are actually eligible for this one I think u/OnionMiasma will probably lock down the most helpful. He was quick to answer questions and sent a ton of smushes out to those of us with holes in our calendars.
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/2saintsdude for today’s soap and splash samples.

LG 2024- June 29th Sandalwood

https://imgur.com/a/Qzagemz

• Brush: Elite Razor Custom Synthetic Birch
• Razor: Razorock GC .84
• Blade: Lord Platinum (7)
• Lather: Stirling - Vanilla Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Stetson splash
• Frag: Stirling - Sandalwood

Challenge: Gonna be honest, This month just posting a SOTD is about all I can do with a New job and cross country move. I made my calendar as best I could given the circumstances.

I have not been able to devote near the time/effort to engage and read all the SOTD posts. That’s said I can’t comment on who I think will win but since I’m a rookie I’ve been most interested in skimming the other ROTY posts when I can. My pick is u/Mudaccording

ROTY

6/29/24

• Brush: Muninn Woodworks w/ C&H V19 Fanchurian
• Razor: Wade & Butcher "The Celebrated Hollow Ground Razor For Barber's Use" 8/8, Half Hollow Barber's Notch
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Midnight Special
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Midnight Special Aftershave Aftershave Splash

One thing I don't have much of in my den is Sandalwood forward scents. Thankfully, there's Midnight Special. I'm gonna be real honest, I didn't by for the scent, but for the idea behind it. I have been a huge nerd for Cowboy Bebop since it first aired in the US in 2001. I'm a big fan of westerns of all sorts, honestly. Space Westerns slap on another level, though.

It's not a bad scent, thankfully! It's unique, and I enjoyed it enough to eventually put together a trick.

As far as strong contenders this year: u/tsrblke, u/Priusaurus, and u/MrTangerinsky have been crushing it. u/hugbuckt has been doing great in FoF. u/bacconchop has put a lot of heart into it. Special mention for u/alg82 because this just cracks me up.

June 29, 2024

• Brush: Farvour Turncraft 'Blue Diamond Dust' / AP Shave Co G5A 26mm
• Razor: Gillette Ball End Tech
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (1)
• Lather: Proraso - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Proraso - Sandalwood
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Santal Auster

Not appropriate for me to speculate. So, I hope I win.

Jun. 29, 2024 Sandalwood Saturday * Brush: Chisel & Hound Quartermoon
Razor: Everyday Shaving Stinger
Blade: Astra SP * Lather: Cella - Buongiorno al Sandalo
Post Shave: Catie’s Bubbles - Retreat * Post Shave:* Jack Black - Double-Duty Face Moisturizer

Didn’t get to see all the posts throughout the month but these are my predictions based on what I did see.

LG - u/Priusauris

ROTY - u/bmac92

FoF - u/hugbckt

Honorable mention: u/enndeegee for the entertainment in the comments all month.

ROTY

June 29, 2024 - sandal you say?

• Brush: Zenith Copper Scrubby 28mm B36
• Razor: Everyday Shaving Stinger
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum
• Lather: Catie's Bubbles - Retreat
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Lavender
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Santal Auster

In the spirit of doing the judges homework, I decided to test out a new daily challenge for this theme next year. I lathered in a sandal. I took the gram of Retreat that I saved after selling the tub earlier this month, spread it through the heel of the sandal, and then lathered it up (see title photo). It's precision loading in a sandal, what's not to like? (Fun fact, it's the sandal. The sandal is what's not to like.)

Both this soap and this frag are headache triggers for me, so I'm taking advantage of shaving at night by going to bed as soon as I finish this post. The soap is a very wood-y sandalwood, that feels like it's going for that fresh chopped wood scent. Santal Auster on the other hand is definitely going to a richer, creamier scent with some more depth and variety while still accentuating the sandalwood. I decided to try and bridge that gap from woodsy to rich and creamy with the absolutely gorgeous B&M Lavender. This stuff does a fantastic job making these two disparate scents play nice together as the scents transfer from soap to splash to frag.

Now, for the actual daily challenge. I think the following people are going to win the various contests this month.

• Photo Contest: /u/Crossan1983, some of the consistently best photos I've seen all month.
• Feats of Fragrance: /u/Hugbckt, amazing fragrance write ups. I can almost smell him through the screen.
• ROTY: /u/bmac92, it's almost unfair how much more prepared he was for these games than the other rookies. The fountain pen ink shave was one of my favorite posts this whole month.
• Overall Winner: /u/MrTangerinesky is going to win it all. I have faith. He chilled out a bit from last year's over the top insanity, and I think that has only helped him. His posts are required reading every day. Other people would deserve to win too, but I think MrTangerinesky has played the best game all month.

Today's photo contest theme is Humor. I lathered in a shoe, what more do you want? Please judge the photo linked in the post title. I think I'm supposed to get the container of the soap into the picture in some way, so I took a photo from before I got everything set up, but since I just put the smush in a random container I don't think it really helps. So, again, please judge the photo linked in the title, it's my best attempt at today's photo theme while still, I think, including the relevant pieces. #photocontest

🦶 and J33p tagged in the same post.

OP's sandal shave is clever and hilarious, plus detailed and enthusiastic recommendations for other players. Bravo all around.

29 June 2024 Complementary Non Dickkhole Talbot Shaving Ilahi Ridge

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: Ouomo Kirin 25mm
• Razor: Ever Ready Streamline
• Blade: GEM (44)
• Lather: Talbot Shaving - Ilahi Ridge (2)
• Post Shave: Caties Bubbles - Retreat A/S
• Post Shave: Thayer's Concoction
• Post Shave: Good Oleo
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Unscented Balm
• Fragrance: Diptyque - Tam Dao

Cheers

Jun. 29, 2024
Prep: Cremo - Coconut Mango Shave Cream - Preshave
Brush: MÜHLE Vivo Plumwood Pur Badger #OLDWORLD #WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINGBADGERS * Razor: Merkur 39C #ZAMAC
Blade: Astra Green [4]
Lather: Mühle Shave Care - Sandalwood Luxury Shaving Soap - Soap
Post Shave: Proraso - Coarse Beards - Sandalwood Oil & Shea Butter - Aftershave
Post Shave: Tower 28 - SOS Rescue Spray

ROTY

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

June 29, 2024  

• Brush: Dogwood – Badger  
• Razor: Merkur 34C  
• Blade: Astra SP (Green)   
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Sandalwood  

Theme: it’s named sandalwood. And I don’t react well to it. My skin feels weird.

Challenge: to be honest, I haven’t read much of the games. Especially the early days just participating was the most I could do. tsr generally made me smile. Mayana was a fun rookie.

June 29, 2024 – Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Aurora Grooming LG24 Synthetic ("Lux Emerald Green")
• Razor: "Screwy" (GEM Damaskeene)
• Blade: Personna GEM (6)
• Lather: Captain's Choice - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Castle Forbes - Cedarwood and Sandalwood Aftershave Balm
• Fragrance: Geo. F. Trumper - Eucris EdP

Sandalwood is everywhere, but it's also very rare.

I could get tired of this scent, but today it was a nice change. Captain's Choice Sandalwood has a gentle fragrance but smells authentic (at least to me). I'd never tried anything from Castle Forbes. The sample was pricey (8 bucks from Maggard's), but it has a robust woody scent and the balm has no alcohol or menthol. Very soothing. Geo. F. Trumper Eucris EdP has a sandalwood note mixed in with many others, and is a bit overpowering. It's a barbershop scent from a bygone era (Zingari Man's The Gent smells somewhat similar).

Daily Challenge

ROTY feels already decided, doesn't it? bmac is the consensus favorite to win. Personally I'm rooting for MudAccording. Like many others though, I'd be happy to see bacconchop come away with the title.

Brush Strokes today features a beautiful illustration from a seventeenth-century Persian manuscript entitled Khamsa (Quintet) by Nizami (d.1209); Bahram Gur and the Princess in the Sandalwood Pavilion.

ROTY

EDIT: something something ROTY tag formatting

LG24-29: Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Trotter Handcrafts Gothic 26mm Manchurian T1 Badger Knot
• Razor: Blackland Razors Blackbird Ti
• Blade: Gillette Platinum [5]
• Lather: Grooming Dept - Sandalwood Nobile - Soap
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Midnight Special - Splash
• Fragrance: Declaration Grooming/House of Mammoth - Cerberus - Eau de Parfum

Sandalwood Nobile is a stark, dry sandalwood scent. It's not my favorite sandalwood, but it definitely has a unique character to it.

Midnight Special is an underrated gem with a strong current of "velvety" sandalwood. Cerberus is probably my most complimented scent where people immediately pick out the sandalwood.

I think that there is a general consensus among the sub that u/mrtangerinsky, u/priusaurus, u/hugbckt, u/impressive_donut114, and u/tsrblke are consistently killing it almost everyday. For ROTY, u/bmac92 has set the bar high for the other rookies.

https://imgur.com/gallery/AlOLjum

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Wild west Brushworks
• Razor: Rex - Ambassador
• Blade: Gillette - Nacet
• Lather: proraso - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: proraso - green

I think u/2saintsdude should win because he is a nightshaver and nighshavers stick together.

Photocontest

Donuts theme. Lol cheeky in camera double exposure. Both shots were taken at the famous Duffins donuts. An east Vancouver staple since 1987.

June 29, 2024

• Brush: CaYuen Abalone w/ Motherlode 26mm #PREMIUMPLASTIC

• Razor: CJB GR-100B Kamisori Style Shavette #KAMISORI

• Blade: Schick Proline (AC)

• Lather: Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements - Supreme Sandalwood Science - Soap

• Post Shave: Proraso - Sandalwood - Splash

• Fragrance: Australian Private Reserve - Torchwood - EdP

Here is the 26mm Mother Lode for Premium Plastic. Welp, a low point for the Lather Games. Due to the strict regulations on PIF day, here we are, forced by the Judges to stoop to new lows. I had managed to avoid using PAA for 5 years of wetshaving. I had acquired this sample tossed in with a purchase and it had sat in the bottom of the box for a while, thought to be never used. Alas it was not meant to be. It was useable, but nowhere near worth the level of fanboying that can be observed on the book of face. There is nowhere but up from this low point in my shaving career.

Obviously the winner of LG is CosmoBarber for his performance in the 2020 LG. IT WAS THAT GOOD. The likes of that effort will never be duplicated again.

June 29, 2024 - Sandalwood Saturday (but which flavor of Sandalwood?)

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: AP Shave Co. 26mm G5C FSC Certified Wood Rustic Brown Handle
• Razor: RIRON Barber Feather Razor
• Blade: Red ProTouch mg (9)
• Lather: Zingari Man - The Traditionalist
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming - Cerberus (Dec/HoM/NO Collab)
• Fragrance: Declaration Grooming - Cerberus (Dec/HoM/NO Collab)

It was a great first run (I'm pretty sure) with Zingari's vegan base. Today, I am on theme with both The Traditionalist and Cerberus. As far as the daily challenge. For the photocontest, I think both u/chronnoisseur42O and  u/ginopono had great photos. For overall,  u/Priusaurus certainly wouldn't be undeserving of another win. ROTY would probably have to go to . As for Feats of Fragrance u/hugbckt always had enjoyable posts to read that I caught myself looking for as the month went on. My favorite posts actually happened on Wildcard Wednesday from  u/Priusaurus and u/Tetriside with the cheese shaves. I think the Mountain Dew pour at the end of u/Priusaurus 's video put it over the top, though.

u/djundjila

Side Contest: #PHOTOCONTEST - NSFW? Birds (possibly NSFW as it is real, just frozen and waiting to be taken to the taxidermist)