LGSOTD 07-July

• Brush: Chisel and Hound - Mammoth #SHD #COMPOSITE
• Razor: Myatt - Daymark #UNICORN
• Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium  
• Lather: Shulton – Old Spice   
• Post Shave: Shulton – Old Spice AS   
• Fragrance: Shulton – Old Spice Cologne  

Absolutely love the original old spice, managed to pick up a couple of pucks and a handful of original aftershaves, but this little travel bottle of cologne is all I’ve managed to get my hands on so I use it sparingly, bloody good though.  I’ve tried a handful of dupes, and the only one that I’ve settled on, should these run out in the near future is B&M Reserve Spice.  In the meantime this should cover the spicy aim of the day, brilliant stuff. 

Picked up the Daymark from that well known auction site, more for interest than anything else, but decided to throw that in the mix today.  Obviously doesn't accept standard blades so decided I would try to snip it to get it to fit.  Worked surprisingly well, I’m sure I could have cut it better but it worked well enough. Blade was flat and exposure was even when put together, giving a perfectly acceptable shave off a tad mild.

For the challenge today, tricky one. I don't have many obsessive past times, bit of DIY and subsequent TAD (Tool Acquisition Disorder) and motorbikes, going off in the mountains with a load of old folk reliving their youth as they can now afford the toys they wanted as teens. Really I would say bouldering would be my main alternative, certainly at this time of year.  Though no online presence within my little group, I would say they are just as nuts. I mean who voluntarily slings themselves up a rock face with no ropes and a dinky mat (or no mat) to try and hit when you fall off, and you absolutely will fall off. Ripping your your hands open, then being mocked for taking a break and being told to grab the tape and put yourself back together.  All this with tourists driving past us on the Llanberis pass whilst we stare blankly at a rock discussing the best way to get up. Going on to discuss whether you successfully pulled off that 6C (yeah I’m not that good but it’s fun) or whether you got lost halfway and meandered on to an easy 4, if there’s anymore boulderers out there, yes I know the V scale is easier than the Font scale to understand but it’s what I started with.  All of this followed by a swift pint of coffee at Pete’s Eats, I may be British but I can’t do tea.  Unfortunately, or not so much, with the closure we now have to go to a pub for several proper pints instead…what a shame. Sorry for the ramble! 

For the photo contest, I’m pushing my luck, here we have an extinct animal…well ok bits of Wooly Mammoth.  Cracking brush put together by Rob in collaboration with Heritage Fossils!

Decent shave and hope everyone has a good one.

Cheers

Marc

ROTY

PhotoContest

Fremen Friday

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Papa Eld with Declaration Grooming B3 #SHD
• Razor: Ever-Ready Natuar Angle (E-bar) #Twins
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (5)
• Lather: Abbate y La Mantia – Vulcano
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Spiced
• Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Man Fire Power

Dune struck me as a vaguely fascist übermensch fantasy, so I stopped reading after the first book. Multiple people I respect tell me that the subsequent books get better, so I guess I should find out how the freedom fight of the Fremen continues some day.

Vulcano is clearly a spice scent (lots of pepper and anise), but not a warm scent like Spiced or a dry scent like Fire power. Vulcano is fresh and hot simultaneously (this is where the temperature-spiciness metaphor breaks down) and plays tricks on the mind. The post and frag relevance here that they show different aspects of spiciness.

On a side note, there's this ongoing and very much stuck discussion between u/semaj3000 and myself about whether spiced is a summer or winter scent, and my stance is firmly that the scent of mandarines, vanilla, and gingerbread spices (literally the scent of Santa's bag) can be nothing else but a Christmas scent. This morning, when I went to wake up my wife, the first thing she said was "Oh, you smell very nice, so summerly!" 🤬🤬🤬

Today's challenge caused me to reevaluate my recent choices. One or two years ago, my answer would have been easy: I like doing bike treks, organise big hog roasts, and automate stuff around the house with little robots. Well, my last hog roast and the last time I've touched a soldering iron was before Djunior was born, and I haven't carried a tent up the alps on my bike since last year. So what's my hobby now?

I realised with some horror, that over the last year, I've spent more than an hour per day on developping the DjudgePortal (it originally started for Austere August 2022), and since I'm not getting paid to do it, I guess I have to classify this activity as a hobby or reevaluate my life choices 😅. I also like photography and take it seriously enough that it can count as a hobby, I guess.

Speaking of photography, I'm shooting for the Literature theme of the #photocontest, specifically concentrating on section 28.VII.β: "Science Fiction, Non-Fascist, English Language" of my bookshelf. Although, I'm not sure whether Brave New World is categorised correctly, I can never really tell.

July 7, 2023 – Lather games day 7 – AKA Spice, bros!

• Brush: Sawdust Creations Studio Synthetic
• Razor: Karve CB
• Blade: Astra SP (Green) (1)
• Lather: Australian Private Reserve – Carnivale
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming – Harmony
• Fragrance: Bvlgari Men – Black

APR Carnivale is mighty spicy. So is Harmony. As is Bulgary Men Black. There is a restaurant chain here called Spice Bros. I have been seeing it everywhere around town this summer. Have not tried it, seems meh. That’s all I could think about during todays spicy shave. But I digress…

My other big hobby is Motorcycling. I have been doing that for a very large part of my life so am in a relatively calm, stable period right now – investment-wise, but do want a new motorcycle. I used to be all into the online forums to learn, nerd out and meet folks to ride with but it has been quite a while now that I haven’t been. As life progresses I find I have less and less riding time and opportunities, but I still love it. This hobby has it’s unique jargon for sure, stuff like: dragging a knee, high side, low side, squid (for N00b). I could go on, but won’t – I’ll head out for a ride instead. Have a great Friday y’all!

#PhotoContest

July 7, 2023

• Brush: Terrafirma Soapery - Mallee Burl and Resin Shaving Brush Handle w/ 28mm G5C knot #COMPOSITE #FAUXFUR #PREMIUMPLASTIC
• Razor: Chiseled Face – Legacy #CNC
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Spearhead Shaving - Spiced
• Post Shave: Terrafirma Soapery – Chesapeake Bay Rum Splash
• Fragrance: Antonio Banderas - Spirit
• Music: Spice Girls – Spice Up Your Life

Thank God Dickhole Day is behind us and I can feel free to Spice up my shaves without having to match scents. My quest to #ridewithitchy for every day this month and not match scents at all continues after a bad, sad, and boring day yesterday. After yesterday’s dickhole day, do you know what I want? I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want. I want to shave with Spearhead Shaving’s Spiced! And looking ahead at the Calendar, looks like at lot of great shaves are coming up! Ain’t No Stopping Us Now!

Spiced is a delicious blend of Mandarin, Aledhydes, Carnation, Anise, Cinnamon, Clove, Cardamom, Benzoin, Tonka, Vanilla, Baby, Sporty, Scary, Posh, & Ginger. Carefully crafted by Shawn Maher to resurrect the old Seaforth brand, this is one of my favorite, favorite soaps. Last year, I shaved with it on Desert Island Day (and wrote an awesome wetshaving inspired song to the tune of “Spice Up Your Life”). I didn’t record it like u/Crisp_Mango, did this year, but the lyrics are there, even If U Can't Dance to it. Over a year later, and this is still one of the best soaps for me. The Spearhead base is awesome and the scent is strong, but not Too Much. And when we are lucky enough to shave with a great base AND a great scent, and then those 2 Become 1 and we are lucky enough to shave with this masterpiece.

I always shave with the grain, then zig-a-zig-aaahhhcross the grain for a wonderful two pass shave that gave me a Baby-smooth face. After the shave, I used Chesapeake Bay Rum Splash by Terrafirma Soapery, who included this sample in with the brush handle I bought from him. It’s a beautiful Ginger color and left my face feeling wonderful. The scent of the splash is more on the sweeter side of bay rum scents I’ve tried, but still gives plenty of spice. It can sometimes be Scary using a new product, but I’m happy I gave this splash a try.

I wasn’t feeling too Posh today, so I’m using Spirit by Antonio Banderas to close out the shave. It’s a nice spicy scent that left me feeling strong, independent, and full of Power - a great #FOF! It’s classy enough for the boardroom, but still being light enough if you’re going to the gym to be Sporty with your buddies after work. At this point, you probably want me to Stop with the Spice Girls references, so let’s move onto the Challenge.

For the #photocontest, we have some peppers because it's spicy day and vegetables are good for you!

CHALLENGE

I actually posted about this on the sub last year, but I’ll post it again for those who didn’t see it, weren’t around, or just forgot. One of my favorite hobbies is antiquing, which has some parallels to wetshaving: Finding vintage things, breathing new life into a long-forgotten item or tradition, and appreciating the past. If I'm stressed, I love walking around a few local antique stores around me.

Here's a before and after of one of my antiquing finds/projects.

Some time ago, an old cast iron kerosene water heater caught my eye, and I was not entirely sure what I was going to do with it, but knowing it would never been a water heater again and it was too interesting to end up in a scrapyard. When I brought it home, I let it sit for a few days, and I thought I'd try to turn it into a lamp. I had never made a lamp before, but this seemed like it could be a fun project. So I just started taking it apart, bit by bit, while researching how to make a lamp. I used steel wool to get the rust off, polished it up with a cast iron polish, painted the lettering copper, and learned out how to wire a lamp, even making the on/off switch a blue valve. I added a gauge that serves no purpose, other than looking cool, and put everything together.

Finally, here's the finished product: the there is a flickering bulb at the bottom that simulates fires, representing the flame that used to be there to heat water 100 years ago and here's it with the door open, showing off the copper coils that water used to travel through to be heated, and now my electrical wiring travels through.

This is such an appropriate challenge for today, because for today’s installment of “10 Questions with…”, I have Dennis from Spearhead Shaving. He knows a thing or two about breathing new life into something that is long forgotten, and he was kind enough to take part in my shenanigans and give some really good, thoughtful answers to my questions. And he’ll finally answers the one question we’ve all wanted to know: WHO IS DENNIS’ FAVORITE SPICE GIRL? All that and more coming up below!

In all seriousness, Dennis is such a great part of this community and his soaps are top-notch. Thank you for playing along with this, u/IronBeard_SYS! Really appreciate you taking part in this series. Without further ado, I present to you:

10 Questions with… Spearhead Shaving

1) What's the meaning behind the name "Spearhead Shaving?"

My grandfather was a Captain in the 3rd Armored "Spearhead" division in WWII. He was also an avid wet shaver, never missing a day of shaving.

I was doing some biographical research into him when u/wegianwarrior posted a picture of his vintage Khaki Set. I liked the design for my own work travel - especially knowing that my grandfather probably used the same case at some point. So when I decided to recreate it I thought Spearhead would be a nice homage for a vintage-inspired product.

(INTERVIEW CONTINUED IN THE REPLY)

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Kuai Taper w/ V18 Fanchurian 26mm

• Razor: Muhle Rocca R94

• Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum

• Lather: Henri et Victoria - Absinthe

• Post Shave: Clubman Pinaud - Osage Rub

• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - Saint Julep

Today's Theme: Fremen Friday - H&V's Absinthe soap prominently features anise and "spices" so it should cover the "spicy" theme for today.

Today's Challenge: So one of my other hobbies is Gunpla/model kit building. I'm by no means an expert, but I enjoy it quite a bit and always have a good backlog of kits to build. To be quite honest, the appeal is more in the building process than it is in having a finished model. I find the repetitive action of cutting, sanding, and coating each piece relaxing, and it's very satisfying turning a big box of plastic pieces into something with actual design intent. One of the funnier terms in the hobby is "nippers" which are just little clippers used for cutting pre-molded parts off the plastic "runners", and just like how Feather blades have a reputation among wetshavers for being especially sharp, God Hand nippers have a reputation for being exceptionally sharp (but also somewhat fragile). Check out my daily picture below for some of the kits that bring me the most joy!

My theme for today's shave: Green Smells, Three Ways

So for today's shave I wanted to do variations on "green" smells. Absinthe has a green-ish smell from its namesake liquor. Osage Rub has that Salon Pas mentholated pain relief patch smell. And Saint Julep has the wonderful smell of walking through a healthy grove of trees with thick grass underfoot. Great shave overall today and I'm glad to be back using my normal Muhle Rocca after a bit of a gauntlet to start the lather games.

For music today I picked one of my nerdiest metal albums (to vibe with busting out my gunpla kits) Symphony of Enchanted Lands Part II from Rhapsody before they changed names to Rhapsody of Fire for copyright reasons. I love this album primarily because it features Christopher Lee (the guy who played Saruman in the Lord of the Rings movies) throughout the album. He does some narration, some singing, and a little bit of dialog, and it's wonderful that he would do this kind of project with an Italian power metal band. #photocontest #FOF #ROTY

Jul. 7, 2023 - The Spice Race

• Prep: CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser

• Brush: Omega 10049 Boar #HOLLOW

• Razor: Blackland Blackbird (SS) #CNC

• Blade: Astra Green

• Lather: Talbot Shaving - Authors Ridge

• Post Shave: House Of Mammoth - Z (uncool) Balm

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Damocles

Damocles: I have absolutely no idea how to describe this other than quoting Ben’s description “Enjoy the power, the luxury, the opulence…” The first time I used this frag I paired it with Orbit which might seem like an odd pairing but the “Cold Space” of Orbit and “Metal” of Damocles work nicely together. I wanted to use that pairing again today but there’s no way I could spin Orbit as “Spicy.” Instead I took the opportunity to use this sample of Authors Ridge. This soap certainly fulfills the “Spicy” requirement but in a different way than Damocles. It’s an Earthy Spice that is dark and intoxicating, unlike any of my normal scents. This is the only thing I’ve tried from Talbot Shaving and rather enjoyed the lather.

For todays daily challenge: if you’ve been following my #photocontest (Todays is #Space) you might have noticed a theme in my pictures. I have two young boys and building legos with my oldest son is the closest thing to a hobby that I have right now. I have really enjoyed building things with him for this month. He is not even 4 yet and can build entire sets by himself from the instructions! I love to sit with him and watch his imagination go wild with all of the things he wants to build! I managed to snag a ton of Legos from my childhood from my parents house, sometimes it pays off to have the first grandchildren in the family!

My other hobby is baking but I don’t get to do that as much as I want to. I got a sourdough starter from a friend about a year ago and have made some pretty delicious things with it! I love it because it is a mixture of following the recipe with experimentation combined with my passion of eating!

2023-07-07 Spice it Up

• Brush: Yaqi Metal Timberwolf
• Razor: Rockwell 6S
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Damocles
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Damocles
• Blade: Personna Super (3)

Relevant Other stuff: Keeping it in-house. House of Mammoth, that is.
The razor so chosen because it is steel, thus matching a scent "note." I chose the metal-handled brush for a similar reason. The horse brush from the other day would have also been thematically relevant, but it doesn't really fit aesthetically and chrome is objectively hideous.

Lather/Fragrance:

#FOF

From the marketing description:
"You smell spices and wine up front, from the king's feast before you."

Hey, how'd you know? Actually, this one took me a while to figure out. My nose really couldn't decide what it was picking up, but my vague memory of the scent description led me to conclude that it was something fruity, as I imagined great bowls of fruit on a king's banquet. My nose apparently doesn't know the different between fruity and spicy, but I think that's because this literally comes through as a spicy fruitiness. Or a fruity spiciness. One of those. The incense/resin and violet, assuming that they're there, blend in subtly with the spice and wine (respectively). If I really focus, I can make out the leather underneath it all, unsure if I'm actually smelling it or if my brain tells me I am.

I don't mean to question the scent notes, by the way. This wonderful scent from the masterful creator of such favorites as Tobacconist, Santa Noir, and Shire stands strong alongside those. However I do mean to question the reliability of what my brain tells me I perceive. Senses cannot be trusted, because the brain quite simply makes shit up.

#photocontest

Photo: Royals

The fable/allegory/parable/apocryphon of Damocles is one that some may consider to be part of general knowledge, but at the same time I wouldn't hold it against anyone if they weren't familiar with it. If you are one of today's lucky 10,000, allow me to spin you a yarn while I ponder how clever it was to say "yarn" just now.

So Damocles was some dude sucking up to King Dionysius of Syracuse, going, "By golly, being a king sure must be swell! Your life is super peachy keen! And, bonus, no one ever secretly plots to kill you in your sleep!"
Dionysius, unimpressed, was like, "Try it out!" and set up Damocles as king for a day, with all the fruit bouquets and blowjobs he could ask for. Provided, anyway, that he enjoyed said fellatio and edible arrangements from his throne, above which was a badass and super-heavy sword just kinda hanging from the ceiling or something, suspended by a single horse hair.
Damocles, upon discovering the precarious sword (I leave it to the reader to decide how the enjoyment of his luxuries led him to tilt his head back to look directly upwards), said, "Fuck this shit!"

For the purposes of how Royals is represented, I'm calling the setup in this photo a model; I don't think that's a stretch, but it would be a stretch to go with image/drawing (what, the mammoth skull thing? Side note: purple is the color of royalty!). Or we could call the knight—which I might guess would be considered a part of the royal court—the model. Damn, too bad I didn't call upon u/sirkravsalot to be in the shot. Which brings me to...

Challenge Accepted: This challenge is literally calling upon us to talk about stuff, so I cannot be held responsible for the length that it contributes!

It still seems weird to me that we call this a hobby. I'm not saying it shouldn't be considered one, but I tend to think of a hobby as something that someone does to occupy much of their off-time, whereas shaving takes but a small amount of time. Unless you're a face-latherer, but the rest of us spend those extra 7 hours doing other things!

Time was when I wasn't really sure of how to answer the "hobby" question, anyway. Last year, though, I picked up something that I briefly dabbled in some 10 years prior and now do for no less than an hour/day 5-6 times per week: krav maga. If you're unfamiliar, it's a fighting system developed by the Israeli military that borrows from various martial arts.

The people at the studio/dojo/kravery that I go to are very disparate people, all with very different motivations for being there. Some want to learn how to defend themselves. Some want to become martial arts masters! Some just want to get into better shape. As for me, I like that it's a pretty fun (usually) way to stay active while programming some pretty nifty muscle memory, and it doesn't hurt that it helped me get into better shape than I've been in since I was like 20.

Do I ever expect to actually use anything I learn there? No. Absolutely not. Aside from just general vigilance/self-awareness kind of stuff. I am reminded of an interaction I had with one guy there while we were drilling a simple gun disarm. He was like, "Do you ever have to do this?" Not "Have you ever had to," or "Have you ever been in this situation," but "Is this something that you do?" No, man, I do not routinely find myself staring down the barrel of a gun wielded by someone so intent on murdering me that I have to RCAD that shit!
Redirect, control, attack, disarm/takeaway. There's a bit of jargon for ya.

July 7, 2023 – LG 7: Fremen Friday

• Brush: Chisel and Hound V8 #SHD
• Razor: Gillette Red Tip Super Speed
• Blade: Astra SP (Green) (3)
• Lather: Apex Alchemy Soaps – Speakeasy
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Reserve Spice
• Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Spiced

Actual footage of me trying spice for the first time on ~~tatooine~~ Arrakis. For the #PHOTOCONTEST (light source) it seemed fitting to place my wares on a lamp base with bulb overhead to emulate the harsh deserts and sun of Dune. Used a head lamp to try and add some red flare as well.

As for the smellz today, spice through and through. Apex Speakeasy in their words is a refined bourbon/cinnamon scent. To me it smells a lot like how hot tamales candies taste. In the ballpark of TFTV dupes. It is very cinnamon upfront, but plenty of sweetness from vanilla, tobacco, and hints of cherry. Reserve Spice is the classic old spice dupe, lots of carnation and nutmeg, giving it that clove-y spice, and vanilla and tonka to mellow it out. I absolutely love spearhead seaforth spiced. An update on the classic, the mandarin really comes through. Its sweet, but plenty creamy from vanilla and tonka again, with the usual spices like anise and clove underneath and throughout the dry down. It is very reminiscent of fruit pomanders at Christmas time, those oranges spotted with cloves, with some lovely baked goods like sugar cookies wafting in from the kitchen. #FOF

For the daily challenge, we have the other hobby of LEGO. That’s a collection of most of my stuff, most of which is in a little detached room from our house. As a hobby, there are a lot of similarities to wetshaving IMO. It’s expensive and takes up a lot of space. Different themes is sort of like different artisans, in that there are LEGO originals and dupes (aka licensed themes). They are both pretty nerdy in a way, as manly as straight razor shaving can be, be real, we’re a bunch of dorks. Lastly, there are plenty of acronyms. My favorite is probably SNOT (studs not on top). Other include but not limited to: MOC (my own creation), SEC (some else’s creation), BURP/LURP (big/large ugly rock piece).

soap brands 7/30, post shave 7/30, frag 7/30, post/frag linked 7/30, software sponsors 2/15, hardware sponsors 2/2, razor hashtags 4/15, brush hashtags 5/15, photo contest 7/30, daily challenges 6/25, special challenges 1/5