LGSOTD 12-July

• Brush: Simpsons - Chubby 2 SiLVERTiP
• Razor: Gillette - Old Type #REGUS   
• Blade: Gillette - Wizamet  
• Lather: Catie’s Bubbles - Revolution   
• Post Shave: Catie’s Bubbles - Revolution
• Fragrance: Catie’s Bubbles - Revolution

A last minute substitution, I had fully intended to use Signature Soaps today which contains Potassium Cocoate but after a BST purchase from a fellow LG contestant, which I didn’t realise before buying, I had to throw this in the mix as soon as I realised that it contained coconut oil.  

To be fair this was probably a bad idea, mainly because of the extra ‘opposite day’ challenge.  When I started out I used to bowl lather and thought nothing would change, got myself a little collection going with the obligatory muhle porcelain effort, dog bowls, scuttles and eventually a captains choice bowl. At that point I was out of town for a while and forgot the bowl and just went to the face…why hadn't I done that sooner!? I've not looked back since and so I am well and truly out of practice and the bowl sits under the sink unloved.  On top of that it’s a soap base that I have never used before, already this is not the best idea in the world.  So it really was a bit of a challenge but it didn’t come out too bad but I know both it and I can do better, it’s just my cack handedness. 

My sub-par lather aside, it doesn't take away from the scent on this. I had in my mind that it was going to be something like A&E Novelist, it is not. This has its own character and it's brilliant. It's stronger than Novelist and darker, but in a good way. The description helps to guide the mind of course but I imagine an old library, not the dodgy public ones, more curated antiques. I'll see what the longevity is like on the EDP but it's looking hopeful. Shame we can't seem to get more bubbles this side of the pond. 

Throwing in my Gillette Old Type for the REGUS tags, I picked this up as part of a Khaki Travel and though it does tend to be used for that purpose it really isn't.  It’s a lovely little razor, I would say that I prefer my ‘NEW’ but this does the job very well. 

Hope everyone has a cracking day. 

Cheers

Marc

ROTY

PhotoContest

nice pic

July 12, 2023 – Lather games day 12 – AKA Fluffy reverse lather

• Brush: Razorock Synthetic BC Silvertip
• Razor: Tatara Masamune Nodachi plate
• Blade: Astra SP (Green) (4)
• Lather: Proraso – Green Tea & Oat
• Post Shave: Proraso – Menthol and Eucalyptus
• Fragrance: Zoologist Perfumes – Panda

Proraso is fluffy. And white. It comes in a weird container so that I would normally bowl lather. This is the first time I tried lathering from the (weird) tub. Worked fine but made a huge mess. Proraso is also slick. Must be that coconut oil.

My photo today tried to capture the white, clean feel of it all. I must say that Zoologist Panda pairs beautifully with Proraso green splash. I only break it out from time to time, but the Tatara Masamune razor is fantastic. Mine actually has a Nodachi plate, which makes it even better. Today is gonna be a good day.

#PhotoContest

Such a well-composed photo.

If I didn't know otherwise, I'd expect that this was a professionally made commercial photo. Well done.

2023-07-12 Coconut, my dear Watson

• Brush: Zenith Chubby B27
• Razor: Gillette Old Type
• Lather: Chiseled Face - Sherlock
• Post Shave: Chiseled Face - Sherlock
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Unconditional Surrender
• Blade: - Feather (2)

Although I'm sure Chiseled Face is going to be popular today, I'll still point out that it's number 3 on the label.

Relevant Post-shave and Fragrance: Sticking with the same scent for the post-shave. As for the fragrance, it relates in two ways: 1) the tobacco note (and leather somewhat, as represented by the amber accord, according to u/hawns) and 2) also being inspired by a great man, i.e. Ulysses S. Grant (granted, one is fictional and the other is not).
"Why not Baker Street," you ask? Because I didn't think of it is why!

Challenge Accepted: Fuck.
It's no secret how I feel about face-lathering. If you do favor face-lathering, I implore you to seek vigorous therapy to explore why you hate yourself so much that you regard your own time with such little value! For today, I figured I might as well bring out my old face-lathering ~~friend~~ ~~companion~~ boar from last August, a single month in which I wasted ~~hours~~ ~~days~~ weeks spent face-lathering. And now I'm still stuck with this "face-lathering sucks" bit!

But it is awful. So awful. Behold the meager lather after only a mere 3 hours rubbing my face as my beautiful bowl sat dry. Nah, I didn't spend that long, but I did think—just for a moment during the first pass—that maybe it wasn't bad, maybe there's something to be said for fluffy coconut. Nope, terrible.

#FOF
This was one of my first soaps. When I was first getting started, I was intent on finding a perfect tobacco scent. I thought this one to be better than others I sampled at the time, despite some reviews claiming it to be akin to an ashtray. I didn't agree with that assessment, but when compared to the likes of Tobacconist from House of Mammoth (as close to a perfect tobacco scent as may be possible), it's certainly closer to ashtray than humidor.

As for the fragrance, I think it may have been my nose's first Maher scent, from the soap, and I was and am quite enamored. The tobacco isn't front and center, nor is it meant to be, so there's not a lot of room for direct comparison, and I don't think it's the most appropriate pairing. After about an hour, I'm still getting Sherlock rising to the top, but I'd prefer its unconditional surrender to Unconditional Surrender.

#photocontest

Photo: Literature
Pretty straightforward, this one was already decided before the contest was even announced, so that's convenient!

great use of magnifying glass

July 12, 2023 – Flowers for GUTL

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (4)
• Lather: Martin de Candre – Rose
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Bergamot Lavender
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Sunrise on LaSalle

Today’s shave was thanks to a smush of MdC from u/loudmusicboy. I’ve never used this soap before so I now better understand the title of today’s day. For today’s challenge, I’m a bit of an odd ball, I basically equally bowl or face lather depending on how much time I have. But I pretty much stick to one or the other. Either I get out my bowl or I don’t. So what’s the opposite of that? GUTL. Mixing my face and bowl lathering together and hoping u/merikus draws my post to judge. Let’s do it.

Firstly, I’m kinda only aware of GUTL in theory so look up u/GUTL_bot to get instructions. Ok good. Scoop into bowl. Now as I said I’ve never used MdC before so I don’t know how much. Based on u/EldrormR’s brain bowl experience I need less than a gram so put a little in and.. The whole smush crumbled in, whelp hope u/loudmusicboy gave me the right amount for a shave. I’ll smear it around the bowl. Doesn’t look like too much. Should be fine. Make proto lather, ok that’s easy. Put proto lather on face. Ok so far so good. Return go bowl ok this I’m familiar with. It’s about this point I think “man my face feels dry…is coconut oil the one that dries you out?" Oh it is.. Leaving a heavy coconut oil proto lather on my face while I build my bowl lather is… Probably not a good idea for my skin. Do I stop? No I press on. OK tons of bowl lather built, now face lather. Ok… Explosion of lather on face… But the wet brush has hydrated it ok. Add some more water, keep building…..done. I look like Santa Claus (alas I forgot my phone and now having built lather twice for a single shave I’m running behind.) OK, mix bowl and face lathers….I sorta did this when I went from bowl to face didn't I? (was I supposed to clean my brush at that step?) but ok. Somehow this is making more lather! OK, shave, with a 1 inch thick lather… Rinse my razor every 10 seconds.

I ended up with enough lather for 3.5 passes oh my face, 3 on my upper chest and probably another 2 or 3 that went down the drain. But shave complete. Apply balm. About 20 minutes later my my face feels like leather so…apply more balm.. 20 minutes later…well crap.

So one of two options here. Either my face does not like MdC or GUTL makes it especially drying. Or both I guess. Huge time sink, for lather that was about my normal. So I don’t think I’ll join the GUTL crew yet. But u/merikus is right about the g20. That thing is awesome.

Edited: u/merikus and I have discussed in the comments and he has explained the errors of my ways converting me to GUTL going forward.

On to #fof. Should be obvious here I went for a flower heavy thing. Rose, Lavender, and Sunrise on Lasalle. Lasalle market is interesting. It’s where all the local florists get their flowers. And this scent nails that. On Fridays you can run down and get “date flowers” which is a dozen roses for like $10. Though it’s probably gone up since I last did that. We have a few large local florists here, and they set their main operations on Lasalle, so it remains as it was long ago. One of the more interesting things in this sampler set which largely discusses the past. This one is the present. A rare unchanged thing I this town.

For #photocontest, probably my best shot yet, though I wish my back yard were less messy. As you can see in the heavy bokah background there is a pair of fawns, making this my wild animals entry. Keep plugging #ROTY friends.

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts 49ers Custom w/ Declaration Grooming B5 28mm

• Razor: Muhle Rocca R94

• Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum

• Lather: Catie's Bubbles - A Midnight Dreary

• Post Shave: Chiseled Face - Midnight Stag

• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Crystal Moon

Today's Theme - It's so fluffy I'm gonna Die: Oh look, the soapmaker of my lather product is today's sponsor spotlight. Catie's Bubbles uses coconut oil as a primary ingredient so yeah.

Today's Challenge: I almost always lather with my scuttle, so today I did a face lather. It worked. That's about all I have to say about face lathering, it works.

My theme for today's shave: Late Nights

So for today's shave, it's the last shave I get to do from the comfort of my own bathroom before I hit the road for a 4-day weekend trip that's going to be full of late nights. I wanted to think about the different types of late nights, so CB's Midnight Dreary, CF's Midnight Stag, and Maher Olfactive's Crystal Moon are three different takes on late nights that I hope to enjoy on this trip. Midnight Dreary's mellow, sweet, and calming scent is the kind of night where everyone stays up late just hanging out talking or watching movies together. Midnight Stag is the kind of boys' night smell where a bunch of stinky idiots take over every place they go. And Crystal Moon is that late night walk through an unfamiliar but welcoming place at a time where it's just you and the cool night air.

For music, I picked Sonata Arctica's Reckoning Night for the album title association. It's also just a great power metal album with songs about heartbreak, heartbreak, more heartbreak, and a song about a horrific reverse Pinocchio situation. #photocontest #FOF #ROTY

July 12, 2023

• Brush: Stirling Soap Company – 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Travel Tech #JETSETTER
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Abbate y La Mantia - Don Jose Soap
• Post Shave: Hoffman’s Shave and Soap Co. – Road Trip Splash
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Samhain EdP
• Music: The Clash - I Fought the Law

Alright boys and girls. I’m going to Tarantino this SOTD post a little bit: I’m going to start at the end, then go the beginning and tell you what happened leading up to the end. Sound good? Good.

I got asked to leave the restaurant I was shaving at.

Now that I have your attention, today started out as a pretty normal day. I was kinda bummed because for the first day in these Lather Games, I didn’t have an interview to bring to the people of r/wetshaving. The why doesn’t matter. I hoped I would, but an artisan backed out of an interview, so I shifted my calendar around a bit and that left today with no interview. And while I’m trying to bring the heat to every single post I make, I realize the interviews are kinda my secret sauce for this year. And since I didn’t have one today, I wanted to go CocoNutty on Coconut Oil Day. And being inspired by the likes of others in the sub shaving in public, I thought that sounds like a fun challenge. I’ve never wetshaved outside of the comfort and safety of my own home, so I wanted to live on the edge a bit. But where could I shave? It’s not kitchen day. It’s Coconut Oil Day. So, I go on Google Maps, zoom out and type “coconut”, and there’s a restaurant called Coconut Thai Café that is not too far from me. Bingo. I could feel my heart beating faster just thinking about it. I’ll go there and shave.

I gather up my travel shaving gear, get in my car and drive to downtown Wellesley, Massachusetts, timing my visit for right when they open, because I want to ensure I get a table and it’s hopefully not too busy. Lucky me, when I arrive, there’s a few tables with people already seated inside, but outside is completely empty. This bodes well because I make an absolute mess when I shave at home and I’d feel bad making a mess inside the restaurant. I go in, ask the waitress for an outdoor seat and check out the menu. Since it’s Coconut Oil Day, I ordered the Coconut Soup appetizer, then the Coconut Pineapple Yellow Curry with Chicken, which was delicious. The lovely waitress brought my check over, I paid and then it was go-time. I pulled out my travel shaving kit with everything I’d need, and even learned from u/OnionMiasma’s mistake and brought my own warm water in a Contigo travel mug (not pictured). I usually face lather, but it didn’t take long to complete the challenge and build my lather in a bowl today. Then I quickly start to spread the lather over my face. I’m immediately hit with the scent of coconut and banana, which continues to be incredibly on Coconut theme for the day where the soap just needs to be made with coconut oil. This is without a doubt the worst lathering job I’ve done since I first started wetshaving. My excuses are as follows: (1) I’ve never used this soap before (2) my heart is RACING and I’m trying to move as fast as possible (3) since I was outside and wearing sunglasses, the selfie mode of my phone was really hard to see and (4) I had NO IDEA this soap was mentholated until the brush hit my skin. I was already in a stressful situation and then my face started to unexpectedly burn – absolute disaster - but I’m determined to power through. A got a somewhat serviceable lather and start to go to town with this tiny travel razor (another mistake, when shaving quickly and nervously, I wish my razor fit in my hand a little better, but a hashtag is a hashtag). And right as I finish my first pass, I capture my face just as my waitress comes out to ask what I’m doing. My heart beats faster and it drops way down into my stomach, past the Coconut Pineapple Curry and Coconut Soup. Remember that feeling as a kid, when you were caught doing something that you knew you shouldn’t be doing, but did it anyway? That’s what I felt. I could feel my face turn beat red - which was possibly from the surprise menthol in the soap, but likely because of my immediate and severe embarrassment.

Quick aside: As a straight, white, male, who is approaching the age of 40, I realize I’ve lived with certain privileges throughout my life. Generally speaking, no one is ever suspicious of me. Add in the fact that I’m dressed somewhat nice and clean cut, I never expected anyone to actually ever come say anything to me. I was wrong. If my worst nightmare was getting the police called on me or something, this was a second.

I tell her I finished my lunch, and I realized I hadn’t shaved yet today and I’m heading to a meeting. And she politely asked that I please choose a different place to groom myself, other than her patio, next to the front door, where people walk in and out of her restaurant. Fair. But she doesn’t realize the stakes of the Lather Games. I quickly determine it best to not take the time to explain that the people of Pei Wei let u/ginopino shave there without incident. It’s clear to me that Coconut Thai Café is no Pei Wei. And then she said “I think it’d be a good idea for you to leave now.” And I agree. I apologize and clean up after myself, wiping down the table better than I ever clean my bathroom at home. And as I’m packing up my things, I make sure I give the Road Trip splash a good shake and apply it to my face before walking back to my car. I opted not to push it with the EdP right there. After I packed up my things, the waitress did tell me that I was welcome to come back anytime, just not if I shave there. And once again, I thought that was fair. I tell her the food was delicious and we part ways.

As I walk away to my car, I can’t help but smell the sense of accomplishment of my first public shave and first time being asked to leave an establishment while it was light out. I can also smell the scent of Road Trip, which went great with the soap, as well as my lunch. Road Trip has a lot of notes, but I mostly pick up Rum, Banana, Pineapple, Coconut Milk, Vanilla & Nutmeg. It’s really well done and perfect for the Coconut & Banana soap, as well as the Coconut Pineapple Curry I ate for lunch. And when I got to my car, I sprayed myself with a couple spritzes of Samhain, which is sweet, rich, and delicious like Road Trip, sharing Vanilla & Nutmeg notes. The self-proclaimed Gourmand King strikes again for a great #FOF win.

A few lessons learned: (1) going to a full service restaurant probably wasn’t the best idea (2) while going before the lunch rush made things less awkward because less people were there, it also meant less people were there so the staff had nothing else to do, (3) the “staff” was likely the owner or the family member of the owner, who cares far more than just a regular hourly employee would (4) shaving outside had pros and cons, but selfie mode was kind of a challenge to get used to (5) the Travel Tech, while convenient for traveling, is a pain in the ass to handle, (6) great success because I finished the shave, but ultimately, it would have been nice to NOT get asked to leave.

Before I head home, I decide to close out Coconut Oil Day, by getting a Coconut Milk Latte from Dunks. I’m usually a black coffee sort of guy, but I wanted to treat myself today. I earned this. I got it Salted Caramel flavored, because I was thinking there were caramel notes in Samhain, but in looking at the scent notes now, I realize I’m smelling caramel where there isn’t any. Whoops! The latte is still delicious anyways.

Of course, #photocontest them is society, because this restaurant is on a very busy street and I’m sure many people drove by my shave today and I learned that not everyone in society appreciates shaving in public.

While the single shot did not contain the user, the subsequent shots did. You're an animal.

Jul 12, 2023 - IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE

• Brush: AKA Brushworx Orange Resin 26mm Tuxedo Knot
• Razor: Gillette English Flat Bottom Tech #REGUS
• Blade: Feather Hi-Stainless [13]
• Lather: Chiseled Face - Santa Paula - Soap
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Druantia - Aftershave (Alcohol Free)
• Fragrance: Noble Otter - Monarch - Eau de Parfum

The Chiseled Face website warns that Santa Paula is orange trees, not oranges. It's also an amazing scent. I've had this sample for a while, and was never compelled to use it. However, it fit the running orange scents in the fragrances today. From woody, bitter orange to earthy, orange to powdery, orange, the shave software today worked together better than expected.

Chiseled Face's Tallow soaps contain coconut oil, and produced some FLUFFY goodness.

The Feather blade in the FBT was ready to be binned. I should have swapped it after the first pass, but I stuck it out for the shave.

Reverse Lather Challenge: depending on the type of soap determines how I usually lather. If it's a hard or firm soap, then I will typically tub load and face lather. Croaps and soft soaps, I will typically portion out, start a lather in the bowl, and finish hydrating the lather by face lathering.

Samples usually dictate bowl lathering. To unnecessarily complicate the process this morning, I opted for starting by hand lathering, but also skipped loading the bowl altogether. This had the undesirable effect that soap doesn't stick to the palm of the hand well and large soap pieces flaked off into the lather. I managed to work the pieces back into the lather, and added more hydration while face lathering. It's not an Uno reverse, but rather a wild card.

#witchcraftswednesday
#photocontest oranges

Rating: 3.5/5

Edit: phrasing

I like oranges.

Jul. 12, 2023 - I’m not Fat, I’m just Fuffly!

• Prep: CeraVe - Hydrating Facial Cleanser

• Brush: Zenith 506U XSE unbleached boar #TEXASPIGSTINKMASSACRE #OLDWORLD

• Razor: Blackland Blackbird (SS) #CNC

• Blade: Astra Green (2)

• Lather: Abbate Y La Mantia - Fufluns

• Post Shave: Abbate Y La Mantia - Fufluns Splash

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Shire 2 EdT

Fufluns scent is “everything sweet that comes from green” which is a great description as I have a really hard time picking out any individual scent. Instead I get just this feeling of walking outside through a vineyard or orchard, it’s not a dirty scent, but reminds me of nature in a way. Shire 2 was a great pairing of a different type of green/outdoors scent. The Fresh Air and Violets take you to a place outside but it’s not as sweet as Fufluns.

For todays theme: “Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil” is listed as the first ingredient for both the soap and splash as you can see on the linked product pages! This was my first time using ALYM products (I think, for sure the splash) and it left a little to be desired. I also had just gone swimming in a salt water pool so my skin was dry as a bone when I tried to shave. I recently got this set so will have to revisit it at some point.

Todays challenge leads me to a bit of a dilemma. You see when I first started shaving I exclusively bowl lathered but over the past 6 months or so I’ve swapped to primarily face lathering. I guess that’s what happens when you actually get some decent brushes! So to combat that dilemma I decided to face lather my right side of my face and bowl lather my left side leaving no doubt that I did the reverse of my usual!

Todays #photocontest I leaned into the #Royal theme that AYLM logo has. It’s definitely a royal looking logo so I matched that theme with my setup!

July 12, 2023 – LG 12: It’s so Fluffy I’m Gonna Die

• Brush: Hucklaration B9B #SHD
• Razor: CJB Kamisori Shavette #KAMISORI
• Blade: Feather ProGuard (AC) (4)
• Lather: Proraso – Menthol and Eucalyptus
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Northern Elixir
• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors – Saint Julep

I’m guilty of using crap soap (probably like many here) for years before stumbling upon this sub a few years ago. Probably used conk and AoS for about 7-8 years, then went down the habit hike into artisan territory a few years ago. That said, it also means a skipped over a bunch of stuff like proraso, Williams, arko, cella etc. So, like the diehards over at W_E, I had to scoop some proraso when I saw it on the clearance rack at Marshall’s or TJ Maxx.

Todays #FOF revolved around mint, and a heavy dose of eucalyptus. Both feature prominently in the soap and NO elixir splash. The proraso is actually quite mellow, and being menthol based surprisingly not to synthetic smelling for lack of a better word. It’s a subdued mint, and light eucalyptus. The latter lacking a lot of the potency and earthiness I often whiff when hiking in the nearby foothills of my house. Elixir on the other hand is stronger both scent wise and in cooling power. A blast of peppermint, eucalyptus, and herbaceous lavender fade to some cedar underneath. The cooling lasts I’d say a solid 15+min. Saint Julep is also refreshingly minty, model after the mint julep beverage. I followed this recipe today to drink after my shave, with the bitters because I’m sophisticated. Hence todays #PHOTOCONTEST (drinks). The Saint julep is bright, minty green, quite sweet, with subtly boozy whiskey. I think the sugar smell is one of the most closely matched to actual sugar I’ve come across in a fragrance. A hint of tangerine citrus in the back ground. That said, the sillage and longevity is short lived, did not develop a ton during the day, and probably only gave me ~3 hours on this rather warm day.

BOWL LATHERING SUCKS!, face gang rise up! Also, I’m useless with a kamisori and I think my cheap one isn’t functioning correctly and the blade can basically just fall out now. That said, it’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me

soap brands 12/30, post shave 12/30, frag 12/30, post/frag linked 12/30, software sponsors 6/15, hardware sponsors 2/2, razor hashtags 6/15, brush hashtags 7/15, photo contest 12/30, daily challenges 10/25, special challenges 2/5