July 12, 2023 – LG Day 12 – It’s So Fluffy I’m Gonna Die

• Brush: Maggard Timberwolf Synthetic 24mm
• Razor: Gillette Fatboy
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Super Stainless (Green)
• Lather: RazoRock – The Dead Sea
• Post Shave: RazoRock – The Dead Sea
• Fragrance: Bon Parfumeur – 801 Sea Spray, Cedar and Grapefruit

I’m not a soapmaker, so I don’t understand how any of these “ingredients” work – but looks like coconut oil is definitely the third ingredient for my soap today. While I don’t know how exactly it creates fluffiness, it must do something because when I was looking for something to use today, I noticed it’s in a whole lot of the soaps in my den. Dead Sea isn’t the greatest performing soap I own by any means, but it’s one of my partner’s favorite scents, so it felt wrong not to find a way to use it this month (in lieu of XWMBO day). If I didn’t have to go to work, I’m curious how shaving with straight up coconut oil with maybe some coconut cream and coconut flakes would be…

I bowl lathered instead of my usual head lather that I’ve gotten accustomed to. I exclusively bowl lathered when I started this hobby, but after a short stint of trying GUTL, I decided to try to find the most efficient option instead. To keep up the opposite day vibe, I also used cold water today in my lather and to rinse my razor, which I think is the cause of a few nicks I now have on my head. Despite the cuts, however, it was rather refreshing on what’s going to be an obnoxiously hot day in the Northeast. (P.S., hope all my Vermont friends out there are safe and dry).

#FOF today was really just about an easy grab. The lemon and rosemary in Dead Sea are particularly pleasant, so I wanted to use the splash to make sure they were able to shine. To further amplify and celebrate the citrus and rosemary, I used BP 801, which has both notable, but with some more complexity – some saltiness, a pleasant, light cedar and cypress, and something nice and green/herbal that I can’t quite place (maybe the pink peppercorn?). I should have seen this coming, but I bought this sample, used it for the first time, and then my partner decided it’s hers (so I had to steal it back for today). It’s pretty clear to me that this fragrance build is a big yes from her, so I’m now on the lookout for other similar fragrances/soaps to add to my collection. It’s nice when everyone’s happy.

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!

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 – Coconut Hump Day

• Brush: Chisel and Hound v19 Fanchurian
• Razor: Merkur 34C
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Catie’s Bubbles – A Midnight Dreary
• Post Shave: Thayers – Lavender
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Beloved

This beauty of a scent was scent to me as a smush from u/OnionMiasma and I’m not sure why it’s not yet in my collection. It’s so good – such great depth without being overwhelming. A true masterpiece by Mr. Catie’s Bubbles.

The challenge for today messed this soap up for me, though. As a proud utilizer of the GUTL I can lather even the smallest sample of soaps like a dream. Unfortunately, in an effort to not even flirt with missing this challenge, I decided to hand load and face lather. That smush may look like a sufficient amount in my hand, and, it was – if I had a way to load it better. But, I didn’t – and so it fragmented and was awful. My lather was atrocious as a result. Thin, in short supply, barely effective. Ended up with 2 passes with the very forgiving 34c, so, no nicks or cuts to speak of but not my favorite shave of these games.

Paired this with Beloved because it felt adjacent, anyway. Something about the sweetness of the wooded honey offsetting the depth and darkness of Midnight Dreary and as I sit at my desk this morning they’re playing together quite nicely.

FOF Haiku of the day

A pairing of depth
One bright the other gloomy
Cooperation

July 12, 2023

• Brush: AP Shave Co – Complete Brush – Slim Brass Handle 20mm Gelousy Knot
• Razor: Gillette – Executive Fatboy #DIAL
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Henri et Victoria - Cognac & Cuban Cigars Soap
• Post Shave: Henri et Victoria - Cognac & Cuban Cigars Splash
• Fragrance: Burberry - Hero

Coconut oil isn’t something I’ve ever though too much about, especially in my shave soaps, so looking at the ingredients of the various soaps I have was a fun exercise. Especially the samples, since they don’t list their ingredients on these little labels. For today’s shave, I landed on Cognac and Cuban Cigars by Henri et Victoria. Right away, I was hit with the scents of… Well… Cigars and Cognac. A little much for a sleepy Wednesday morning, if you ask me, and if my boss questions why I smell like booze and cigars, I’m gonna send him to you!

I had to google what the addition of coconut oil does to shave soaps. Apparently, it has a lot of benefits, but overall it helps form a rich, creamy, slick lather that isn’t irritating. It also said that it is a good moisturizer, but then another source said it’s drying, so I’m getting mixed signals like I’m at a middle school dance again. Not sure who to believe, but it’s only on my face for a little bit, so I question how much it could either dry or moisturize in such a short period of time to begin with. And if you're relying on a shave soap to be your moisturizer, you're already doing it wrong.

The soap and splash were good, and I finished everything off with Burberry Hero, which is a woody-spicy cologne. I don’t think Cognac and Cuban cigars counts as “woody-spicy”, but I think it kinda possibly should. It has cedarwood and spicy tobacco, so that may be enough for me. The woodiness of the cologne worked quite well with the Cognac & Cuban Cigars. They are clearly different scents, but it felt kinda like they are supposed to go together, like one played off the other. A great combination! #FOF

CHALLENGE

I’m not much of a bowl latherer ever since I started going down the brush rabbit hole. The more I get high quality brushes, the longer I want each of them to be on my skin. My thought process pretty much is: why pay for a premium brush if most of its time is spent in a bowl anyway? So today, it felt a little wrong using this fabulous APShave Co brush with their wonderful Gelousy knot for a bowl lather. It was still a great performer, but it feels like a waste. However, the Lather Games judges tell us to do something and by golly, that’s what I’m going to do!

LG23-12: IT’s SO FLUFFY I’M GONNA DIE

• Brush: Trotter Handcrafts “Sea Glass No.3” 28mm SynBad #FAUXFUR
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Gen 2 "Peerless" Clog Pruf
• Blade: GEM (20)
• Lather: WSP - Blackbeard - Rustic Shaving Soap
• Post Shave: RazoRock - Santa Maria del Fiore - Lozione Dopo-barba
• Fragrance: Day Three Fragrances - Ámbar Dominicano
• Passes: WTG, XTG
• Coffee: Hotel Carafe
• Music: Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys
• LG Tags: #FOF

WSP’s soap bases are a great example of how dramatic the difference in performance can be between those that use a high percentage of coconut oil and those that don’t. I much prefer the Formula T, which leads with stearic acid, water, and tallow before getting to the coconut oil. That base lathers quickly and the performance competes in the big leagues when hydrated properly.

On the other hand, the six-ingredient vegan Rustic base—which I used for today’s Fluffy face lather—gets to the coconut oil by ingredient three and I find it to be noticeably more drying than the Formula T, not as slick, and lacking that protective bounce you get from many top-tier tallow bases. However, the Rustic base does respond well to loading heavy and softened water. Keep both in mind if you’re going to stick with old-school soaps. (By the way, I typically load from a bowl, and do most of the lathering there to protect a nagging shoulder injury. I face lathered to quicken up this busy-travel-day shave and fulfill today's challenge.)

This particular Rustic sample features WSP’s Blackbeard scent, so I ran with a Caribbean pirate theme for the whole shave. A vintage razor, sea glass brush, and buccaneer’s soundtrack further set the scene.

Blackbeard is sweeter and far more spice-forward than I expected from the scent notes. In particular, the cherry pipe smoke component isn’t the robust, smoky tobacco I hoped for; combined with vanilla, cloves, and patchouli, it smells almost sickly. I think the notes selection is sound, and it definitely achieves the pirate theme, but I’d balance it differently.

Fortunately, this Santa Maria del Fiore is what I wanted from Blackbeard: a giant dose of “Tuscan tobacco”, a trace of vanilla, and a warm amber base. Now I can picture a pirate captain smoking a giant cigar as they scrutinize the ledger. I also appreciate this scent’s simplicity. Aftershaves with a few notes are easier to pair than both their one-note and complex alternatives, acting as a focused segue to a complex fragrance.

And that’s how Santa Maria del Fiore brought me to Ámbar Dominicano, a dram to pair with a pirate’s smoke. This unique Day Three Fragrances extrait combines a potent amber with notes of Mamajuana, the deep red beverage that hails from the Dominican Republic. Made from rum, red wine, and honey, then combined with a blend of herbs, spices, and bark the Taíno originally used to make herbal tea, Mamajuana is both distinctly flavored and recognizable in the bottle. When first sprayed, Ámbar Dominicano reminds me immediately of Ellen Covey's sizzling amber base, but tuned up in pitch to a slightly different key. The perfumer’s notes tell me that’s from an opening of cola, lime, lavender, and passion fruit layered over the honeyed booze and amber, but I’d never have picked those out without the perfumer’s help. After the resins dry down, the fragrance’s namesake is considerably more obvious, like a thick, chocolaty splash of dark red wine textured by spiced davana and immortelle. Ámbar Dominicano is beautiful and comforting as it dries down—everything I love about an amber, but far more interesting than most.

July 12, 2023 - Black and white

• Brush: Muhle Badger
• Razor: Razorock – Eco
• Blade: Permasharp (2)
• Lather: Extro Cosmesi – Liquirizia & Magnolia
• Post Shave: Extro Cosmesi – Liquirizia & Magnolia
• Fragrance: CK – Everyone

#FOF
Daily challenge:

Let’s talk about face vs bowl lathering. I know, I know. Shaving is a hobby where your miles vary a lot. Not everyone makes the same experience. Still I have a number of thoughts that I want to formulate and have a healthy discussion with myself.
I usually bowl lather and after this day of face lathering, I won’t change my routine, although I had fantastic lather and a wonderfull shave.
The lathering process starts before I open my sample or full sized tub. It starts with soaking the brush. Not all brushes require soaking, but boar for example do. So when using a boar brush, you will very likely have a bowl at hand? Why not use it for bowl lather later?
Lets continue. Lets say we use a full sized tub. We can get some lather from it and go right onto our face. Point for face lathering, except… I come to that later. But what if we want to use a sample? I remeber my first shaves with samples where I tried to load from the tiny tub. So you are forced to take out a gram of soap and start to lather it elsewhere. From last years LG, I also tried to build lather on my knee. Wet brush, gram of soap and my knee. It does not work at all. I conclude that you can not take each soap and lather it directly on your face. You need a starting point. For example your bowl.
Next we managed to get some proto lather, either in our bowl or on our face. It will probably need more water. What I do is, to make one hand wet and let some water drip into my lather in the bowl. You could do the same with your brush, but somewhat it felt more difficult to control. Is it really a good advice to newcomers to let them face lather where we have more points of failure?
Here I see the benefits of GUTL. As discussed in my post from last year, GUTL works, because we have a control device (face or bowl) to determine the portion of water. If our bowl lather is too wet, we mix it with the face lather and have a good middleground, which will be very likely some great lather.
In the manual of this Mühle brush, it is recommended to massage the lather into the beard for up to 3 minutes. Thats a point for face lathering. I feel like it takes more time, or it’s just the process that applies the lather in a more effective manner to the beard. Great point for face lathering. I want to highlight u/Madflava81’s post, where he determines the best lather method by the soap base. From my experience, it seems difficult to get a great lather with a DG soap with face lathering. It needs water, it needs time. What happens between the passes? With your bowl its easy. Just put the brush in. What do we do when face lathering? I could put it somewhere on the sink or under my mirror on that plank. But today I used a very small brush. The soap would have run down and caused more space to clean after the shave. What I had to do was to put my brush into my soap container: Avoiding a cleanup. That woudl not work with a sample. It would not work with a bigger brush and normal sized tub, but then I might have luck and put the brush standing without distributing lather everywhere. And all of this can be concluded with YMMV.

Liquiriza Magnolia is my magic tournament soap, as I believe that licorice gives me luck. Cocos Nucifera (Coconut)Oil, is its third ingredient and indeed gives an easy to lather flufficity of 9/10.
Flufficity is the innofficial unit to measure the fluffiness of an object. In my second choice SOTD picture you see some of the licorice the soap is made with. Amarelli is italys oldest licorice seller. The licorice is very strong and I often compare it to 99% bitter chocolate. You have to get used to it and consume it in very small amounts. It’s great when I crave something sweet but don’t want to eat a lot of sweets. A piece of that black gold satisfies my desire for sweets.
There is also a rumor of the so called licorice aequator. It means that south of that geographic line, people do not like licorice. For example in bavaria, south of germany, you are just not able to buy licorice. In north germany and higher to scandinavia, people become more and more crazy about it. In Sweden they have it as icecream and liquer. They also prefer the more salty ones, also called salmiak.
A counterpoint to that licorice aequator is italy. Its south, but I ate licorice icecream there and they have Amarelli.
The soap starts with a great portion of that licorice and the magnolia is in the background (where it belongs). The aftershave on the other hand has some of that sweet artificial red melon scent in it. Its more floral and burns a lot. You need another moisturizer after this aftershave. My choice of fragrance was determined, in yesterdays fashion, by the color. My SOTD is almost black and white. Unfortunately this is the worst fragrance I had this month. It lasts as long as a teenage boy while passing his V-card. And it smells like cloister. Arko the fragrance, but in expensive.
Thank god it was gone in seconds and I could enjoy the Liquirizia Magnolia

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.

Day 11 - IT'S SO FLUFF

• Brush: Yaqi - Arctic brush with Caravel handle
• Razor: Karve - CB
• Blade: Astra - Green
• Lather: Abbate y L Mantia - Monet
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Marilyn
• Fragrance: House Of Mammoth - FÚ DÀO

I have a few soaps from Italy that would fit today's challenge. They all have a unique look. The texture reminds me of kids modeling foam. The shave is great. They just look different. I switch it up to tub lather today.

I was not sure how the three fragrances would mix. I was thinking of Flower POW. The Monet has strong floral notes. To add the POW, I was thinking of Marilyn and Fireworks. I am happy with the mix.

ROTY #FOF

DAY 12 LATHER GAMES! FLUFF EM UP BOYS!

• Prep: Water
• Brush: DS Cosmetics 30mm Tuxedo Knot
• Razor: Merkur Progress #DIAL
• Blade: Feather(2)
• Lather: Black Ship Grooming Co. - Hoptoberfest
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive aftershave balm
• Fragrance: Issey Miyake - Nuit d’Issey
• Beer: Primator - 24

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PIC OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

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INTRO:

Like probably most of you here, or a lot, or a few(I pray for a few)! I started out with Proraso, TOBS and even went as far to get fancy and get Le Pere Lucien, still have my first metal tin of their unscented soap(funnily enough it smells of pork lard). It's ok, one thing though, that I like are their scent, LPL make simple but very well done scents, so they have at least that going for them, unlike italian soapmakes.... But after I tried my first few American artisans, my perspective changed, of course with a lot of reading and trying, one particular post turned everything around for me. READ IT AND WEEP(ALSO LEARN)

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After learning to make a decent lather, I quickly found out how much coconut based soaps sucks compared to most of the American artisans.

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SOAP+BEER:

I chose this particular artisan cause it goes great while having a beer, even making the lather with the beer you are drinking!(more on that a bit later)

Yes my choice(nation wise) is in contradiction to what I was saying earlier, but I did say MOST American artisans. Some still stick to the old European formulas, which are based on coconut oil. But why coconut oil? Well coconut oil is rich in Lauric fatty acids, SEE FOR YOURSELVES. Those fatty acids really help with making the lather explode and bulk up, but at the same time makes the lather aerated and dries your skin out... Coconut oil is also comedogenic, did you know that?

One other reason why I chose this soap cause it is a bit unique in the sense it has HOPS inside of it, and contrary to the coffee/tee challenge where I put actual tee inside the lather for exfoliating effect, here you can definitely feel it and it's pleasant. Scent is not that beer forwarded keeping in mind it has actual hops inside of it. They say "subtle" hints of pear. Mother duckers, that's all I get, which is not bad, makes for a fresh shave, and onto why I chose this beer!

Now the beer, oh boy this is a strong one, I'm still a bit buzzed after drinking it, it's 10.5% alcohol, whereas most beers here are around 5. I chose this one cause of the sweet caramel and fruit taste which goes great with the soap, just wish it wasn't that strong, so I could enjoy at least 2.

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RAZOR:

Nah fuck that bruv, there are more interesting stuff...

DAILY CHALLENGE:

Reverse lather!!?!?! I'm a bowl latherer and it was very strange to use my face to lather.... I mean look for yourself.... Video of me face lathering.

I mean you guys are just weird... Face lathering... I guess different strokes for different folks

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#FOF

I paired up Hoptoberfest with Alive cause the apple and pear just go so good together and Alive adds a lot of warmth to the whole experience! Why then Nuid d'Issey by Issey Miyake. Well cause it further elevates that warmth with adding sweetness to the mix, while it may not be noted in the scent notes, my notes interpret the leather and wood notes as sweet ones, particularly in this scent and in the end you get a nice fresh fruity start with the soap, add a bit of warmth with alive and finish it with solidifying the warmth and making it ever so sweet!

• Daily Lather Themes: 12/30
• Daily Challenges: 12/30
• Hardware Scavenger Hunt: 11/20
• Hardware Vendor Points: 1/2
• Software Vendor Points: 6/13
• Software Vendor Bonus Point: 0/1
• 30 Different Soap Brands Point: 12/30
• 30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point: 12/30
• 30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point: 12/30
• 30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point: 12/30

July 12, 2023 - It’s so fluffy

• Brush: Zenith Copper 28mm Boar
• Razor: Karve CB C Solid Bar
• Blade: Gillette Minora Stainless (1)
• Lather: Catie’s Bubbles - Un Jour Gris
• Post Shave: Catie’s Bubbles - Un Joir Gris Splash
• Fragrance: Haute Vie - Ibiza

FOF

Today’s theme:

I have just a few choices for soaps with coconut oil in the first 3 ingredients. When I read the sponsor spotlight today, my plans were changed. Luckily, I could make the call to switch my lineup without having too much shifting in the rest of the month. Coconut oil is ingredient number 3 for the soap, so it fits.

Sponsor spotlight:

I only have three soaps from Catie’s Bubbles, Un Jour Gris, La Piement de la Vie, and Saturday Morning. Not a lot in common between them, but very interesting scents for sure. I really like that their samples are 2oz. If you like it, you have a decent amount already, but didn’t commit as much cash if you don’t care for it. Saturday Morning was a blind buy out of pure nostalgia. Today’s soap I got along with the splash in a PIF. Thanks u/loudmusicboy. I need to further explore this artisan when I start buying software again.

Today’s challenge:

Reverse lathering for me is face lathering. I don’t tub load except for Tabac and hard soaps like Pre de Provence, so I scooped a largish almond sized chunk of soap and smooshed it into the bowl. I briefly soaked the boar, and loaded the soap in the brush, butas soon as I could see most of the soap was off the bottom, to the face I went. I brushed it into my face, and it was too dry. I dipped my brush into the soaking cup a few times before the lather was getting close to hydrated. The brush as I scrubbed and splayed the bristles just pumped out fluffy lather. A bit more water was worked in before I started to shave. This brush is nowhere near the size of the Moar Boar, but it can pick up a ton of soap, and hold more lather than most of my brushes. This soap makes a lot of lather from a small amount, and rinses off very clean. I barely had to rinse out the brush before the water was coming out clean.

Today’s fragrance:

Today’s soap may be themed after a gray day, but the scent is clean, a bit citrusy, and with sandalwood and spice. It seems fairly aquatic to me, so I got out the sample perfume I was going to use yesterday. Haute Vie - Ibiza is a sample I got recently with a purchase. It has a bit of an island theme. Didn’t have the scent description handy, so my first sniff of the sample I got a citrusy wood note. After I already used it, I found a description of the notes, and was surprised that I didn’t see any citrus, but the first listed was a pine scent. I’ve read some descriptions of pine scents as being a little citrusy, so I guess that makes sense. A lot of different wood notes including cypress and cedar to go with the pine. My sample is in a little vial, so I didn’t get a lot out compared to a spray. The scent has faded some already. Altogether, I think the scents played well together. There was a lot of menthol in the splash, but the menthol scent faded quickly. I would have liked a stronger hit of citrus, but no complaints about the combo today.

Haiku 12:

Coconut does make,

Such a bright, fluffy lather,

An abundant foam.

July 12, 2023 – IT’S SO FLUFFY I’M GONNA DIE

• Brush: Omega 10049 #HOLLOW #TOLL
• Razor: German WWI Travel Razor #UNICORN #JETSETTER
• Blade: Wizamet (7)
• Lather: Black Ship Grooming – Grace O’ Malley
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Fragrance: Crabtree & Evelyn – Sandalwood

Challenge: I lathered in my Captain’s Choice bowl.

I bought this razor for the hashtags. The ebay listing called it simply German WWI Travel Razor. There’s no branding on the razor or the travel case. The only markings on the razor is “Made In Germany” on the bottom of the base plate. This razor is terrible. It’s far too mild. There’s virtually no blade exposure. The shape of the head creates a very narrow window for the blade and doesn’t feel like it’s at the best angle.

Coconut oil is the first ingredient in Blackship Grooming's soap. Smelling the sample of Grace O’Malley, I got lots of sandalwood. So, I chose to use sandalwood as the common link between my fragrances today. Once lathered, Grace O’Malley becomes powdery. It never gets more defined than powdery sandalwood. I don’t see what this has to do with Ireland or piracy. I wish they had been bolder and made a soap that smells like corned beef.

Santa Noir is a riff on the very limited collaboration between House of Mammoth and Australian private Reserve, Santal Noir. While I haven’t had the privilege of smelling Santal Noir, this fragrance bears similarity to two other sandalwood focused creations from House of Mammoth, Sandalorian, and Cerberus. The sandalwood is creamy and is complemented by tropical fruits. The Santa aspect comes in the forum of evergreen Christmas tree notes like pine needles and fir.

Every Lather Games since my first, I’ve acquired something new thinking it would be useful for next year, only for that theme to be removed from the calendar. Last year, my family was cleaning out my grandmother’s house after she passed, and I found a few shaving items I thought I’d be able to use for Father’s Day, only for the games to be in July.

One of those items was this bottle of Crabtree & Evelyn Sandalwood cologne. The fragrance is a dry sandalwood combined with amber. It’s not particularly complex. It’s a no frills masculine fragrance for the kind of person who likes to keep things simple. It smells nice.

#FOF

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