July 15, 2023 – Think big!

• Brush: Maggards – purple handle 2 band badger #WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINGBADGERS
• Razor: Blackland Era
• Blade: Astra SP (Green) (1)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – Le Grand Chypre
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Le Grand Chypre
• Fragrance: Issey Miyake – L’eau D’issey

It took me some time to find a few Chypre soaps, but in the end, I will probably go with the classic like the whole sub.
Daily Challenge:
Le GRAND shave

For those too bored to watch the video, I took a whole sample of Barrister & Mann and lathered it up in a huge “cereal bowl”. During my passes, I crack a few dirty jokes.

I ll be on a wedding in a few hours and wanted to take the most fool proof razor. Unfortunately the video made me nervous and I wanted to keep it short. In the end, I have some irritations on my neck. After the first pass, my skin felt good enough to go, but I am chasing BBS skin that glows.

#FOF
Le Grand Chypre is often called “Cola” shaving soap. I never tried the soap but used the aftershave a lot of times. It’s true, the soap has a cola vibe. The aftershave does not have that and is more heavy on the citrus front. L’eau D’issey is pretty complex and I did not have something similar this month. It starts with yuzu, almost sour, but there is also a spiciness that combined with the yuzu makes me think that we have way more mediteranian herbs. In the beginning it is not that fresh as its marketing would suggest. Minute by minute the Sandalwood becomes more preasant. All in all, I would have expected the fragrance to become heavy or earthy. It does not. Although its againa citrus and wood combination, this one is something different. All its ingredients stay present. Like there is no head and basic note. After an hour, the yuzu is still there and evokes a nice freshness. I guess I am confusing. Lets sum it up with: This fragrance is something special. Something is going on here.

Day 15 - Sheep-ruh * Brush: Royal London - 1980s Brush #ANCIENT * Razor: Karve - CB * Blade: Astra - Green
Lather: WCS - Duck Fat Chypre * Post Shave: WCS - Chypre * Fragrance:* Barrister and Mann - Romance in Middlesex County

A quick shave, no video. first time using this brush. I have had it for a long time but mostly keep it around for decoration. It worked well and has a smaller knot than I am used to.

For the fragrance, Romance would pair nicely with the Chypre. Today, I am driving, so the fragrance is just for me.

ROTY #FOF

July 15, 2023

• Brush: Maggard Timberwolf Synthetic 24mm
• Razor: Razorock Mamba 70
• Blade: Lord Extra (1)
• Lather: Grooming Dept – Chypre Peach
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Smash
• Fragrance: Declaration Grooming – Daemon

A podcast episode for the ages.

tl;dr I recorded a podcast today, aptly titled PodShave (u/merikus please don’t sue), as I want to limit my face on the internet but wanted to participate beyond admitting that HD Shaves is the only wettuber I watch. Hence, you get the dulcet tones of my voice – and by you, I mean the judge unlucky enough to be assigned this shave, and anyone who is bored enough to listen to a half-hour in-real-time recorded shave.

I spoke about this in the podcast, but GD Chypre Peach is unpleasant. u/OnionMiasma warned me (P.S., thanks for the smush), but it’s really not good. I will say, however, the performance of the soap was fantastic. For my #FOF, I used Smash because I wanted the peach that this soap was simply not giving me despite it being in the name, and Daemon because I was hoping the oakmoss and other pleasant notes in that frag would make up for the disappointing lather. Both did exactly what I hoped. Peach and bourbon, mixed with a warm, oaky vanilla and amber is all I’m smelling at this point. Inoffensive, perfect for seeing friends later today, and evoking some of the notes I was really hoping the GD chypre was going to give me in the first place.

Happy Saturday, folks.

July 15, 2023 – I have become death, destroyer of videos.

• Brush: Body Shop Synthetic #runt #smoll #ANCIENT
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24 #brassing
• Blade: GEM (2)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – The Four Horsemen: Death
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Alive
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Red Skies

So here we go. First parts first: I did a video. It needs to be cleaned and uploaded so I’ll update once I have time to get to my desktop. This pushed the boundaries of my desire for a sort of privacy. Interacting through text (even if many of you have my name and address from trades) acts like a mask. So the mask slips a little and I’m uncomfortable, but the point here is to get out of our comfort zone. It’s not a good video but I tried.

Edited: As promised here is the video. TBQH, it's painful even I couldn't watch all 8:37 of it and it's me. My demanded we watch 3 minutes then they got bored. Before any judge hits me with a negative point, I warned you! You can simply verify there is a video for the challenge.

On to the choices and #fof. So death is a chypre (yes I mispronounced it in the video.) the others, I’m not sure they haven’t become a new category. They’re built off a chypre accord, but Will didn’t call them chypre so… I didn’t take the chance. But I do want to use war “during” lather games. So next Saturday, leg day, gonna use war for shave 2 (non LG shave) to shave my face. So, I am a bit superstitious, so after slathering death all over my face 3 times, I countered it with Alive. Take that death! (Edited: according to our Chief Justice, Alive is also a chypre! So my superstition created a chypre trifecta. How's that for a feat of fragrance! " Red Skies is listed on Shawn’s website as a chypre so I went to it get back to the theme. Given its name comes from the old adage “red skies at morning sailor take warning…” it also ties into the overall theme of death and life I got going too.

After I turned off the camera I nicked myself 3 times. Twice under the nose (as I noted is giving me trouble with the MM24) and once during the cleanup pass with the tech, because I forgot to tighten the head (doh).

Today’s #photocontest is water. That is actual holy water. My wife, who isn’t particularly religious, grabbed that many years ago after a Christmas Mass, because she thought you were supposed to. I, who is religious can’t bring myself to throw it away, so I keep it in a drawer. A friend, who’s a priest, saw it and told me I can dump it onto dirt and that’s proper disposal, but it still seems weird. I did not use it to make lather either. But it goes nicely with the death and life theme.

I did a shout out to my fellow #ROTY in the video but will do one again here. I count about 15 of us remaining. Since we’re halfway there here’s a song “Shaving our hair” to the tune of “living on a prayer”

Tommy’s got his moar boar in hock.

Now he’s letting grow what he used to shave off

Ohh shave off

Gina wishes the beard would go away

When she cries in the night tommy whispers

“Baby it’s ok, I’ll shave today”

You’ve gotta load up with what you got

It doesn’t make a difference if you GUTL or not

We’ve got each soap and that’s on theme for now

We’ll give it a shot

Oh, we’re half way there,

Oh-oh shaving our hair

Your skin is raw, but we’ll make I swear

Oh-oh, shaving our hair.

(Edited Video above)

LG23-15: Sheep-ruh

• Brush: Rubberset 400 26mm Soft Tuxedo (thanks /u/EldrormR!)
• Razor: Wolfman Razors WR2-DC 0.95 SB / 1.25 OC #CNC
• Blade: Voskhod (15)
• Lather: Sudsy Soapery / Chatillon Lux - Lemon Rose Chypre - Shaving Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Glacial Lemon Chill - Balm
• Fragrance: Rogue Perfumery - Chypre Siam
• Passes: WTG, XTG
• Coffee: Peru, Cajamara - v: Geisha - p: Washed.
• Music: Lindstrøm - Everyone Else Is a Stranger
• LG Tags: #FOF

Continuing my famed WetTube career, I present Mosquito Shaves Episode #2. I should do these quick videos more often.

Also, for the other half of the challenge, I recommend Another Cut Above. I like getting an international perspective on the hobby, plus the occasional head shave demo (something I don't do myself), and he's got one of the best lathering tutorials out there. Unfortunately, I don't think he's posting regularly anymore.

As I mentioned in my video, I went with two citrus-floral chypres with a straightforward lemon balm to bridge the two. (My aftershave chypres might be limited to just Alive, Famine, and the WCS.) The Chatillon Lux collaboration is true to its name, the rose soft and blushing, mixed with lemon made complex by the tang of grapefruit and jolt of ginger. I notice the labdanum and oakmoss second, balanced to let the namesake combo sing. The lemon balm is straightforward, but goes with just about anything. In this case, it references the lemon in my soap and alludes to the lime and grapefruit in my chypre fragrance. Chypre Siam is a best-in-class example of the genre, with a traditionally structured mix of flowers, spice, leather, resins, and oakmoss kissed by wonderful kaffir lime. I've tried far more animalic chypres, but that aspect is as present in Chypre Siam as you'd expect from chypre perfumes in the classic mode. Come for the sour-floral lime opening, but stay for the study in progression.

2023-07-15 C'est un chypre

• Brush: Yaqi - Metal Timberwolf
• Razor: Gillette Old Type 1919 #BRASSING
• Lather: Wet Shaving Products - Olympus
• Post Shave: Fine Accoutrements - Platinum
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. - Executive Man
• Blade: Feather (4)

Natural brassing wear on the razor's handle. I don't want anyone to think I'd deliberately scrape the cap for this, because I know it looks like that.

Relevant Post-shave and Fragrance: The only thing more confusing than figuring out whether a soap/scent is a chypre is figuring out why somebody decided to name a family of scents after cheese. Or is it named after the goats themselves? Either way, both are stinky and smell nothing like these Aventus dupes in today's lineup.
Aventus is apparently a "fruity chypre," a description that I guess makes sense if we're talking about cheese, but not so much if we're talking about goats, so I guess it's the former.

Challenge Accepted:
What have you djudges gotten yourselves into? You know you're not going to want to watch a bunch of boring shave videos, I am nothing if not ~~pandering~~ ~~acquiescent~~ accomodating, so I condensed my shave video with the magic of time lapse. Come to think of it, I think I did pick up a whiff of cheese during the shave...

But also, I'm still going to make mention of Challenge^bis, i.e. "WetTubing," which frankly sounds like something you'd encounter at a water park. I'm only inferring it's related to YouTube. In that case, no YouTube shaver can ever hope to come close to u/Cadinsor. I don't understand why this thread isn't full of people praising u/Cadinsor. You all need to look up Michael Freedberg immediately.

#FOF
All of these products, being different (maybe? unless they're all pre-blends?) reproductions of the same scent, are similar enough that my nose can't discern them in any meaningful way. Altogether, it is a fresh scent, that is for sure. It is also undeniably fruity, but I don't care for that at all. I mean, it's fine, but it's not my cup of tea (unless it provides relief from a super-stanky civet).

Now, it's relevant to mention that, as I was figuring out my Games calendar a few weeks ago, my lying-around sample of Executive Man fell onto my concrete floor, seemingly destroying my only goat-cheese fragrance for today. However, there was plenty left in the little tube. Nonetheless, I later got a sample vial of the veritable Creed Aventus. While I haven't used it, there does seem to be something remarkable different about it, better, less in-your-face pineapple.

#photocontest
Photo: History (No, I'm not talking about the goofy Greek diorama, though I am quite proud of that)
I am, however, talking about the literal piece of history in the photo: the 104-year-old razor. I mean, the threshold is 20 years. There's plenty of junk that we all have lying around older than that, but at some point—maybe the centennial mark?—a thing ceases to be old junk and becomes a piece of history (purely coincidental tie-in).

Edit: I've been informed that it's Chypre, after the island of Cyprus, and not chèvre, like goats and goat cheese. They're, like, almost the same word, guys. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

July 15, 2023 – Sheep-ruh

• Brush: Maggard Razors Handle w/ AP Shave Co. Gelousy SHD fan 24mm
• Razor: Muhle R41 Grande
• Blade: Wizamet (10)
• Lather: Grooming Dept – Chypre Vert
• Post Shave: Catie’s Bubbles – Mille Chypre
• Fragrance: Aramis – Aramis

Challenge: I made a video. Go easy on me.

Chypre vert smells like green tea, sculpting clay, muddy rose, and fruit. It feels muted and dull. The soap made a good lather.

Mille Chypre open with a lemony citrus with a bit of something sharp (yuzu?). I get mossy green notes. There’s a rosy floral note. The fragrance is bright and cheerful.

Aramis is, I imagine, a more traditional chypre. It feels old fashioned, like it’s withstood the test of time. I’ve read that chypre tends to be a feminine genre of fragrance, but Aramis is very masculine. The fragrance is very strong with lots of sillage. It’s a mix of earthy, musky, and light floral notes. It’s almost animalic. I can pick out notes of patchouli, leather, and amber. After a while, it dries down to mostly patchouli, leather, and amber, but there's not a huge difference. This is definitely a fragrance for cooler weather. It’s a fragrance I enjoy having in my den.

#FOF

July 15, 2023 - Sheep Ruh

• Brush: Yaqi Cola 22mm Synthetic
• Razor: Karve CB C Solid Bar
• Blade: Gillette Minora Stainless
• Lather: West Coast Shaving - Chypre
• Post Shave, West Coast Shaving - Chypre Splash
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Red Skies

FOF

Today’s Theme:

I went pretty obvious and used a soap called Chypre. Splash is the same, and the fragrance is described as a Chypre on the description from Maher Olfactive.

Today’s Challenge:

God I feel so old sometimes. I recorded a video of my first pass handheld. However, I tried to upload it to imgur 5 times. First at full length, then trimmed, trimmed some more, etc. I have uploaded small snippets before, but this kept saying it uploaded. When I’d go to get the link, image says resource unavailable. I gave up. Maybe there is a simple solution, but I don’t want to spend all afternoon trying to figure it out. So I thought about drawing a pic for every second of the clip to make an animated flip book. Yikes, that would be about 90 pics to draw and image. If I draw one image every 5 minutes, I’d be done later this evening. I could try to upload it to Youtube, but I preferred to keep it hidden in my imgur. What’s left to do? I guess start watching some shave tubers, or better yet, a selection of todays postings. BTW, I’m informing the Postmaster General about the u/OnionMiasma’s crimes against scent, that were distributed through the mail. Now we can all move up a spot once he is arrested, unless he figures out how to make prison soap. (ok, we know he will improvise a fougere out of toilet wine and smuggled ingredients, a brush out of his bunkmates mattress, and a shavette from a toothbrush shiv.) For some other clips, I was impressed with the timelapse u/ginopono posted. I had to watch a second time to catch the wardrobe change. I am going to watch more of them that I missed later. I was reading u/tsrblke’s post before my shave, but didn’t see a link. I checked again and it is there now, so another one to watch on the list. Ok, last review for now, I didn’t actually see a shave in u/RedMosquitoMM’s video. It was about shaving software and hardware though, so I’m sure u/AirBudRule will allow it. (He did do both parts anyway.)

Today’s Shave and Fragrances:

I tend to ramble into the tldr territory, so will combine my fragrance and shave commentary. This is my first use of the duck fat base that WCS gets for their line of soaps. I forget for sure who supplies it, maybe Grooming Dept.? It is on the firm side of the soap range, not a triple milled soap, but similar to perhaps Tabac, but a little crumblier. With a damp brush, it made a very dry foam right away. It took a lot of water to get it to the soft, slick lather I prefer. The scent is very citrusy to me with a kind of mineral background. I’d say it smells like rocks we had surrounding our woodstove in the house where I grew up. The rocks were all flagstones from the local mountains and were covered in lichen. So maybe a mossy scent there? Not as strong as a fougere, but the scent has a strong presence. When I opened the plastic bin where I store my soaps, I got a strong scent coming out of the bin. It was this soap and splash. Maybe I got a drop of splash leaking out? For the fragrance today, went back to my samples and found a chypre scent from Maher Olfactive. There is a bit of similarity to the WCS Chypre, but there is more going on in the fragrance. Definitely a bit stronger citrus off the top, but still untangling the scents I am getting from it. I really need to get some kind of fragrance trainer that has the individual scents. Looking at the listed notes, some of that extra depth I’m picking up is from the leather. Until I saw it listed though, I couldn’t name it, but it clicked when I read the description.

Today’s Haiku:

Video failure,

At least my scents today feel,

Fresh and outdoorsy.

July 15, 2023

• Brush: Boti Totem Pineapple Swirls with Green Tuxedo 25mm Synthetic Knot
• Razor: Wade & Butcher – Extra Hollow Ground 7/8 Straight #STR8SNOB
• Lather: Grooming Dept - Chypre D'Ananas
• Post Shave: Central Texas Soaps – Cowboy Spice Splash
• Fragrance: Mont Blanc – Starwalker

This Chypre is D’ananas! D-A-N-A-N-A-S! I said this Chypre is D’ananas! D-A-N-A-N-A-S! Shoutout Gwen Stefani for making sure I never misspell bananas ever again.

With a name like “Chypre d’ananas”, I honestly expected there to be banana notes in this soap. But no bananas – Just pineapple. Along with his friends Bergamot, Grapefruit, White Flowers Accord, Oakmoss, Cedarwood & Patchouli. But I guess Chypre d’ineapple doesn’t have the same ring to it. I would honestly love an explanation as to what this name refers to. Does anyone know? It’s actually pretty funny, West Coast Shaving AND Pastuer’s Pharmacy spell this soap wrong on their websites. Clearly some people need to listen to more Gwen Stefani!

The scent is nice and the soap performs nicely. I made sure I had an extra watery lather because I used an open blade again today. Gotta collect all the hashtags I can! For the splash I used CTS – Cowboy Spice because it has citrus and is a woody-spicy scent. Wasn’t perfect for the scent of D’Ananas, but it was a nice one-two punch. And for cologne, I used Mont Blanc Starwalker because it’s a nice step up from Cowboy Spice. Starwalker is a woody, citrus, fresh spicy cologne with a badass name. Smelling great after the shave and feeling even better. #FOF

CHALLENGE

As much as I’d like to show my face to the people out there, I actually better not because of the type of work I do. If a goofy video of me shaving got out, it would be great for my career. Which is weird to say, because it’s stupid, but the firm I work for has pretty strict guidelines about publicly facing internet posts. So instead, I’ll tell you who my favorite wettuber is. I actually asked this question when I was first getting going and Michael Freedberg is a great one to watch. I was also pointed in the direction of CosmoBarber for his lathering technique video and I like his style too. Neither one is over the top or fake excited, which is all too common in youtube. They seem like real dudes who are there, talking to a friend. And I like that.

July 15, 2023 – LG 15: Sheep-Ruh

• Brush: Dogwood Coprolite B15 #COMPOSITE #CHONK
• Razor: Military Simplex #UNICORN
• Blade: Astra SP (Green) (9)
• Lather: Grooming Dept – Peach Chypre
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Le Grand Chypre
• Fragrance: Rogue Perfumery – Chypre Siam

As I was figuring out my calendar I had several swap me Chypre. I have LGC, but needed BM another day. So, thanks to u/onionmiasma and u/tetriside who traded me some options. Normally, when something says “warning: terrible” on it, you avoid it in life, but this is LG after all, so that seemed like the reasonable choice. So thanks Onion, I guess? And a thanks to u/eructate for loaning the military simplex for #UNICORN. 40s 3 piece razor with metal head and plastic (maybe bakelite?) handle.

I don’t watch too many wetshaving videos, maybe the occasional scent review. I will say I appreciate how this day turned from bash on an influencer to appreciate someone, we need more positivity in the world. I do recall the first one I watched many moons ago was from u/iamsms, about how to properly lather. I figured I’d do some screen grabs, and showcase a sort of “who wore it best”. If you want to fast forward through a general video to adhere to todays challenge here you go.

I don’t claim to be a Chypre expert, but the gist is citrus top, labdanum (resinous) middle, and oakmoss base. Of course, this can then be taken several directions, enter peach Chypre. There is a touch of peach, but it is buried under a rather dirty patchouli, vetiver, mossy combo. I’d even venture to say it smells a bit like decaying fruit, like when something got left in the fruit bowl too long in the heat. As for LGC, I got it early when venturing into artisan work and it took a minute for me to appreciate it, but I love it. Quite citrusy and a bit floral on top, herby and resinous. Even a touch of light spice, Lastly, Rogue Perfumery’s Chypre Siam. Here, Manual Cross said he wanted to take the genre and, return it to its vintage roots, and use scents from Southeast Asia. Enter kaffir lime, ylang ylang, basil and lemongrass for brightness and citrus. Underneath, animalistic civet and leather are used in combination with the traditional moss base. About an hour or 2 after application, it’s mellowed a ton. Sort of a classy old grandpa smell. #FOF

As for #PHOTOCONTEST, went with games, as always need plenty of sheep in catan.

soap brands 15/30, post shave 15/30, frag 15/30, post/frag linked 15/30, software sponsors 8/13, hardware sponsors 2/2, razor hashtags 9/15, brush hashtags 8/15, photo contest 15/30, daily challenges 13/25, special challenges 2/5

July 15, 2023

• Brush: Sunsoaps Maple Walnut – 26mm Motherlode
• Razor: Chiseled Face - Legacy
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – Le Grand Chypre
• Post Shave: Elysian Soap Shop – Patchouli Peach Splash
• Fragrance: Guerlain - Vetiver
• Music: Mai Yamane – Don’t Bother None

First things first – Thanks for u/worbx for the smush for today. I own a LOT of B&M, but I don’t have Will’s Chypre. Really appreciate you sharing this. I have an interview with Will Carius from Barrister and Mann, but we have a lot to unpack first…

Before I get to today, I need to set the stage. Yesterday, I posted a super cold ice bath shave for Frigid Friday and included a couple friendly digs at u/Marquis90. We both had the same idea to shave in a bathtub full of ice, and I had more ice, and less water in mine. I thought it’d be funny to tag him and let him know. THEN u/MrTangerinesky came in from the clouds and inserted his COMPLETELY WRONG opinion about which ice bath was more difficult. Honestly, I think some of the menthol he put on his balls somehow found it’s way up into his skull and turned his brain to mush. So today, I shaved in my bathtub. Again. In a Spite Shave, dedicated to u/MrTangerinesky, using a method he thought would be more difficult. Watch me do both and see which one I look more uncomfortable in.

After a brutal, frigid shave yesterday, today was an easy full bathtub shave with only one bag of ice, and more water, like u/MrTangerinesky thought would be difficult. Wrong on every count. The softness of a Motherlode knot and the smoothness of the CF Legacy and only one ice bag was like shaving on easy street for this video. Today was the perfect day to use Barrister & Mann as well. Big fan of a lot of what Will puts out and Le Grand Chypre is no different. It’s fresh, with a little floral earthy perfuminess to it and slightly fruity nature to it, which is why I went with Patchouli Peach from Elysian to finish the shave. It’s a little fruity, with a floral perfumy nature to it. Then to close out the scents, Vetiver from Guerlain to bring everything back down to Earth and compliment, yet tone down the fruit notes from the splash for a great #FOF day.

DISCLAIMER: Elysian Soap Shop sent me this sample size splash because I’m on my way to becoming a world famous shavefluencer. #dontforgettolikeandsubscribe

Daily #photocontest. Took a picture with a mobile phone in it.

As far as the challenge, I posted a video yesterday of the ice bath shave, and I’m posting a sequel video today for my Grand Chypre Spite Shave today, dedicated to u/MrTangerinesky. I spend about 90% of the time explaining just how wrong he is. Spite Shaving may be my new favorite way to shave! And look out u/VisceralWatch, I’m coming for you! Just wait until I hand out TWO stickers to everyone I meet that say, “I met Priusaurus and he gave me two stickers!”. You’re move, HDShaves. Still using the free face filter app (which barely works) because I still want to remain somewhat anonymous, even though half of you probably have my name and address by now. I figure most influencers use filters in their videos, why can’t I? Make sure to SMASH that like and subscribe button! And once we reach 100,000 subscribers, we have an AWESOME PRIZE PACK from our sponsors that I’ll send to one lucky subscriber!

PS – Thanks for (hopefully) being a good sport u/MrTangerinesky!

For the interview, I talked with this unknown artisan that call themselves: Barrister and Mann. Give them a shot, I think they may have a future in wetshaving. Okay… That was a joke! Get it? Because Will Carius is well known to everyone in the community. MOIMO, but Barrister and Mann makes the absolute best soap base in the business. There are a lot that are really, really excellent soaps out there, but Omnibus just does it for me. This community is what it is thanks to Will. His willingness to continuously improve and be willing to take risks is what makes B&M one of the best. I’m really happy that Will was willing to take part in this series. Thanks so much, u/BostonPhotoTourist, really appreciate it!

10 Questions with… Barrister and Mann

1) Why the 2nd “n” in Mann? Ever regret not really going for the gusto and making it “Mannn”?

It was just a stylistic device from the fact that I originally envisioned the line to be geared toward men. Point of fact that that that's still functionally true, hard though I have tried to shift it into a more unisex space over the years.

2) One thing I really admire about you is you aren’t afraid to try new things and experiment with scents. You’ve said you don’t want everyone to like every scent you make. Do you have any scent notes that you won’t work with?

I used to say synthetic amber/ambergris notes, but several of my more recent designs have incorporated Norlimbanol, and Lavender, Interrupted contains a decent quantity of the synthetic ambergris material Cetalox. So not anymore, I suppose.

3) I heard you say that your mother actually names most of your soaps. When do you decide that it’s your turn to name one?

It's really just whichever of us comes up with the idea that the two of us like more. She has named things like Nocturne, Adagio, Solstice, Dickens, etc. I've named things like Hallows, Leviathan, Beaudelaire, Seville, etc.

4) Has there been a scent release that stands out to you as unexpectantly successful, where it sold faster or far more than you expected? If so, which one?

Probably 42. I guess I didn't realize how popular Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy actually is, so the reception caught me a bit off guard. We've leaned into it in the years since, of course, but that first release was a bit of a surprise.

5) When I was researching questions to ask Brad Maggard, I stumbled across this comment you made about Colonial Drug in Cambridge, before you even made shaving soaps. Colonial Drug has since moved locations, but have you been back there since you’ve built Barrister & Mann? I'm envisioning you going in today, slamming your soap on the counter ala Matt Damon, and saying "How do you like them apples!"

Man, that thread is a blast from the past. I've only been in their new location twice, shortly after they moved, and was not further impressed.

6) When you aren’t using your own products, what software do like to shave with?

I still have a jar of tallow Tabac; I haven't tried the new vegetal version. Great soap. Other than that, House of Mammoth products are terrific, but I don't buy much in the way of shaving stuff anymore. I have it EVERYWHERE, so it takes something truly remarkable to catch my interest.

(INTERVIEW CONTINUES IN THE REPLY)

• Brush: Naked Armor Mahogany Wood Shaving Brush

• Razor: Gillette Travel Tech

• Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum

• Lather: Grooming Department - Chypre D'ananas

• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Passiflora

• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - Sun Soaked

My theme for today's shave: Fruity Tooty

Pineapple chypre and other fruity smells. Still on the stag trip so I'm a bit wrecked but I will not miss my LG streak. #photocontest #FOF #ROTY

July 15, 2023 – War is a Chypre!

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – The Four Horsemen: War
• Post Shave: Chatillon Lux – Admiral
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Admiral

Chypre is bar far one of my least favorite categories, so, I wasn’t that excited about this day being on the calendar. And, given that I am really trying this LG to not get a ton of smushes and not spend any money (read: use what you have) I knew that I would have to use that smush that u/zimora sent me as a funny prank several months back. My poor mailman was probably very confused as to why this little greeting card envelope smelled so bad, but, whatever. Here we are. Zim is a good guy and a good friend and his contribution to this lather games nets me, you know, a few more points towards my mediocre showing.

That said, War (which Will himself says is a Chypre, if you haven't heard) has been locked up in the envelope in a zip-loc for months – never to be smelled for fear of it’s terror. But here’s the thing – it’s not that bad. T+S Shag from Patchouli day was waaaaay worse. I’m sure the scent is stronger on the splash and I am sure my wife wouldn’t like it – hence pairing it with Admiral – but – it was bordering on something pleasant at points as I lathered it on. I did double scrub my face in my post-shave shower for fear of the abomination appearing in the middle of the night as my wife lay next to me, but, for those brief 6-8 minutes, it wasn’t that bad.

Admiral is amazing and does well to cover this up. I can still smell War underneath the Admiral, but, honestly they play pretty well together.

Overall my shave was pretty meh. I shaved before I showered so I could scrub off the stank so my face wasn’t soft and I nicked myself a few times, but, it’s fine. Par for the day kind of thing going on here.

I didn’t take a video, because, well – it’s been a long 24 hours and a rough day of kids’ attitudes and my own bad attitude as a parent so I needed to just shave and be done – War was enough of a stretch. But, I will say that Kevy Shaves is the GOAT. Something about his voice and presentation is just so relaxing. I hear Fitjar soap is not that great, but, ever since I saw him use it early on I’ve wanted to grab some. But, of course, nobody could compete with our own u/VisceralWatch who perfectly encapsulated the loss of thrill feeling earlier this summer that I’ve experienced for the past few months. I want it back, and maybe the impending trip to Mags will bring it back. I don’t know.

Anyway. Have a great night you fine people.

FOF Haiku of the Day

War is a chypre
It is really not that bad
Would not buy it though

DAY 15 LATHER GAMES! WHAT'S A WETTUBER!?!?!?

• Prep: Water
• Brush: DS Cosmetics 30mm Tuxedo Knot
• Razor: Frederick Reynolds 7/8 #ALLNATURAL #STR8SNOB
• Blade: Frederick Reynolds
• Lather: Grooming Dept - Chypre Peach
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Le Grand Chypre
• Fragrance: Acqua di Parma - Blu Mediterraneo Arancia di Capri

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PIC OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

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Just got home, after and incredibly long long day and I'm half drunk.... Just saw u/Priusaurus's video and am currently watching u/chronnoisseur42O's video, cause today we are SET BUDDIES! \^_\^

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First off, I demand my dividends of having my name used so much in one video, God damn... One could think we were having sex. You moan my name more than women I sleep with... Also djudges, disqualify him, he is making points on my back, not fair!!!

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Really I'm just stumped... this is probably gonna be my weakest post of the lather games, but hey I stirred the pot enough yesterday it seems, got under that man's skin!! Too bad he couldn't get under water...

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Now for the Daily Challenge I did a video, but the past few days I had such good ideas that I was just spend. So I just went out on my terrace and shaved with a straight, looking at the video I should record there more often! Here's the video!

I will write to say though that for me u/sgrdddy and u/VisceralWatch are the only english speaking wettubers I follow now and since a long time ago. They just have so much knowledge, people who say that Visceral doesn't have a personality, go and watch the Ron Wiebe interview he conducted, it was awesome! Link to that! Screw anyone else, my criteria is, if you can't make good lather I won't watch you!

Note to self: Should shave more often with straights!

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#FOF

Sorry, just sorry, not today, I can't...

• Daily Lather Themes: 15/30
• Daily Challenges: 15/30
• Hardware Scavenger Hunt: 14/20
• Hardware Vendor Points: 1/2
• Software Vendor Points: 6/13
• Software Vendor Bonus Point: 0/1
• 30 Different Soap Brands Point: 15/30
• 30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point: 15/30
• 30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point: 15/30
• 30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point: 15/30