2023-07-16 Barbershop

• Brush: West Coast Shaving - Two Tone Synthetic
• Razor: Henson AL13 Medium #CNC
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - No. 11
• Post Shave: Floïd - The Genuine
• Fragrance: American Crew
• Blade: Feather (5)

Challenge Accepted: The word "meme" is not so narrowly defined as to refer only to image macros or whatever templates, and I don't think so lowly of the djudges to think they would assume as such.
A recently-surfaced meme that remains fairly persistent on reddit lately is that of AI-generated images of John Oliver. Now, I'm not about to shell out for a year's subscription to Midjourney or the like, so instead I managed to create these horrible atrocities. The AI models that produced these clearly know about prominent Oliverian features, such as his glasses, but they seem to have trouble with the idea of "safety razor", "DE razor", or permutations thereof, and the finger-like appendage in that first one is nothing short of horrifying.

#FOF
What is a barbershop?
The only answer I've been able to find to this question is: whatever the hell the scent-creator wants! No argument here. But it confuses the hell out of my sniffer.

My first impression of No. 11 is that it's very close to London Barbershop of Maggard, which I previously lauded as the cleanest scent in my nose's experience. It's similar enough that I have wondered if it is the same and just hits the nose differently due to the soap's base. I am led to dismiss this idea, though, because No. 11 is said to be based on a specific other barbershop scent, the notes of which differ quite a bit from that of the pre-blend. Shows how much my nose knows!

Meanwhile, I found Floïd The Genuine described as "a barbershop classic," and I'll take whoever's word for it. Maggard's description says it's "an explosion of spices with citrus [...] that will transport you to the aromas of traditional barbershops". You betcha, marketing person! I do agree that it is strong in the spice department, but its similarity to No. 11 ends at the "barbershop" association.

Meanwhile again, this American Crew stuff is something that I was given a long time ago in an, "I don't want this; you have it!" kind of way. It as long enough ago that all I can find in regard to its scent thereof is that it's "a clean and subtle scent that combines spicy and citrusy notes." You got it, pardner. Based on that, I can say with moderate confidence that the fragrance shares the spicy and citrusy aspects of the barbershop aftershave, and the clean-ness of the lather.

Relevant Post-shave and Fragrance: The lather and aftershave are both ostensibly barbershoppy, and the fragrance shares the clean/citrus/spicy accords of each.
Not to mention the fragrance is vaguely-defined, much in the spirit of "barbershop".

#photocontest
Photo: Games
I don't think I've ever stepped foot in a veritable barbershop, so all I really have to go on is in media-depictions. I haven't seen the Barbershop movies, though. I did see an episode of iZombie that featured a barbershop, and it had a whole theme around gambling. I think I might indeed associate gambling with the general depiciton of that kind of barbershop, so here we are: Gaming.

July 16, 2023

• Brush: DSCosmetic Boar/Badger Mix
• Razor: Gillette Executive Fatboy
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Apex Alchemy – Cutthroat Soap
• Post Shave: Apex Alchemy – Cutthroat Splash
• Fragrance: Montblanc – Explorer

Barbershop is one of those scents that I loved when I was first starting wetshaving, but then I realized that so many that are pretty much carbon copies of each other. And EVERYONE has a barbershop scent and I can’t get excited about any of them anymore. Even Apex Alchemy, who has a really fun line-up of scents, have a Barbershop. The businessperson in me wonders who is buying all these barbershop scented items? And why are so many soapmakers doing what everyone else is doing? Someone must be buying them, right?

The lack of originality is almost painful to watch. As barbershop scents flood the wetshaving market, they’re drowning out any semblance of uniqueness and creativity. How many times have we found ourselves surrounded by soaps, splashes, and colognes, each offering a scent that seems all too familiar? “We want to evoke the memory of a classic barbershop…” AND SO DOES EVERY OTHER SOAPMAKER! The sameness of this barbershop offering really stifles one the one best parts of this hobby – scents that are truly unique!

Apex Alchemy’s is okay as far as barbershop scents go. Not the best, and not the worst either. It’s not as powdery as some of the other ones I’ve tried and the splash almost has a subtle fruitiness to it, which is kind of unique in my experiences with Barbershops. I paired the Cutthroat soap and splash with Montblanc – Explorer because it’s big on bergamot, like Cutthroat, but then has some Sage & Pink Pepper which partner really nicely with the fruitiness from the splash. #FOF

CHALLENGE

Here’s a meme I came with inspired by the Lather Games. When I first saw the calendar, I was so overwhelmed and I actually used a spreadsheet to keep everything organized. I took it one day at time, bought a shit-ton of samples, and got couple smushes from the community and I was off the races. No clue how I’m gonna do compared to everyone else, but posting daily has made me feel more like I’m participating in the subreddit and not just occasionally asking questions. This has been a fun ride so far and I’m looking forward to the 2nd half!

July 16, 2023 – Bogus

• Brush: Holzleute – Silvertip badger
• Razor: Custom designed 6/8 Böker with bog oak scale and french head #STR8SNOB #ALLNATURAL
• Lather: Moon Soaps – Union
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Barbershop
• Fragrance: Versace – Eros Flame

Barbershop day is nonesense. We celebrate a barbershop, that has very likely worse products than we use, to get a shave thats worse than what we could do, with a scent that is not at all defined. We top it off, by shaving ourselfes. I can’t avoid to think of Ron Swanson. We would look the same the minute we enter a barbershop. But just like last year we have this theme. Thank god it’s sunday and barbershops are closed today. How cocky would it be to go there and show them my clean shaven face, smelling fabulous and giving them a lecture that they should get some Seville and stop using Arko.

For all the things I listed, that are wrong with the barbershop day, I wanted to make at least one thing right. I did not wanted to shave myself. Would you go to a restaurant and cook your own meal? No.
But before the u/airbudruler gets up for standing ovations, we need to read the rules which clearly say: “You have to shave yourself”. To avoid a mod with a nervous finger on the DQ button, I still had to shave myself.

Barbershops here prefer shavette shaves. They can change the blade after every customer for hygenie reasons. But I woudl prefer a shave with a straigh razor, for style reasons. This weekend my razors came back from honing service. God, did I miss them. Did anybody notice that for over two weeks, I had no straight razor shave?
Anyway. As a brush I used my Holzleute badger brush. It still has some animal funk in it and needs more break in phase, but my beard length matched the brushes feeling.
The lather was not the best. I have a sample of the soap from last year LG. The soap looks dry and crumbling. Went to the living room, sat on a chair and let my gf shave me. I shaved my little brother once, and although I thought that I am proficient with these razors, my hands were shaking as I was nervous and the angle was so different. My gf often shaves the back of my neck with my straight razors, so she has little experience. I told her to do the pass as she likes to. WTG, ATG, XTG, doen’t matter. Do whats comfortable and maneageble. She started with XTG, but stopped after one cheek. The long nails from yesterdays wedding get in her way, she is afraid to chop my face off, she is afraid to break the razor. I get all of these arguments.
Here ends the part of my airbudruling and we continue with the games obeying its rules.

#FOF
I realized that I am out of practice with my straight razors. The lather denisity was also not good enough. With a straight, its even more important how good your lather is. Union has a very mild cooling. Forgott it had that. The scent is more towards Seville direction and a take on 50s Barbershop scent. Powdery, citrus, sandalwood and bay.
To stay on theme I used Stirlings very vanilla barbershop balm. Thats more my barbershop style scent.
About my choice of fragrance, I need to tell a tiny story. I worked in a different city some years ago. We had a colleague from turkey and went to some turkish restaurants from time to time. As we got there we passed a little barbershop and every time we did that he told us about the one time he was there after work on a friday evening. The place was full of testosterone bombing “gentleman”, who got ready for their firday night club hunting. He told us that he learned a lot during his visit there.
I assume that the clientele has a few fragrances they like to use and I assume that Versace Eros is among them.
Flame starts with heavy mandarine and a citric freshness. After a bit of time it fits the barbershop theme very well (like arse on bucket, as we say in germany). Powdery sweetness, but still a bit of citrus, like it cant decide if it wants to fit Stirling or Red house farms barbershop, or rather Moon soaps and Barrister and Mann barbershop. It fits both.

Daily Challenge:

Let’s start with some LG meme.
Friggid friday
no scrub
let's continue the mocking u/priusaurus

July 16, 2023 – A trip to the barber

• Brush: Omega 40033 24mm #oldworld #hollow
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (7)
• Lather: Noble Otter – Barrbarr
• Post Shave: Zingari – The Wanderer
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Gratiot League Square

Barbershop day. My den is actually full of various takes on this scent. From the more modern like Hygge, to the interesting takes like Ghost Town Barber, to this more traditional take from noble otter.

It’s a great scent and was good to use today. Though I mixed up too many variables and not even the magic of GUTL could save me. I normally use this brush for face lathering CF soaps, but for some reason it just screamed “barbershop” to me, and so I loaded too little. So less a grand unified face and bowl lather and more unification across multiple loads. I got a good shave.

For #fof, obviously The Wanderer is a barbershop, the classic preblend from crafters choice. And I’m ok with this preblend. It smells good and goes with my myriad of barbershops in my den. Gratiot League Square is interesting to me. Interesting in part because the area described is very much my old stomping grounds, hanging out, at a friend’s house who lived in that area, going to the resturants, ordering local pizza. Wandering you might say. I can imagine old barbershops in the area, but much like the old hardware stores they have given way to the entertainment district inside/adjacent to the neighborhoods. The charm is still there even if it’s a little different. And the scent itself plays well with the barbershop scents (but what doesn’t play well with those?)

For #photocontest, got myself an entry for “The law” actually plays well with FOF above since I’ve been pulled over in that area before for the crime of… Trying to drop off my friend late at night. Anyone with kids the same age as mine will recognize Chase, the annoying cop in the pawP Patrol.

So will my fellow #ROTY bring it with the memes this year? I’m tired from a concert and spent my energy on yesterday’s video. But here’s a meme about our dens. Sorry I don't have a ton to overload you with. Gotta get packing (can't forget my calender and soaps!)

But since song parody is a meme of the LG this year and I was at a concert and have a song stuck in my head, here’s one to the tune of Eric Church’s “Drink in my hand.”

Lather up

Mow it down

Slicken your face with soap from a cow

No need to complicate it, I’m no wicked edge man

All you gotta do is put a blade in my hand.

You make me go "ow ow ow" when you nick like that

You got that little weeper there playing peek-a-boo on my neck

If you wanna good dress me, baby here's the plan

All you gotta do is put a blade in my hand.

Lather up

Mow it down

I got 4 days growth worth of stubble to plow

That hair on my face is calling “shave me man”

All you gotta do is put a blade in my hand

OH! That hair on my face is calling “shave me man”

All you gotta do is put a blade in my hand.

Edited: in a moment of inspiration had an idea for a verse. Edited 2, changed "not a wicked edge man" to "no wicked edge man" because it fits the tempo better.

July 16, 2023

• Brush: AP Shave Co. – Blue/Clear Handle with Oumo 26mm Horse #HORSEASS
• Razor: C.V. Heljestrand 6/8 Straight #STR8SNOB
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps – Picture Day
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Beloved
• Fragrance: Tommy Hilfiger - Tommy
• Music: Yellowcard – Ocean Avenue

We’re over the halfway point and I feel like the best is yet to come from everyone. From me, there’s more interviews, more memes, and more over the top ridiculousness. Hopefully no more ice bath shaves, but if u/MrTangerinesky comes at me again, he’s getting the smoke again. I’m not above doing a month of Spite Shaves.

Today, I shaved with Summer Break Soaps’ Picture Day (RIP in Peace). Gone too soon. Barbershop scents can be tough because it seems like every single soapmaker has “their own” barbershop, yet so many just use Crafter's Choice™ Barber Shoppe - EO & FO Blend 123. Seriously, go to this Thirsty Badger Dupe list, and type “barber shoppe” in the search bar. And that’s just the ones they know about!! Boring! Maybe SBS thought the same thing because Picture Day is now uNoBtAnIuM. Did I do that alternating letters thing right? Sucks because I really enjoy this soap, buuuut, life goes on. Well, not for Picture Day…. But you get the point.

Today, I’m really happy to be using Picture Day. It’s a great barbershop style scent. It’s a little floral, a little earthy, and a little powdery. It’s really a well-balanced scent. No surprise to any of us, because Summer Break only makes top-notch stuff. I decided to pair it with Beloved from House of Mammoth. It’s heavy on the Lavender and shares a touch of Bergamot with Picture Day, and has a woodiness that goes great with the oak moss and patchouli from the soap, but is a good bit sweeter, thanks to Beloved’s immortelle absolute (which smells like honey), but it’s a good combo. And to finish the routine for the day, I sprayed on Tommy Hilfiger’s Tommy. It has an obscenely not creative name, but it also shares bergamot, mint, and lavender notes with the aftershave to make a nice #FOF combination.

For the challenge. You want the memes? I got the memes. I thought about doing a some memes dedicated to my Spite Shave, but I’ve already proved my point to MrTangerinesky. Then I thought about dedicating that Chapelle meme to either u/cowzilla3 for Old Spice Dupes or u/Enndeegee for Spice Girls gifs. But then, I opted to stick to something we can all agree on. Something we can all unite with: 10 memes about how awful PAA is. But I'm not done! I have one more meme left in my tank... Quite possibly the most impressive meme for meme day that's ever memed:

Bringing a Meme Soap to life.

That's right! Remote Learning is becoming a reality. The inmates are running the asylum and I'm leading the charge for Doritos Soap and Mountain Dew Splash. You're welcome, r/wetshaving.

For the #photocontest, I’m going with Story/thematic as Joker finally has the jump on Batman. Robin is trapped under a giant bottle of splash and Batgirl is trapped under a frag! How will Batman escape??

And of course, I have an awesome interview today! I talked with Kyle from Summer Break Soaps. For me, SBS is about fun and nostalgia. Taking us all back to a time when this were… Simple. And all of Kyle’s scents tell a story or evoke a feeling. That is not easy to do. And on top of all that, Kyle is one of us, posting in the Lather Games threads, tossing out gifs and memes like it’s nobody’s business. This is a great interview that you won’t want to scroll by and I’m so glad Kyle decided to take part. Thank you, u/rocketk455! You are a great part of this community!

10 Questions with... Summer Break Soaps

1) As a student, Summer break is no question the best break, yet Spring Break seems to get the most hype. Why do you think that is?

I've basically been in school for 30ish years now. In all that time I've noticed a lot of patterns. One of those is that the month of February absolutely sucks. Teachers and students are tired, its cold, days are short, and summer is so so far away. Spring Break comes along at the perfect time to provide hope that summer is in fact getting closer and that the weather is finally getting better.

2) I would always wait until like the last day of Summer Break before school went back into session to try to bang out the entire summer reading list (shoutout Cliff Notes for saving me on more than one occasion.) What percent of students do you think actually do the summer reading?

Honestly, I don't think anyone around here even bothers to assign summer readings because absolutely no one would do them. You and your Cliff Notes might be the only person in the history of always that actually at least kind of did the readings.

3) When you aren’t using your own soaps/splashes, what are your other favorite brands/scents to use?

Several years ago when I was a peak thrill I decided to mostly limit my purchases to only brands that have a presence here on r/wetshaving. After SBS, Declaration is a solid 2nd place as far as amount of stuff that I own. I very much enjoy all other Reddit artisans as well.

4) Which is your favorite SBS scent that you’ve released?

It’s interesting how the answer to this has changed. The answer was always Picture Day previously, but I've kind of gotten tired of barbershop scents. Right now, it is probably Woodshop. I just really enjoy how that came together especially since it was years and years in the making. I also really like International Studies.

5) Real talk: How many people do I need to get to committed to buying a set of Remote Learning for you to do a limited run?

Making small batches of soap is a huge pain, but you find me 10ish or more people to buy it, and I'll make it.

(INTERVIEW CONTINUED IN THE REPLY)

Day 16 - Shave and Haircut

• Brush: Yaqi - Arctic brush with Caravel handle
• Razor: Karve - CB
• Blade: Astra - Green
• Lather: Barrister's Reserve - Cool
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Cool
• Fragrance: Creed - Aventus

I am traveling for this week, so all of the shaves are prepacked it a shave bag. Yes, I have one bag just for the Lather Games, haha.

For the fragrance, I have a box of samples to travel with. I am not as familiar with most of them. Today, I went with Aventus. They both hit similar notes with the Aventus, adding more fruit notes.

ROTY #FOF

DAY 16 LATHER GAMES! A ME-ME, WHAT IS THAT?!??!?!

• Prep: Water
• Brush: DS Cosmetics 30mm Tuxedo Knot
• Razor: Blackland Vector
• Blade: Chinese(5)
• Lather: Noble Otter - BarrBarr
• Post Shave: RazoRock - Blue Barbershop splash
• Fragrance: Paco Rabanne - 1 Million

​

PIC OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

​

u/Priusaurus didn't I tell you I'd deal with you today? I did, and here it is... After that weak attempt yesterday, here is my response in video format!(WARNING: LOUD VIDEO)

You screwed up big time my man, you don't mess with me!

While you stay in your bathroom and shave in cold water, I go and explore the world, buy rivers, shave next to them!! What'chu got, a tub?

Today's meme day? Sure, have some memes!!

Still the biggest meme of them all was u/Priusaurus being a premature ejacumemelator!

#FOF

• Daily Lather Themes: 16/30
• Daily Challenges: 16/30
• Hardware Scavenger Hunt: 14/20
• Hardware Vendor Points: 1/2
• Software Vendor Points: 7/13
• Software Vendor Bonus Point: 0/1
• 30 Different Soap Brands Point: 16/30
• 30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point: 16/30
• 30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point: 16/30
• 30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point: 16/30

LG23-16: Shave and a Haircut - Two Bits

• Brush: Prometheus Handcrafts "Red and White" 27.5mm Manchurian
• Razor: Carbon Cx-Ti
• Blade: Astra SP (11)
• Lather: Dr. Jon's - Classic - Shaving Soap
• Post Shave: Proraso - Refreshing - After Shave Lotion
• Fragrance: Noble Otter - Hamami
• Passes: WTG, XTG, ATG
• Coffee: West Java. Cijapati, Garut - v: Typica. Tim Tim. Catimor - p: Triple picked. Washed.
• Music: William Tyler - Goes West
• LG Tags: #FOF

Have you clicked through the links in the Lather Games rulebook's theme descriptions? There's lots of good info in there, including fragrance genre breakdowns and nuanced explanations of what makes a scent on theme for any given day.

Today's link is a must-click. I happened to circle back to the calendar last night and read this post about the structure of barbershop scents; it's the most coherent and thoughtful explanation of a nebulous concept I've encountered, well grounded in both history and culture, the two most significant factors in how we interpret, define, and categorize fragrances. (Speaking of, I chatted with friends yesterday about the significant differences in how notes like jasmine, patchouli, sandalwood, and vetiver are interpreted across the world. I'd love to see a "Lost in Translation" day in next year's calendar.)

Look at the wet shaving products in this category and there are many examples of scents that are "sweet, herbal, spicy, fresh, and very powdery.” That must be how you arrive at wet shaving artisans using the same preblends to signify "barbershop". [Judges, I'm not a memexpert, so I hope this works for you.]

However, the part of this 2018 essay that caught my attention was this qoute:

In the 1900s, the average gentleman wasn't interested in perfuming his body, but he was interested in being clean, and perhaps (if he was wealthy) in scenting the handkerchief in his breast pocket. The "being clean" part is central to understanding the upbringing of the masculine fragrance industry.

If barbershop scents can be reduced down to a historical and regional understanding of freshly-groomed cleanliness, it raises the question: what does clean smell like? It's not the smell of a barbershop itself, which is often full of equipment-cleaning smells, archaic, and varies wildly by region:

I find that when reviewers express confusion about the phrase "barbershop scent," they say things like, "This doesn't smell like any barbershop I've been to." This is a fundamental misinterpretation of the phrase. To say that Drakkar Noir smells like a barbershop scent isn't to imply that Drakkar Noir is used by barbers. Drakkar Noir employs notes and accords that resemble products used for shaving: its lavender and dry-herbal qualities are similar to the scents of common shaving soaps. The phrase extrapolates from a variety of shaving and haircutting products that have been traditionally used, ranging from talcum powders to shaving creams, to even Barbacide and other disinfecting astringents. Barbershop fragrances are typically subjective, based on the barber's region of practice.

I'm convinced by the argument that American barbershop fragrances historically combined notes of sweet floral waters and hair powder, along with the various herbs and aromatics used to scent those products. Pinaud Clubman and Mennen Skin Bracer both come to mind. When not smelling of almond, Italian barbershop products feature a more Mediterranean take on the same structure, combining moss and herbs with a strong citrus component. You can find both fragrances and wet shaving products that reference either regional approach.

Dr. Jon's (RIP) described their barbershop scent Classic as "crisp and fresh." Like many vintage barbershop products in the more European variety, this smell combines "hints of herb, wood, flowers and citrus." With its lack of overt powder or talc, and a squeeze of lime on top of the strong rosemary and lavender, it doesn't read as American (like, say, Ghost Town Barber). Yet it's woody overtones make it feel more representative of Stateside barbershops than Proraso Green—the archetypal Italian aftershave—which, coincidentally, does smell vaguely of talc. Eucalyptus, menthol, and citrus are what dominate the scent, along with a strong lavender and oakmoss fougère base. Both products suggest an understanding of clean grooming that is brisk, aromatic, and lifted by citrus, but with little sweetness.

Yet those specifics don’t apply worldwide. Consider Noble Otter’s wonderful take on the Turkish bathhouse, Hamami. (Noble Otter also makes an American-style barbershop, the "sweet, spicy, powdery" Barrbarr.)

While spas and bathhouses serve a different purpose than a barbershop—full body cleansing versus above-the-chest grooming—the goal is fundamentally the same: cleanliness, achieved in places of relaxation, community, and ritual ablutions. They're kindred spirits. It shouldn't be surprising then, that while the individual notes are different across cultural traditions, the structures of these scents share commonalities.

Noble Otter describes Hamami as a "clean, wet floral fragrance." In place of zesty lemon or lime, there's invigorating bergamot and green petitgrain. Instead of lavender and rosemary, there's a very pretty jasmine mixed with geranium. In place of an oakmoss and patchouli base, there's sandalwood and tonka, though the latter shows up in sweet-leathery barbershop scents too. More than any other element of this fragrance, it's the wet stone note that distinguishes Hamami from other shaving scents, and what most distinguishes humid bathhouse from powdery barbershop. Layering the two in one SOTD is a useful study in composition and contrast.

July 16, 2023 - Shave and a Haircut

• Brush: AP Shave Co - Ivory Purple 26mm G5A SHD Premium Synth
• Razor: GEM Junior
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Chiseled Face - Ghost Town Barber
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Seville Splash
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Barrbarr
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Hygge

FOF

Today’s Theme:

One of my first soaps I bought when I got into wetshaving was Noble Otter - Barrbarr. Of course, I already used another NO soap this month, but had to squeeze it in somehow. Reading u/tsrblke’s post reminded me that Hygge is indeed a barbershop inspired scent. Today I used 4 on theme scents in a glorious mélange of tonsorial parlor scents.

Today’s challenge:

I appreciate meme, but don’t often think of one to make. I sometimes struggle with creativity. Today however, as I was getting my gear together, inspiration hit me. My thought process everyday this month really. I sometimes suffer from the paralysis of choice. With a pretty full den of soaps, and the joy of trying new things, it can be difficult to get around to a favorite. Or just stick to favorites and not try new things.

Today’s Fragrance:

Barbershop is a pretty generic genre, but there are a few really interesting unique scents out there. I went with Ghost Town Barber to give a nice clean base. Not a strong scent from it, just a familiar soapy scent to me. Barrister and Mann - Seville adds more depth and a good citrus and spice mix to it. Noble Otter - Barrbarr adds more citrus, more spice and a hint of rosemary. To cap it off, House of Mammoth - Hygge ties into the citrus and the juniper plays up the rosemary, and has a mellow warmth to it. Even though it is 90+ today, I’m not minding this warmth. On todays theme, I got to mix a few favorites and that was really good. I stopped rating after a few and thinking it would all be B range. Today is an A.

Today’s Haiku:

Barbershop question,

Seville, Barrbarr, or Hygge?

I’ll just say, “Yes, please.”

July 16, 2023 – Shave and a Hair Cut, Two Bits

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Coprolite B15 #COMPOSITE #CHONK
• Razor: Gillette NEW SC #REGUS
• Blade: Astra SP (Green) (10)
• Lather: Ariana & Evans – Dos Dalagas Barbera
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming – Epiphenomenon
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann – Seville

Me, and I’m sure others, a couple months ago when the calendar released. Which makes sense, we all want to be prepped, planned, and have our own routines, but I think some take it more seriously than others.. Even the djudges tell us on the podcast to up our game, while complaining posts are too long.. Look, it’s getting hard to be creative everyday and do new things.

Meme day, however, does bring out the creativity in folks /s, despite some low hanging fruit and rehashed ideas. Or the obligatory FUCK PAA.

After several years, there’s no way to hide the chaos that is lather games from significant others. I’ve shared a lot of pictures with my GF, but I think made a grave mistake.

I’ll keep the #FOF short. Dos Dalagas is a middle of road barbershop, not super citrusy but it’s there, not too powdery, but it’s there too. Epi is talc and powder heavy to me, probably what these folks smelled like. Seville packs a citrus, and it’s Gods barbershop for a reason. I’m also partial to the heavy lavender and rosemary component, 2 plants I have loads of in the garden.

For my #PHOTOCONTEST (extinct animals), I have literal 2million+ year old bacteria in my brush. Maybe if you get super sciencey, you’ll note a fossil is dead, or possibly just a ~~rock~~ mineral, but they contain traces of organic material- aka extinct poop animals.

Little poop brush history and generic shave vid here.

soap brands 16/30, post shave 16/30, frag 16/30, post/frag linked 16/30, software sponsors 8/13, hardware sponsors 2/2, razor hashtags 9/15, brush hashtags 8/15, photo contest 16/30, daily challenges 14/25, special challenges 2/5

July 16, 2023 – LG Day 16 – Shave and a Haircut

• Brush: Stirling Two-Band Synthetic 24mm
• Razor: Merkur 34C
• Blade: Voskhod
• Lather: Wet Shaving Products – Barbershop Rustic Shaving Soap
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts – Desairology
• Fragrance: Zoologist Perfumes – Moth

I haven’t been to a barbershop in probably 8 or 9 years, since I started shaving my head. I maintain my own beard and no barbershop around me does a proper shave as far as I know. That said, I can tell you what the barbershop I grew up going to smelled like. Clubman. At some point I had a little tub of Clubman brand shave soap, but I probably tossed it as it was pretty terrible quality. WSP Rustic Barbershop doesn’t smell like that to me, although “powdery musk” is one of the scent notes. The soap overall is…fine? It makes a good lather that whips up quickly, but the scent doesn’t impress me. To be fair to WSP, though, no barbershop scent impresses me. To fit today’s theme, I had to dig through the box of soaps I’ve been meaning to put on the ‘zaar for cheap, and thankfully this was in there. Unsurprisingly, I don’t have much for post-shaves that would fit the barbershop theme. After some searching, I found a sample of Desairology I haven’t used in forever, which is a barbershop with a spooky twist, as is SW’s prerogative. Upon putting SW’s splash on my head, I got the complexity of the various barbershoppy notes they included, all at one — but unfortunately, all I smell now is powder. I’m not sure if this is because of the splash, or if it’s leftover from the soap, or something else. It definitely evokes the Clubman that says “barbershop” to me, but it’s not what I prefer to smell like. #FOF

I chose Moth today for a couple of reasons that link it to the theme – powdery florals to match with barbershop, gothic vibes to match Southern Witchcrafts. Mostly, though, I chose it because I love it. It’s one of my favorite frags of all time, and I don’t have to try hard to find an excuse to wear it. However, things were a little backwards today due to being trapped in New Hampshire with a flooded road. I stayed with friends last night, and didn’t pack my shaving kit as I anticipated leaving in the morning, but we didn’t get to leave until around 2, when we could see the road again. I had a Moth sample with me, though, so I was able to spritz that after my shower. It’s still very present on my sternum, so not blending with my shave so much, but a nice treat if I stick my face in my shirt.

• Pre-games meme
• Post-games meme
• Meme
• A hopefully-somewhat-original meme
• An Old_Hiker meme

July 16, 2023 – Barbershop Day

• Brush: Heritage Erskine w/ Gel Boar
• Razor: RazoRock Lupo SS .72
• Blade: Wizamet (11)
• Lather: RazoRock – Blue Barbershop
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Feur de France
• Fragrance: Nishane – B-612

Challenge: Fresh memes.

My memory of Blue Barbershop is that of a baby powder like fragrance. Lathering it today I get distinct notes of oakmoss, light lavender and a hint of something woody. It is very powdery. I like the way it smells, even though I got a bit of frag burn. It reminds me of the powder the barber brushes on the back of my neck after a haircut. While I never thought of that as a fragrance before I started wet shaving, it is the smell I associate with getting a haircut. I bought this soap when I first started wetshaving. As I recall, the description promised a traditional triple milled soap that’s produced by long time Italian soap makers. It sounded promising, but now I know better. The performance is very underwhelming. It takes a lot of soap to get a lather going.

Seaforth! Fleur de France is a French barbershop fragrance. It’s my second favorite Seaforth! fragrance after SSL. The lemony rosemary is invigorating. At the heart lies oakmoss and geranium with a touch of soft musk which adds an air of mystery. It’s a great example of a handful of sent notes amounting to more than the sum of their parts.

Peruse the fragrantica page for B-612 and you’ll see multiple reviewers refer to the fragrance as a barbershop. Right off the bat there’s a lot of notes coming at me. Lavender, geranium, dry wood, and oakmoss. It’s somewhat sweet, with lots of lavender. The other notes create a slightly smoky, woody backdrop.

It’s about an hour later. I’m smelling lots of lavender, fresh laundry, patchouli, and oakmoss. I like this one a lot. It’s the type of thing I’d wear if I was getting dressed up.

#FOF

edit: added a meme for /u/djundjila

July 16, 2023 – BarrBarrShop

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Declaration Grooming B16
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Noble Otter – Barrbarr
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Barrbarr

Finally, a good shave.

A few hours ago my wife turned to me and said, “you gotta do something about that smell in the bathroom.” It’s been nearly 24 hours and the B&M War stank is still freaking there. I was foolish and thought it was semi-pleasant and would be fine. But it just literally never ends.

Thank goodness for BarrBarr, though – the GOATed Barbershop scent. My wife is much happier with how this smells.

BarrBarr is a fixture in my den and won’t be going anywhere – as such, I ditched GUTL tonight and went for a tub lather. You know, it’s not bad. In some ways it was easier. I’m not abandoning the Georgetown by any means, but, maybe for those soaps I know I’ll never sell I might add a little tub lathering here and there. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

I’ll give this shave a solid 10/10. Smooth, clean, the declaration was in perfect from today. Great load and lather, the works.

FOF Haiku of the Day

Lemon Zesty Dream
Clean Citrus Powder Heaven
Nothing touches this

• Brush: Naked Armor Mahogany Wood Shaving Brush

• Razor: Gillette Travel Tech

• Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum

• Lather: Lancaster Razor Works - Barber Shop

• Post Shave: Lancaster Razor Works - Barber Shop

• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Agua Fresca

Today's Theme Shave and a Haircut - Two Bits: Lancaster Barber Shop is a nice clean barbershop scent, but barbershop scents aren't really my thing. Good shave though.

Today's Challenge: So I heard you like memes

My theme for today's shave: So Fresh and So Clean

Getting back from the stag party today, writeups will be back to their usual cadence tomorrow. #photocontest #FOF #ROTY