*July 18, 2023 – Spooky Season

• Brush: r/wetshaving Zentih MOAR BOAR 31mm
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Gravefruit II
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Sonder

Southern Witchcraft has some of the more deeply complex scents on the market and I’ve struggled to find something of theirs I really love. Gravefruit 2 is probably my top choice, but I’m not sure I could handle the richness of the scent for a whole day. Solid shave this morning – smooth and clean. Not a ton of stubble for the daily challenge because my shave yesterday was in the afternoon and my beard still grows about as slow as possible, but, hey – it’s something.

The worst thing about a slow growing beard is that it’s fast enough for there to be annoying itchy stubble every day or two, but it’s so slow that to attempt to grow it out would result in disaster.

Anyway – paired Gravefruit (“a highly-nuanced scent profile that is perfect for crisp Autumn weather”) with Sonder in a juxtaposition of citrus scents. They’re dancing nicely together on my face. Maybe that’s my struggle with SW scents – I prefer brighter notes to the darkness that is SW. They are well executed, I like Phteven and Courtney and all their work (Dogwood++), my nose is just sus. Grapefruit and Sandalwood explicitly link these two scents and I like it!

Anyway – driving the family to Michigan today. 7+ hours with 3 kids in tow should be… an adventure?

FOF Haiku of the day

Dark meets bright this fall
Sonder and Gravefruit pair up
Grapefruit, Sandalwood

LG23-18: Spooky Season

• Brush: Sawdust Creation Studios 26mm High Mountain White
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24
• Blade: GEM (30)
• Lather: Oz Shaving - Woodchopper - Shaving Soap
• Post Shave: Talent Soap Factory - Wolf Mother
• Fragrance: DSH - Bois Fumée
• Passes: WTG, XTG
• Coffee: West Java. Cijapati, Garut - v: Typica. Tim Tim. Catimor - p: Triple picked. Washed.
• Music: The North American Hallowe'en Prevention Initiative - Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?
• LG Tags: #FOF

While it's gross, uncouth, and a stain on the quiet dignity that governs every aspect of the Lather Games, here's a photo of my stubble unceremoniously discarded in my sink. Behold the lonely whiskers, shorn from their home and left to wonder what left them in this fitful state. Was it something they said? Were they not perky enough? What if they had been bigger? They cry, "We can be better!", but the damage is done. Their fate was sealed minutes ago. Now they sit, with nothing but their thoughts, dreaming of the handsome face they lost to time's relentless blade. Nature is cruel and I am crueler.

However, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's talk about the shave.

When I first read today's theme details, "woody spicy accords" immediately made me think of Oz Shaving's Woodchopper. The brand’s first scent, meant to "evoke a night stroll through the trees," is pure dry woods and spice, unsullied by any hint of sweetness. Rare is the outdoorsy scent without the greenery, wood sap, balsam, moisture, loam, and dirt of the forest, or a squeeze of citrus to lighten things up and suggest patterned sky through rustling leaves. The shaving soap label even reduces Woodchopper’s scent description down to sandalwood, cedar, and pine. The lightly-smoked cardamom note is what stands out to me; it’s got more character than the layered woods and makes that accord more than pencil shavings. It also makes Woodcutter feel autumnal. And while a strong blend of sandalwood and cardamom is common in attars, I’m still getting used to its creamy-camphoraceous aroma.

Woodchopper’s setting and “hint of campfire” prompted me to build the rest of my shave around those flickering flames in the woods at night. For my aftershave, I selected Wolf Mother, a “grownup” campfire scent featuring a boozy fruit accord and warm amber-patchouli base. Smoky fruit wine and a sweet marshmallow accord are upfront, and I barely notice the listed wood notes, making Wolf Mother an ideal combination with Woodchopper. The soap has plenty of woodiness to go around. Rounding out the clean-burning bonfire at the center of this scene are a few rolls of my Bois Fumée vial. This nostalgic third addition to DSH’s Bois series is a hyperrealistic woodsmoke scent painted by smoldering birch tar and cedar. Cozy myrrh and frankincense mix with the barest suggestion of caramel to make the campfire feel right there in front of you, warmth on your face, smoke floating off into the night. Because Bois Fumée smells more like the real thing than a perfume, I need to try it layered, adding the rasp of primal fire and smoke to cleaner bosky perfumes. Combined with Woodchopper and Wolf Mother, it renders the warm, glowing campfire via 8K Holodeck.

July 18, 2023 – LG Day 18 – FALLing Slowly into Madness

• Brush: Stirling Synthetic Li’l Brudder
• Razor: Gillette Gold Ball-End Tech
• Blade: Gillette Rubie (2)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Pomona
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps – Teacher’s Pet
• Fragrance: Ineke Perfumes – Jaipur Chai

Ah, fall. The best time of year, shorter every year as our planet inches closer to becoming uninhabitable.

Pomona is simply one of the best fall scents out there. Honeyed apple wine? Sign me up. Honey scents and honey flavored things are tough for me, because they often taste too sweet and don’t quite capture the unique characteristics of a good wildflower honey. Pomona manages to do what others don’t – smell like a really good, local, complex honey. I bolstered the apple with Teacher’s Pet, which smells to me like the bowl of apple peels that comes from making an apple pie, and is incredibly nostalgic. Truly a delight. Finally, a spritz of Jaipur Chai to represent the hot chai my partner so often drinks in the fall (plus, chai spices are really good in apple desserts – throw some cardamom into your apple pie next time if you haven’t tried this before). #FOF

Hard to truly celebrate Atlas Shaves with only one day of growth. I figured a glass would show off what the challenge asked of us and be easier than trying to wipe off my razor on a towel. And behold, it worked! It looks gnarly, but it smells so good…in fact, it smells tasty……

yes, hugbckt, let the intrusive thoughts win…[warning: NSFW]

2023-07-18 Halfway Happy

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps - Custom
• Razor: Rockwell - 6S
• Lather: London Razors - Coffee & Contemplation
• Post Shave: Henri et Victoria - Cognac & Cuban Cigars
• Fragrance: For Strange Women - Decadence & Debauchery
• Blade: Astra - Platinum (2)

Relevant Post-shave and Fragrance: Ampersands & Alliteration!

Spooky Season: In case it's not immediately evident how Coffee & Contemplation (C&C) fits the theme, the below is from the original description; it was explicitly marketed for Fall:

Being a little on the heavy side, we think this scent is going to be perfect for the upcoming cooler, Fall months.

#FOF On paper, it makes sense: Russian leather (which is also relevant to the show), cedar, and amber come together with the coffee headliner for a darker scent, with a sweet side introduced by cocoa, vanilla, and coconut...

C&C smells like Tootsie Rolls.

It took me a little while to figure it out; I had decided that it smells like a kid's bag of candy, and thus appropriate that it's indirectly Halloween-themed. More specifically, though: Tootsie Rolls.

Cognac & Cuban Cigars comes in strong with the former part of its name, or at the very least that's brought to the forefront when layered on top of Tootsie Rolls.

Will the fragrance provide any respite? Yes. Despite the brand, Decadence & Debauchery is marketed as a unisex scent. I was pleasantly surprised by it, but tobacco in a scent's list always gets my attention. Immortelle and violet provide a floral prominence, which is deeply darkened by tobacco, myrrh, and amber. It doesn't quite tip it toward masculine as much as I'd prefer, though. I do detect the blood orange and bergamot, and I don't find it off-putting—rare for me, because I loathe orangey notes.

Challenge Accepted: This challenge is disgusting.
This is something people do for Atlas Shaves? That's the thing where you go for increasingly long periods without shaving, yeah? Yeah, no thank you. I had a daily-shave streak for a really long time. Then, a week in the hospital reminded me that one of the biggest reasons that I got started with DEs—trichotillomania—is still very much a thing with me. I don't know if we have any other trichsters in here. If you're unfamiliar, though, see that big ol' bare area on my jaw and cheek? I pulled that all out of my face without even realizing I was doing it. But I digress.

#photocontest
Photo: The Law
Yes, it is a picture of a lawman (Hopper, if you're familiar with the show). But I thought to myself, "What real, physical thing represents the law, so that I can do better than just an image for the photo theme?"
Handcuffs! 100% bona fide handcuffs... of a sort. And it happens to tie in perfectly with Decadence & Debauchery.

Before you get too carried away with your imagination thinking about that, let me draw your attention to the miniature recreation of Steve's bat from the show. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, after giving it a non-boring color and pattern, risking an unfortunate encounter between my kitchen counter and a drill, and the finished product, cat for scale.

July 18, 2023 – Fall into Lather Games

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Parker (1)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Boonana
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Gatlinburg
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Confluence

Autumn day. Before I picked this I checked the description. While all the SW scents seem autumn llke, wanted to be sure. Description says “This no ordinary banana scent – it is a complex and rich blend of dark and spicy accords that are perfect for autumn.” Works for me. Blame u/j33pguy13 for me liking this scent, it was a smush he sent. I bought a whole tub.

My #fof is a bit interesting here. Went with Gatlinburg, another autumn scent. Ended with confluence, which, while fresher than the others still has a cedar undertone that ties everything together nicely I think. Shawn is right about the importance of confluence in stl and I’m bringing it to lather games by mixing up my vendors, mixing my vacation with lather games, and apparently meeting fellow sub members on the road. Shout out of u/admirable-nobody-946, who graciously hosted my family for a few beers last night. A confluence of reddit and vacation was not in my original plans when I started this month but it was a lot of fun. We both discussed how nice everyone here is, so if you get a chance to meet up sometime with others do it!

On to #photocontest, say hello to my dead azalea in the plant category. Dead stuff fits SW so we’ll I couldn’t pass on the visual here. It only just died I’ll replace it in… Autumn! Just confluence of life and lather games everywhere here.

For the challenge, the judges have some wierd kinks but… Uhh here’s the Pic. I’m in a hotel so I had to sneak this shot in the shared bathroom before my wife jumped in the shower and I had to explain myself. https://i.imgur.com/7VtETSK.jpeg

OK #ROTY let’s… Uhh I’m out of confluence jokes. Let’s mix it up.

July 18, 2023, Death or Glory

• Brush: Böker – Synthetic
• Razor: Böker – Elite Carbon 2.0
• Lather: Dr. Jon’s – Death or Glory
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts – Samhain
• Fragrance: Trussardi - Uomo

Halloween is a hit or miss day in Germany. Although clubs often offer free entry if you come in a costume, you can still be one of 6 dressed up people and look like a fool.
Cool thing is, that the day after Halloween is a public holiday, so there are lots of parties.

Death or glory is unobtainium since a few weeks. I got a smush by u/worbx. Informations about the soap are scarce, now that it is discontinued. What I found out is that it was a Halloween release in 2020 and “Death or Glory (Dracula)” or that it is vampire approved. To sum it up, I guess I am on theme.
The soap was easy to lather. The roses in the soap are a bit sweet to me. I am very proud that I got the “blood” note in the soap. Blood scent is very close to the scent of iron. Now I am thinking about the scene in Planet Terror, when that one guy is looking for the missing ingredient for the perfect barbecue sauce, only to find out after a huge carnage, that the salt in blood is the missing piece to glory.

I liked todays challenge for scientific reasons and was thrown back to my first straight razor shaves. Back then i prepared myself with some videos and remember that one advice is to not clean the razor in the sink, as you might hurt the edge when you swing the razor. Thats why it was recommended to wipe off the lather in a kitchen tissue. Scientifically, I am curious how effective each pass is. Now I got the answer:
WTG
XTG
ATG
Pass by pass, the hair that is shaven off gets shorter. An exception was a spot at the chin in the ATG pass. You can see the hair in the front of my lather mess, but these hair pieces are “dry”.

Summing it up, I am back in the straight razor game. The elite Carbon 2.0 looks a bit like a scythe, which is my best fit to celebrate the dark season on a sunny day.

Back on theme with the Samhain aftershave, which celebrates a Gaelic festival at the end of harvest season. Almost gourmand like notes of bourbon, tobacco and vanilla touch my skin. All notes together remind me of christmas cake or cookies.

#FOF

Linking all my software together, I wanted to celebrate Halloween, celebrate Samhain and finish it off with a “dark”scent. Trussardi Uomo is said to be of that kind.
Uomo is labeled as a woody fougere. Woody notes are on theme today too. Unfortunately, this fragrance makes me feel old. It is dark, it is woody and I get the direction of a fougere. Fougeres are not like a hit or miss for me, but something I have to be in the mood for. Today I was not in the mood and the fragrance is not a good match for me.

July 18, 2023

• Brush: Stirling Soap Company – 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Rockwell 6s
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain
• Post Shave: 345 – Bana-O-Rama Splash
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Boonana EDP
• Music: Hocus Pocus – I Put A Spell On You

It’s Spooky Season and in honor of that, I have history lesson that will eventually make sense for my shave today: The Salem Witch Trials were a series of false accusations and mass hysteria that occurred in 1692-1693 in Salem, Massachusetts. Accusations of witchcraft ran rampant across the town, and in total over 200 people were accused of witchcraft, 30 people were found guilty and 20 were executed, and another 5 died in prison. Of the 20 people executed, 19 were hanged and 1 man was pressed to death.

The man who was pressed to death was a dude named Giles Corey – an 81-year-old farmer who was accused of witchcraft, and refused to plead guilty or innocent. You see, at the time, if he entered a plea, he would stand trial and his estate would be forfeited to the government when he was found guilty. He knew he’d be found guilty, because, well, everyone was found guilty of witchcraft in those days. If he didn’t plea, there couldn’t be trial, and his estate would be passed down to his family. In order to FORCE him to enter a plea, the Sheriff (along with the people of Salem) stripped Giles naked, laid him down, put boards on top of him, and put heavy rocks and boulders on the boards. They were going to keep putting more rocks on top of him until he pled, so he could stand trial. Giles was a G and was steadfast in his refusal to plea. When the sheriff asked him to enter to plea, Giles only responded with: “More weight” - Like I said, Giles was a fucking G - and the sheriff complied and continued adding more weight. After 3 days of torture, he died under the weight of all the rocks and boulders.

According to local legends, the ghost of Giles Corey appears and walks in his graveyard when a disaster is about to strike the City of Salem. There were reports that his ghost was seen at the Howard Street Graveyard, where he was pressed to death, the night before a great fire in 1914. It was also said that he put a curse on the Sheriff the pressed Giles (who died of a heart attack at 30), as well as every Sheriff to take that position thereafter for the next 300 years. Every single sheriff, since the one that pressed him, had either died in office with heart problems or retired due to a blood disorder. This happened until they moved the Sheriff’s office OUT of Salem in 1991. Spooky shit.

So, Priusaurus: This is interesting, but what the hell does this have to do with your shave today? Well, today, I took a trip up to Salem today to shave with Giles Fucking Corey for Spooky Day.

First, I went to downtown Salem and said hello to their statue to Samantha from Bewitched and snapped my SOTD #photocontest for Urban/Architecture. Downtown in a densely populated city counts as Urban, right?

I then went to Giles Corey Memorial down the road a bit. It’s settled nicely on a small lake where a couple people were fishing. There’s a marker for our boy Giles and his wife, Martha (who was executed 3 days after he died), as well as a display for them. I plopped down right in front of Giles marker, took out my stuff, got a good face lather going and got to shaving. It was hot and humid, but quiet and peaceful. For my 2nd public shave of the Games, this one went a lot better. Loaded up right from the tub and had a relatively quick, two pass shave using one of my favorite soaps. I do miss not using a mirror with a public shave, but I like to travel light. No one kicked me out, but a couple dudes with fishing poles walked by and side-eyed me. Like two dudes fishing on a Tuesday afternoon have any business judging a guy shaving in front of a dead witch’s memorial.

Samhain is a perfect fall scent as far as I’m concerned. I have the trickhole, but since I’m #ridingwithitchy and not matching any scents all game, I got creative and used 345’s Bana-O-Rama Splash. To me, the Samhain smells like a baked good, kinda like a banana bread without the banana. Sooooo… I added the Banana with the splash! Boom! Tasty. Now with all that Banana, I had to finish everything off with Boonana by SW to complete this awesome #FOF. But not here. I went to the scene of the crime. Where Giles was pressed to death and said to be still haunting. I went to the Howard Street Graveyard in Salem, and sprayed my Boonana on there, and paid my respects to ensure no ghosts followed me home. Boonana is so, so, so much better and more complex than Bana-O-Rama. Bana-O-Rama is a fun, almost meme scent, wheresas Boonana is dark and sophisticated, while still having the sweetness of a banana that is just past it’s ripeness. Man, Boonana is so, so good.

For the challenge… Ummmm… WTF? Not sure which Djudge wanted this one, or which personal collection this is going in, but here you go. I didn’t use a sink today, thanks to the Spooky Giles Corey shave, but I dumped my whiskers on some paper towel for you weirdos.

Sadly, no interview to post today, which is why you got a history lesson and spoooooooky Giles Corey tribute shave today.

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

• Razor: Muhle Rocca R94

• Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum

• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Hallows

• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Hallows balm

• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - Yesterday Haze

Today's Theme: Spooky Season - Hallows is straight up a spooky scent, and Yesterday Haze features fig which actually ripens from June all the way through October (and even into November for some varieties)

Today's Challenge: Atlas Shave Day (aka why do the djudges put themselves through this day day) - I'm not proud of this but here you go

My theme for today's shave: Dank Trees

Hallows is very much a dank, October forest type of scent, and with IA's Yesterday Haze I wanted to top that scent off with a very nice green tree scent. It was actually a delightful combination that took my mind off the recent heat. Up until I realized we were doing a community service thing at work which meant I had used a fall scent and thick balm on a day I'm going to be outside and sweating. To be quite honest, it wasn't the worst. Shaving with BaM soap is always easy on the skin, and the balm was great too. And I was mainly picking weeds and raking leaves, so I basically went from smelling like musty woods, to smelling musty woods.

Halloween is actually a holiday I have kind of a mixed affection for. I don't like horror movies much, big costume parties really aren't my jam, and it always seems to be kind of an ordeal that doesn't work out very well for me. This past year was the first time I lived in a house on my own, so it'd be the first time I was the one handing out candy to kids. Well I stocked up on full size candy bars and got a cool storm trooper costume ready to go. Fewer than 10 kids stopped by, and apparently everyone walked a route around the edge of the neighborhood instead of through the middle where I live. sadtrombone.mp4

For music, I picked Helloween's Time of the Oath. Great power metal album that's just a lot of silly fun. Definitely worth checking out. Though Keeper of the Seven Keys pt. 2 really is their magnum opus. #photocontest #FOF #ROTY

[Day 18 - Spooky Shave] (https://imgur.com/a/EbL2iHt)

• Brush: Maggard - Black and White Synthetic Knot Homemade handle
• Razor: Baili - BR179
• Blade: Astra - Green
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Hallows
• Post Shave: Pinnacle Grooming - Who U Gonna Call
• Fragrance: Alexandria fragrances - Royal Equestrian

I have been running late all day. Here is a late post.

ROTY #FOF

July 18, 2023 - Spooky Season

• Brush: AP Shave Co - Ivory Purple 26mm G5A SHD Premium Synth
• Razor: GEM Junior
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Valedictorian Splash
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps - Valedictorian EdP

FOF

Today’s Challenge and shave:

Look if you want to here. My beard is a lot of white hair, but some darker blond bits are holding out. Still wasn’t sure how visible it would be, so I evened up the sideburns to get some darker, longer hairs to show. I over hydrated the lather and tried adding more, but the sample is running low. I got it to an ok lather, but on the drippy side. Still, the performance was pretty good. Pretty decent shave today.

Today’s theme:

Reading through the previous posts today, Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain is an obvious choice. The Druidic (I think, maybe just Celtic?) holiday of Samhain got restyled into All Hallows Eve (Halloween) with the spread of Christianity. Christians were really good at co-opting other culture’s holidays like Saturnalia. So the name alone would make it a fall theme, and definitely spooky season. Also pumpkin is in it, and that is a fall fruit.

Today’s fragrance:

It is getting harder to match up new fragrances for me. Some that may fit, I used already, or may be a better fit later this month. Looking at the scent description of pumpkin, sandalwood, bourbon, and tobacco, I knew I’d have the best chance by working up the tobacco. Smelling the soap, I get an earthy sweetness, with dark undertones. I think I am mostly getting the pumpkin and tobacco. For the last decade, pumpkin spice has really blown up. So I thought, can I incorporate some of those scents. I settled on SBS Valedictorian. It has a lot that works well with Samhain. Vanilla, Ginger, Tobacco, and Smoke are some that bring out the scents in the soap. Ginger and vanilla are usually in pumpkin pie. The tobacco is what really tied it together for me.

Southern Witchcrafts has some creative scents that play up with the Witchcrafts in the name. Samhain and Pomona are the two I’ve liked the most out of those I have tried. The others had to much of a darker earthiness that didn’t gel with me. The soap base though is excellent even when I start with 3x more water than I should have.

Today’s Haiku:

Pumpkin Spice Season,

Is back early in my house,

But not in my mug.

July 18, 2023 – LG 18: Spooky Season

• Brush: Mojo Maggard 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: Karve CB SB B #CNC
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux (4)
• Lather: Storybook Soapworks – Carnivale
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Lyssa
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Samhain

Today, I went on a super lengthy hike, all the way to my side yard. I grabbed one of the shovels, a spade to be precise, dug a ditch, so I could do my SOTD for #PHOTOCONTEST. What's spookier than being buried alive... Then, I left the mojo buried under ground, where it belongs (kidding… I still needed to shave and I use it to dust my mountain of LEGO, it normally does not get shave privileges).

All software is fall themed today. Storybook/APR Carnivale is a perfect fall scent. To use their words, “Carnivale. Elegant Fall Molecules.”. Also described as “Carnivale is the story of festivals and celebrations that occur during the cool months of autumn.” I mostly get stone fruit, touch of spice, woods. It opens with dried apricot and plum and a hint of citrus, quickly enveloped by muscatel grapes – though not juicy per se. It’s supported by soft woods and mellow spices, non of which I’d pick out individually. There’s a slight dankness to it, the faintest whiff of jazz cabbage, and I’d know I’m something of a chronnoisseur myself.. Lyssa was dubbed zombie repellent, and is another clear fall scent (Oct 2019 release). It’s quite spicy, with sage and nutmeg leading the charge. There is a floral sweetness though, composed of rose, violets, and geranium. All resting upon a mossy, oud wood, and patchouli base. Lastly, Samhain (holiday on Nov 1st), the quintessential SW fall scent. Instead of making pumpkin spice a basic bitch, it’s wrapped warmly in a boozy bourbon. Sweet vanilla and tobacco, with just a touch of musk underneath it all on the dry down. #FOF

Here’s my Atlas Challenge, who I can say I proudly accomplished 2 or 3 years ago. Here’s a short normal vid of the shave. Getting them quicker, but remember playback speed is your friend.

soap brands 18/30, post shave 18/30, frag 18/30, post/frag linked 18/30, software sponsors 9/13, hardware sponsors 2/2, razor hashtags 9/15, brush hashtags 8/15, photo contest 18/30, daily challenges 16/25, special challenges 2/5

July 18, 2023 – Spooky Season

• Brush: APShaveCo w/ 24mm Cashmere Fan
• Razor: Razorock Hawk v2
• Blade: Feather ProGuard (AC) (11)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Boonana
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts – Boonana
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Boonana

Challenge: Here you go, sickos.

This soap is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.
It also smells like bourbon. B-O-U-R-B-O-N.

Southern Witchcrafts use both the words “spooky” and “autumn” in their description of the soap.. This is a fun fragrance. As soon as I started loading my brush I smelled banana candy. It’s a boozy fragrance with a strong bourbon note. The rest of the soap fragrance is a mix of pumpkin, floral vanilla, and a hint of something earthy. The sweetness and banana give it a plasticy runt candy vibe. If you’re the type of person that needs to drink to get through a night of trick-or-treaters knocking on your door, or if you just have a nose and think this sounds interesting, this is for you.

The aftershave projects the fragrance quite a bit. The fragrance in the splash comes off a bit spicy with the tobacco note coming through a bit. The sweetness has a caramel syrup quality to it. The banana is closer to banana ice cream (chunky monkey, anyone?) than candy. The fragrance is strong enough that I’d want to be careful what cologne I paired it with.

The edp has a lot of the tobacco note present. I get a lot of pumpkin, and a bit of banana. The bourbon note comes through underneath the tobacco. There’s a note of something earthy / dirty. This is the most wearable expression, although I do enjoy the big banana note in the soap while shaving.

#FOF

DAY 18 LATHER GAMES! BOO!

• Prep: Water
• Brush: DS Cosmetics 30mm Tuxedo Knot
• Razor: Blackland Vector
• Blade: Chinese(7)
• Lather: Gentleman's Nod - Cosecha Catalana
• Post Shave: Gentleman's Nod - Cosecha Catalana splash
• Fragrance: Antonio Puig - Agua Brava

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PIC OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

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Damn calendar, ruining my plans. Today would have been such a great fit for Tres Matres which is based on the horror movie "Suspiria" which did have a remake in 2018. But points I guess.....

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SOAP

Anyways, I went with a different route which is Cosecha Catalana by Gentleman's Nod. This is a scent that when it got to our group in Bulgaria, everyone went nuts over it, except me(cause I'm a pretentious cunt), but it did spark the mania for getting soaps by Gentleman's Nod in their C4 base. I gotta admit that their scent, Juniper Reverie, especially in the EdP is one of the finest things I've smelled!!! Simply amazing! This one though, while I recognize it is a good scent, it doesn't really tickle my nose the way I liked it to be tickled!

DAILY THEME

Yes I am on theme today with a fall scent, but it would have been more awesome to have incorporated something that was actually spooky... So I will leave you with a boring story.

Some might have experienced sleep paralysis at some point in their life. I forget when it was actually the first time it happened to me, around 5-6 years ago. I had heard about it but never cared that much to read about it. And then it happened.... It was so surreal, sends shivers down my spine. At one moment I was falling asleep and a second later I could not breathe as though someone had grabbed my throat and was choking me. Furthermore all my senses were tingling, my hair was standing up like lightning was about to strike near me. I was in my room but everything was different, and then I saw it, a shadow figure in the corner of the room, before I could fixate my gaze it was in front of my face. Words escape me to this day to explain what hellish creature was in front of me. That was the braking point of my mind where I started actually screaming and woke up and stood up, drenched in sweat. The whole experience lasted a minute or less, but for me it felt like ages. That night I learned the true meaning of fear. All previous fears that I have had, like fear from heights paled in comparison. Truly if hell existed, at that moment I thought that being trapped in it was a similar experience. Sleep has never been the same afterwards. Fear truly is the mind killer....

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DAILY CHALLENGE

Don't know about the 2020 LG, but last year there was no such thing, much like the daily challenge for tomorrow. Either the djudges are getting crazier, or I'm getting more normal, but having in mind I snorted OSMA yesterday, I'd say it's the first.

Here you go..... Honestly with such a challenge it really is hard to get inventive into what crazy thing one could do.... I had the idea of drinking the damn glass, but then thought, naaaah too icky, also soap might fuck up my innards. I chose the glass cause I hadn't yet decided whether I would drink it, but when I looked at it, I lost my appetite...

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#FOF

Man reading some of the latest posts I did for the FOF, I ain't placing anywhere.... I even thought about stopping and not putting any more effort until the end, but then I remembered "never half-ass stuff".

So why Agua Brava? Well it's a fragrance that my father really likes and it is a very masculine chypre scent that projects confidence, combined with the warmth of Cosecha Catalana gives you a great experience of what a fall can smell, albeit a more positive and non-gloomy fall.

• Daily Lather Themes: 18/30
• Daily Challenges: 18/30
• Hardware Scavenger Hunt: 14/20
• Hardware Vendor Points: 1/2
• Software Vendor Points: 8/13
• Software Vendor Bonus Point: 0/1
• 30 Different Soap Brands Point: 18/30
• 30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point: 18/30
• 30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point: 18/30
• 30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point: 18/30

July 18, 2023

• Brush: Boti – Stump 28mm Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Executive Fatboy
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co – Wayoh Soap
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co – Wayoh Splash
• Fragrance: Azzaro - The Most Wanted Parfum

Woody Spicy on Woody Spicy on Woody Spicy. That’s the theme of my shave today! I’m not sure I ever much paid attention to the term “Woody Spicy” before, but I realized I have quite a few scents that would be considered woody spicy. If nothing else, I’ve learned a TON about fragrances thanks to these here Lather Games. I’ve also bought a ton of samples to fill out the calendar, and I’ve really liked so many things that my wallet is going to be hurting when this is all said and done.

Chicago Grooming Co’s Wayoh is a dupe of Viktor and Rolf’s Spice Bomb, which is “woody spicy” and Azzaro – The Most Wanted is also woody-spicy, so they go perfectly together! Wayoh has a teensy tiny bit of sweetness in there and The Most Wanted is darker, but they are both extraordinarily similar. #FOF

Since today is in honor of Autumn, Pumpkin Spice, and Halloween, I’m going to present to you: My list of the Top 10 Most Underrated Halloween Candies to get as a trick or treater. Remember coming home from a long night of trick or treating dumping out your bag and finding you got a bag full of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers, or M&Ms? Sure, those candies are all delicious, but getting a fun-sized Snickers bar on Halloween is like getting a Barbershop Scented Shave Soap: BORING!

So here is iamhonestlylying’s Top 10 Most Underrated Halloween Candies:

10) 100 Grand

9) Sour Patch Kids

8) Dots

7) Skittles

6) Rolos

5) Swedish Fish

4) Sugar Babies

3) Reese’s Take 5

2) Mike and Ike’s

1)Reese’s Pieces

Honorable Mention: Those fruit flavored Tootsie Rolls. Specifically the Vanilla Ones, however, my mom wouldn’t ever let us eat anything like that on Halloween because they weren’t hermetically sealed and she was convinced someone would put a razor blade in them. So I'm not including them on a Halloween candy list but they are 🔥🔥🔥🔥

CHALLENGE

Ummmmm. I’m a little weirded out right now.

Tuesday, the 18th of July, 2023

• Brush: Zenith 502BC
• Razor: Gillette travel Tech #JETSETTER
• Blade: Gillette Rubie (29)
• Lather: Murphy & McNeil - Magh Tured
• Post shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Labyrinth
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Fougère Gothique

I, uh, decided to spare the honorable djudges a picture of lather with cut hair in it.

Magh Tured is allegedly an "homage" to Tom Ford Oud Wood. Murphy & McNeil describes it as "spicy and woody," and that was enough for me to pick it today. Although now that I look, Fragrantica describes Oud Wood as an "Amber Woody fragrance." Amber may be categorized as an "animalic," and Oud Wood is not present in their "woody spicy" category.

Well, crap. Am I arguing myself into a DQ today? I hope not. Even different batches of the same fragrance by the same producer can differ, and dupes might vary a little as well. I'll also point out that despite how the fragrance is categorized, the #3 accord in Fragrantica's ranking for Oud Wood is "warm spicy," while "amber" is #8, below even the #7 accord "fresh spicy." The notes for Oud Wood include cardamom, Sichuan pepper, vanilla, and tonka bean, all of which are indeed spice notes. As I perceive the scent from the soap, I'd say I do not find neither amber nor the spices particularly prominent.

Therefore, given their own profile of the fragrance, it sure looks like this could as easily be categorized "woody spicy" as much as "amber woody." One of the characteristics they note for "woody spicy" is "warm, bitter spices," with pepper as an example... cardamom fits this profile, as does Sichuan pepper, even if vanilla and tonka bean do not.

I'm posting this pretty late in the day, so I dunno if anyone will catch this, but please, if you've smelled Magh Tured or Oud Wood, please weigh in. Am I off my rocker here?

I'll also tag this #FOF so there's another post near the bottom of that stack.

In other news, I finally have electricity again! No more visiting the public library to keep things charged, or trying to be judicious with the hotspot data usage.

Oh, and I shouldn't forget the splash or perfume today. While I'm not going to make the argument that Labyrinth could also be a "woody spicy" fragrance, I do think the scent goes quite well with what remains of the soap scent after the shave. And of course Fougère Gothique is expressly an Autumn scent. Overall it's a good setup, and I got a good shave today.