July 20, 2023

• Brush: Grizzly Bay Prince with 26mm V9 Fanchurian
• Razor: Razorock Game Changer .84
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (13)
• Lather: Declaration Grooming – Massacre of the Innocents
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Arkadia
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. – Sharp Dressed Man

Massacre of the Innocents is a dupe of Parfums de Marly's Herod. MotI is a warm, spicy, creamy, and woody fragrance and an easy crowd pleaser. Arkadia is a dupe of Hermes' Terre d'Hermes. Arkadia is woody, spicy, and just a bit citrusy, a very good pairing for MotI. Sharp Dressed Man is a dupe of Creed's Green Irish Tweed. SDM is woody, floral, and green, and doesn't really paire well with the other two scents, but they are all dupes.

I'm not entirely sure why someone decided that today's challenge should basically be "make worse lather", but I did use a nice, pasty lather today. So pasty that I didn't even add soap, just loaded and shaved. And you know what? It honestly wasn't bad. I've certainly had better lathers and shaves, but this soap performed really well with next to no water at all.

​

Two Scents of a Kind to the tune of Two of a Kind by Bobby Darin and Johnny Mercer.

Lyrics:

Two of a kind

One scent formulation

Two scents of a kind

Two of a kind

An olfactory relation

Two scents of a kind

Like peas in a pod

And birds of a feather

Alone or together you'll find

That we are two shaves of a kind

What's so wrong thinkin' life is a shave and reachin' for a razor

And who's to say if we'll shave the whole face - at least we got this far

Sharin' our den, our soaps and our splashes, we two’re a duet

Say, what if we've got rare Bufflehead soaps or Conk and Gillette

Makin' it smooth

Shavin' it fully

We're simila-la-larly inclined

Because we're two shaves of a kind

July 20, 2023

• Prep: Noble Otter - Thé Noir et Vanille - Bath soap
• Brush: Maggard 24mm synth
• Razor: Karve Overlander SS
• Blade: Feather
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co - Shiloh
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Nordost - Balm

Nice, my lather is on theme with today’s Sponsor. Shiloh is a great dupe of a great scent!

For my pasty lather today I decided to try out the lathering method used by the Wet The Face guy on YouTube - my choice of wetuber on Day 15. I like the channel and the guy, but my hypothesis is that the lather is slightly pasty, at least for me.

Method:

1. Apply a generous amount of soap in the bottom of the bowl
2. Soak brush and shake off excess water gently
3. Squeeze out the remaining water in the brush into the bowl.
4. Apply pressure with the brush and stir first slowly and then vigorously and fast for around 2 minutes

(Optional steps - I only followed steps 1 and 3)

1. Say: “Ok, let me wet the face”
2. Complete the shave with only one pass. Plenty of buffing with no lather.
3. After the shave, say: “Wow!!”

The result: plenty of thick lather, too pasty for my liking. No drippage.

Music:
“Dancing With Myself” (Billy Idol cover) - The Cooltrane Quartet, Ituana Spotify / YouTube

edited for spelling mistakes

LGSOTD 20-July

• Brush: Semogue - Galahad #OLDWORLD
• Razor: Blackland - Vector #CNC  
• Blade: Feather Professional   
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Ramblin' Man
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Ramblin' Man AS  
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. - Ramblin' Man EDT

I have a handful of dupe sets but plumped for Stirling. This is my second ever set of Stirling, the first being Executive Man. Ramblin' Man being based on Creed Himalaya, an everyday scent that I just enjoy in itself.  Not massively strong, but inoffensive for the office. What I would really like is a Ombre Leather dupe, alas I have not been able to find one. 

The vector is a no brainer type razor, I find I'm able to get a very close and long lasting finish with minimal effort. One of those I tend to pick up when I'm in a rush, but just felt like it today. 

For the challenge, ok so paste it was, only briefly splashes to wet the brush and loaded heavily, and on it went. Flecks of solid Soap attached to my face and I was half tempted to go for it, nah maybe just a little bit of water. So flecks are less pronounced but more paste like, and off I roll. Half way through, it's actually not that bad, not as slick as it should be but I'm not going on raw at least. I don't think I'll be changing my normal routine in favour of paste, but it wasn't terrible. 

Smelling good and ready for the day, but if anyone knows of an ombre dupe then please shout!

Hope everyone has a grand day. 

Cheers

Marc

ROTY

PhotoContest

Have a great day and enjoy the games.

I am not a fan of lavender, but here it tones down the spicy and sweet scent very well. Infinity is “kind maskuline”. Miro infinity is a contrast to Excursion and I am not able to see that they are dupes of the same fragrance.
We are back on theme and have a dupe of La nuit de L’Homme itself.
Fragrance:

This will be the scent that I ll wear, when I am walking the beaches on sunset in italy in white linen pants.
Musk and patchoulli in that concentration make me look forward to times when I am married and have our first vacation without kids.
O’Selvaggio is a dupe of EAU Sauvage, the calabrian bergamot heavy start from more than 30 years ago. A bit sad, that I was not able to get a dupe of the YSL scent, but I am going with another dupe today.
Aftershave:

Unfortunately, I had bad lather today and could not enjoy the scent to its fullest.
It also has a mild spiciness from cardamom and coumarin.
Excursion is heavyier on the bergamot side, without beeing to citric like Neon Sun would be.
Excursion is “inspired by” Yves St. Laurent La nuit de L’Homme and listed as a dupe on the thristy badger site. But with a lot of focus, I finally had a great shave.
Zero slickness
On the second and third pass , my lather got aerie.
The audio feedback was so laud, I was glad we had after 6 am or the neighbours would have called the cops.
When your lather is crap, you have to focus on your technique. More like dry shaving! Wetshaving? I used very little water and ended up with some substance that was more like the white paste we used i primary school art class.
As the brush has pretty huge loft, I often have trouble to get the lather that I want.
My brush soaked while I brushed my teeth. The brush itself is probably a dupe of a Yaki (purple haze?).
Brush and shave:

But challenge is challenge and 0.22 points are a lot. Let me shave clean once again, please! This morning, I woke up with 3 days of beard growth. Crappy lather again? I was not looking forward to todays challenge.

#FOF

• Fragrance: Miro – Infinity
• Post Shave: Extro Cosmesi – O’Selvaggio
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. (Formerly Oleo Soapworks) – Excursion
• Razor: Custom designed Böker with bog oak scale and french head
• Brush: Maggards – purple handle 2 band badger

Dry shaving games 20, 2023, Memento shave

Dupelgänger's Paste of Weckoning a.k.a. Thirsty Badger Day

• Brush: Zenith B8
• Razor: Weck Sextoblade Med Prep
• Blade: Kismet Rostfrei, Polymer beschichtet (4)
• Lather: Saponificio Varesino – Desert Vetiver
• Post Shave: Saponificio Varesion – Desert Vetiver
• Fragrance: Terre D’Hermès – Eau Intense Vétiver

Huh, this challenge sounded so much worse than it turned out to be. I produced Desert Vetiver past that came off like spackle. It's not easy to convey through a photograph how pasty that blob in the picture is, so let me add that it was annoyingly difficult to rinse off.

I currently live off of this box of software and just the B8 brush and MedWeck because my shave den storage is our guest room and we have guests. I think I would have included a second, safer razor if I had remembered that this challenge was coming, and I was a bit worried about attempting this shitty lather shave with an open blade, but in the end it was really a non-issue, and I had a surprisingly pleasant shave.

I bought Desert Vetiver late last year after my wife gifted me the bottle of Terre D'Hermès Eau Intense Vétiver, and it quickly became a favourite of mine. Next to one another, it's difficult for me to say whether I prefer the original TDH or the SV dupe.

Edit: I completely forgot that I had prepared some content for Dupelgänger Day last year, back before I joined the Lather Games Organising Committee. It was in my "2023-06-Lather_Games" folder, which became obsolete when we moved the games to July. Without further ado, I present u/Vtephen_j, u/phteven_j's Brother from a Viking mother (meant to be a grade A Lather Games Organising Committee member Dupelgänger back then).

My second prepared example turns out to likely be an alter ego, rather than a Dupelgänger. I believe I have uncovered u/merikus's secret second career as a singer of children songs all my voice analyses indicate that this is indeed his voice (compare to this sample to convince yourself).

User insults the deep and dulcet tones of the host of the most amazing podcast ever.

July 20, 2023 – June Shaves

• Brush: Cayuen Abalone w/ 28mm Timberwolf Synthetic
• Razor: Titanium Henson +++, polished ("Techno-Artifact of the Omnissiah")
• Blade: Voskhod (2)
• Lather: A&E – St. Bart's
• Post-Shave: The Club – The Recipe
• Fragrance: Noble Otter – Barrbarr

Dupe day is here, and this is a duplicate of Creed Virgin Island Water. I haven't tried this before but I've found myself fond of the strong leading coconut scent here. It does have aromatic highlights of a wonderful tropical paradise.

#LatherGames #Dupelganger

Bonus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2RNhM0yEFk ← Scientists Found a Scary New Solution to the Fermi Paradox. We Hope They’re Wrong

Jul. 20, 2023
Brush: Simpson Trafalgar 2
Razor: Green Cult GC 2.0 II
Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux
Lather: Saponificio Varesino - Stella Alpina - Soap
Post Shave:* Saponificio Varesino - Felce Aromatica - Aftershave

According to thirsty badger this is a dupe of… “Acqua Di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Mirto Di Panarea” can’t confirm or deny this and SO hates this soap so very unlikely to get the fragrance.

I’m a middle to wetter lather kind of guy, so went pasty today. Not gonna lie it feels similar just with less glide so not for me but not a big deal.

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

July 20, 2023 – LG2023 Day Twenty – Dupe Day

• Brush: Brad Sears – 28mm 2 Band Estate
• Razor: Neo Ras – Slant
• Blade: Polsilver (7)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. (Formerly Oleo Soapworks) – Dapper Man
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. (Formerly Oleo Soapworks) – Dapper Man
• Fragrance: Pocket Scents – Bondi Man

Dapper Man is based on Beach Hut Man by Amouage

I bought this one a few years ago without even looking at the notes thinking it would be some sort of sunscreen styled scent but I couldn’t of been more wrong, this is a Minty, Green, Almost Fougere Style scent. On first sniff you get the mint but for me the Ivy quickly comes through and the scent rests with these two notes being the main scents to my nose. I paired this with Bondi Man from pocket scents which is also a dupe of BHM, I do have a decant of the OG Amouage and to be fair to my poor nose this is very very close and even lasts longer I feel.

Daily Challenge:

Honestly I thought yesterday was a rough challenge but today encouraging us to create a piss poor pasty lather is a new low but here you go just look how dry that tub is and how thin and dry that lather is on my poor head. I had to reload for each pass and it was poor, so yes I confirmed as you wanted that I normally do things the correct way.

Lather Games Day 20- We've Been Duped

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving MOAR BOAR (31 mm x 57 mm )
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24
• Blade: Gem PTFE (1)
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps - Prom King Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge Splash

There's nothing like a fresh blade in the MM24. It's the shaving equivalent of opening a new bag of Doritos and inhaling the nacho cheesy goodness (and don't come at me with your "Cool Ranch are way better, bro" stylings). But why the MM24 on Dupelganger day? Well, as I was arranging and rearranging and rearranging the rearrangements of the calendar, I ultimately settled on SBS Prom King, which, according to the label, was an r/wetshaving release based off of JPG Le Male (DUPE!!). If I'm going to use one r/wetshaving exclusive, might as well use some others, like the sub exclusive MOAR F'N BOAR. And if we are going to use MOAR F'N BOAR, I might as well use the razor mascot of r/wetshaving, the MM24. Unfortunately, I didn't have a sub exclusive splash but settled on a scent that is sanctioned and praised around these parts in Hygge. As you can see from my SOTD photo, my dog Opie is suuuuuuuper impressed with my shaving choices this morning.

Onto the Daily Challenge of fucking up my lather. I soaked MOAR BOAR during my shower. Unlike most days, when I removed it from the mug, instead of flicking it twice, I flicked it 5 times to remove the excess water and set to lathering and then slathering it on my face. Without adding more water to the brush as I lathered, like usual, I left my lather like this. Now, our esteemed Shaving Overlords may look at those pictures and think, "That's a pretty good lather there u/loudmusicboy", but au contraire mon freres, I'm a guy that likes a much wetter lather when using this brush. I like a lather that easily slides off the razor over the sink. As you can see here, that lather ain't moving off the razor without a deluge of water and so went the first pass. I didn't wash my face between passes and continued with a stickier lather than usual. But, all things considered, it was still a fantastic shave, even though I got more feedback than usual slapping on splash after using the MM24.

Alright, Shaving Overlords, I've made my sacrifices to you this morning, now let me go off and tackle my day.

photocontest pets

How could I not include my old man Opeth in one of these photos.

Jul. 20, 2023
Brush: AP ShaveCo Synbad
Razor: Razorock Game Changer .68
Blade: Wizamet SI
Lather: Ariana & Evans - L’Orange Verte - Soap
Post Shave:* Ariana & Evans - Kaizen - Aftershave

This is a dupe but I don’t remember what of off the top of my head.

I usually hydrate my lather until the peaks cannot hold their form and immediately collapse and fall over on themselves, but not enough water so that peaks can’t form at all. It’s a nice, slick, cushiony balance that works for me.

Today, I had to bring my lather to the point where the peaks maintain their form and create mountainous peaks of lather on my face. This I consider to be pasty and not hydrated enough for my preference. Shave was still perfectly acceptable.

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

Thu Jul 20 2023

• Prep: A hot shower
• Razor: Merkur - 34C HD
• Blade: Feather New Hi-Stainless
• Brush: Perfecto Badger
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps - Prom King Soap
• Post Shave: Pinaud - Clubman AS Lotion

Last out of town shave for a while. Heading home today.

Nothing fancy on the lather.

https://imgur.com/a/6U974Gx

• Lather: Zingari Man - The Explorer
• Brush: Erskine Synthetic #ANCIENT
• Razor: Rockwell 6C (R4)
• Blade: Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge Yellow
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - AS Balm (Unscented)

Zingari Man's The Explorer is a dupe of Bvlgari Man Wood Essence. It's a nice combination of wood and citrus smells. It was my first time using this soap and it's nice. The only post Shave I've got that wouldn't overshadow it is the Zingari Unscented balm, so it was an unintentional brand pairing today.

The lather procedure on the other hand...

Well, I like nice thick lather...bordering on pasty. So I decided to make this soupy shit you can see on the second picture. I figured since you converted me to face lathering, maybe I could learn something....and I did. Soupy lather sucks. Don't do it. Or maybe I did it wrong. I dunno. But I won't be emulating this (by choice) at any point in the future.

Have a great day folks!

Today I shaved with Stirling Executive Man. I used my Proraso boar brush and a Maggard MR7/standard V3 razor. I followed up with Razorock The Dead Sea aftershave and a couple shots of Stirling Island Man edt. Do people use a pasty lather every day? Why are you doing this?

July 20, 2023

• Brush: Stirling 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Muhle R89
• Blade: Elios Inoxidable (3)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Arkadia - Soap
• Post Shave: allMan - Fearless - Aftershave

Arkadia is a dupe of Terre de Hermes, and I love it.

I went dry today. Pasty. Thick. Tacky. And it still worked to an extent. I'm supposed to prove to myself that my normal lather is "right", and for me it is 💯%. Even though I was able to shave with suck-ass dry lather, there wasn't much residual slickness, and my whiskers felt tougher. That's probably the biggest benefit of a good, relatively wet lather. It softens.

Today's lather was also more difficult to towel off, as this is my 3rd day in a row not rinsing after the final pass. Skin still feels great, but it took a little more effort to get the fluff out of my ear-holes.

Also, since I'm using a sample, I rubbed the soap on my face. Not adding enough water meant some unlathered soap got in my razor and was hard to rinse out. https://imgur.com/a/sJLE5s2

July 20, 2023 – Dupe Day

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Maggard Razors MR7/V3
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (6)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Executive Man
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Executive Man

For Dupe Day, I went with one of my OG shaves. Stirling’s Executive Man was highly recommended back in the days when I was hanging around in Wicked Edge. I mentioned the other day that Hallows doesn’t seem as harsh to my nose as it once did and I found the same thing today with EM. Not that it was ever unpleasant, I just found it really strong. But maybe my sense of small never recovered from my half dozen bouts of COVID or maybe I have just gotten more accustomed to a variety of scents and it doesn’t seem as potent. But this was a really nice shave today.

For the Daily Challenge, I did change up my lather a bit. I am usually a sopping wet brush kind of guy and my lather tends to be really wet. Today I went with a damp brush with most of the water squeezed out. And only added drops of water once to my lather. Now we all know that Stirling requires at least 60 drops of water to get an acceptable lather. So mine today was pretty think and a little pasty. Still a good shave and much faster than my normal method. I still prefer the wetter lather but this was okay.

July 20, 2023

• Brush: Farvour Handcrafts with Oumo Lotus Ace 26mm Badger
• Razor: Rockwell 6s
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Stubble Buster – Evocative
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Lavanille
• Fragrance: Joop! – Homme Joop!
• Music: Greta Van Fleet – Highway Tune

Before I discovered this wonderful world of wetshaving, which is so intertwined with fragrances, my go to was Joop. I’m was a JoopGuy. I didn’t wear it daily, but if I was wearing a fragrance, odds are it was Joop. It’s certainly not pricey, but I loved the sweetness to it – the vanilla mixed with the cinnamon notes was, and still is, just delightful. Given how much I enjoy gourmand scents, it’s no surprise I was drawn to Joop. Then I discovered that Stubble Buster made a shaving soap and splash that is a Joop-Dupe, I was sold and immediately bought a set. At the time, a tub of Stubble Buster was like $6 and the splash was $10. And it so, so, so outperformed that price point. Now Stubble Buster costs significantly more, but that’s a different story for a different day.

Being able to shave with a soap that smells like one of my favorite scents is such a wonderful benefit of the world of dupes. Even with a dry, pasty lather today, the shave was enjoyable because of the scent of Evocative (aka Joop). I finished the shave off with B&M Lavanille Splash because, while I love Joop, I like to mix things up #ridingwithItchy style. The soap and splash share that, oh so important, vanilla connection, but Lavanille is so much more complex that it sends my nostrils through a nice journey past Vanillaville, on the way to Lavenderland, Cedartown, and Muskcity, taking the Mousse de Saxe Highway to get there. To bring all those scents back home, I finished things off with the OG: Joop, himself. While the splash of Lavanille is a nice place to visit along this #FOF journey, the comfort of Joop does brings everything right back home. Cinnamon, Vanilla, and Tonka Bean – yum, yum, yum!

For the challenge today, my lather is usually pretty balanced. But it errs on the side of “well-hydrated”, so for today, I made my lather as dry as u/MrTangerinesky’s last romantic partner. And also, similar to u/MrTangerinesky’s last romantic partner, I left underwhelmed and extremely disappointed. There was a white, sticky mess everywhere, and I couldn’t wait for this experience to be over. And exactly like u/MrTangerinesky’s last romantic partner, I ended this escapade thinking: “There is absolutely no way I’m ever doing THIS again!”

For #photocontest: Masterpieces. Took this SOTD pic at the Danforth Art Museum, in front of this painting by Lawrence Kupferman.

For my interview today, I talked to Bob Farvour, of Farvour Turncraft. Bob made the brush handle I used today and it is one of my absolutely favorite brush handles I own. We often talk about function art and our brush handles are a great way to express that. Bob is such a great artisan who makes such wonderful brush handles in the Bourbon Capital of the World. If you aren’t familiar with his stuff, check out his Etsy store and read the interview below. There’s a lot of good stuff there, including his top picks for bourbons to try! I was really happy that Bob was willing to take part in this series. I’m pleased to present to you:

10 Questions with… Farvour Turncraft

1. How did you get started turning handles (and pens)?

I started restoring vintage ones first and quickly started wanting to get a lathe and make my own. This was in about 2009-2010. I grabbed a craftsman mini lathe and started turning them in a one car garage attached to a town house I was renting. I started selling them on Badger and Blade and back then it was easy. If you wanted a custom brush then, Rudy Vey was the only option. Then you could Make a brush, post it, and it was sold in minutes every time. I stopped for several years due to a move followed by a fire that burned up everything. I finally got around to buying another lathe in 2019.

2. Your brush handles are, without a doubt, functional art. How do you decide what colors/material/shape/pattern you’re going to work with on a given day?

There’s nothing elaborate about it really. Usually, I stand there staring at a drawer full of mica powders until something sounds good. Then other times, I might be sitting under the shade tree when an idea comes out of no where. Shapes I try to keep comfortable and simple. With resin pours I like to experiment, which can often fail.

3. Of the many, many brush handles you’ve made, do any stand out as your favorites? Or most challenging to make?

Most challenging for me is anything with a Cyanoacrylate (CA) finish, which pretty much means hybrids. I detest doing a CA finish but it sometimes is the only option. For favorites, I lean toward the classic and simple. My collection is quite boring. I love a plain ivory handle. But if I started picking favorites, I’d have a list a mile long before it’s all done. My current favorite is a Thuya Burl handle. I make mostly resin but I like wood more.

4. What software/hardware do you like to shave with?

I’ve been using a DE89 head on top of a Merkur 30B handle. Not long ago I got a Gamechanger and it has been pretty common in the rotation since.

My favorite soaps usually come from HoM or Noble Otter, although I use plenty of others too. I lean toward Barbershop scents but my fave is probably HOM Almond Leather.

Lab blues are my blade of choice.

5. You’re based out of Bardstown, KY, which is the Bourbon Capital of the World. Do you have a go-to, or under-appreciated, bourbon you would recommend?

Don’t get me started. Bourbon has exploded so much I could go on and on. Under appreciated, in general, is anything from Heaven Hill. Buffalo Trace gets a lot of attention, rightfully so, but Heaven Hill puts out a great lineup. Elijah Craig is a great option for folks that don’t want to pay a fortune and hunt around for something that is only marginally better. Most unicorns are overrated, and the best hidden value is Old Forester Rye.

The best bourbons that are easily available….

Elijah Craig

Evan Williams BIB

Evan Williams 1783

Russell’s Reserve

Knob Creek

But I put Old Forester Rye atop all those bourbons. $20 bucks a bottle.

(INTERVIEW CONTINUES IN THE REPLY)

Diligently brought his shave gear to an art museum to take his SOTD photo.

Took SOTD photo at an art museum.

Jul. 20, 2023

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Hybrid #11 B9A+ Badger #COMPOSITE
• Razor: RazorRock Al Lupo
• Lather: Dapper Dragon - Terre Du Dragon - Soap
• Post Shave: Dapper Dragon - Terre Du Dragon - Balm
• Fragrance: Hermes - Terre D’Hermes

Dupe Day!

There are so many just awful dupes out there.

I have two “classic scents” I love. Aqua di Parma for the Spring and Summer, Terre D’Hermes for the Fall/Winter….

I bought this tub of Dapper Dragon late in 2019 from his Etsy site. He went out of business in 2020.

The soap lists Coconut Oil as number 2 or 3 on the ingredients. But this also has Tallow, unlike his Vegan options. It does foam up quickly when first lathering.

However, I was able to work up a beautiful lather that was much richer and thicker than what I remembered from using this soap before.

The shave was really pretty good. No bad feedback from the “Stone That The Bot Forgot”….

2 passes plus neck buffing.

The real story is the scale polish. It’s soothing, relaxing and refreshing all at the same time. It has a touch of menthol, and apparently is based upon an aloe Vera gel.

The Lupo is a Dupe of a Wolfman razor.

The Dogwood brush is simply stunning. It has a B9A+ knot.

Finally, the music from today is by Queen. If you get the chance, check out this live show in Montreal, in 1981. It was recorded in High Definition, which was a rarity back then.

The base line slaps in this…

Queen: Dragon Attack!

July 20, 2023 – LG Day 20 – I’ve been duped!

• Brush: RazoRock 400 Plissoft Synthetic
• Razor: Merkur 34C
• Blade: Voskhod
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps – Prom King
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps – Prom King
• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors – Memoirs of a Trespasser

I’m so glad I bought Prom King. Dupes aren’t usually something I go for, but given Kyle’s description of it and the hype around it, it seemed like it was worth getting the set. I haven’t smelled the real dead Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier, but I assume this dupe is pretty darn similar. I struggle to place what notes specifically I notice most and like, to be honest — this is one of those situations where my newness to this hobby really shows. I used Memoirs of a Trespasser EdP because it’s another amber frag that also has some strong vanilla in its base. They definitely seem to go together, but again, I’m not sure why. I feel like a n00b. #FOF

Re: Challenge – This was terrible. I loaded my brush with as little water as I could and got the pastiest lather possible, so pasty that it looks like I lathered my brush with glue. When I finished the first pass of the top and sides of my head, this is all the soap that came off my head and onto the razor, and rinsing this spackle off was a pain. There was even less (and thicker) soap that came from shaving the back of my head. I’m so happy that tomorrow we can have a normal shave. It’s been a long two days.

7/20/23

• Brush: Muninn Woodworks w/ 24mm Manchuria Fan
• Razor: Ralf Aust 6/8, Full Hollow Spanish Point
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Scarn
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Scarn Aftershave Splash

Super nice shave today compared with yesterday and the sock. Scarn is a dupe of Dior Sauvage. I haven't had the pleasure of trying the original, but I'm tempted because of how much the Mrs. and I enjoy it. Spicy and woodsy, this scent has a very traditional masculine cologne scent. It's very nice and even better that it comes from a pillar of this community. In hindsight, I should've used the MOAR BOAR.

I typically prefer my lather to be basically dripping. No peaks in the lather and should be easily rinsed off my razor, if not already slopping off. So I went with a thicker and pastier lather today. Pics. It was fine, I guess. I didn't have any irritation or razor burn, but in the end I still prefer a wetter lather with some more glide and easier rinse on my blade.

#ROTY

July 20, 2023 – Lather games day 20 – AKA muh lather

• Brush: AP Shave Co Synthetic
• Razor: Tatara Masamune
• Blade: Voskhod (3)
• Lather: Declaration Grooming – Sellout
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Executive Man

Aventus dupes all around today. Pasty lather too. A fine shave it was. I hope the same for you.

#PhotoContest

• Prep:
• Brush: Wolf Whiskers / Maggard Premium Boar 28mm
• Razor: Wolfman WR1 OC SS
• Blade: Personna Med Prep (4)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co - Triumph
• Alum: Osma
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Logbook
• Fragrance:

Triumph is Inspired by Paco Rabanne's Invictus

July 20, 2023 – Dupe Day

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Parker (3)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Haverford
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Haverford
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Treachery

So today is the day we pay homage to the copycats in our collections. The one day we can say we saved money because we didn’t buy the expensive name brand stuff. So the challenge, I wasn’t quite sure how to handle this challenge with my newfound love for GUTL though. After all with GUTL you’re making 2 lathers basically. One on your face that’s leans dry and one in your bowl, that, if you overhydrate you can mix with the face lather to hit that sweet spot. It’s sorta a built in correction. So here I was worried I’d have to abandon the GUTL I only just now adopted. When it dawned on me, GUTL is really just the acknowledgement we’re not tied to the formalities of wetshaving just because they’re formalities. We blaze new dorito and mountain dew scent categories here. GUTL is just eschewing the old rigid categories of face and bowl lathering to do something novel that works and over engineers our shave. So as long as I’m over engineering my shave, I’m GUTLing in spririt. Basically I’m air bud ruling my GUTL here. So u/merikus and u/airbudeuler (who is definitely not u/cowzilla3) can sit down, share their commonalities as 2 sides of a coin and get along as the memes have now been poorly unified. Or not.

Back to challenge. I’m somewhere between a medium water and too dry normally. But we’re vacationing which means, collapsible dog bowl. And I am always underhydrating in this thing, it’s why I moved to scuttle. So wet sloppy lather it is and I tried to take a picture to show it. The picture doesn’t do it justice. My wife came in to talk to me and I had to hold my face over the sink because lather was dripping everywhere.

For #fof, I’m dickholing Haverford. Which is a dupe of Tobacco de vanille. So far fairly easy. I’ve never smelled the original but this one is quite nice. I don’t have the EdT, but I’ve finished it off with treachery. Not only do the tobaccos play well (though I find treachery to be a slight bit less sweet) but also there’s a bit of wordplay here. After all dupes are, in a sense a bit of treachery. Trying to pass a less expensive version of something as the real thing.

Similarly, my #photocontest in the field of literature. Here we have Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Obviously an early work of philosophy literature. But also, a translation (I don’t read Greek) which is another thing you might call a dupe.

Let’s go fellow #ROTY 10 days left. 2/3 done.

2023-07-20 Lather Games SOTD

• Brush: Oumo Venus (26x54 SHD Finest Two-Band Fan)
• Razor: RazoRock Lupo 58
• Blade: Blue Sword Platinum (19)
• Lather: Catie's Bubbles - '95 Liquid Labels
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - SB-129 - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Reyane Tradition - Insurrection II Pure Parfum

Oodles of dooples today.

• Oumo Venus brush (Simpson M7 handle dupe) with a very scooty knot. Giant monster barely fit into the little soap tub today.
• RazoRock Lupo, the early iterations of which were a rather ~~faithful~~ slavish clone of the WR1 aside from its tab-covering ends. 58 is my fav baseplate for the stainless version.
• The same damn CB soap I use every lather games to get that sponsor point and rarely use at any other time of the year because it's so lightly scented. I feel like I should try Azure - that one sounds good, but it ain't cheap.
• An Azzaro Chrome dupe aftershave that I could almost swear Rod made specially for me, complete with sponge icon on the label and everything
• The only Creed dupe I've ever enjoyed enough to actually keep in my regular rotation instead of stuffing it back into a box in a pile of frags I need to get rid of. It's definitely not the most accurate Aventus dupe on the market but the Parfum version is one of the less-cheap-smelling ones and hot damn its deviations from the original sit Just Right with my tastes.

July 20, 2023 - Pasty Dupes

• Brush: Envy Shave aluminum chalice / 26mm Maggard Razors SHD bulb #HOLLOW
• Razor: Muhle ROCCA R95
• Blade: Wizamet (7)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - 40
• Alum: Osma
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. - 40
• Fragrance: Chicago Grooming Co. - 40

CGC 40 is a dupe of Tom Ford Fucking Fabulous and it is quite a fabulous scent, MOIMO. It's a shame that I used Darkwing to create a pasty lather because it's so nice and slick once properly hydrated. Vida knows how to make a damn good soap. It's one of the best. This lather was so thick it was sticking to my razor and making it hard to rinse off. Not what you want your lather consistency to be. I mean, it worked, but it could have been a whole lot slicker. The only benefit would be the time savings I guess. It's also a shame that most of the YouTube guys don't know how to properly hydrate their lathers and stop at a pasty thicc lather like this. Newbies that tend to watch them go on thinking that's "good" lather when they should be using a lot more water. As for the brush hashtag, you'll just have to take my word for it. I've replaced the knot in it twice and it is indeed hollow. :)

Jul. 20, 2023
Brush: AP SHAVECO AP400B XL 28 mm (G5C)
Razor: Karve CB SS SB (B Plate)
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
Lather: HC&C - Empire State of Mind Shave Soap (Hendrix Classics & Co Pasteur's Exclusive) - Soap
Post Shave: Zingari Man - (Unscented) - Balm
Post Shave: HC&C - Empire State of Mind Shave Soap (Hendrix Classics & Co Pasteur's Exclusive) - Aftershave

“Imposing, attractive, and elegant as the NYC Empire State represents. Empire State of Mind is a collaboration between Pasteur's and Hendrix Classics which brings an ultra-premium fragrance. The fragrance is a dupe of Sauvage Elixir.”

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

Jul. 20, 2023 -I'm blue da ba dee da ba di

• Prep: CeraVe - Hydrating Facial Cleanser

• Brush: Stirling Soap Co. 2 Band Synthetic

• Razor: Weck Hair Shaper (Translucent Blue Scales)

• Blade: Kismet

• Lather: Stirling Soap Co - Deep Blue Sea

• Post Shave: T.N. Dickinson’s - Witch Hazel

• Post Shave: House Of Mammoth - Z (uncool) Balm

• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. - Deep Blue Sea

I went all in on todays #photocontest theme of #Water. Stirling makes a lot of dupes which is perfectly ok, and Deep Blue Sea is fantastic! It’s a Bleu De Chanel dupe and I should try to find some of the original to compare it to this.

Here’s the point where I would rave about Stirling’s performance because I always get a great shave with their stuff but the daily challenge forced my hand. Between this and the sock lather yesterday I just picture the djudges laughing at us trying to one up themselves with the pain and torture of this month.

I probably should have actually read the challenge before choosing my razor and taking my picture for today. But this is the only blue razor I have and it fits the theme too well not to. So I just went for it…I loaded up my brush and face lathered without adding any extra water to make the pastiest lather I could. I typically love my lather to be super drippy, especially with the Hair Shaper so this was tough. I worked it the best I could today and got a surprisingly close shave. It took a ton of time and attention to make sure to not use any extra pressure due to the lack in slickness.

July 20, 2023 – Dupelgänger

• Brush: Dogclaration B5 Macaw
• Razor: Pearl Shaving Flexi
• Blade: Astra SP (Green)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Island Man
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Island Man

Island Man is a dupe of Virgin Island Water. The Flexi is a dupe of the Ambassador. Per the challenge, went with pasty lather. It desperately needed H2O.

July 20, 2023

https://imgur.com/gallery/kmavtG6

Prep: Proraso - Refrescante Preshave Cream

Brush: Simpsons Commodore X3 Best Badger

Razor: Rockwell - 6S R6 plate

Blade: Treet - Platinum (2)

Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Sharp Dressed Man Shave Soap

Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Sharp Dressed Man Aftershave Splash

Sharp Dressed Man is a dupe of Creed Green Irish Tweed.

Challenge: I'm usually a "eh, medium water" kinda guy, so I went pasty today. Not the best shave, I definitely need a bit more slickness to my lather.

#ROTY

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Kuai Taper w/ V18 Fanchurian 26mm

• Razor: Blackland Blackbird

• Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum

• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - 40

• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Wowzers

• Fragrance: Chanel - Allure Homme Sport

Today's Theme: Duppelgänger - 40 is a dupe of Fucking Fabulous by Tom Ford, Wowzers is a dupe of Guilty Black by Gucci

Today's Challenge: Water Day - A wizard's lather is never pasty, nor is it watery. He lathers precisely as he means to. So I defaulted to the pasty lather for today's challenge, which was kind of a bold choice since I was using the famously efficient Blackbird for the first time today. Honestly the shave went well, but I had to keep rinsing the blackbird after almost every stroke to keep it from clogging. By the end of the shave my neck was shedding dry soap flakes.

My theme for today's shave: Mainstream Perfumery

So for today's shave I wanted to do an exercise in mainstream perfumery. Tom Ford, Gucci, Chanel, these are all names that fit right at home in any department store and are known all around the world. 40's scent is really pleasant and generally somewhat floral to my nose. Wowzers smells like "artic cool" deodorant. The bottle of Allure Homme Sport is a fragrance I've had for somewhere between 15-20 years now and while I don't wear it often it's a crowd-pleasing citrus aquatic. Overall, it's a very pleasant fragrance progression, but I also don't feel like I have my own identity in these fragrances. When I put together a fragrance progression I usually want to express some sort of feeling or facet of my personality, but with this shave it felt like I was putting on someone else's smells.

For music, I picked the most mainstream metal album I have, Iron Maiden's Brave New World. It's a good album in its own right, and some really fun songs, but also not my favorite, I like Dance of Death better personally. #photocontest #FOF #ROTY

Dupelganger shave

Prep: Warm Shower
Brush: AP Shave Co - Cashmere 30mm
Razor: Gillette Post war tech
Blade: Voskhod
Lather: Hub City Soap Company - Doctrine - Soap
Post Shave: Warm water rinse
The Soap of the day is a Dupe of Aventus by Creed. It is a light smelling product, suitable for warm weather. The hardware is some of my favorite stuff. A DFS in 2 passes. Have a great day everyone.

July 20, 2023 – Dupe Day

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Acrylic G5
• Razor: Gillette Red Tip
• Blade: Bolzano Superinox (7)
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps – Prom King
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps – Prom King
• Fragrance: Jean Paul Gaultier – Le Male

I realize this is ironic based on my choice of soap today, but dupes just really are not my thing. My favorite part of being an artisan is coming up with new and unique scents, and my favorite part of being a participant in the hobby is smelling the things that my fellow artisans created. This is honestly the only dupe scent in my entire den.

I went ahead and did my best to leave my lather thick and pasty today. I still got a solid shave though. Clearly this soap maker knows what he is doing.

Soaper sucks his own dick over quality of slickness.

Lather Games 2023 Day 20

• Prep: Warm water
• Brush: Mühle - Rytmo
• Brush: Mühle - Rocca
• Razor: Karve - The Christopher Bradley Razor
• Blade: Gillette - Minora
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Shiloh
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. - Shiloh
• Post Shave: Mühle - alum block

Dope day! There two reason to choose today soap. One is because I never used Chicago Grooming products before. And the second is the is scent inspired by Acqua Di Parma iconic "Colonia". Its a good soap but I prefer soaps with more strong scent! I want all bathroom to be fulfilled with fragrance!!! I have a gift! I am masters of lather. Like..... Like I feel it..... She speaks to me.... Known or unknown soap I don't have problem at all. Before I start wet shaving I watched a few videos in YouTube how to make Lather. And I was lucky to watch the right one. I don't remembered who is this guy but my first lathering was test to see what's gonna happen and after that till now I don't have a problem to make it how I want it. I like it in this phase that is before dripping. Heavy and aha to drop but stays hanging on brush. So in this perfect spot I don't have choice in today challenge. So I decided to make two bowls. One dripping one almost dry!!!! Half face with wet the other half with dry. In result if I have to chose I'll take dry one. In so wet lather there is no such slickness ( maybe only in that soap after Lather games I'll test with Nod, Barrister and Stirling ). Alum block confirmed that. I feeling left side more irritated then right.

P.S. I start make memes for this challenge and now I can't stop myself! But there is this feeling that I am like this old people not knowing what is written on their t-shirts.

ROTY

Jul 20, 2023 - Dupelgänger

• Prep: Klar - Activated Charcoal - Face Soap
• Brush: Farvour Turn Craft Harvest Moon 27mm Lotus Manchuria (LM-1) Knot
• Razor: Chiseled Face Legacy (Aluminum)
• Blade: Gillette Platinum [5]
• Lather: Ethos Grooming - Blue Note - Soap
• Post Shave: MacDuffs Soap Company/Pastuer Shaving - Birth of the Cool - Aftershave (Alcohol Free)
• Fragrance: Maison Martin Margiela - Jazz Club - Eau de Parfum

Ethos Blue Note is inspired by Jazz Club by Maison Martin Margiela. After comparing both the soap and the fragrance this morning, I think Ethos comes very close to the original scent. Other dupes such as ZM Soloist really feel more "inspired by" than a faithful copy.

Birth of the Cool is a little of an oddity. It is not strictly a dupe of Jazz Club, since it includes custom notes and elements from Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille. BotC tones down some of the more challenging aspects of Jazz Club while still retaining its ultracool vibe.

This was my first use with the LM-1, and I’m already experiencing tips breaking off the knot. I’m hoping this is just due to the first use, and the knot will settle in…

Challenge: The lather dried out before I could finish the first pass, and I finished the pass with the dry lather rather than try to rehydrate it. I guess it helped that this was my first time using the base, and I wasn’t certain of the water-to-soap ratios anyway. Subsequent passes were better hydrated.

Rating: 4.5/5

Day 20 - Dupelgänger

• Brush: Yaqi - Arctic brush with Caravel handle
• Razor: Baili - BR179
• Blade: Astra - Green
• Lather: Stirling - Ramblin' Man
• Post Shave: Stirling - Ramblin' Man Balm
• Fragrance: Stirling - Ramblin' Man EdT

For Dupe day, I used the dickhole. I am a big fan of Creed Himalaya dupes. I don't think I have ever tried the actual Creed Himalaya, only dupes. I don't think you can have a bad shave with Stirling. I am definitely more on the watery side for the lather. Today I am going for the lather paste. It works but definitely still prefer more water.

ROTY #FOF

July 20, 2023

• Brush: Wald Stratos Haunter 29mm A1

• Razor: C.V. Heljestrand MK 31 11/16 Söderfors Extra Specialstål Full Hollow (Straight Shave 273)

• Lather: Pasteur|Master Soap Creations - Bloom - Soap

• Post Shave: Pasteur|Master Soap Creations - Bloom - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Thayers - Rose - Toner
• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Black Orchid - Eau de Parfum  

2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

---

I normally push hydration in my lather, and I've done this habitually. If I make a lathering mistake, it is always adding too much water. I was originally going to just pass on today's challenge; thinking I'd prefer a great shave to a pasty, sub-par mess. Instead, and at the last moment, I decided to experience a shave with a very pasty lather.

I loaded heavily from the tub with brush that was soaked and had its water squeezed out; barely damp. I had more than enough paste for three passes but due to time constraints this morning I could only do two. I was surprised that I had an excellent shave. There was too much cushion, and I had issues getting lather off of the razor, but where there was lather there was slickness; at least with this soap.

Bloom is a dupe of Tom Ford Black Orchid. I have a lot of the Stirling "Man" series, but decided to go with something a little different for today.

The photo theme is "Flowers". I know. No real flowers in the photo, but the art on the front of the soap and the splash contains colorized roses, and the soap is a dupe of a fragrance with orchid in the name, and I think the photo sort of says black orchid.

#photocontest

• Brush: Van Der Hagen Boar Brush
• Razor: Parker Clip-Type Shavette Dark Sheesham Wood Handle
• Blade: Tiger Superior
• Lather: 345 Soap Company - Trench Lines
• Post Shave: 345 Soap Company - Trench Lines Aftershave Splash
• Frag: 345 Soap Company - Trench Lines EDP

ROTY

July 20, 2023

​

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Zenith 507U XSE
• Razor: Chiseled Face Legacy Aluminum
• Blade: Gillette Platinum
• Lather: RazoRock - Irish Countryside
• Post Shave: RazoRock - Irish Countryside
• Fragrance: Davidoff - Cool Water

Green Irish Tweed, Razorock Irish Countryside, 2 peas in a pod, or one dupe in a container. I've smelled a handful of GIT dupes, and the RR one is my favorite. It's a very fresh scent, comparable to the original. Speaking of the original, I finished up with some Cool Water, which was created by the same person who created GIT, they're also comparable scents as well.

I always build a good lather, so naturally not enthused with today's challenge. Here is my pasty lather that I begrudgingly shaved with.

Until tomorrow!

#ROTY

July 19, 2023 - Dupelgänger Day

• Brush: Noble Otter 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: Blackland Razors Era
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (1)
• Lather: Fine Accoutrements - Platinum
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Unscented - Balm
• Fragrance: Creed - Aventus

Daily Write-Up:
As many on the sub have, I have read u/itchypooter’s post about Why Your Lather is Terrible, and I really took his lessons to heart. He’s right, we’re not shaving over priceless works of art, and our bathrooms are generally designed to get somewhat wet over the normal course of activities. So, a wet lather is a good lather.

Unfortunately, that means today I get a dry, pasty lather - like this guy. Let me tell you how excited I am for this shave. To prove how right he is, I’m going to be shaving over this priceless watercolor painting. It will be fine, but that’s the point. Who has priceless watercolor paintings in their bathroom?

In order to really control my lather, I’m choosing to bowl lather today. I grab my trusty bowl, and scoop an almond-sized nugget of soap, and get started lathering. I chose a synthetic brush because I feel like it gives me a little bit better control, also because I don’t care for Aventus, so I don’t want my natural-hair brushes to smell like it for weeks.

I started building the lather, and as soon as it was started, it was time to move to the face. I added the lather to my face, and then, since we’re doing a dry lather, I added no more water.

I used my Era to scrape the incredibly dry lather and whiskers off of my face. Did a second pass with the paste, and then moved to aftershave.

As you can see, my work area remained incredibly clean. The painting is absolutely perfect.

So, Mrs. Miasma doesn’t like my typical lathering method, because I make a “mess” and “get shit all over the place” and “why would you listen to someone with such obviously poor anal hygiene”. But, having shaved with a pasty lather - u/itchypooter is correct - “ if your lather ain't nearly drippin', then you must be trippin'.”

Soap Theme Justification
* Per the “artisan” site, this is inspired by Aventus. Which is code for: “direct dupe of Aventus”.

Post-Shave and Fragrance Relevance Notes
* My theme for scents is “Aventus without distraction” * For the Frag, I chose the real thing. I had a sample of Aventus in my drawer. It’s fine. I personally think it smells kind of douchey. But maybe I’m just associating it with some of the people I’ve smelled it on, who are largely… douchey. * For the AS, I went with Stirling’s Unscented Balm. I don’t care for Executive Man, even though it is far and away Rod’s best seller, so I don’t have any myself. But - recognizing how Executive Man helps Stirling pay the bills and make the scents and soap that we all love, I am using their balm for my AS product today. Also, it’s my favorite balm, and I’ve had a couple rough days of shaves.

** UPDATE **

Looks like my doppelganger made a post of his own. Don't listen to him, he's a douche.

July 19, 2023 - Dupelgänger Day

• Brush: Noble Otter 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: Blackland Razors Era
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (1)
• Lather: Fine Accoutrements - Platinum
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Unscented - Balm
• Fragrance: Creed - Aventus

Daily Write-Up:
As many on the sub have, I have read u/itchypooter’s post about Why Your Lather is Terrible, and personally found him to be full of it. I don’t know why you would listen to someone who so obviously struggles with anal hygiene, and so I’ve long held that a pasty lather is a good lather.

Unfortunately, that means today I get a wet, messy lather - like this guy. Let me tell you how excited I am for this shave. To prove how right he is, I’m going to be shaving over this priceless watercolor painting. I expect it will be ruined.

In order to really control my lather, I’m choosing to bowl lather today. I grab my trusty bowl, and scoop an almond-sized nugget of soap, and get started lathering. I chose a synthetic brush because I feel like it gives me a little bit better control, also because I love the smell of Aventus, and I don’t want to get tired of it because my natural-hair brushes smell like it for weeks.

I started building the lather, and as soon as it was started, it was time to [move to the face](. I added the lather to my face, and then, since we’re doing a wet lather, I continued to add more water until it was shiny, wet and nearly [dripping off my face[(https://imgur.com/EXcRcU3).

I used my Blackbird to scrape the incredibly messy lather and whiskers off of my face. Did a second pass with the wet lather, and then moved to aftershave.

As you can see, my work area is a freaking disaster. The painting is absolutely destroyed.

So, Mrs. Miasma likes my typical lathering method, because I keep the bathroom tidy and “quietly suffer a subpar shave in the name of cleanliness“. But, having shaved with a wet and nasty lather - u/itchypooter is clearly wrong. Just think of the damage to our bathroom decor that could be avoided by shaving with a pasty lather.

Soap Theme Justification
* Per the artisan site, this is inspired by Aventus. Which is code for: “direct dupe of Aventus”.

Post-Shave and Fragrance Relevance Notes
* My theme for scents is “Aventus without distraction” * For the Frag, I chose the real thing. I had a sample of Aventus in my drawer. I love it. I personally think it smells kind of douchey. But maybe I’m in love with it because I’m a douche. * For the AS, I went with Stirling’s Unscented Balm. Stirling has brought Aventus to the masses with their Executive Man, so h/t to them via my product selection.

User creates Dupelgänger account to shit on itchypooter twice

July 20, 2023 – LG23 Day20: Dupelgänger Day

• Brush: Zenith B33 #OLDWORLD
• Razor: Razorock German 37 Slant
• Blade: Astra SP (Green) (6)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. (Formerly Oleo Soapworks) – Empire
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. (Formerly Oleo Soapworks) – Empire
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. – Scarn

Daily Challenge

Some days the djudges do make it easy. Let’s spackle up and try to enjoy a shave.

Dupelgängers

I love it when sponsor days and theme days coincide. Today it’s Chicago Grooming Empire day and dupe day for Sauvage. Apparently the Captain Jack Sparrow version and not the original from years ago. It is my only Chicago Grooming soap, so it has been my logical choice for the third year running. I really need to add a few more artisans to my lineup at the risk of getting more stuff.

The RazoRock German 37 Slant is a dupe of the Merkur 37C and is a dependable razor. Why not use it to scrape some spackle off of my face today? Maybe it will be stout enough to tackle some whiskers at the same time.

The dupelfinish of Sauvage is Scarn from Stirling Soap Co. I find it interesting the way names are created for products. I really can’t make fragrance associations to people all that well unless it’s something they’re known for, e.g. Carey Grant and Green Irish Tweed. But kudos to Stirling for The Office reference and Michael Scarn. He’s a Sauvage guy, for sure.

We’re coming to the home stretch. Keep on keeping on!!

Thursday, July 20, 2023

• Brush: Chisel & Hound - Gatlinburg - 26 mm V9 Fanchurian
• Razor: Wolfman Razors - WR2 0.75 DC x WRH2
• Blade: Personna Med Prep
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co - Shiloh - Soap
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co - Shiloh - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Acqua di Parma - Colonia - Eau de Cologne

Day 20 of Lather Games: Shiloh in Darkwing! An AdP dupe that skews a bit more lemony to me. Paired with the real thing - well, a decant of the real thing.

2023-07-20 Dooblie-doo

• Brush: Omega 343178 Synthetic #FAUXFUR #OLDWORLD
• Razor: The Goodfellas' Smile - Kamisori Shavette #KAMISORI
• Lather: The Goodfellas' Smile - Shibusa 2
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Campania
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. - Dunshire

Relevant Post-shave and Fragrance: Not only are they all dupes (that's easy and boring), but they're all dupes of "Acqua" scents (equally easy but maybe slightly less boring).
Also, the The Goodfellas' Smile razor (brand to match the lather) is a fascimile of a veritable kamisori.
Finally, the synthetic brush is an imitation (albeit a superior one *darts eyes around*) of a natural brush.

Challenge Accepted: How much water do I normally use? I have had the thought that I tend to go a bit pastier than many, but I would sooner say I do "eh, middle water". Just to be safe, I'ma do both!

Side note: I think there's an important consideration for water quality—i.e. hard vs soft water—that I don't think gets mentioned enough, especially when we're talking about how much water you're using. That's a rant for another time. That said, I do have a bag of citric acid that I never use because PITA.

I wet the brush just out of habit, then backpedaled to squeeze and shake as much as I could out of it to get this. If I'm being honest, it wasn't that bad, but it stuck hard to the razor with a tenacity! On the other hand, it was also straight-up dangerous, because I had to actually force the thing through that dry paste, so any slip of the razor would certainly result plentiful loss of skin and blood. The "lather" kept getting drier still, becuase I live on the surface of the sun.

Next, I got it much wetter than I ever would. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, frankly. Bits of lather and suds were flyin' every which way; I didn't know what was happening! While I expect some would say that this looks close to perfect, it didn't stick to my face very well, and it fizzled away really quickly.

#FOF
Shibusa 2: Acqua Di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Mandorlo Di Sicilia. Holy shit, that's a lot of syllables.
I had picked up a sample of the actual frag, and I find it to be a close match. But focusing on the soap itself, my nose-training during the past few weeks seems to be paying off, because I definitely get anise off of the top (huge win; I fuckin' love anise). While I'm still not sure if it would fly for Almond Day (which is why I originally purchased and didn't use it last year), there is definitely almond at its core. Base vanilla comes through quite clearly, as well.

Campania: Acqua di Parma's Blue Mediterraneo Fico di Amalfi. Fou de fafa.
Figs. Shit, fruit. Well, I have only myself to blame. Maybe because it's an unfamiliar kind of fruit to me, it's not too offensive. But still fruit.

Dunshire: Giorgio Armani's Acqua di Gio. I feel like this leans away from the woodiness of the original.
Hm, it only just now occurred to me that my username might be seen to start with the Italian name 'Gino'. Can I get away from that without Streisanding myself?

#photocontest
Photo: Extinct Animals
Observe the noble samurai fending off the likes of... whatever that thing is!
Side note again: Anyone ever try those long Japanese washcloth things? They're pretty great. I threw one in the photo, because why not pile on with the weird nihon-esque theme I have going on here. That particular kind is really rough, so I generally use a softer one, but they all eat soap like crazy.

DAY 20 LATHER GAMES! WHO COPIED WHO!?!?!

• Prep: Water
• Brush: DS Cosmetics 30mm Tuxedo Knot
• Razor: Blackland Vector
• Blade: Chinese(9)
• Lather: Stirling - Mountain Man
• Post Shave: Stirling - Mountain Man splash
• Fragrance: Dior - Eau Savage

​

PIC OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

​

Right, dupe day! I understand, that a lot of people enjoy many of the mainstream EdP like Creed Aventus etc. and when getting into the hobby would like to see if there is anything like that in soap format. But to me all these mainstream perfumes have always been boring in the sense that they are people pleasers, and lack character(for the most part). My choice of the day is Stirling Mountain Man, which is a dupe of Creed Silver Mountain Water. Now I have not smelled this one in real life ever, tried to find it in perfumeries, but alas Creed is not popular in Bulgaria, or they just don't stock it, really I've been to so many perfumeries, and asked "Do you have Creed this and this?!?!", they always stop me when they hear Creed, "Oh no, we don't stock Creed".

​

I have smelled a lot of perfumes(not that I can fully appreciate all of them), but still it's experience, and my opinion stands! The niche perfumes that you can get from B&M, HoM, SW etc. are tenfold better and original, and you won't encounter someone smelling of it every 20 metres. Btw, about to get some samples of Imaginary Authors, can't wait \^_\^

​

Maybe I just need to find soaps that are dupes of niche perfumes? Who knows, but I try and stay away from these type of scents, no offence to anyone who likes them, just for me it doesn't ring my bell.

DAILY CHALLENGE

​

I was not a fan of this shave... Sock shave was better! Between those two sock shave at least provided me with a decent enough lather.. I usually hydrate my lather to the breaking point, thanks to u/sgrdddy's video on types of soaps, very informative!

So in honor of today's theme I made a video as a tribute to a YouTube shaver, cause his lather really is something else! Video with awesome lather!!!

u/Priusaurus didn't anyone tell you to never go for sloppy seconds, can't you find a girl of your own? Also why are you airing the dirty laundry of the last girl I slept with(now also you)? I mean yeah Sandy is a bit dry down there, but when you put the work in, you can get her going, first few times was a bit rough and course but when you get the use of things! I actually gave her a call after reading your post, she said you were even worse than I was.... Shame on you.... And don't act like your lather is well balanced, today's challenge was practically "A day in the life of a u/Prisaurus lather", you felt like at home with that pasty lather. You do so many interviews you forgot how to make decent lather! You caught me off-guard yesterday, but I'll get you back, you just wait!!!!

​

#FOF

It's kind of the closest I could find in my arsenal in terms of scent compatibility, but I should say that Dior is a much better scent than Silver Mountain Water by Creed. I find this perfume of Creed to be offensively boring, Dior saved the day with adding a bit of life and colourfulness!

• Daily Lather Themes: 20/30
• Daily Challenges: 20/30
• Hardware Scavenger Hunt: 14/20
• Hardware Vendor Points: 1/2
• Software Vendor Points: 9/13
• Software Vendor Bonus Point: 0/1
• 30 Different Soap Brands Point: 20/30
• 30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point: 20/30
• 30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point: 20/30
• 30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point: 20/30

July 20, 2023

• Brush: Zenith Brass Handle B36 #HOLLOW
• Razor: Karve CB (SB – C)
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (7)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. (Formerly Oleo Soapworks) – Excursion
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Spice

Huge shoutout to u/worbx for this smush. This is the first time I’ve ever tried anything from this artisan. I’m very impressed even though I had to ruin the experience with too little water. I’m not super big into the frag world, so I’m trusting the link in the post description above that Excursion is a dupe of an Yves St. Laurent scent. I really liked this scent, and the soap performance was pretty good, considering the daily challenge.

I under watered the soap. I hated the feeling. I used a very mild razor since the lather was so sticky. Seems to have saved my face.

Hopefully the SotD pic is enough to convince the judges for the Hollow tag. I just got this brush from EldrormR, and I’m still amazed how light it is. I really don’t see how it could be this light if it wasn’t hollow. My other brass brush would break the floor if I dropped it.

Healthy Activity of the day: I got 10 miles today. I want to die. Here's the ride, not bad for my 320lb lard. LG Mileage: 63 miles

Tags: #ROTY

LG23-20: Parisian Dupelgänger

• Brush: Semogue Owner’s Club “Taj” 24mm Boar
• Razor: Carbon Cx-Ti
• Blade: Astra SP (12)
• Lather: Spearhead Shaving - Rive Gauche - Experimental Formula 22.1 Shave Soap
• Post Shave: 345 Soap Co. - White Buffalo - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Maison Margiela - REPLICA At the Barber's
• Passes: WTG, XTG
• Coffee: Colombia. Cauca. - v: Castillo - p: Anaerobic
• Music: Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson
• LG Tags: #FOF

I normally bowl load, start my lather there, and add a ton of water before I even start working it into my stubble, making today's pasty lather challenge a fun experiment. And how did it go? This challenge validated my usual as-wet-as-possible approach, but not to the extent I expected.

My daily Precision Loading™ lather starts with a level 1/4 teaspoon of soap, rounded generously in the spoon when using bigger, denser knots. From there I add at least five tablespoons of water while lathering in the bowl; I’m starting off with what’s left in the knot after an initial post-soak squeeze and more water gets added to the mix as I finish up with a quick face lather. (I know, it’s fiddly, but this approach is easier on my shoulder and produces reliably excellent results.)

To comply with the challenge, I added half as much water to my scoop of Spearhead’s Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche dupe spread out in the bowl, and didn’t add any after working the resulting lather into my stubble. It was pasty, with stark ridges (the telltale sign of a dry lather), and left a bunch of soap behind with the finger-swipe test.

I was surprised to shave without any obvious irritation—the lather felt protective. However, my razor was fighting its way through the lather instead of effortlessly skating along the top, plus I had to try much harder to rinse the razor, which is annoying. A single dip and wiggle in the basin should be enough. Even worse, my skin felt uncomfortable under a thicker layer of less-cut soap and then super slick when I rinsed after my second pass, implying I should have added a lot more water before calling that lather lathered.

Beyond loading a certain level of adequate soap and adding sufficient water to match—thoroughly lathered—it's degrees of difference between pasty and super runny lather. But that’s one shave. I wonder how much the minor flaws of a sludgy lather like this compound over time. I suspect any cumulative impact is made worse by using a crummy soap base high in coconut oil and low in skincare ingredients. I’m lucky today’s “shave with a crummy lather while we laugh at your tarnished shave experience” challenge corresponded with an excellent soap base.

My verdict? A wet lather is best, but you can get by with a pasty one, though there’s no reason not to do better. Be best.

Speaking to the theme, all three of my products are a spin on the aromatic fougère YSL Rive Gauche pour Homme—named for the bohemian southern bank of the Seine. I’ve read this is an ancestor of many barbershop fragrances, meaning I should have mentioned it in my Two Bits writeup. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried it, making it difficult to describe how these dupes compare. I can say definitively that I don’t enjoy this style of aromatic fougère. Give me more citrus, more dank fern, or more spice and leather. Or I’ll splash on Skin Bracer and call it good. Heck, I’d prefer bay rum.

But I’ll at least try to compare these.

I’m told by an informed Redditor that the 345 aftershave is the most faithful wet shaving dupe of Rive Gauche he’s smelled, though White Buffalo’s product description makes no mention of Rive Gauche, and the listed notes aren’t a perfect match. The Spearhead version focuses on a soapy, woody lavender and reminds me of what I remember Chicago Grooming Co.’s Irving Park smelling like. Compared to White Buffalo, there’s no leathery quality, it’s more floral, and the fresh spices are subtle. Unsurprisingly, the Maison Martin Margiela fragrance smells the most like any barbershop or salon I’ve been in. There’s the usual mix of fresh herbs, light spices, and a musky fougère accord, but the opening is comparatively sweet and beautifully floral right after the harsh opening settles. It’s on the more well-executed end of REPLICA scents I’ve tried, which is not a high bar in our household’s opinion.

Like I said earlier, I’m not the right person to be selling you on any of these. The important thing is they’re on theme, though I should have chosen a different dupe in the first place. C’est la vie.

Excellent writeup of the entire pasty lather process.

July 20th 2023 - Lather Games Day 20

• Brush: Dogclaration B9A
• Razor: Mühle Rocca R95
• Blade: Bolzano Superinox (9)
• Lather: Zingari Man - The Blacksmith
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Leviathan
• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Fucking Fabulous

Today’s shave is brought to you by Leather. I had planned on using three dupes today, but when I realized that Weekend in Malibu isn’t a dupe, I switched it up to chase after some scent-synchronicity value instead. The leather in Blacksmith, a dupe of Bulgari’s Man in Black, is more muted, a base against which the amber and spices contrast. Leviathan brings the leather forward and then Fucking Fabulous really makes it shine. I’m normally not a huge leather scents guy but Fucking Fabulous lives up to the name.

Smells aside, the shave itself was dry. Since I normally like a dripping wet lather, and try to push the hydration as much as I can, I didn’t soak my brush, wet my face, or use any water at all during this shave. I didn’t even rinse off my razor during the shave, and it looked pretty sad by the end. I’m not ready to start convincing people to subscribe to r/dryshaving yet but the shave could have been worse. I did get more sting than usual from the splash, but a few hours later there’s not any irritation. So is water really necessary? Fuck yeah it is. If you’re lather ain’t dripping, you must be tripping. Put it on my tombstone.

2023-07-20 Dupe Day:

• Brush: Semogue 2020 Best Badger.
• Razor: Parker 96R.
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue.
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co - Mountain Man.
• Post Shave: Saponificio Varesino - Stella Alpina aftershave lotion.

For dupe day I went with Stirling Soap Mountain Man (dupe of Creed Silver Mountain Water) and Saponificio Varesino Stella Alpina (dupe of Acqua Di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Mirto Di Panarea). I had a few to choose from for the aftershaves since most of the Saponificio Varesino ones are dupes of colognes; but I chose this one because it shared the "alpine" theme of the Stirling soap, and I haven't tried it yet.

The scent of Mountain Man smells like a soft cologne; airy I suppose. Performance is a notch above Proraso, but below the artisan ones that I have (price is also more in line with Proraso so I won't fault it for being worse than soaps double the price)

Stella Alpina smells like a men's cologne that would have been very popular in the 90s-early00s; funny enough the perfume that this was modelled after came out in 2008. I've never smelled the original though.

As for the shave, it was alright; didn't cut myself, but it wasn't an "I'm loving this" kind of experience, possibly because I wasn't familiar with the foaminess of this soap. Neither scent has me rushing out to buy full tubs/bottles of them; but I don't hate either. I did notice that after 30 minutes or so the aftershave scent "opens up" more to smell more complex and better. It's one of the better scents to me from Saponificio Varesino along with Felice and 70th Anniversary.

July 20, 2023

• Brush: Muninn Woodworks purple burl AP Shave Co. 24mm MiG
• Razor: Karve CB SB-B
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Ariana & Evans – L’Orange Verte
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming – Nightman

I have a couple samples of A&E that I bought when I first started trying out soaps. This was before I was aware of some of controversy. Now, I stay away from them, mostly to make sure my face stays safe. Anyway, base isn’t bad and the couple of sample soap scents I have don’t bother me so I am going to use them until they are gone. L’Orange Verte is a dupe of Terre D’Hermes Eau d’Orange Vert. Even the name is a dupe. In the description, however, there is no mention of the original which does bother me since it is a dupe. Instead, there is a description of how the scent was created by A&E, ironically enough. I paired with more citrus in Dayman, which is becoming my go to AS. Apparently I really like citrus.

As for the challenge, I made a pasty lather. I started off with normal soap and a little less water. Then I decided it was not pasty enough, so I added more soap and kept going. It ended up at the stiff meringue peak stage and streaked across my face. The perfect Gillette commercial consistency. Honestly, shave was not terrible but could have been better.

July 20, 2023 - Dupelgänger

• Brush: Yaqi Ocean 28mm Synthetic
• Razor: MM24
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps - Prom King
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Prom King Splash
• Fragrance: Jean Paul Gaultier - Le Male (Pride Edition)

FOF

Today’s Theme:

When Summer Break Soaps brought back Prom King, I got it as soon as it dropped. When I saw Dupelgänger Day, it was the first one I thought about using. It is on the often linked list as a dupe of Jean Paul Gaultier - Le Male.

Today’s Challenge:

When I normally shave I want my lather to be a wet soft peak, or ribbon to borrow a couple cooking terms. In making a lather it is kind of the opposite of cooking though. If you whip cream or egg whites, the more you whip, the stiffer it gets until it breaks. But for lather once it starts being a lather, you start at crazy stiff and go down from there adding the water. I made a mistake in picking a bigger brush today, so hungry, it ate up the lather. I ended up adding soap to get it to leave some lather in the bowl. Finally, the brush stopped eating the lather and I could see how thick the lather was getting. I ended up with a thick fairly dry, but somehow glossy lather. It had the feel somewhere between mayonnaise and yogurt. I figured rhe MM24 wouldn’t clog much, but the soap took more effort to rinse. The soap clung onto the razor. I probably loaded 3x more soap than I normally would. On my final pass, I squeezed out the lather into my hand. Not to waste it, I applied as much of that to my face as I could. I probably had 1/4” or more of lather (6.5mm) on my face. It also took longer to rinse the residual soap off my face. I didn’t feel like the shave was rough, but the splash really stung my face. I’ll be glad to go back to a more hydrated lather tomorrow.

Today’s Fragrance:

After I got my Prom King soap and splash, it was quickly a favorite scent. I keep waffling on buying the original scent for a while. I saw a good discount at Macy*s, but by the time I decided to buy it, the offer was gone. So I waited until I got my annual bonus and raise. The special Christmas edition was gone, but I found a good deal on the Pride Edition of Le Male. My wife laughed when she saw the “bulge” on the bottle. In the tin can packaging, there is a cutout in the stand to accommodate it. The scent is difficult to pick out individual scents. It blends together and I just compare it to two other Spring scents Noble Otter - Rawr and Wholly Kaw - Eroe. Now by the notes, they aren’t similar, but to my nose they have a similar scent. Now that I’ve added the original, I get some of the mint and vanilla. Fragrantica calls it an Amber Fougére. I get a little bit of an ice cream float scent from it, but I don’t find it too sweet.

Today’s Haiku:

Prom King smells better,

Than a bunch of horny teens,

Dancing at the prom.

Edit: 4 hours later, the spices and wood notes have come out, and the mint and vanilla are gone. Very interesting perfume, I get the sandalwood and cedar, and nearby is a bakery making cinnamon rolls.

Thursday, the 20th of July, 2023

• Brush: Semogue Owners Club boar, Taj white handle
• Razor: Chiseled Face Titanium Legacy
• Blade: Gillette Rubie (30)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Excursion
• Post shave: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Heather
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Company - Ramblin' Man

Looking at the challenge today... I have misgivings. I dunno, I think I usually use quite a bit of water, and I remember shaves being worse before I increased what I use to make the lather. Well, let's give it a shot. I can go pasty today. I scooped from the tub, smeared the soap on the bottom of a dry bowl, picked the brush up out of the soaking cup, shook most of the water out of it, and made the lather. No more water was added than what little bit remained in the brush after shaking.

The lather clung to the razor like... it was hanging on for dear life? Maybe. I dunno quite how to describe it, but it's been a while since I've shaved with lather this dry. The lather still was not quite dry enough to stay on the razor after a simple rinse; even what water was left in the brush was enough that it all came off just under the faucet.

All said and done, it wasn't a bad shave; no cuts, no nicks, no weepers. I got three good passes, but I kinda think my face doesn't feel quite as nice afterwards as when I use a nice wet lather.

The soap, Excursion, is of course, a dupe of Yves Saint Laurent's la Nuit de L'Homme. The splash, Seaforth! Heather, is not actually a dupe, but is somewhat related; it is a reimagining of an old Seaforth! scent. I'd call it an homage, although here I mean something different than how "homage" is usually used in the description of dupe scents. The perfume, Ramblin' Man, is a proper dupe of Creed Himalaya, and all these scents are quite nice today.

July 20, 2023 Dupelganger

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: Craving Shaving w/ 26mm Viking Soft Tux
• Razor: Yaqi AC Blade Excalibur
• Blade: Red ProTouch mg (5)
• Lather: Ariana and Evans - Vanille de Tabac
• Post Shave: Ariana and Evans - Vanille de Tabac
• Fragrance: Parfum Belcam - Classic Match Bold Tobacco

Day one of traveling so short post today. Love this scent and vow to eventually try the real thing. Everything is linked by being a dupe of the same scent.

Challenge - Pasty lather for your enjoyment. This soap is pretty thirsty so it was pretty easy to add minimal water and keep it pasty. The shave was subpar because of it, but at least tomorrow the djudges aren't messing with my lather again.

2023-07-20 Pasty Dupelganger

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps - Mountain Laurel, synthetic 26mm Maggard knot (from London Razors Mountain Laurel release PIF)
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird, DE safety razor, Brass, 101 mm handle
• Blade: Treet Falcon, DE
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co - Irving Park
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. - Irving Park

Chicago Grooming Co.'s Irving Park is the Dupeelganger for today (YSL Rive Gauche).

Scent note list as follows: Bergamot, Star Anise, Rosemary, Lavender, Geranium Leaves, Cloves, Vetiver, Guaiac Wood, Patchouli.

I love this set. But ya gone and made me lather it wrong. As I mentioned on another post I have mild OCD (was worse as a kid but you work on it). I bowl lather and work for that perfect whipped wholly hydrated lather and that is where I like to fall. Not loose, and runny, bubbly or chunky. Nor thick enough your fork can stand up in it (we are not aiming for a perfect bowl of chili here folks).

So the default is to be pasty. ^(Grumble).

Picked my brassbird because it handles most any lather (good or bad) quite well. Grabbed a new blade I had never used before (not great idea).

Was an okay shave. Not gonna blame the soap or the razor. Can't say for the razor blade. The technique - all pasty like...means rinse, swipe, rinse, swipe, no good.! Oh well.

So, in the immortal words of DJ Pete Nice and Secrch (3rd Bass) from Herbalz in Your Mouth:

[Serch] Weebles to the weebles to the wobbles - to the herbalz

[Nice] I don't drink milk when it curdles

[Serch] Cause then it's too pasty, French like pastry

[Nice] It's like gettin caught boostin at Macy's

[Serch] True indeed, Cogswell Cogs, and Sprockets at Spacely's

[Nice] I make like George, and Jet-i-son safely

Take care and have a good one.

JULY 20, 2023

• Brush: Stirling Synthetic 24mm
• Razor: Paragon - Shaving ‘Don’ DE razor
• Lather: Taylor of Old Bond Street - Royal Forest.
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - Navigator

Good old TOBS to get my mood elevated again. I have been abusing my face all week and today is like taking a breath of fresh air. Such a great scent! It’s blackcurrant, patchouli, and some vanilla, maybe pepper and more. It’s a dupe of Creed Aventus and now I know why it’s popular. My navigator splash was a somewhat close match but didn’t stand the trials of time. After a couple hours the scent disappeared.

TODAY’s CHALLENGE: Was interesting to say the least. Used 1/3 of the water I usually use and the lather was crazy pasty. Although very slick it felt more like it was pulling moisture out of my skin than the usual hydration feel. Maybe that’s what putting salt in your face feels like!! Ya’ll have a good one.

ROTY

July 20, 2023 – Dupelgänger

• Brush: Paladin Chief 26mm Satin Juma Smoke
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Ti
• Blade: Astra SP (4)
• Lather: Ariana & Evans – Vanille de Tabac
• Post Shave: Ariana & Evans – Vanille de Tabac splash
• Fragrance: Duke Cannon – Old Glory solid cologne

The Shave: Admittedly I have a hard time lathering this soap and usually use it in a more paste like form. Seeing as how its Water Day, I added significantly more water and made a thin runny lather. This was especially fun trying to put on as it just dripped off my brush and ran down my face. The shave was just as bad as the runny lather provided little in the way of cushion.

Post Shave: Seeing as how its dupe day I went ahead and used the matching splash to ease my face after its second day of shit show shaving. I followed that up a little Duke Cannon solid cologne.

Theme: Vanille de Tabac is a dupe of Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille as listed on Thirsty Badger. The Old Glory fit in with its similar warm tobacco scent.

Challenge: I turned my normally pasty lathering into a watery mess.

#ROTY

July 20, 2023 – Ciao!

• Brush: Extro Comesi Synthetic 26mm
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (3)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Piacenza
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. (Formerly Oleo Soapworks) – Shiloh

Acqua do Parma Colonia. This was my first artisan aftershave. What I wore on my first date with my partner. Eight months later we were walking by the AdP storefront next to the Spanish steps in Rome. Life is good, love is good, and these dupes serve to always remind me of that. Shiloh is a big bright lemon head. Drying down into something sparkly and powdery and beautiful. Stirlings Piacenza is a bit more muted and earthier. Not overwhelming but clean, setting you up for the sharp splash from Shiloh. I built a quick but great lather with my tricolor Italian flag brush that I purchased just outside the Vatican walls. This is too good a memory and scent for me to waste a shitty lather on. Love on. 🤙

ROTY

July 20, 2023 – Month of Lather Day 20

• Brush: DS Cosmetics Jade Green handle w/ DSC 24mm SHD G7 Synthetic knot
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Treet Carbon Steel (4)
• Preshave: Stirling Soap Co. – Unscented
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Stirling Blu
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Stirling Blu Balm
• Music: Sudden Lights - Backwards In Time

Daily Theme: Stirling Blu is Stirling's "take on the popular Polo Blue cologne". Polo Blue is a favorite of my wife, so it was only natural that Blu was the first Stirling soap I purchased.

The Challenge/Shave: For decades I used Proraso and for decades my lather was a dry, pasty, and sticky. I instinctively added large quantities of water as I shaved and somehow got decent shaves in spite of my crappy lather. When I switched to artisan soaps, my Proraso lather technique was a failure and shaving was torture. Thanks to the r/Wetshaving wiki and a lot of practice I learned how to make nice, good, wet lather. Now the Lather Gods (LGs) want me to go backwards in time and relive the trauma. For reasons I cannot explain I complied. I would show you a W_E-quality photo of my hot mess razor burned face on fire, but everyone has suffered enough already.

Public Apology: Yesterday I hypothesized that the LGs were using us to satisfy their dark web fantasies. I couldn't be more wrong, and today's shave proved it. The LGs gave us a nibble (Dup of our choice) and then made us self-torture ourselves with said dup. This is Psychological Warfare at its highest level, Stockholm Syndrome-level torture. Don't believe me? Exhibit #1 - The Lord of Spice himself, u/cowzilla3. After expressing fealty to the Air Bud Emperor, The LGs used their crowd psychology techniques to get Cowzilla to reject u/airbudeuler, bend his knee, and become a Public Shill to the Lather Gods. They broke Cowzilla, now they're trying to break us. Don't trust anyone! #ROTY

Jul. 20, 2023
Brush: AP Shave Co G5C
Razor: Karve CB
Blade: Astra SP Green
Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Executive Man - Soap
Post Shave:* Stirling Soap Co. - Executive Man - Aftershave

A pasty shave it was. And it wasn’t very fun lol.

ROTY

July 20, 2023

• Brush: Boti – Stump 28mm Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Executive Fatboy
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps – Prom King
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps – Prom King
• Fragrance: Jean Paul Gualtier - Le Male

Pssst. Guys. I wanna let you in on a little secret. Even though this soap and splash is clearly for Prom Kings, Summer Break Soaps doesn’t even verify you were a Prom King when you buy the soap. This guy just uses the honor system!

Before I bought the soap in the spring, I was nervous because I was never crowned Prom King, but I came up with a convincing photoshop to submit to SBS as proof. But his site never asked for proof. At the very least, I expected one of those check boxes to verify that you aren’t a robot, but saying “Check here to verify you were royalty in high school.” But nothing. They just let ANYONE buy this stuff.

Note: I haven’t tried to purchase Valedictorian yet, so I can’t verify if they check at all for that one at this point in time. I thought about adding it to my cart too, but didn’t want to get caught too deep in this web of lies I’ve created. Ughhh…. I need to lay down.

Before I do, I feel like I need to let the judges know the Prom King is dupe of Le Male, so I used both today for a wonderful smelling shave. Thank god it didn't smell like my actual prom night. Lord knows I don't want to smell like cheap vodka, axe body spray, and fumes from my POS car's engine. I'll take the scent of Prom King every day of the week! The shave itself was meh – more on that below. #FOF

CHALLENGE

I’m beginning to think that the organizers of the Lather Games don’t actually want us to get many good shaves in this month. One of the best things I read when I was first getting started was this post. Really helped me get into the right state of mind for this stuff. So today, I under-hydrated and while it wasn’t bad, per se, it wasn’t as good as I’m used to.

July 20, 2023 – Still better than canned

• Brush: Chisel and Hound v19 Fanchurian
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. (Formerly Oleo Soapworks) – New City: Back of the Yards

This poor knot is a Fanchurian v19, widely regarded as one of the greatest off the shelf knots ever sold. Go back and click that link again and look what you made me do. Must I be punished for lathering well? Apparently, because this lather was stinking dry. A brush should not stay formed in that shape with any kind of decently moistened lather. Just look at this mess.

Two thoughts, though. One, when I first started out and watched some youtube shavers (honestly don’t remember who), I thought my lather should look like this – thick, sticky, under watered, and just generally crappy. Two, honestly this was still better than using canned cream or gel. Way better. Maybe that’s a testament to Oleo/Chicago (this is my first experience with Vida’s stuff – Mammoth notwithstanding) and maybe it’s an indication of just how awful canned cream really is. Probably a bit of both, really. The timing worked out well on Chicago Grooming Tribute day – a bit fortuitous there, I suppose.

Aside from a small nick on my chin this shave really wasn’t that bad. I enjoyed New City – the undertone of leather is not something I’d usually really want, but, this blended really nicely. I paired it with another dupe, my wife’s favorite: Island Man. These two scents have basically nothing in common, but as I sit here post shave I think I smell great. The deep richness of the Tom Ford plays really well with the lighter and more tropical Creed.

FOF Haiku of the day

Dupleganger day
Tributes or rip off you say
Either way, smells great

Edit: forgot markdown mode. fixed formatting.

July 20, 2023 – I’ve been duped!

• Brush: Zenith r/wetshaving sub exclusive MOAR BOAR #CHONK #OLDWORLD
• Razor: Schick Injector Type N1
• Blade: Schick Injector (12)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Sandpiper
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Sandpiper
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. – Sandpiper

Challenge: Pasty enough for you? Surprisingly, it wasn’t a terrible shave. Wetting my razor helped.

I don’t typically go for dupe fragrances in soap. Some of them smell nice. But, I have yet to smell a designer fragrance I absolutely love. A good original fragrance from a wetshaving brand feels special. There’s a closer connection to the artisan when I get to analyze and enjoy an original fragrance. I bought this set of Sandpiper to support Rod for his help getting MOAR BOAR in the hands of the community. I used this set throughout the month of March, mostly using my MOAR BOAR. I’ve been waiting to use this brush in the Lather Games for this shave.

When I decided to order the Sandpiper set, I already had a sample of the edt I bought along with some bar soap. I figured it would be a good way to find out what YSL La Nuit de l’Homme smells like. So, I already knew that I liked it. My favorite aspect of this fragrance is the prominent cardamom note. It turns out I really enjoy cardamom in fragrances. I find it comforting. The cardamom is complimented by a note of lavender. Then, there’s a woody musky thing going on. I’ve read this dupe is pretty accurate, but I would like to compare it to the real thing.

#FOF

• Brush: Zenith B28 #OLDWORLD #HOLLOW
• Razor: Suppaparts Titanium
• Blade: Croma Diamant
• Shave Soap: Declaration Grooming - Massacre of the Innocents shave soap
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming - Massacre of the Innocents aftershave splash
• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - In Love With Everything

If this looks familiar, it should. I misread yesterday’s challenge and did today’s twice. Whomp whomppppp

shave

July 20, 2023 – LG 20: Dupelganger

• Brush: Catwood Handcrafts 18mm Golden Nib #RUNT #SMOLL
• Razor: Ming Shi 3000s
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux (6)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. (Formerly Oleo Soapworks) – No. 11
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Reserve Cool
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Reserve Cool
• Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Fluer de France

Everything is a dupe today, and also linked by being a barbershop. No. 11 is based on Maison Margiela At the Barber, BM Cool (Italian barbershop) is based on Floid Blue, and Spearhead FdF (French barbershop) is of course an updated reimagining of Seaforth! Fluer de France. The Ming shi is a merkur futur clone and the catwood handcrafts is clearly a far superior and updated company that will surely have dogwood handcrafts customers moving over in droves. u/Vtephen_j clearly did a great job with this and I’m so glad I sent it back to get refinished this year. You can see the original build here and the refinishing work here. A complete transformation.

As for my my #FOF. No. 11 is a pleasant and subtle barbershop. Little bit of spice from pepper and basil, but mostly a well rounded lavender and rosemary combo sitting atop a tonka and musk base. I used BM cool in 2 variants today. It is a very “cologny” scent to me, with that sort of artificial citrus twang to it. Zesty bergamot and lemon balanced with some sharp lavender. As for FdF, it’s much mellower in its composition, and a rethinking of the classic French barbershop. Citrus and rosemary up top, touch of floral jasmine and geranium for freshness. It all sits upon a soft base of tonka, lavender, moss, and musk. To me the tonka gives it that almost vanilla sweetness (without actually being sweet if that makes sense) but with some earthiness and nuttiness.

As for my #PHOTOCONTEST, I went with vehicles. My car is blue, albeit very dirty, so seemed to match well today.

Edit: forgot my video which shows pasty challenge and thanks to u/priusaurus for the smoosh.

soap brands 20/30, post shave 20/30, frag 20/30, post/frag linked 20/30, software sponsors 10/13, hardware sponsors 2/2, razor hashtags 9/15, brush hashtags 10/15, photo contest 20/30, daily challenges 18/25, special challenges 2/5

July 20, 2023

• Brush: Yaqi Rocks 28mm
• Razor: Leaf Elite
• Blade: BIC Chrome Platinum (2)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. (Formerly Oleo Soapworks) – Shiloh
• Post Shave: RazoRock – XXX
• Fragrance: RazoRock – XXX

Shiloh is a dupe of Acqua Di Parma Colonia, and to me it is a very fresh smelling cologne scent. RazoRock XXX is also a dupe of the same scent. A very nice overall shave.

A pasty lather? As a head shaver I already have problems sometimes with the lather drying out if I take my time. I gave it a shot, and things got rather...sticky at times. I don't think I will be reverting, and I definitely prefer a wetter/drippier lather.

#ROTY

July 20, 2023 – Paradox of Choice

• Brush: Paragon Plisson Type 28 mm
• Razor: Gillette Old Type
• Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (1)
• Preshave: Baxter Shave Tonic
• Lather: Stone Field Shaving Co. – No. 37

Easiest day is the month for me, right? Wrong. When your have an entire bin full of the same dupe you freeze. What, of all the soaps should I shave with? Go with a favorite? Give one a second chance? Just hate myself and go with one that totally sucks. I spent all day deciding, staring blankly into a bin full of Old Spice dupes. My wife yelled, my son cried, my father called from his death bed and yet I could not tear myself away from sheer indecision. Soon I became weak, unable to even think of anything but dupes, my mind whirling in a hallucinogenic blur of artisan soap makers and their “clever” riffs on the name Old Spice. Nothing made sense anymore. Nothing mattered. A golden retriever shot a ball into a hoop and became a major Hollywood star. Someone released a Barbie movie on the same weekend that one about that atomic bomb came out and it all made sense. Clearly, I no longer lived in the real world. My mind broke.

Then at the last possible moment, I heard a whistle. As if the sea and manliness were calling. Short. Sweet. A siren call of sorts. I came to my sense and just shoved my hand in and pulled this one out. Maybe some of you stressed over finding obscure items but just remember those of us ( only me) who suffer from the opposite issue and it nearly destroyed me.

• Brush: Simpson Classic #1 synthetic brush
• Razor: Friedrich Herder Abraham Sohn 49 straight razor
• Lather: Stirling Soap Company - Executive Man
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Bare Splash

ROTY

Late post been driving all day hope it still counts! The shave did happen earlier. I borrowed this sample puck from a friend and it just so happens to be the very first puck I ever shaved with. Smells great like I remember.

Went sloppy with it as I usually go pasty and slowly add water but usually not enough.

July 21, 2023 – Lather Games: Day 21

• Brush: Yaqi Synthetic
• Razor: Karve Overlander
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: First Line Shave – 90’s Rewind Vol 1
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Deep Blue Sea

I received this soap in a bundle I got off of the bazaar a long while ago. It’s based of of CK One, which I believe tried to play off its neutral gender scent. Supposedly, the skin chemistry made it smell more female or male depending on the gender of the wearer. At least that’s what I seem to remember. Could have been a fever dream though.

Either way, the scent is not my favorite. I actually don’t really like it. I can’t say if it’s close to the scent of the cologne/perfume it is a dupe of, but I wouldn’t buy it if it is. That’s a shame since the soap itself performs decently (if not trying to meet the challenge parameters). There are better soaps, but there are far worse soaps too.

For this challenge, I used a bit less water than usual. I think I added a lot less than I should have because it lacked slickness and partially dried on my face. I had to reapply just to keep it from being unusable. I should have added more water, but I didn’t want to disqualify myself from the challenge. This made for a lousy shave, with the scent only adding to the pain.

July 20, 2023 – Pasty Day  

• Brush: Century – Pure Bristle  
• Razor: Gillette Tech  
• Blade: Astra SP (Green)   
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Light-ish Red  

Theme: From Stirling’s Site “Inspired by Abercrombie Fierce”. Just call it pink my dudes.

Challenge: I whipped up a lather so pasty it could pass the blizzard test. Then I went to take a picture and, well….you know how people look at clouds and see shapes? Turns out my brain does that with lather. I present what should have been the real challenge today.

Soap shapes aside, my next problem was keeping it pasty. I decided to shave on the side of the tub to keep the legs dry and run myself a bubble bath to apologize to my legs for what I was about to do.

The paste shave wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. No cuts and after a bit of a soak in the bath, no irritation.

Edit: removed a pic because the link is broken and I don't want to fix it.

Shaver discovers a pony in her lather

July. 20, 2023 - SOTD 

• Prep: Splash of warm water
• Brush: Oumo O4 Venus SHD Badger Brush 26MM
• Razor: West Coast Shaving Multi Titanium Collection Razor
• Blade: King C Gillette
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co - Haverford
• Post Shave: Nivea Men - Sensitive Soothing Aftershave Balm

One of the few the proud non Aventus dupe users today.

ROTY

July 20, 2023 * Brush: Declaration Grooming Blood Pact B7 * Razor: Blackland Blackbird Lite * Blade: Gillette Silver Blue * Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - D-503 - Soap * Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - D-503 - Aftershave * Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. - D-503 - EdT

Stirling D-503 is a dupe of Legend by Mont Blanc. I think it's on of my favorite cologne dupes. It's an easy reach for the office. Something about Executive Man is just too noticeable. I bought a bottle of Legend and it's not distinguishable from D-503 in my opinion.

I would like to be of the opinion that my lather is usually spot on, but I definitely prefer it to be drier side rather than all thin and runny. But I certainly don't have the pasty lather, looking like toothpaste, you see on YouTube. Since I consider myself middle of the road, I made my lather dry today and it was miserable. I'm pretty sure the lather on the edges of my face completely dried while lathering. It was so pasty that I had to turn on the faucet several times to rinse the lather out, simply swishing it through the water in the sink wouldn't dislodge it. When I rinsed between passes, the water hitting the under hydrated soap on my face showed me what I was missing. That "residual slickness" that people talk about is, in my opinion, a sign of under hydrated lather. If you have residual slickness, it's just soap that wasn't hydrated properly and that slickness is the rinse water hitting that unused soap. Pasty lather be damned, still not a bad shave, just took a little longer and required more razor rinsing. In hindsight, a synth would've been a better brush choice to work the under hydrated lather.