LGSOTD 25-July

• Brush: Chisel and Hound - Brazier AP Gelousy #SHD
• Razor: Wolfman - WR2 1.25   
• Blade: Wizamet - Super Iridium  
• Lather: Noble Otter – ‘Tis The Season   
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – ‘Tis The Season AS

Christmas in July, wow I didn’t actually know that was a thing beyond the original movie, I had to Google it and got lost in wikipedia. Seemingly it’s spreading across the world and becoming yet another ‘movement’, who knew, certainly not me, guess I get to use the phrase ‘bah humbug’ early this year.  Saying that though, at least today gave me an excuse to bring out the NO set, bought for this past real christmas but it saw only a handful of uses, shame really.  It’s nice, a little reminiscent of a car air freshener, but it’s actually enjoyable.  One brief note on the setup pic, I bloody hate that elf, 3 years we've had to find a ridiculous number of different hiding places because this child has a memory like a steel trap, damn elf! 

Now for the challenge, this could go a couple of ways.  I could go the easier route and just use my left hand, there’s no real challenge in that one though.  The razor mainly guides itself and with a straight I use both hands anyway.  The other, I could ask the Mrs. I considered this one for a while and thought why not, let's see what she says.  So I sidled up to ask her whether she’ll shave me…I think I could have phrased that better and put it into context first but never mind.  After a very puzzled look and a brief explanation she kindly accepted. I then had to clarify further that she had to use her left hand, a little less sure but after first laying out the terms that any injuries I suffer from shaky hands are of my own doing she was still in, so in for a penny in for pound!  So as my special guest star, welcome Mrs Crossan1983's hand. My choice of razor could have been a bit better, the gap is large ish and she’s not overly familiar with DE’s beyond the crap no name one use I used for the #RAINBOW tags, but I was slated to use this anyway, so this could be fun.  

Can't share the video, but here are a handful of stills, the first couple with the look of shock is that she seemed to take the advice of shave the lather literally, the razor barely touched my skin.  I'll be absolutely honest, we had to stop at one pass, that one pass took 20 minutes, only my first forays into straights took that long. We had to keep stopping, one for her hand to stop shaking, several times because we were laughing and unsurprisingly, given the time it took, I had to reapply (the lather wasn't my best). But after all that I can safely say I won't be asking the Mrs to shave me again unless I'm in a coma, awful finish. That was good for a laugh so thank you for the challenge. 

Hope everyone has a closer shave than me and a cracking day. 

Cheers

Marc

#ROTY #PhotoContest

Player not only had his wife shave him for the daily challenge, but he had her use her non-dominant (left) hand.

July 25, 2023

• Brush: Dogwood Good Gully Maggard Black and White Synthetic 26mm #PREMIUMPLASTIC
• Razor: Razorock Game Changer .84
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (16)
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Almond Leather
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir

Santa Noir smells very distinctly pine-y and woody (with no hint of cat pee, thank you) with a green, resinous base that perfectly captures sitting in front of the Christmas tree with family opening presents. To my nose, this soap just smells like Christmas in a way nothing else does.

Today's challenge was not as difficult as I thought it might be. I had a little bit of trouble figuring out what to do on the first pass, but I was able to pretty quickly figure out how to use the razor in my left hand.

For the Premium Plastic tag, I assume this brush counts. I paid $75 for it, which included a synthetic knot when I bought it on the Southern Witchcrafts website.

​

July Christmas to the tune of White Christmas by Irving Berlin.

Lyrics:

I'm dreaming of a July Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the brush knots glisten

And shavers listen

To hear razors in the soap

I'm dreaming of a July Christmas

With every SOTD I write

May your shaves be merry and bright

And may all your razors shave right

User attempts weaseling way into premium plastic tag citing misleading information hoping djudge ignorant of Maggard black and white synth knot price.

User attempts weaseling way into premium plastic tag citing misleading information hoping djudge ignorant of Maggard black and white synth knot price.

July 25, 2023 – LG2023 Day Twenty Five – Christmas in July

• Brush: Kent – Barrel Shoddy Badger Knot
• Razor: Karve Overlander
• Blade: Polsilver (2)
• Lather: Mickey Lee Soapworks – Through the Woods
• Post Shave: Mickey Lee Soapworks – Through the Woods

Merry Christmas Wet Shavers Around The World

Through the woods has been my go to Christmas scent for the last couple of games so I’m not about to break that tradition today.

Now it’s July and Christmas has no business being even whispered at this time of year, anything to do with the festive season belongs in the loft or attic until December so with that in mind so does a Christmas Shave.

Hairykopite’s Attic Shave

First off sorry about having to see my ugly hairy face on camera, secondly sorry about the poor quality and my mumbling. It was my first video pretty much that didn’t have my feet in it so sorry for the poor effort. A special mention to the hairykopite family sick bowl used yet again for u/enndeegee s pleasure.

As I mentioned I was keen to drag one of the kids up and get them to shave me but that loft is a little tiny and I think they were disappointed enough in their dad.

Daily Challenge

As shown in the video I used my non dominant hand.

shaved in the attic where the christmas decorations live

shaved in the attic where the christmas decorations live

July 25, 2023

• Brush: Semogue SOC Taj Resin Premium Boar
• Razor: Karve Overlander SS
• Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Yellow (3)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Smoking Bishop
• Post Shave: Australian Private Reserve - Carnivale - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Noir De Noir EDP (sample)

“Smoking Bishop” is just awesome. Together with “Vespers”… wow! Two outstanding Christmas scents. I know what I will be using once the Lather Games is over.

Have a great day everyone!

Music:
“Nothing’s Free” - Angel Olsen Spotify / YouTube

July 25, 2023 – June Shaves

• Brush: Cayuen Abalone w/ 28mm Timberwolf Synthetic
• Razor: Titanium Henson +++, polished ("Forge of Mars Razor")
• Blade: Voskhod (1)
• Lather: 345 Soap Co. – Ol' Red
• Post-Shave: The Club – The Recipe

This is the second round with this soap, and in retrospect I should have chosen something else for the berry scent soap. But here we are again with a winder theme soap, containing notes of vanilla, nutmeg, raspberry, and fir needles. The soap base is adequate but not astounding, and I still get a decently smooth feeling from today's shave setup.

Non-dominant hand shave? Strengthen my ambidextrous prowess? Okay, now we've done that, and it's not too bad yet also not something I'd try on the regular. Good exercise, however. I'd also like to take a moment to thank The Powers Above that I have full functional control of both hands, so there's that.

#LatherGames #ChristmasInJuly

Bonus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlm1aajH6gY ← The Riemann Hypothesis, Explained

July 25, 2023 – Lefty Loosey

• Brush: Summer Break Soap “Dundy” 26mm Motherlode
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Noble Otter – Tis the Season
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Tis the Season

Growing up my dad taught me a very important phrase that has helped me countless times as I have done house projects or whatever – “Righty tighty, lefty loosey.” My shave could be summarized today as “lefty loosey.” Everything about this shave was loose – I felt like the razor was going to slip from my hand, the head wiggled because I’m so left-handed uncoordinated, and the whole shave just felt loose. Right handed? Tight. Crisp. Easy. Left? Not so much. For the first time in a looooong time I actually cut myself. It’s so hard to do anything consistently lefty.

That said, decent shave, but, not a great first pass. I under watered the first lather so it was kind of grabby. Grabby and loose is not a good combination for a 6am shave. My smush was small but the motherlode can whip up even the smallest of smushes into something beautiful by pass 2 and 3.

Tis the season is a scent that immediately whisks me away to Christmas time and I’m not complaining. Christmas with kids brought the magic of the season back in a unique way and I’ve loved it – cold weather and all.

I didn’t shave with my CH – though I have a bunch of times in the last week – but Cheers, Rob, you make great stuff and I love supporting your business!

FOF Haiku of the Day

Sweet Christmas Berries Whisk me back to Christmas Morn’ Musk, Apples, Magic

Lather Games Day 25- Ho! Ho! Ho!

• Brush: CaYuen 26mm Tuxedo
• Razor: 1959 Gillette Fatboy
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux (4)
• Lather: WSP - Peppermint
• Post Shave: Maol Grooming - Marlogue Wood splash

The theme of today's shave is to be a Christmas tree covered in candy canes. How does the soap meet the djudges approval? Well, WSP only markets this soap scent during the holiday season. It's not sold in the warmer weather months. Just because the lid looks like that melted Brachs Peppermint candy you pulled out of your grandma's purse in the dead of summer (that might also have a Tabac-y note to it as well), does not mean that this scent is anything other than a winter scent. And Marlogue Wood does a damn fine job of making you smell like a friggin' tree with top notes of Balsam Fir Needle, Cedarwood, Atlas Cedarwood and Ho Wood. I smell pretty strange for a warm summer day, but these are the things we do for our Shaving Overlords. I guess smelling like the dead of winter in July is easier than, say, shaving at a restaurant or in a 36 degree bathtub or drinking your stubble. And I took my SOTD picture using my vintage tinsel tree so I'm definitely on theme today.

On to today's challenge to shave left handed.

First and foremost, there needs to be a theme song for these shenanigans and Entombed was more than happy to provide the theme song.

Now, it's time to get shaving. For topographical reference, I'm right handed which corresponds to the side with my crow tattoos. But today, it's all about the left hand which corresponds to the Japanese lillies on my shoulder. For those of you playing along, both shoulders were shaved smooth during Leg Day and are now far more presentable to our djudges for this exercise.

Let's shave, shall we? First pass WTG was pretty easy on the left side. I mean how hard can it be to just shave downward on the same side? Moving over to the right side of the face proved to be a bit more challenging but was successful, albeit sloooooowwwww. I couldn't get pictures of the second XTG pass because my left hand was feeling far too uncoordinated and shaky for me to concentrate on taking a picture while shaving. But, it was done. And without blood. I actually managed a BBS shave considering 1) this soap lacks serious slickness and 2) I have zero coordination with the left.

In the end, I realized I can shave lefty if I have to, but why would I want to do that? Oh yea, I want points. I the respect of the djudges. I want the self-esteem boost that comes from knowing that I didn't wuss out of a Lather Games challenge. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (in July).

July 25, 2023 – Month of Lather Day 25

• Brush: DS Cosmetics Jade Green handle w/ DSC 24mm SHD G7 Synthetic knot
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (3)
• Preshave: Stirling Soap Co. – Unscented
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Smoking Bishop
• Post Shave: Zingari Man – Unscented Balm
• Fragrance: Ralph Lauren - Polo Red Intense EdT
• Music: Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes - Let's Just Do It

Daily Theme: B&M's marketing for Smoking Bishop: "Smoking Bishop refers to a pleasing punch served in Victorian homes during the winter season... Whip some up today and be transported to a Dickensian Christmas".

The Challenge: After recovering from the shock of reading today's challenge (and ignoring any conspiracy thoughts fermenting in my brain), I got down to solving the task at hand. I'm left-eye dominant but I write (and shave) with my right hand. I perform many tasks left-handed (including hockey which I sucked at it but loved playing) so why can't I shave lefty? Recognizing that I would need to focus on the razor orientation in order to follow my grain patterns, I reasoned that a razor with a neutral-ish blade exposure and a mild-ish blade gap would be best because I didn't trust myself to always keep the shave angle in a safe zone. The Tech is my most forgiving razor so it was chosen.

The Shave: Today's shave was surprisingly enjoyable. The Omnibus base was great as always. Not having to worry about the lather I rode the cap of the Tech and after two passes (WTG, then ATG with very minor cleanup) I survived with a nick/burn-free SAS. The most difficult part of the Leftorium Challenge was getting my right hand to contribute to the shave. With enough practice, left-handed shaving could become a new tool in my shaving tool kit. #ROTY

Christmas in July... but in June
Prep: Warm Shower
Brush: AP Shave Co - 30mm Cashmere Synthetic
Razor: Henson AL13 - Medium
Blade: Voskhod
Lather: Noble Otter - The Night Before - Soap
Post Shave: water rinse
Fragrance: Azzaro Onyx
A terrific holiday season soap. The fragrance has some juniper and it smells good. Have a good day everyone.

Jul 25, 2023

• Prep: A hot shower

• Brush: Yaqi - 24mm POOKA - HD Tuxedo Synthetic

• Razor: Rockwell - 6S Plate 5

• Blade: Derby Extra ()

• Lather: Red House Farm - SEDONA - Full Size

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Santa Noire - Balm

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Santa Noire - Splash

• Fragrance: None

I hope that my choice of soap today counts, as it is very Juniper forward in its scent.

I’m left handed, so switching to my right hand was awkward to say the least. I confess, my last pass was done normally so I could clean up the bits that were not up to par.

Today I hit the Katy trail in Missouri for a week long bike tour. It’s going to be hot out there. Wish me luck!

Jul. 25, 2023
Brush: AP ShaveCo Synbad
Razor: Razorock Game Changer .68
Blade: Wizamet SI
Lather: Barrister And Mann - Taiga - Soap
Post Shave: Noble Otter - Bare - Aftershave
Post Shave: Ariana & Evans - Post Shave Balm - Balm

I got this smoosh in a trade for last year’s lather games for this day. I stored it in a ziploc bag with my other samples and busted it out today and smooshed it into a lid of a Stirling sample jar. It lost some of its moisture but I was surprised at how well it lasted in storage and that it still had scent, though I’m unsure how strong the scent is supposed to be. There’s still some left, maybe I’ll just put the lid back on the sample jar and wait for next year’s lather games and see how it survives another year.

I shave with different hands depending on what side of the face I’m shaving, so the shave itself was only a bit awkward. I did, however, opt to load my brush and face lather with my non dominant hand. Loading was comical.

11 shaves on this blade too, started to feel like it was starting to struggle on the chin but though today.

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

July 25, 2023 – Christmas Day

• Brush: Summer Break Confidence B9a
• Razor: Rockwell 6s
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (1)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Scots Pine Sheep
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Scots Pine Sheep
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps – Woodshop

I smell like a tree, the end.

2023-07-25 Non-dominant hand opposite Christmas (July in June)

• Brush: Maggard Razors - Maggard Blue Swirl, Timberwolf Synthetic, 24mm
• Razor: Ikon Razors - Ikon Short Comb with Bulldog 80 mm handle
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum, DE
• Lather: Dr. John's - Krampus
• Post Shave: Dr. John’s – Krampus

So how is this nightmare looking dude related to Christmas?

Historical Background - [quick overview] A northern European traditional character associated with the Christmas season. Where St. Nicholas (roughly equatable with Sinter Klaus or Santa Claus) rewards the good children with toys and nice things. The Krampus instead hits the bad children with a switch or possibly even kidnaps them. Sort of a good cop / bad cop situation.

Think of the Krampus in terms of diplomacy. The phrase "carrot and stick" applies. You give something useful or wanted (carrot) and prod with a threat or consequence (stick) in order to get the other party to do what you want.

St. Nick or Santa Claus is the "Carrot" = Toys and Gifts

The Krampus "Stick" = getting hit by a stick or possibly kidnapped.

The other party you are negotiating with = your kid.

Today's Challenge:

For as otherwise relatively useless my non-dominate left hand is it does quite well with shaving and decently with typing. So things went well. I often do my left side of my face with my left hand anyway. Extending it to the right side is not so bad. Also, despite being really efficient and an open comb today's razor is actually quite forgiving.

Scent notes: Holiday - Scent notes: cider, berries, honey, myrrh, anise (and fear!)

​

Take care and have a good one.

Edit: typo

July 25, 2023 – Christmas in July

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Maggard Razors MR7/V3
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (3)
• Lather: Noble Otter – Tis the Season
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Vespers

I got the Noble Otter ‘Tis the Season last year to replace my nearly empty tub of Christmas Eve, which has been my prior go-to for the holiday season. I enjoy this and NO is always great to use. Pairing with Vespers, which also gives off the Christmas vibe. These holiday shaves during the summer are always interesting. It seems so strange to go around all day smelling like pine trees and Santa while sweating balls in the sweltering summer heat. Someone should make a Christmas in July scent that smells like a combination of frankincense, myrrh and ball sweat.

For the daily challenge, this isn’t really much of a challenge for me. I shave a fair amount with my left hand already. I’m not ambidextrous, by any stretch, but I’m pretty functional with my left, so an easy day. I do find that when I shave with my left I hold the razor very near the head, as opposed to closer to the middle of the handle with my right.

July 25, 2023 – Lather games day 25 – AKA Northern Quebec is still on fire – happy xmas in July!

• Brush: r/wetshaving Zentih MOAR BOAR 31mm
• Razor: Blackland Vector
• Blade: Feather Pro (AC) (9)
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir

Needed a head shave today. Tusk is always in order for that. Santa Noir checks all the boxes for today’s theme, so why not dickhole it? I like matchy-matchy if that’s not already apparent. For my first pass I treaded very carefully with my left hand (non-dominant) and actually succeeded without harming myself, or the cat. This vector is so damn efficient that if it were not for touch-ups and my fastidiousness to get a perfect head shave I could have maybe left it at one pass with the wrong hand. Who am I kidding? Definitely needed to finish things off right.

Merry summer Christmas, or something like that…

#PhotoContest

July 25, 2023 – LG Day 25 – Christmas in July but in June but actually in July

• Brush: Zenith r/wetshaving Exclusive MOAR Boar – 31mm
• Razor: Razorock Mamba 70
• Blade: Lord Extra
• Lather: Wet the Face – It’s a Wonderful Shave
• Post Shave: Wet the Face – It’s a Wonderful Shave
• Fragrance: Declaration Grooming – Chaotic Neutral

—

Scene: u/J33pGuy13, a man living in Banana Falls, has always dreamed of traveling and exploring the world, but life’s circumstances have led him to stay and run his late father’s business, a modest shaving supplies store.

As J33p grows older, he faces challenge after challenge, leaving him feeling disillusioned and unfulfilled. One Christmas Eve, overwhelmed by financial difficulties caused by a misplaced deposit, J33p reaches his breaking point and contemplates ending his life, thinking that the world would be better off without him.

However, an angel named u/djundjila intervenes and shows J33p what life would have been like if he had never been born. As J33p witnesses the devastating effects his absence would have on his family, friends, and the entire town, he begins to realize the profound impact he has had on people’s lives, even through his small acts of kindness.

Throughout his journey with Djundjila, J33p discovers that his passion for wet shaving is not merely a hobby but a gift he shares with others. He understands that by providing people with quality shaving products and advice, he brings joy and confidence to their lives. Whether it’s a young man preparing for his first shave or an elderly gentleman reminiscing about the good old days, J33p’s presence and expertise have made a significant difference.

As the realization dawns upon J33p, he sees that his purpose in life is to be a source of comfort, camaraderie, and guidance for the people around him. Embracing his role as the ~~Discord server’s~~ town’s beloved wet shaving expert, J33p learns to appreciate the simple joys and the impact of connection with others.

On Christmas morning, J33p returns to a changed Banana Falls, where friends and neighbors have come together to show their gratitude and support. His store is filled with customers, and the community rallies to help him overcome his financial struggles. Through the magic of wet shaving, J33pGuy13 finds his purpose and realizes that life is truly wonderful when we embrace our unique contributions to the lives of others.

—

Brief #FOF and challenge talk:

It’s a Wonderful Shave (which is a "holiday release") is a balsam bomb. There is certainly some sort of floral notes which are pleasant, but I’m not sure what that is as “winter flowers” implies poinsettias (which smell bad) and mistletoe (which has no scent). The splash is more balsam-heavy than the soap, so I doubled down with the dickhole to keep it festive. The frag is where things went wrong. I was hoping the pleasant, amber scent would blend nicely with the florals and balsam, because who doesn’t like sipping tea in front of a fire at Christmastime (okay, me, but I don’t like tea). This just didn’t work. The scents clash. I’m disappointed, but at least I didn’t do a heavy spray this morning, so the evergreens are what are sticking around.

Regarding the challenge, I first considered using my partner’s hand to shave. But, she was asleep, and having her help for this challenge would mean her waking up two and a half hours early, which didn’t seem like a good idea for marital peace, happiness, unity and whatnot.

I then asked my cat to help. She was not amused.

So, I had to go the boring route and shave with my right hand. I’ve done this before (for the games), and it’s not fun, but doable. I used a mild razor just to be safe, as the skull around the backs of the ears is an easy nick. Back to my left hand tomorrow.

Player rewrites It's A Wonderful Life's plot to be about J33p.

Player rewrites It's A Wonderful Life's plot to be about J33p.

Today I shaved with Stirling Christmas Eve. I used my Maggard/AP brush and a Baili 3 piece with a Personna blade. I followed up with Stirling Barbershop aftershave and a shot of Christmas Eve edt. I always use both hands to shave, so I tried to use a foot, but wasn’t flexible enough.

July 25, 2023 – Christmas in July but in June

• Brush: WildWestBrushworks Brenly SHD
• Razor: Maggard Slant
• Blade: Astra SP (Green)
• Lather: Mickey Lee Soapworks – Through the Woods
• Post Shave: Mickey Lee Soapworks – Through the Woods

Lefty shave, not as bad as I thought. MLS winter soap. Base is felling dated.

2023-07-23 What is Winter?

• Brush: Maggard Razors - Black Resin Handle Tuxedo
• Razor: Henson AL13 Medium #CNC
• Lather: Noble Otter - Northern Elixir
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Frozen Tundra
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir

Christmas in July:
To quote the product description from Noble Otter: "Man, fuck summer! Summer is scorching death that will kill your children! Elixir is all about winter! Bring back the cool winter air!

Relevant Post-Shave and Fragrance: (All are on-theme)
Similarly, the Frozen Tundra description says a bunch of words about football that I don't understand, leading up to "the scent and feel of earth in winter."
Finally, in u/mammothben's incomparable eloquence, "Santa Noir loves Christmas like an exquisite and expensive prostitute from the wilds of Canada." After that, though, I got confused by the sequence of words "soft woody" and lost concentration.

I don't know, I'm tired.

#photocontest
Photo: Water. Cold, hard water.
In honor of the two weeks out of the year during which we momentarily pretend that the sun it's not trying to destroy all life on the planet (Wait, you guys get more than two weeks? So, like, 20 days?!)
To achieve this, I put some water in a comal and stuck that in my freezer. That's a comal, by the way. I didn't really think through how I was going to get the ice out, but a few seconds with the back of the pan under running cold water popped it right out.

Speaking of thermal stuff, here's a neat thing about aluminum: it's a ridiculous heat conductor. That's why you can put stuff in the oven on aluminum foil, and just grab the foil with your bare hands. That's also why the razor just melted itself cozily right into the ice.

And then why not plop that slab of ice right into the bathroom sink, incidentally working in last year's Menthol Day challenge. I know, it doesn't quite say "this guy needs therapy; look at that desperate call for help" like filling a tub of ice (I kid), but... I don't have a bathtub!

#FOF
My overall impression of Northern Elixir is that the peppermint is pretty overpowering, but I'm also not a big fan of peppermint, so take from that what you will. I admit, though, that it ties in quite nicely with the lavender and eucalyptus, the latter of which blends in with subtlety against a backdrop of similarly hard-to-detect cedar.

Frozen Tundra is exactly what it says on the tin. I suspect another mint (is it in the same line as the snowman-punch scents?), and then whatever the earthiness is brings it, uh, down to earth in such a way that the suspected mint isn't too prominent. And if I'm wrong about mint, then, uh, nevermind.

Santa Noir isn't really comparable to the others, but it independently fits with the theme (obvs). It's a glorious scent that I kick myself for barely missing getting a full bottle of. I normally think of it as being generally season-agnostic while being especially suitable for the corresponding holiday, but I'm feeling expecially Christmassy with it blending with the other scents.

Challenge Accepted: Ah, yes, the ol' reliable Lefty Day. I expect a number of shaves performed with wives', children's, and dolls' left hands. I would have tried to enlist my cat, but I don't know which is her dominant side and she refuses to answer my questions.

But back to the topic of reading comprehension: Wouldn't you know it, just yesterday u/sdrdddy wrote an explanation all about what makes the Henson perfect for Lefty Day, locking in that blade angle even for the most maladroit of shavers!
In fact, I had already chosen the Henson for Left Day for exactly that reason. Am I getting better at the left-handed shave? Maybe, but it's still utterly impossible to lather with the left hand. Humanly impossible. Anyway, here's another intentionally-out-of-focus timelapse in a mirror, in which the lather is done with my dominant hand and the shave with the other.

The Henson actually gets me a remarkably smooth shave most of the time, today included. If I do u/AirBudRuler's Easy August thing, this will be the razor.

2023-07-25 Lather Games SOTD

• Brush: SHAVE⭐DANDY St Vincent (26x55mm Synth)
• Razor: Feather Artist Club SS
• Blade: Kai Captain Mild ProTouch MG (13)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Vespers - Soap
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Vespers - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Azzaro pour Homme Elixir

Christmas-green brush; razor and fragrance that I received as Christmas gifts; and Christmas-market inspired soap and splash from Mr Carius. The Azzaro fragrance is a sort of sweet-spiced, tonka-vanilla affair with a bit of crisp blackcurrant up front and a hint of spicy Azzaro pour Homme in the background. I cannot for the life of me smell the "pear" note in it. Smells really gorgeous in cold winter air on a sunny snowy December day, and deliciously cozy sitting in front of the fire with a good book. Probably one of my most frequently-used frags for winter.

I'm using a shavette today and I do so ambidextrously. Does that count for the challenge of the day? I honestly don't know - I will have to confer with the Challenge crew.

July 25, 2023 - Left handed Christmasy shave

• Brush: Omega S-Brush
• Razor: GEM OCMM
• Blade: GEM PTFE (35)
• Lather: Noble Otter - 'Tis the Season
• Alum: Osma
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - 'Tis the Season
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Taum Sauk (not pictured)

'Tis the Season is THE scent of Christmas to me. It smells like a pine tree, but with a bit of sweetness from raspberry and vanilla and a kiss of savory rosemary. That addition may sound weird, but it works. It all comes together as a warm, cozy scent reminiscent of Christmas morning with your family.

I originally had my Kamisori shavette slated for today because it's green to go with my red brush, but thought better of it when I saw the challenge. I think this gold colored brass OCMM looks better with the labels anyway. The left handed shave went surprisingly smooth considering the 35 use blade (left over from AA last year. I figured I would see how far I could push this one). Taum Sauk topped it all off with its lovely woodsy cedar and vanilla aroma.

Chisel & Hound brushes are great. I love Rob's style and how he uses different materials and techniques in his creations. While I didn't use one of my four C&H brushes today (I wanted to color coordinate with the label in my SOTD pic), I always enjoy them when I do. Keep up the good work u/geekyoldrob!

July 25, 2023 – Christmas in July, Secret of Santa

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 22mm Faux Horse w/ Ruby Ripple Handle #fauxfur
• Razor: Gillette Slim #dial
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (3)
• Lather: Siliski Soaps – Santa’s Pipe
• Post Shave: Chiseled Face – Santa Paula
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Rose Santal

Ah Christmas. Wonderful time of the year. So great it’s starting to sneak up sooner each year. I see Christmas stuff for sale before Halloween now, usually at Sam’s. So Christmas in July may end up being accurate in a few years at this rate.

For today’s theme I chose Santa’s Pipe. I mean it just screams Christmas in the name. Now, as far as I can tell the type of pipe is not specified, but given another magical Christmas character, Frosty the snowman smoked a corn cob pipe, and I live in Missouri, home of a corn cob pipe company I’m inclined to believe Santa also smoked such a pipe. And in honor of this, not only will I shave with my non-dominant hand for the challenge, I have brought out my old cob pipe for this shave. (picture is neck up, so SFW-ish) Alas, I have no pipe tobacco anymore so I’ll have it just keep it for a phantom smoke. Add a red brush for Santa’s jacket and this is a Christmas themed shave. Even has a present. A loaner razor from u/Chronnoisseur420 so I can get a bit of a point. I set it to 1, did 2 left hand passes, turned it to 2, did a 3rd and ended up with a surprisingly good shave, even if I had trouble finding the angle. Not sure I’ll switch to an adjustable, but it was fun for one use. Glad the shave went well because it's not like tomorrow's will be enjoyable.

For #fof, the soap gives me peaches and cherry when lathered and that and the EdT go surprisingly well with the citrus in Santa Paula but they all also have a theme. All of their names contain the word “Santa” in the name. Just ignore the extra L. Continuing my trend with the Chatillon Lux scents, these tie a bit into my own experience. This scent is described as being inspired by Henry Shaw’s travels before returning to Saint Louis. It’s a testament to the impact of Shaw’s legacy in STL that Shawn has not one but 2 scents that can be traced back it him in some way. (The other being YRP, which is inspired by “Shaw’s Garden” what the Missouri Botanical Garden was called for years of my youth.)

For #photocontest, I’m running out of ideas. So here’s “Royalty.” anyone with kids my age will recognize the child versions of the queens of Arendelle, Elsa and Ana. Could have chosen any of my daughter’s Disney princesses, but for the winter themes I went with the ice queen. And put them in front of our Christmas tree with my son’s adult Elsa version (he’s a copy cat of his sister sometimes and wanted in on the fun l) for good measure.

Keep slogging my fellow #ROTY well have winner soon.

Edit almost forgot hardware tags.

Tue Jul 25 2023

• Prep: A hot shower
• Razor: Merkur - 34C HD
• Blade: BiC Chrome Platinum
• Brush: Perfecto Badger
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Druantia Soap
• Post Shave: Pinaud - Clubman AS Lotion

Out of town today. So not my normal good shave. But i enjoyed the shave.

ROTY

Lather games 2023 day 25

• Prep: Warm water
• Brush: Mühle - Rytmo
• Razor: Mühle - Rytmo R41
• Blade: Voskhod
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Christmas Eve
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Christmas Eve
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Christmas Eve
• Post Shave: Osma - alum block

Christmas for me is not the same since I have to buy the presents. So let's leave this jungle bells a side. Another Stirling! I love this brand!!! This soap Smell like Christmas tree when you put decoration. No pie no cookies no hot chocolate with marshmallows. I don't like This scent like I like "Ozark Mountain ". Evergreens, fresh but still this one is OK the Ozark can sniff all day! I choose again Mühle Rytmo set coz I think that match with Christmas atmosphere wood and shiny things!!! And to give deserved to this set. I love this R41. Time to time I use my left hand for..... Various things..... And it is not so unfamiliar to me so today challenge was not so..... Hard ;)

ROTY

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

• Razor: Blackland Blackbird

• Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir

• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - Whispered Myths

Today's Theme: Christmas in July - well Santa Noir has a santa hat on the label so I think we're good here.

Today's Challenge: Leftorium Challenge - I'm left handed. Most people in my life know this. What you don't know but likely could have guessed, is that I was dropped as a baby. No brain damage on record but I did break my right wrist, so all my fine motor skills development went to my left hand even though my right hand has all the power and would likely have been my dominant hand. So today I shaved using only my right hand.

Why did I use the a very efficient razor like the Blackbird instead of something a bit safer like a tech (like how /u/AdWorried2804 so smartly chose)? Well I'd like to say it's because I ain't no scrub. But truth be told it's because I took my SOTD photo before I checked the daily challenge and I don't do retakes. Small nick on my upper lip but otherwise an OK shave after my brain adjusted to moving the razor around with my other hand.

My theme for today's shave: Santa's Not Real

For today's shave, Santa Noir was an obvious choice, and I wanted to contemplate the role of mythology in our lives, so Whispered Myths from Imaginary Authors felt appropriate. Being that we're all of shaving age here, I think it's safe to assume we're all aware of Santa Claus' mythological status, the history behind sinterklass, saint nicholas, krampus, and the whole holiday's pagan origins. If not, then oops.

I do find that these shared mythologies which we attribute context and causality to the regular events in our lives are something that not only simplify things, but give us all an opportunity to share joy. Whether it's Halloween's spooky ghosts, Christmas' Santa Claus, Easter's bunny, or any other of the holiday-adjacent mascots that give context to our lives, I find great joy in being able to let go of being so firmly rooted in reality and just enjoying the fantasy of some holiday mascot becoming real for one day a year.

For music, I picked Therion's Secret of the Runes album which is basically just symphonic metal about different aspects of Norse mythology. Great album that - in conjunction with Deggial - really helped shaped the direction of the band ever since they transitioned away from black metal. #photocontest #FOF #ROTY

https://imgur.com/a/pNTgdnx

• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Eigengrau Soap
• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Gold Ball-End Tech
• Blade: Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge Yellow
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Carpathia AS

Mmmm...winter. Sounds awesome because it's hot and humid outside right now. Einengrau is an amazing winter scent. Snowfall in an evergreen forest at twilight. And not super wet slushy stuff...fresh powder. It's marvelous.

Onto the challenge, I shaved with my left. It was ok, not great. I went slower and my technique wasn't great, but I made it through with no cuts. There's a guitar dude I follow that wanted the new guitar player experience, so he decided to learn to play left handed. This was kinda like that, clumsy and not as great...although it gets the job done. Reminds me of me from when I started shaving with a DE a few years ago.

Have a great day folks!

July 25, 2023

​

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Trotter Handcrafts Bone Classic G5C
• Razor: Chiseled Face Legacy Aluminum
• Blade: Personna 74 (5)
• Lather: Stirling - Scots Pine Sheep
• Post Shave: Cooper & French - Santa's Workshop
• Fragrance: None

Shout out again to /u/Priusaurus for the Scots Pine Sheep; a fine pine-y Xmas tree scent. Whipped up the lather with a brand new Trotter synthetic, the handle is nice and heavy. Diving further into Xmas in July by topping of the shave with some Santa's Workshop balm, one of the few items I've bought again once the first ran out. Really puts you in the spirit when you're cooling off by the air conditioner after.

​

For today's challenge, I went with my non-dominant hand for the entire shave. I have some experience using the other hand from using a straight, so it wasn't too bad, maybe a little more awkward since the CF Legacy needs a wider angle.

​

Until tomorrow!

#ROTY

July 25, 2023 – LG23 Day 25: Sapo’s Christmas in Djuly Revenge

• Brush: AKA Brushworx “Mr. Green J33p” Oumo ACE 26mm
• Razor: Gillette Contract Tech
• Blade: Astra SP (Green) (4)
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir

My friend Sapo was a bit unnerved that he was not mentioned in the Week 3 Lather Games Podcast. He makes his return to ̶e̶n̶a̶c̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶v̶e̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶D̶j̶u̶d̶g̶e̶s̶ help me with the Daily Challenge

Merry Christmas in Djuly! Christmas is always bittersweet for me. It harkens back to 1977. In December that year I lost my grandfather. My shaving buddy, if you will. Whenever we visited I got to watch him shave with his Remington Electric and I was always the recipient of a splash of English Leather. That included when he visited us, as he brought it in his travel kit. Fast forward to 2007 and it was in December that I lost my grandmother. Thankfully I still have memories, fleeting as they may be.

Today’s shave is a fantastic trio from u/mammothben and came out at Christmas time last year. A well done tribute to pine, if you ask me, and a great shave despite the vengeful outcome from Sapo.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s annual visit to Djonut’s Djelicatessen!

Edit: #PHOTOCONTEST LIGHT

Sock puppet returns from Day 19 to help Donut with his Leftorium challenge - Sapo angy he no get podcast mention! Sapo AAAAAAANGYYYYYYY!

7/25/23

• Brush: Farvour Turn Crafts w/ C&H v12 Fanchurian
• Razor: Ralf Aust 6/8, Full Hollow Spanish Point
• Lather: Noble Otter - The Night Before
• Post Shave: Wholly Kaw - Amber Bomba Aftershave Splash

I got smush of TNB from u/J33pGuy13 and I actually really liked it. The Frankincense and Myrrh really stood out to me, as well as the sandalwood. In the back I got hints of the vanilla, amber, and fir. It was more incense-y to me than it was christmas feeling. Zero complaints, this is the kind of scent I'd wear year round.

To pair with it I chose Amber Bomba. The AB label I think really does a good job of giving you an idea about this scent. The warm light of candles in the night. Not only did I think the amber, cinnamon, honey, and vanilla would fit well with TNB, I also felt that vibe really captures those Christmas nights, at least for me anyways. The kind of nights that followed a day of family fun. Kids are all worn out and sleeping and the night is ending just chilling out in soft light from the tree and candles with the Mrs. The two paired well together.

Todays challenge wasn't the hardest, but it also wasn't the easiest. I never use my left hand to shave. I strictly stick to my right, as I can comfortably and confidently get a great shave out of it. I didn't nick myself any and I don't have any razor burn, but I can certainly feel some of the spots where I didn't get near as close as I typically do. Overall the shave was fine, nothing to right home to Mom about or anything.

#ROTY

LG23-25: Christmas in July

• Brush: Chisel & Hound 26mm Timberwolf
• Razor: Timeless Ti95 .95 DC Matte
• Blade: Voskhod (16)
• Lather: Macduffs Soap Company - Christmas Cabin - Shave Soap
• Post Shave: Lather Bros. - Lone Bear - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Blackbird - Triton
• Passes: WTG, XTG
• Coffee: Peru, Cajamara - v: Geisha - p: Washed.
• Music: Woody Goss - A Very Vulfy Christmas
• LG Tags: #FOF

Shave with a non-dominant hand. I've fallen for that challenge before and I know how it ends: red slashes on my face. I barely have enough eye-hand coordination to shave this handsome mug with the hand that's supposed to know what it's doing.

So what's a guy to do? Skip the daily challenge? Of course not! Not this late in the game.

One of the likely-unintended lessons I learned from our recent leg shaving challenge is that while I need to lather and shave for the Daily Theme Points, I don't need to shave my face. So I used my non-dominant hand to shave my dominant one. (I shaved my face too, but with my right.)

I'll admit that my hands aren't quite yeti paws, but there's plenty of hair on the top of my fingers, and even more getting towards my wrist. At least there was. Now the top of my right hand is silky-smooth. I needed to return for a few passes of touch-up to get everything with my open-comb Timeless; apparently the direction of growth on my fingers is all over the place. It's all against-the-grain.

Now's a good time to thank u/Specialist-Quiet-833 for the sample of Christmas Cabin I used to lather up 'ol Reliable Right. I haven't tried many Macduffs products, but I'd like to work through more of their catalogue. The brand thoughtfully composes original scents with an eye to classic perfumery and IFRA guidelines, has a very good soap base, and puts in the extra effort on their packaging (including detailed labels on the side of the tub). I don't think Sean's scent preferences align perfectly with mine—especially his sweeter scents—but I've appreciated the nuanced execution of every MacDuffs composition I've tried.

For example, I like his take on Christmas scents, which include a better-than-most cherry tobacco. This one from his Cabin series is a remote getaway full of family and friends celebrating Christmas, warm from the oven running all day, and fragrant with the smell of spiced holiday bakes. It smells almost exactly like a bed and breakfast I stayed in for a few days after my wife and I married, which kept scented candles burning, stocked excellent scented bar soap, and always had freshly-baked cookies in the lobby. Cashmere brings a creamy texture that didn't work for me in a gourmand MacDuffs scent; paired with cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon here, it alludes to the winter holidays' most comforting traditions. I also appreciate that Christmas Cabin prioritizes texture over sweetness, and spice over fruitiness, even using a small amount of oud in the woody base to add complexity. Not my favorite Christmas scent in wet shaving, but well done.

Following up my cozy-cabin shave, I thought about how the strongest feelings of yuletide hygge correspond with the coldest days of the year. To complete the scene, I recreated the harsh chill outside our titular Christmas Cabin with my aftershave and fragrance. Both smell cold, but go about suggesting frigid landscapes in totally different ways.

Lone Bear cleverly uses rosemary, frankincense, and frangipani to create a cooling scent that doesn't rely on the usual eucalytus or mint notes (though it is mentholated). It smells clean and pretty—pristine snow, covering the landscape in brilliant white dunes, coating the trees in crystal and sparkling powder. (In our particular cabin scene, there's probably not a polar bear, but the landscape fits.) Complex frankincense centers this accord, frangipani lends it floral sweetness, and rosemary and menthol provide freshness and texture. It's a perfect aftershave scent.

Unlike Lone Bear, Triton imagines harsh terrain that never thaws, smelling brittle, raw, and wind-blown. Blackbird's unique spin on cold-smelling fragrances (named after Neptune's ice-covered moon) uses diverse floral, mineral, and woody notes to achieve this. A strong black pepper note hits my nose immediately and persists throughout the drydown. Incense, cedar, and vetiver reinforce that note with a pungent bite, filled out by a subtle floral accord that I can't parse (Blackbird lists violet leaf, mimosa, and iris root). Almost absent of sweetness, Triton reminds me of both Dawn Spencer Hurwitz's Snowy Owl (Zoologist) and Will's Eigengrau, though it's less mint-vanilla fresh than the former and less mossy than the latter. There's only ice, gem, stone, and atmosphere here, smelling beautifully untarnished by growth of any kind.

Like I planned, it makes that Christmas Cabin seem cozier than ever.

• Brush: Van Der Hagen Boar Brush
• Razor: Parker Clip-Type Shavette Dark Sheesham Wood Handle
• Blade: Treet Carbon Steel "Black Beauties"
• Lather: Black Ship - Wassail

ROTY

July 25th 2023 - Lather Games Day 25

• Brush: Zenith MOAR BOAR
• Razor: GEM G-Bar
• Blade: GEM PTFE (12)
• Lather: Ariana and Evans - Christmas Coquito
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Orbit
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir

Happy Christmas in July everyone. I went with a trio of vaguely winter products that don't have a lot in common. Christmas Coquito is a nostalgic scent for me as I saw someone offer it up in a wickededge thread because they didn't like the scent. I jumped on the offer and they sent me the soap and splash for free. So it was my first artisan wetshaving scent and I spent a few months thinking the hot face I got from the soap (probably from the cinnamon) was normal for all artisanal soaps. I got about 75% through the tub over the course of a month or two before ordering some other soaps and tossing the rest of the tub out, but not before scooping some into a sample container that I delve into once a year during Christmas day in Lather Games. And the shave was fine, I overslept today so I did a quick two passes (and didn't have time for a photo) but the lather was fine and the hot face helped wake me up.

I did my passes with my left hand, and it wasn't bad. Easy challenge.

July 25, 2023

• Brush: Holzleute – Silvertip badger
• Razor: Böker – King cutter
• Lather: Red House Farm – 9 Days up Nort’
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts – Druantia
• Fragrance: Roberto Cavalli – Paradise found

Dear diary,

today the ~~bullies~~ djudges made me shave with my non dominant hand. They told me to give me 0.22 points if I do so. You know that I love my points and do a lot of things to get them.
The other contestants and me, we are like Gollum, like the guy from trainspotting, we can’t stop thinking about points and shitpositing.

#FOF
Soap:
Remember the peaceful times without djudges? When we went fishing with our dad. Waking up in the dark, too young to read the clock. Driving to a pond in the cold. The first hours of the day, we stayed in the car. Sleeping, playing Game Boy. Then later going out and walking through the nearby Forrest, the snow cracking under our oversized boots. 9 days up north is the essence of that winter forrest poured into soap. Since it is so (snow) woody, it matches the only brush with a visible wooden handle. Our holzleute badger.
We lack experienced with the brush and the soap, but after a minute, we had good lather to start this shave.

Shave:
Horrible. Awfull. I did not capture that shave on video like last year for the djudges to record my suffering. (Dear djudge, you don't have to watch the video as it's from last year, but it explains my troubles visually, maybe you want to see me suffer. You do you)
This year, I used a smaller razor, but the problems stay the same. I can’t go with the grain on my right cheek, so we started XTG. But we can not go ATG on my right neck and vice versa. I did three passes with double XTG on my right cheek, started ATG on my left neck and was waiting for the blade to flip over and give me a really deep cut into my chin. At certain spots, I had to push the blade over my skin. Somehow I dodged to joker myself. I did a fourth pass and shaved some stubble on my neck with my dominant hand. If I would not have done that, I would have gone mad whenever I touched my face.
God damn, I am so full of anger at this shave. I thought we were done with the shitty shaves? NO!

Aftershave:
Druantia was listed in last years calender as a winter scent. In my opinion it is not explicitly wintery, but as the djudges say, I will follow and thank you for this pairing idea.
The wet moss fits the forrest of 9 days up north very well.

Fragrance:
Paradise found is sweet green with pepper notes. It reminds me of a cake we often eat here on christmas markets and can buy a lot in the supermarkets from october on. This christmas cake belongs to winter like snow.

Jul. 25, 2023 - Ye Old Christmas!

• Prep: CeraVe - Hydrating Facial Cleanser

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Mighty Duck v19 Fanchurian

• Razor: Gillette Ranger Tech

• Blade: Personna P74 (1)

• Lather: Noble Otter - ‘Tis the Season

• Post Shave: Osma - Alum

• Fragrance: Imaginary Authors - Memoirs Of A Trespasser

All it takes is one glance at this tub to know it fits todays theme! Noble Otters label art is incredible and this is no exception! The otter dressed up as Santa is perfect. This was the first time I’ve used this after picking it up on a great sale, it completely takes me to Christmas sitting next to the tree. The pine sticks out on top with a great sweet raspberry and vanilla undertone. Memoirs of a Trespasser just boosts the vanilla and wood of this soap and brings me to December. December is exactly where I want to be right now because it’s 93F today and I’m sweating my balls off smelling like a Christmas tree…just perfect 😂

I had planned on using a different brush today but after seeing todays sponsor I swapped to this brush. This is my only “nice” brush and I am absolutely in love with the v19 knot! I know it’s not a hand tied knot but it’s a huge improvement from the two band badger I had before!

I distinctly remember this daily challenge from the past 2 Lather Games and my experience from today is very similar. The actual act of shaving went pretty well, slower than normal but only one tiny bleeder. Lathering with my left hand was an absolute nightmare! Something about that circular motion to load the brush just doesn’t click for me.

As a part of my #photocontest theme of #history I broke out my only vintage DE along with the vintage P74 blade I just acquired! This was the first time using the P74 and it lives up to the hype! Super smooth shaver and I’m excited to get to see the longevity of these blades!

For my Lego part of the pic. This particular item complied with the r/askhistorians rule of being at least 20 years old! I got this Rock Raiders lava monster in a set for Christmas in 1999! I recently ~~raided~~ was given a bunch of legos from my childhood. My parents have held onto two giant boxes of legos for all of these years and (thanks to me being the only one to give them grandkids so far) I got them! Edit: Link with proof of age of this set.

July 25, 2023 – Christmas in July

• Brush: Semogue 610
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (10)
• Lather: Noble Otter – The Night Before
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Vespers
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann – Vespers

Challenge: I’m left handed. I typically use my right hand for certain areas. I used it exclusively for two passes today. It’s wasn’t great, but it didn’t cut myself either.

I bought The Night Before with this day in mind. Sadly, I don’t smell much of anything from the lather. Noble Otter scent strength tends to be light. But, with this one I’d smell my brush and get nothing. There was maybe a hint of Christmas tree, but that’s reaching. When I smell the tub of soap, the fragrance is light but easier to smell. It’s very muddled. There’s a Christmas tree note, but something about this fragrance doesn’t work. It’s like the notes are canceling each other out. It feels flat and bland. The lather wasn’t very good. I probably needed more soap.

I love Vespers. I’ve come to the opinion that this is Will’s best work. The fragrance is an exciting combination of cardamom, cranberry, and (here comes the buzz word / wetshaver crack) mousse de saxe. It’s sweet fruit, warm spice, and evergreen all at once. The mousse de saxe is used very skillfully by Will. It’s subtle and intriguing. The cranberry cardamom hits me with fruity sweet aromatic spice up front which quickly blends into evergreen notes of fir and balsam. The mousse de saxe adds a lot of depth. Beneath the evergreen is a long complex smell composed of dark moss, amber, maybe something like ambergris.

#FOF

July 25, 2023 - Memories of Christmas Past

• Brush: Shave Forge 20mm Horse
• Razor: Blackland Razors Blackbird
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Smoking Bishop - Soap
• Post Shave: Henri et Victoria - Cognac and Cuban Cigars - Splash
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Treachery

Daily Challenge:
Remember back last year at the end of the games when we complained about the wrong-hand challenge as uncomfortable and dangerous? Doesn’t really seem so uncomfortable now that all our calves are shorn, does it? And dangerous? Many of us could have been arrested for grooming ourselves in public… repeatedly. What the hell happened this year?

I lathered and shaved left handed. I should have used the Era which is just about idiot-proof - the Blackbird bit me on my chin.

Daily Write-Up:
If anyone were to ask me what my favorite day of the 2022 Lather Games was, I think everyone would assume I’d say this one. But it’s not. The one that really sticks with me came on this day last year. My then-4-year-old and I decorated the bathroom and shaved together under Christmas lights. She still asks with some frequency if we can do a Christmas shave, which is very confusing for grandma and grandpa.

But- such a fun time is not in the cards today. Like many, I’m forced to spend the holidays alone. My wife and kids left me for ~~greener~~ well… pastures. They even took CanineMiasma with them. So I’m all by myself, forced to look at my unadorned shaving den and shaving without my mini-me.

I could have wallowed in self-pity all day, and in fairness, there was some of that. But - I decided to make the best of it and take advantage of spending the holiday with someone I love… myself, and doing some nice things for me that I don’t get to do on a regular basis.

For example, Ain’t no rule saying you can’t cook up and eat an entire pound of bacon for breakfast. It just wouldn’t normally be allowed. Similarly, I ate only pork chops for lunch. No requisite salad or healthy items to get in the way, and no one to tell me “but think of all the sodium you consumed in 4 hours”. But, eating garbage didn’t make me fulfilled, so I decided to shave. That always makes me feel better.

I went upstairs to my den, and noticed another huge perk of being by myself. No one there to tell me to put my stuff away. I can leave it everywhere like a savage.

I shaved my left-handed shave, and was still missing my family, even though there are some pleasant things about being alone. So I walked outside, and then saw the Christmas in July presents I had gotten myself underneath our Charlie Brown pine tree.

This is exciting! I quickly took them inside and I am going to tear into them!

The first one… Oooh! Chatillon Lux!. Must be Italian! What could it be? A discovery set! How thoughtful of me!. Well… that IS unexpected. I take some good whiffs of some of Shawn’s creations, and then move on to present number 2.

So exciting! Maggard Razors!. Everyone’s favorite wetshaving store! I wonder what it is… the box is too small to be holding a restored straight razor…. Yay! A tub of Seaforth! Heather.. I really shouldn’t have. This is just so generous of me. With my new-found love of Fougeres, this will be a great addition to my den.

One present left. It’s pretty heavy…. I wonder what I got myself this time?

HYPE!!! This one is from House of Mammoth! Squeeeee!. I can’t wait to see what’s inside! I open the box, and THERE ARE FOUR TUBS IN HERE!!!!11!1. So many good scents, it’s hard to pick a favorite. I am just too generous to myself. Obligatory selfie with my Christmas in July presents so I can send it to myself to show how happy I am!.

Getting me a bunch of Wetshaving presents won’t fill the sadness from being alone on the holiday, but it might make my Austere August a little bit less… Austere.

Soap Theme Justification
Will’s post clearly describing Smoking Bishop as a Christmas scent here

Post-Shave and Fragrance Relevance Notes
* Today’s theme is “Christmas from the Wrong Side of the Tracks” * The soap reminds me of a drink we’d often have at Christmas when I was growing up. We would go get fresh cider from the local orchard, and slowly warm it with orange peels and cinnamon sticks. * But the smell of Smoking Bishop doesn’t quite match my memory, because there is far too little tobacco or alcohol. Everyone in my family smoked growing up, so I’ve layered two types of tobacco - cigars from the HeV and pipe tobacco from the Maher. * And what family Christmas would be complete without mom over-indulging as the night wears on? Granted, Cognac smells a lot richer than the mixture of Sloe Gin and Seagrams 7, but thankfully no one has made a Wetshaving product with that particular combination of scents.

July 25, 2023 Christmas in July

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: Yaqi Red Marble 26mm Tux
• Razor: Knockoff Gilette Tech Plastic
• Blade: Voskhod (1)
• Lather: Crowne and Crane - Rut-Roh
• Post Shave: Crowne and Crane - Rut-Roh
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Fu Dao

Flew all night and most of this morning. Got to our destination and then drove 3 hours to our first hotel. Just got in and shaved so I could get this posted. All software is linked by being on theme.

Challenge - Easy no fuss non-dominant hand shave. Took a couple minutes longer, but nothing to report.

Jul 25, 2023 - Christmas in July

• Prep: Klar - Activated Charcoal - Face Soap
• Brush: Chisel & Hound Fu Dao Flare 26mm V20 Fanchurian
• Razor: Gillette British Ball-End Tech Spiral Handle (1960s)
• Blade: Voskhod [6]
• Lather: MacDuffs Soap Company - Christmas Cabin - Soap
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - 'Tis the Season - Aftershave
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir - Eau de Parfum

It's Christmas in July (and the theme actually fits this year)!

The Scents:

Between these three scents cedar, sandalwood, fir, musk, and warm, amber notes blend into a euphony of Christmastime goodness.

Macduffs Christmas Cabin: Cedar, Cardamom, Cashmere, Evergreen, Oud, Spice, Cocoa Butter, Patchouli, Santal, and Musk.

NO 'Tis the Season: Raspberry, Apple, Rosemary, Freesia, Oakmoss, Pine, Cedarwood, Musk, and Fir Balsam.

HoM Santa Noir: cassis, balsam, jasmine, honey, sandalwood, and deer musk.

Leftorium Challenge:

When I started the shave, my muscle memory kicked in with my right hand. I got through the first pass and remembered, the challenge! Switching to the left hand for the second pass I had to take it very slow. Unfortunately, I ended up getting so frustrated with my complete lack of coordination with the left hand that I switched back to finish the shave.

Rating: 4.5/5

July 25, 2023

• Brush: Boti – Stump 28mm synthetic
• Razor: Schick Injector
• Blade: Tedda Pella Injector Blade
• Lather: KShave Works – Jingle Bell Spice Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap – Christmas Eve Splash
• Fragrance: Kenneth Cole – Mankind Rise

Jingle Bell Spice is minty and sweet. It reminds me of this Peppermint Bark that my mom makes every Christmas since I was a little kid. I don’t see vanilla listed in the scent notes, but I swear it’s there. Or maybe I just associate the smell of Christmas and candycanes with that, so my brain is filling in the blank. Either way, it’s a really nice Christmas scent. For the splash, I used Stirling’s Christmas Eve. To me, this smells like a Christmas Tree Shop. And finally, the cologne, I used Mankind Rise because it is woodsy, like the Christmas Eve Splash. Everything I shaved with is a little bit much for a hot July day, but is perfectly in season for Christmas in July! #FOF

Challenge

I went back to the easiest razor I have, the injector, for the opposite hand shave. This is the 3rd time I’ve used it this month, after never using it. It’s such an easy, easy razor that it was perfect to use my opposite hand with. I took it slow, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

July 25, 2023

• Brush: Oumo Warhammer Iceberg 27mm Meri-2

• Razor: Gillette Aristocrat US (1948-1951)

• Lather: Murphy and McNeil - The Great Bear - Soap

• Post Shave: Murphy and McNeil - The Great Bear - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Thayers - Lemon - Toner

2 passes. Face lather. Good shave.

---

The Great Bear is intended to be a winter soap that marks the winter solstice. It is a collaboration between Murphy & McNeil and Black Mountain Shaving. Here's [ a little ] of what Black Mountain Shaving says about the scent:

For thousands of years, Winter has been a time for celebration and fellowship. [blah, blah] One such celebration occurs on the Winter Solstice known as The Long Night of Storytelling. People gather under the stars sharing ancient tales and wisdom, including the legend of The Great Bear (Nyah-gwaheh). [blah, blah]

I like this scent a lot but did not get much time with it today. I had to rush to get my shave done because my schedule was packed. I took less than 10 minutes from placing brush to soap until my final swipe with my cleanup towel. Each pass was started by creating what u/sgrdddy calls a slurry lather -- a very wet, very slick face lather created with a minimum of loading from the tub. My actual shave result is excellent but the overall shaving experience was marred by my need to rush. Closeness was BBS on the easy spots and near-BBS on the difficult ones. I mean, why do I even bother with straight razors?

As to the challenge. I have used both hands to shave for 10+ years. It started during my first serious bout with straight shaving. I have no issues using my non-dominant (left) hand because it feels totally natural. In fact, with a safety razor (DE and SE), my left hand does more shaving than my right because my right hand is more convenient to use for skin stretching those difficult areas on my face.

A real challenge for me would be to do a straight razor shave with one hand. I don't have any facial growth. It would be a challenge to use one hand for a straight shave and not lose a lip or an ear. Using either my right or left would be equally awkward, but for this challenge, the obvious choice would be my left hand. As you can tell from my setup, I wimped out and used a DE today.

The theme for my photo contest entry today is Space. The Great Bear is also called Ursa Major. That's right. The star constellation. Stars are in ... space. So, I do have space-adjacent items; a 3D-printed model of a spacecraft, and an engineering model (not space-qualified) of a spacecraft attitude determination and control system (also called a guidance, navigation and control system). I could not figure out how to make these work as a part of a SOTD photo composition, and I like to try to make photos that are shave-related and on theme for both Lather Games and the photo contest.

#photocontest

July 25, 2023

• Brush: Zenith – B16 24mm Boar
• Razor: Chiseled Face Legacy
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co – Christmas Eve
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts – Druantia EDP
• Music: Gene Autry – Here Comes Santa Clause

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas in July, but in June, but in July! We have a very special treat for you today: shaving with SHAVY CLAUS! Ho! Ho! Ho! I turned my bathroom into the North Pole, put on a Santa Suit, stuffed a pillow in the belly, and got to shaving!

Here’s the video! (Because I used music that is copywritten, that video is blocked in “certain countries”, and since it doesn’t say WHICH countries, I uploaded a second version without the fun Christmas music in case the first one is blocked in your region).

I’ll give you a little peek behind the curtain here at Priusaurus HQ. My Christmas decorations are stored in my basement and my bathroom is on the 2nd floor of the house. So, I made about 78 trips up and down stairs this morning. And for those that don’t know, I have twin toddlers that are almost 3. For some reason, they don’t yet grasp internet shaving competitions, so I had a hell of time trying to explain to them WHY daddy was making multiple trips from the basement, up two flights of stairs, carrying the Christmas decorations to the bathroom. If you look close, you can see the sweat glistening on my face when I get close to the camera, thanks to the stairs and donning the Santa Suit. I had to get this video done relatively quickly because my wife didn’t want our bathroom crowded with Christmas decorations all day. IDK what her issue is – It’s the Lather Games!!

Christmas on Christmas on Christmas today. Santa Noir is a great Christmas scent – It’s warm and inviting – it reminds me of Christmas night, after all the guest have left the house. It’s the perfect scent for the Holiday season. I used Stirling’s Christmas Eve, which has similar evergreen notes, but also has a nice spiciness to it. To finish off the routine, Druantia from SW, again it’s woody and spicy, but I get a touch of sweetness from it, which is absolutely delightful.

For the challenge: Easy-peasy. Check out the first video I posted of my first ice tub bathtub shave, and one can clearly see I’m using the opposite hand today. No sweat at all!!!

For the #photocontest: Gaming. Included my Xbox 360 Controller, as well as a couple video game themed Christmas ornaments.

For today’s installment of “10 Questions with…” I was able to get in touch with, the ever-elusive, and rare voice on the sub, Ben from House of Mammoth. You see, that’s a joke because Ben is one of us! I can make funnies sometimes. House of Mammoth needs zero introduction to anyone reading this. Ben crafts unique and wonderful scents, and has one of the absolute best soap bases in the business. He is literally one the best in the world at this, but don’t take my word for it: Ask his Golden Pear! Yes, the dude won in the Artisan Category of the Art and Olfaction Awards. That is a BFD for those in the fragrance world. When I decided I wanted to do this interview series idea, Ben was literally the first person I asked. Fortunately, for everyone, Ben was gracious enough to take the time to play along with my silly series of questions – So THANK YOU u/mammothben, for your willingness to take part, as well as being such an integral member of this community. You make this hobby, and the world as a whole, a better place.

10 Questions with… House of Mammoth

1) First off, congratulations on The Golden Pear! My question is: What is your favorite fruit scent to work with?

I've never been interested in a pear scent but maybe I should give it a try.

2) Why did you name your company after an extinct pachyderm?

Drunk Elephant was taken, and a friend said, "how about mammoth?"

3) There are some scientists attempting to bring back the Wooly Mammoth, using DNA retrieved from fossils. Good idea or bad idea?

Good idea, it could solve the food crisis. Set a few loose in the cities, they should reduce the population by... enough.

4) Would you rather befriend 100 mouse-sized ducks or 1 horse-sized duck?

I prefer to keep my friend circle small, so the 1. I have over 180 staff names to remember this summer, I don't even try to remember the kids' or parents' names.

5) What was the first shaving soap that you ever used when you started wetshaving?

My first shaving memory was a toy shave set with a puck of soap in a cup. It was extremely drying.

6) Hypothetically speaking, do you think it’s scientifically possible to create a fragrance that smells like guacamole? You know, for science?

I've heard that avocado tastes like clean dick. Is that where this is going?

7) Of all the scents you’ve created, do you have a personal favorite?

My favorite is always the new one I'm working on. I've got an idea for a clean dick frag at the moment.

8) Flashback to 18/19 year old Ben. What music are you listening to at the time?

Bright Eyes probably.

9) When you’re not creating awesome fragrances and products, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I'm with my wife and son, usually outdoors and doing something that's free.

10) How do you differentiate House of Mammoth from all the other shaving companies currently out there?

By putting a lot of work into what we make, and trusting that our customers can tell the difference.

July 25, 2023

https://imgur.com/gallery/i1GEbT3

Prep: Proraso - Refrescante Preshave Cream

Brush: Antiga Barbearia de Bairro - Principe Real Green Boar Brush

Razor: Rockwell - 6S R6 plate

Blade: Feather (1)

Lather: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir Shave Soap

Post Shave: Cremo - Vintage Red No. 508 Spiced Amber Post Shave Balm

Today's shave was pretty great. Thanks to u/chronnoisseur42O for the excellent quality smoosh today. This scent is very mild but pleasant. I wish it was still available, I would definitely buy a tub. HoM base was great as always, giving me a nice lather and a DFS.

Challenge: I started wet shaving with a straight razor, so using both hands to shave kinda came naturally to me when I picked up a DE. I thought everybody shaved that way (left hand on the left side, right hand on the right). I guess not, lol, so in honor of today's challenge, I switched it up a bit and shaved my left side with my right hand and my right side with my left hand. Boy, was that fun. I don't think I'll be doing that again soon.

#ROTY

Christmas in July

• Brush: AKA Fashion Olive Wood with 26 mm Maggard knot
• Razor: Weck Sextoblade Med Prep
• Blade: Kismet Rostfrei, Polymer beschichtet (3)
• Lather: Noble Otter – The Night Before
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Dickens Revisited
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir

The smush for today is from u/MrLamper1. He used to be a regular here and sent me a treasure trove of samples in the winter 2020/2021 and this is the third year in a row that I'm getting a Lather Games day theme thanks to that box 😊

The warm vanilla forward scent immediately out me in a Christmas mood, but my mid got less festive when I started figuring out the geometry of shaving with and open blade one-handedly. It was quite the puzzle, and I even knowing it's possible from watching shave and butcher, a simple wtg pass on the right cheek with the Weck in my left (non-dominant) hand had me cursing the Lather Games Challenge Planning Committee. I did end up getting three passes without major incident, but I can already feel a bit of irritation. Oh well.

Dickens, Revisited is my second favourite Christmas scent after Seaforth! Spiced, and it's much more gourmand than the soap. Where The Night Before still has some green herb or evergreen notes, Dickens is all warm cookies. It's so warm and gourmand that Santa Noir almost smells fresh and aromatic by comparison.

For my fellow Djudge: "challenge" is a yes and the relevant post and frag theme is Christmas.

• Brush: Simpson Classic #1 synthetic brush
• Razor: Friedrich Herder Abraham Sohn 49 straight razor
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Eigengrau soap
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Eigengrau balm

ROTY

Getting close now… I chose Eigengrau for today's shave in soap and aftershave form. I don't know how much more winter a soap could get. It contains cold air… Been sitting on this set a while now and in use I really really enjoy it. I'm not exactly sure why to be honest. Both my wife and my friend's wife, separately from one another, told me it smells like mold. I don't really pick up much of that but find it cooling with a light powder type smell with unique elements of fir and lichen adding a bit of mystery. I'm pretty into it.

For today's challenge I'm lucky in that when I was starting to learn with the straight razor, I read to begin working on your off hand technique right from the get go and that's what I did. I don't feel very disadvantaged using my left for the most part. Maybe only slightly so but I was able to carry on without much trouble.

Jul. 25, 2023
Brush: AP Shave Co G5C
Razor: Karve CB
Blade: Astra SP Green
Lather: Barrister And Mann - Vespers - Soap
Post Shave:* Zingari Man - Unscented - Balm

Shaving lefty was risky. Definitely did not attempt to get as close of a shave as I normally do and nicked myself pretty good on the Adams Apple! Fun times!

ROTY

Day 25 - Christmas In July

• Brush: APShaveCo - Butterscotch Handle with Synbad Knot.
• Razor: PAA - La Criatural Green
• Blade: Astra Green
• Lather: Noble Otter - 'Tis The Season
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - 'Tis The Season
• Fragrance: House Of Mammoth - Indigo

Merry Christmas! Today, for me, it was between Vespers and Tis The Season. I picked NO because it perfectly captures the fresh-cut evergreen smell that always brings me back to picking out a tree in December. Vespers is good, but I love Tis the Season.

I face lathered today. For some reason, that was easier with my non dominate hand than bowl lathering.

For the fragrance, since it is not Christmas, I went with Indigo in an attempt to be more dark and mysterious than Christmassy.

ROTY #FOF

July 25, 2023

• Brush: Omega Penelli White HI-BRUSH Synthetic
• Razor: Karve CB SB-B
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Noble Otter – Tis the Season
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Tis the Season

I love Christmas and Holiday scents. I haven’t found one that I haven’t liked yet. They range from the classic scents of pine and candy canes to grandpa and reindeer musk. To me, ’tis the season is the Whoville equivalent of scents. Its bright and exciting, piney and fruity. Even the artwork is glitzy. I was fortunate to get a set when it went on sale and have not regretted it one bit, other than I did not get to use it all of December.

Challenge: I am right handed. Heavily right handed. I can barely do anything lefty unlike my fortunate left handed wife who is basically ambidextrous from growing up in a righty world. So I did not expect a great shave but just wanted to not mangle myself. Zero pressure (like apparently I am supposed to do then never do) it is. Overall – survived the usual 2 pass.

July 25, 2023

• Brush: Grizzly Bay V19
• Razor: Leaf Elite
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue(1)
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir

Merry err, Christmas?

Santa Noir is a wonderful holiday fragrance, glad for the excuse to use it out of season as it is just a wonderful scent all around. The Tusk base needs no qualifiers, it is definitely at the top of my list, and always provides me with a good shave.

Even when trying left handed. Luckily this razor pivots and is likely more forgiving than a traditional DE, but the shave definitely takes even longer and is more frustrating than I am used to. Shaving my head already takes long enough.

#ROTY

Xmas in July 25, 2023

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Thater 28mm
• Razor: Ralf Aust 6/8
• Blade: Ralf Aust 6/8(1)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Vespers
• Osma Alum: Yes
• Post Shave: Aqua Velva

Refreshed the edge again, I think I did a marginally better job than last time.

• Prep:
• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Hybrid / Maggard Boar 26mm
• Razor: Chiseled Face Legacy Ti
• Blade: Personna Comfort Coated (1)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co - Bay Rum
• O: sma
• Post Shave: Rooster's Nest - Bourbon Bay Rum
• Fragrance:

The Canadians wouldn't let us have a July 4th day, but there's a Chistmas day? Are you all trying to run everyone off the sub who doesn't celebrate christmas? I STAND FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO COULD NOT CARE LESS ABOUT CHRISTMAS.

~~Christmas~~Channukah in July ~~but in June~~

Bay Rum is a great Channukah scent due to its warm and festive qualities that perfectly complement the holiday season. The aromatic blend of spices, citrus, and bay leaves in Bay Rum creates a cozy and inviting ambiance reminiscent of holiday spices and mulled drinks. The rich and comforting aroma of Bay Rum evokes feelings of nostalgia and celebration, making it an excellent choice for those seeking a fragrance that embodies the joyful spirit of Channukah.

July. 25, 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: Black Ship Grooming Co - Wassail
• Post Shave: Nivea Men - Sensitive Soothing Aftershave Balm

If you haven't noticed I'm a big fan of Black Ship. This is the first scent I ever got from them and it literally smells like apple cider. Absolutely love this scent!

ROTY

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

• Brush: Declaration Grooming - Thaw Jeffington - 28mm B16
• Razor: Wolfman Razors - WR2 0.75 DC x WRH2
• Blade: Personna Med Prep
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - First Snow - Soap
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - First Snow - Aftershave

Day 25 of Lather Games: "Very much like walking through snow-covered woods in a new leather jacket, First Snow is the perfect compliment to the famously intense New England winters."

July 25, 2023 – Lather Games: Day 25

• Brush: Yaqi Synthetic
• Razor: Karve Overlander
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – Dickens
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Barrbarr

I like Christmas cookies to eat, not so much to shave with. I received this soap as a smush last year, and find it to be a bit too sweet for my liking. I must admit, I really don’t like many gourmand scents, if any. It’s not that they smell bad by any means, but rather, soap should be used to shave with, not make me more appetizing to a cannibal.

Today’s challenge went better than I thought. I still have my face and neck intact, and no blood was lost. I went a lot slower to avoid that, so my shave was a bit longer than usual. However, I’ll take that extra time to shave instead of bleed out on the floor to save a few minutes.

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

• Brush: Declaration Grooming Blood Of Kings 2.0 Washington SHD Badger
• Razor: Gillette Red Tip
• Blade: Perma Sharp
• Lather: Barrister & Mann - Vespers - Soap
• Post Shave: Barrister & Mann - Vespers - Aftershave

Christmas Shave….

This is the set I will be using on our Annual Thanksgiving Week Cruise. That’s right, folks, we travel for Turkey Week. It’s a great way to kick off the holidays. No eating turkey leftovers for a week.

Friends of ours actually took a Rhine River cruise the week before Christmas last year. They got to see many of the Christmas Markets that Vespers is patterned after. We were really jealous until they flew home to get stranded by SWA in the wrong city in Florida.

Today’s Challenge?

No thanks.

Today’s Tune?

The Waitresses.

Christmas Wrapping…

JULY 25, 2023

• Brush: Stirling Synthetic 24mm
• Razor: Gillete King C. Chrome
• Lather: MacDuff’s - Explorer Series Christmas Tree
• Post Shave: MacDuff’s - Explorer Series Christmas Tree Splash

What’s better than PineSol? Pine Tree! Particularly Christmas trees. Makes the whole house smells fresh and clean. I got this soap for my B-Day couple months ago and been waiting till today to try it out and I am elated! I may shave my legs again just so I can lather this scent all over. PICTure.

TODAY’s CHALLENGE: Holy baby Jesus! This was the hardest thing I have done in a while. I pride myself in being able to use both of my hands for everything but I was wrong! The longest shave of my life! I got through it but took me 35 min!!!!! I mean I was late to work in trying to finish shaving with my left hand. My eyes were red in the exertion of having to concentrate so much - so pathetic. I got through but my face is all beat up again. Nick and weepers here and there. And for the first time in my shaving experience I actually thought maybe an alum block could come handy in these type of situations. Food for thought.

ROTY

July 25, 2023 - Santa’s Early Visit

• Brush: Yaqi Dandelion Green 24mm Cashmere
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Flying Wing
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Siliski Soaps - Santa’s Pipe
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - ‘Tis The Season - Splash
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Rumble EdP

#FOF

Today’s Theme:

I got this Xmas themed soap in a PIF of smooshes from u/worbx. It is a perfect fit for today. To build on it, I had two great choices to bring in more holiday spirit, and chose Tis the Season. For the fragrance, I needed something to tie into the rest of the shave. I narrowed it down to two House of Mammoth scents: Tobacconist and Rumble. As I was smelling both pre shave, Rumble just clicked.

Today’s Sinister Challenge:

I think last year had a non-dominant challenge, and it wasn’t very easy for me. I can do some things well left handed, but writing and shaving are definitely awkward. Earlier this year, I challenged myself to a month of left handed shaves. It took a couple weeks to get things working better. I didn’t get rid of awkwardness entirely, but I felt I reached an acceptable level of competence. It has been well over a month since my last lefty or ambidextrous shaves, and my face felt it. I picked the Flying Wing because it is getting easier for me to get the angle right with the Micromatics. I do think a new blade would have been better today. While whiskers were shorn, it wasn’t a very close shave. There was no real irritation or blood sacrifices at least. I may need to go lefty the rest of the week in prep for next month.

Today’s Fragrances:

In prepping my calendar, it would have been an easy fit to go with the Tis the Season soap and splash, or use Santa Noir, but the 30 brands challenge made it difficult to fit the soaps. I had another choice for a while, but as I was going through the smooshes for yesterday, I decided Santa’s Pipe would work to be the base of the theme. I really liked this soap. The scent is straight up cherry pipe tobacco. This month has shown me that Ireally like tobacco scents, but how can I build up more Christmas scents? Noble Otter’s Tis The Season really hits the Xmas nostalgia for me. Growing up, we would get a permit to cut our own Xmas trees in the nearby national forest. We had a living room with high cathedral ceilings, so we would get a tree around 10 feet tall every year. The house would smell of pine or spruce for a month. I really get that from the splash along with a fruity kick of the berries. My wife and I always decorate our tree with a cranberry bead garland, so my brain is giving me cranberry. Now to finish with the fragrance there were a few ways I thought to go, but I really only a couple viable choices were available to me, add more tobacco, or go with a treat for Santa. When Rumble came out, someone described it as smelling like brownie batter. I decided that it was a perfect fit to my childhood memories. When I was about 10, I asked my mom to make chocolate chip cookies, instead she decided to teach me how to make them myself. From that day, until I went off to college, I was the cookie baker in the house. One year for Xmas, I made a batch of chocolate crinkle cookies. The smell of Rumble could also fit those cookies. Now if it would just snow and get rid of the heat we’ve had lately (ok, at least it is not as hot as Satan’s Butthole like the forecast last week for parts of the US).

Today’s Haiku:

Cherry tobacco,
A cranberry Christmas Tree,
And some warm cookies.

DAY 25 LATHER GAMES! HO HO HO, RIGHTY TIGHTY, LEFTY..... TIGHTY!

• Prep: Water
• Brush: DS Cosmetics 30mm Tuxedo Knot
• Razor: Blackland Vector
• Blade: Chinese (11)
• Lather: MacDuff's Soap Company - Winter Cabin
• Post Shave: MacDuff's Soap Company - Winter Cabin splash
• Fragrance: First Line Shaving - Sutton Distilled EDP

​

PIC OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

My version of Jingle bells to the tune of Jingle bells, give it a sing! (couldn't find one that started with the first verse and not the chorus...)

LATHER BELLS

Using your left hand

With a Blackland Ve-ector

Put a blindfold on

Try not fuck it up

Winter Cabin's great

Scent is a killer

What fun it is to shave and sing

A Christmas song tonight, oh!

Lather Games, Lather Games

Greatest challenges

Oh, what fun it is to shave

With a blindfold on your face, HEY!

Lather Games, Lather Games

Best time of the year

Oh what fun it is to do

fucking crazy challenges!

Now the shave is done

Gonna use my osma block

No more lines for me

Just use it on my face

I love Christmas day

It lifts my spirits up

Sharing all these awesome times
With all you fun guys here, oh!

Lather Games, Lather Games

Greatest challenges

Oh, what fun it is to shave

With a blindfold on your face, HEY!

Lather Games, Lather Games

Best time of the year

Oh what fun it is to do

fucking crazy challenges!

​

DAILY CHALLENGE

Last year I did outdid myself! I shaved for the first time with my left hand(non dominant) and with a straight nonetheless, on top of that I did it blindfolded! Video here!

Sadly this year I tried to think of a way to top it, and I couldn't... So I just did the same thing but with the Blackland Vector, and waaaaay shorter. Video of blindfolded shave. (and ofcourse not long before the end the phone stopped recording...)

​

#FOF

Now out of all the winter scents I've tried, this is probably the most gourmand one. I get lots of Chestnut and Walnut, which is crazy cause they aren't even in the description. But it does brink back child memories to me, which is great, cause I think that's what it's all about for Christmas Scented soaps, to remind you of those great memories!

Now as to what to combine it with, I chose something a bit more strange. I was thinking of using something pine forwarded but that was way to obvious. So I chose something that older people enjoy during the winter and Christmas time, a good ol single malt whiskey in the warm abode surrounded by the people they love! Yeah, children don't enjoy whiskey, but grown ups do, and for me Winter is probably the best time to have great whiskey! The EdP itself is amazing, I have not smelled anything like this on the market, it truly is amazing! And compared to the aftershave it has much more smokiness to it, like a smokey whiskey, but one of those REALLY smoked ones!! Great touch to the Winter Cabin by Macduff!

• Daily Lather Themes: 25/30
• Daily Challenges: 25/30
• Hardware Scavenger Hunt: 18/20
• Hardware Vendor Points: 2/2
• Software Vendor Points: 12/13
• Software Vendor Bonus Point: 0/1
• 30 Different Soap Brands Point: 25/30
• 30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point: 25/30
• 30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point: 25/30
• 30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point: 25/30

July 25, 2023

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 26mm G5C
• Razor: Blackland Vector
• Blade: Kai Captain Titan Mild (AC) (14)
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir

This trickhole is literally the only thing I have that fits today’s theme. Good news is that I really like this scent, bad news is that this scent is terrible in the heat. Nothing throws my northern hemisphere located brain into existential dread quite like smelling Christmas Trees when it’s 102F outside.

For the daily challenge I’m posed with a bit of a problem. I always shave with both hands at a basically 50/50 split for both head and face shaving, and I live alone so I can't ask someone else to do it. I’m right-handed, so I could’ve just done the whole shave with my non-dominant hand, but that sounded kind of boring. So what I actually did was completely invert my routine. Anything I normally shave with the right hand I shaved with the left hand, anything I normally shave with the left hand I shaved with the right hand. This was actually quite challenging to make sure I got the directions right with my weird growth pattern. Here is a diagram of my normal shave pattern, color coded by hand, so to imagine today's shave just swap red and blue.

Healthy Activity of the day: Super short ride today, waited too long to go out and it got too hot. LG Mileage: 91 miles.

Tags: #ROTY

July 25, 2023 – Christmas in July ~~but in June~~.

• Brush: Paladin Chief 26mm Satin Juma Smoke
• Razor: Merkur 34C
• Blade: Astra SP (1)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Frozen Tundra
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Tis the Season splash
• Fragrance: Duke Cannon - Sawtooth

Lather: Normally this is the easy part. Add soap to bowl (yes I bowl lather) and add water while whipping up a lather. Not today though. As the day is all about using your off hand. So away I went working up a pathetic lather for the days shave. Yes this awkward lather session lasted longer than prom night, but alas Imgur would only let me post 60s.

The Shave: The shave went just as poorly as the lathering. My left hand really has little in the way of talent so most of the time spent was at angles so far outside the norm it removed nothing from my face. After shaving for what seemed an eternity I managed to get some semblance of a decent shave.

Post Shave/Frag: I finished up the shave continuing on the winter spirit with Tis the Season splash and Sawtooth. I now smell like a tree in the snow.

Theme: Todays theme is winter scent and Frozen Tundra is just that. Stirling describes this scent as “A blend of nine essential oils and menthol meant to recreate the scent and feel of earth in winter.”

Challenge: Todays challenge was using your non-dominant hand for the shave. While I wasn’t able to record the shave, I did use my left hand and struggled through it.

#ROTY

[July 25, 2023 – Cranberry and Cedar Tidings via Ladder] (https://imgur.com/a/dK46pcw)

• Brush: Extro Comesi Synthetic 26mm
• Razor: Berkeley Shave Selector #unicorn
• Blade: Astra SP (Green) (3)
• Lather: K Shave Worx – The Elf Den
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Arkadia

This shave tonight is a Christmas in July gift to our master of ROTY u/J33pguy13. Not only did I step it up and complete the challenge using my left hand but I took his advice/chiding to really “step it up”. So I decided to “step it up”. As you can see in my SOTD photo, I pulled out my step ladder. I shaved my first pass with my left hand while on the first step of my ladder hunched over to look in the mirror at my disastrous and confusing shave. I hope this is what he meant because I’d rather not shave on a ladder for the remaining week, please confirm or deny.

First time using K shave worx. No complaints, fine lather but also no compliments. Was really looking forward to the balsam but I only got the cranberry, which was nice. I find Arkadia similar in being a little one note, cedar. But. They do well together and it was a fine shave, if a bit dodgy from the technique.

The highlight of this shave though I think is my #unicorn razor. This was actually my great grandfathers razor. Produced for one year in 1946, the Berkeley Shave Selector is a neat little adjustable razor. Surprisingly aggressive, tighten down its more aggressive than a tech. Here’s a link to a thread with a better overview than I can provide. https://theshavingcadre.com/threads/1946-berkeley-shave-selector.2166/

Cheers! 🤙

ROTY

• Brush: Zenith - r/wetshaving MOAR BOAR B35/508A XL (25 uses)
• Razor: Wolfman - WR1 Solid Bar .46
• Blade: Gillette - Nacet (2)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir
• Post Shave: Clubman - Brandy Spice

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Gear Pic :: Video

䷀ General Notes

Lather Games Day 25 - Christmas in July is the Theme

And that's great, because it has been too long since I used this soap. I was also very surprised at how well the Brandy Spice AS worked with the seemingly different soap scent.

Challenge: I did not remember to shave with my off-hand unfortunately. I tried, but my ADD kicked it too hard.

䷀ Razor and Blade Notes

^(Wolfman - WR1 Solid Bar .46 ::: Gillette - Nacet ‹2 uses›)

This sharp Nacet was a very good match for this mild plate on the Wolfman. Comfy but close-cutting.

Razor and Blade Performance/Comfort Rating: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)

䷀ Soap Notes

^(House of Mammoth Tusk - Santa Noir)

Them: "Imagine a love letter to the holiday season - sappy evergreen trees, lush in their foliage (this actually reminds me of the citrusy quality of pine needles when crushed) married to seductive florals and sweet touches of fruit, that gives a lot of depth to the scent. The drydown is warm and comforting - soft woods, vanillic touches and a creamy sandalwood, with hints of agarwood and patchouli, for some body. ... ~ PS - I've been told that the scent notes are Twinkling lights, Rudolph's nose, Christmas tree, warm blanket of snow, Santa's sleigh, reindeer musk (cassis, balsam, jasmine, honey, sandalwood, musk.)"

Lather... Perfect today! Tusk is so good! Lightly creamy but super slick.

Hydration: Perfect (for me)

• 16 sec load with a Lightly-Wet brush
• 19 ml (3.9 tsp) added to build the lather
• = 6 passes of lather

Bowl: Dollar Tree DIY Bowl w Glass Beads

䷀ Brush Notes

^(Zenith - r/wetshaving MOAR BOAR B35/508A XL ‹25 uses›)

Same: soft tips, backed by some backbone due to all that density

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During the Shave Feel:
  Cheeks: Almost Smooth
  Neck: Felt blade but comfortable
After the Shave Closeness:
  Cheeks: Near BBS - About as close as I'll ever get
  Neck: Few hairs are showing some tip length (with most being cut flush)

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Shavers Map - here it is and also in the sub's sidebar.

Ending of Blades Ledger - entry form and the data spreadsheet

July 25, 2023 – LG 25: Christmas in July

• Brush: That Darn Rob B6
• Razor: Muhle R89 #TWINS
• Blade: Personna Super Stainless (1)
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Dickens Revisited
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Santa Noir

For starters, thanks to u/onionmiasma for the hardware loan for #TWINS. Never tried the EJ or Muhle. See it in use here by my cousin, Saint Spliffilous..

Santa noir is a nice evergreen scent, piney and green. Not just needle based, but a little sappy resin to give it some oomph. It’s crisp and clean. Underneath lies a creamy sandalwood base. Rudolph’s nose and reindeer musk are not super noticeable to my nose, but rather a brisk evening walk in a secluded forest. Dickens is based on BPTs favorite cookie, a recipe he includes during the holidays when purchased. Mama Ruth provided the recipe here too. It is a lovely cherry forward gourmand, sweet and buttery. Just a touch of citrus zest and holiday slice like nutmeg and cardamom to balance the sweeter fruit. #FOF

As for our #PHOTOCONTEST, history. Some quick backstory. This horrendously ugly ornament (I’ll let you spot it) is now well over 30 years old. Given to me by godparents as a baby in the late 80s, I remember it as a child in the 90s always finding its way onto our tree. It’s absolutely dreadful, but now as an adult I still put it on our own tree just for tradition. I included a couple other 20+ year old ornaments, for our r/history rule. Each year my parents would give me an ornament related to something I life. So for example, the soccer ball is for national soccer tournament we went to in NY (2001). Or I got a saxophone one (2000) when I started playing, a car for drivers license, champagne for 21 (those not quite 20 yet hence excluded). You get the gist, thanks mom and dad.

soap brands 25/30, post shave 25/30, frag 25/30, post/frag linked 25/30, software sponsors 12/13, hardware sponsors 2/2, razor hashtags 10/15, brush hashtags 10/15, photo contest 25/30, daily challenges 22/25, special challenges 3/5

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps 28mm B10
• Razor: Merkur 34c
• Blade: Gillette Perma Sharp
• Lather: Barrister & Mann - Vespers shave soap
• Post Shave: Barrister & Mann -Vespers aftershave splash
• Fragrance: none- why ruin the scent?

This shave is so, so good. I think I’m going to start this soap at Thanksgiving this year and wear it every day.

shave

Tuesday, the 25th of July, 2023

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm Gelousy SHD Badger
• Razor: Karve brass Christopher Bradley, SB-C
• Blade: Topaz Platinum (74)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir
• Post shave: Barrister and Mann - Eigengrau
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir

sO, I'm right-handed. Shaving with my left hand is a fool's game. It's slow, awkward, and injury-forming.

I tried to make lather using my left hand. But after like five minutes... I decided to read the challenge again: it clearly says "shave with a non-dominant hand." "Shave!" Well, there you go: I can rules-lawyer a little bit, too. This doesn't say "lather with a non-dominant hand," therefore, I lathered with my right hand like normal. This is clearly not part of today's challenge.

But when it comes to the shave, well. Honestly, making the first pass with my left hand isn't bad. It's a little slower than normal, but it's easy to keep the razor on track. It's not until the second pass that things get awkward. Here, I need to start paying more attention to angles of attack, and it's here where, if, like me, you aren't careful, you'll end up going against the grain when you meant to be going across. It's the neck where this is a real problem, because I need to change direction a couple times. And my motor memory is in the wrong hand. So, that's a little rougher shave than I intended.

The third pass actually starts off better (probably because I start with my sideburns and cheeks), but again it just gets tough to keep things straight under my chin, and again on the neck. I end up nicking myself right under my chin, I think because I didn't have the right angle with the razor.

Overall... it wasn't terrible. But it also wasn't a good shave. Well, it was an interesting exercise. I'm glad that challenge just comes once a year!

And as for the theme, well, Santa Noir was an exclusive Christmas soap and perfume from House of Mammoth. It's a very Christmassy scent, in which the musk can be almost overpowering. Eigengrau is a Winter release from Barrister and Mann... "meant to be the inverse of L'Eau d'Hiver, the smell of moonlight on snow." It's also a great scent... but man, does that alcohol burn.

July 25, 2023 * Brush: Zenith Moar Boar #CHONK #OLDWORLD * Razor: Blackland Blackbird Lite * Blade: Gillette Silver Blue * Lather: Summer Break Soaps - Winter Break - Soap * Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Winter Break - Aftershave * Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir - EdP

Yaaas, Christmas in July in July for once! Just like Christmas Day, Sandy Claws brought a present too in the form of a fresh blade. Mrs. Claws wasn't available to do today's shave, so I used my left hand instead. I liked the dexterity challenge. I had a few spots where I set the razor against my face at the wrong angle and a hairline cut from the blade. In past years this soap hit me as more of the chocolate and peppermint. Not sure why but I was able to focus more on the fir and evergreen this time around and enjoyed it. This paired great with Santa Noir. We're in the final stretch!

25 July 2023 Complementary Non Dickkhole Caties Bubbles Pine Barrens

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: 3D Printed Lady with Pot Landmark Knot
• Razor: Gillette Red Tip
• Blade: Gillette Red Tip (18)
• Lather: Caties Bubbles - Pine Barrens (1)
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Latha Taiga A/S
• Post Shave: Thayer's Concoction
• Post Shave: Cold River Soapworks - Sandalwood Post Shave Lotion
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co - Project Lawnsdale Balm
• Fragrance: Olympic Orchids - Olympic Rainforest

Cheers

July 25, 2023 – It’s the pits  

• Brush: Dogwood Badger  
• Razor: West Coast Shaving – Frankenrazor  
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue   
• Lather: Red House Farm – 9 Days up Nort’  

Theme: I’m from Southern California. This soap smells more like winter than any winter I’ve ever experienced. This smells like winters I’ve only read about.

Challenge: I shave left handed all the time. Have you ever tried shaving your right armpit with your right hand? Let me know how it goes. Because I did shave left handed, left armpit included.

P.S. I don't know what my razor is.