July 30, 2023

• Brush: Razorock Beehive Synthetic 28mm
• Razor: Razorock Game Changer .84
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (19)
• Lather: Abbate y La Mantia – Monet

Monet is a very light, pleasant floral scent. It excellently captures the essence of Monet's water lily paintings: floral, watery, warm, and all around beautiful. I am from the US, and Monet is made in Italy. The Game Changer is made in Canada, and this brush is made in China. Through the power of Air Bud bullshit, I used my only non-US made aftershave: no aftershave (ain't no rule says a shaver has to use aftershave).

​

Suds in the Soap to the tune of Dust in the Wind by Kansas.

Lyrics:

I shave my face

Only for a moment, and my hair is gone

All my soaps

Pass through my den, a curiosity

Suds in the soap

All we are is suds in the soap

Same old song

Just a drop of lather in an endless sea

All we do

Drips into the sink, though we refuse to see

Suds in the soap

All we are is suds in the soap

Now don't hang on

Nothing lasts forever but the brush and blade

It slips away

And all your money won't another trifecta buy

Suds in the soap

All we are is suds in the soap

Suds in the soap

Everything is suds in the soap

(In the soap)

All in all, it's been a good month, and a pleasure and an honor participating with you all. Thank you all for being a part of this community and helping make it as great as it is. Thanks most of all to the organizers and Djudges for putting in all the effort to make this happen (and especially for having to sit through all my songs).

Goodbye, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, arrivederci, and hasta luego. See you all in August.

Bon Voyage!

• Brush: Мужской Материк
• Razor: Koraat Sparschweinchen
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps – Teacher’s Pet
• Post Shave: Ralon – Sport
• Fragrance: Maison Francis Kurkdjian – Baccarat Rouge 540

Oh wow, so LG 2023 are a wrap. Where did July go so fast? This year, the tunnel vision phase of the games started in March for me, when work on the portal picked up, and when the actual games started, I could actually take a load off and catch up on sleep and non-internet friends. I was still quite stressed out for most of the games because I expected that a critical and overlooked bug, server failure, or the like in the portal may show up any moment and ruin my day, but as the weeks moved past and the portal did its job as intended, I started to relax and enjoy the games.

I want to thank the participants who with their energy and creativity make the games into this happy and mischievous monument to our community. Of course I'm also a bit worried about the future of r/wetshaving and the Games, with Reddit firmly on the path to terminal enshittification, numerous fellow Redditors deleting their profiles in protest, and opening rifts between different factions here, but I'm hopeful that, however painful the transition ahead, we'll come out the other end as one community with the core of this tradition intact.

To today's shave, I live in 🇨🇭, my razor comes from 🇦🇹, the brush from 🇷🇺, the splash from 🇭🇷, the frag from 🇫🇷, and the soap from the 🇺🇸. A fully international shave for today's challenge, and the relevant post and frag category is that everything I used today is some shade of Red.

I borrowed the frag from my wife, and it's one of my favourites on her. A warm spicy amber scent, it pairs really well with Teacher's pet, playing against its warm sugar note and rubbing against the bright tart apple. Ralon sport smells like Rakija with menthol and is here purely, but the scent evaporates in 12 seconds.

July 30, 2023 #photocontest

• Brush: Semogue SOC Taj Resin Boar (República Portuguesa)
• Razor: Karve Overlander SS (Canada)
• Blade: Bolzano Superinox (Deutschland)
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps - Teacher’s Pet (USA)
• Post Shave: LÚCIDO Aftershave Lotion (日本 Nihon)
• Non-Osma Alum: IHA Kantasi Styptic Pen (Türkiye)

Easy one for me, I live in Australia and all my soaps are US made. I wish I lived in the US… In-N-Out Burgers… free shipping and alcohol splashes…

Teacher’s Pet... everyone’s favourite apple scented soap? I swear I was very serious and a good student in school. Now, not so much… (NSFW)

Music:
“adios” - JAWNY Spotify / YouTube

My 2023 Lather Games playlist

LGSOTD 30-July

• Brush: Wolf Whiskers - Boti 2 Band Fan
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird #CNC  
• Blade: Wizamet - Super Iridium 
• Lather: Gentleman's Nod - Ernest  
• Post Shave: Gentleman's Nod - Ernest AS
• Fragrance: Gentleman's Nod - Ernest EDP

Well farewell Lather Games 2023, being my first effort it's been a challenge. Looking at everyone's posts each day I can see I've missed some of the intent of the daily themes and challenges and haven't gone wild like I should have, regardless though I've participated in my own way and thoroughly enjoyed it. As mentioned in an earlier post it has encouraged me to try and jump in where I can in a more active way. 

For the daily theme and daily challenge, I'm from the UK, specifically North Wales. So my Razor, Brush, and Software are all from the USA. My blades are from Russia. On top of this one, the shave itself is taking place in Turkey, all my gear arrived intact for the final day and for the kick off to Austere August (happy days!), so my first introduction to the rest of the residents here is of me (the nutcase) taking pictures of his shaving gear at the beach, had to be done, decent enough view from the room and my first package holiday. I'm used to winging it but needed a bit more organising with the little one in tow.

Thank you to the organisers/judges, the efforts you've gone to with just arranging everything, weekly entertaining podcasts, interesting challenges and feedback. It's very much appreciated, and to all the participants, both in what you've actually done and the efforts in your posts, thoroughly enjoyable. 

Have a grand one all, and I'll see you for Austere August. 

Cheers

Marc

#ROTY  #PhotoContest

Lather games 2023 day 30

• Prep: Warm water
• Brush: Mühle - Rocca Jet
• Razor: Razorock - Lupo 95 OC SS
• Blade: Voskhod
• Lather: Catie's Bubbles - A Midnight Dreary
• Post Shave: Figaro Monsieur - Bluice splash
• Post Shave: Osma - alum block

Brush - Germany Razor - Canada Blade - Russia Lather - USA Post shave - Italy Post shave - France

International shaving. Here in Bulgaria we haven't so much stuff about wet shaving. Few low level creams and aftershaves and that's it. You saw everything in my posts. We don't have artisans like you in USA and our options to get them in Europe is really limited . I am looking to next shave adventure " Austere August". I'm so enthusiastic and made subgroup and even giving a price. In June MrTangerinsky ( his real name is August btw) made something similar to "Austere August" in Bulgarian Facebook group. Everyday shave with Retro safety razor and song. I gave the name of the endeavor "Retro June" and learning a lot about everyday shaving. It helped me a lot in Lather games to not repeat the same mistakes and now I am with lot of experience in every day shave. But Now I have dilemma! What to chose for next month straight razor or safety razor. I have only 4 shavings with straight razor and this is great opportunity to gain experience. The problem is if I make mistake it's gonna ruined next day shaving and all challenge. I'll be very grateful if you give me advice and share you experience. For some of you guys See you next year for the rest of you see you soon !!!

ROTY

July 30, 2023 – LG2023 Day Thirty  

• Brush: Semogue – Foro Afeitado 2016 25mm Finest Badger  
• Razor: Swing – Swing Travel DE  
• Blade: Polsilver (4)  
• Lather: Wholly Kaw – Valentynka  
• Post Shave: Myrsol – Emulsion  
• Fragrance: Aqua Di Parma – Colonia  

Well that’s Lather Games done for another year, thank you to all the members that put there time and effort into organising and competing.

Was nice to get a couple of mentions in yesterday’s challenge but to be fair my posts haven’t been anywhere near the level of some of you guys who are smashing it out of the park daily, perhaps next year I will do a a full body shave and come out looking like a Naked mole rat.

Wholly Kaw today and Valentynka which from my knowledge is based on Br540, now I’m very familiar with the scent as my daughter seems the bathe in Ariana Grande Cloud which seems also to be based on Br540. For my the scent is just too sweet and perhaps I find it feminine due to my daughters use of cloud, I did only grab this for the games and it’s a good Soap but I shall probably donate it to my kid for her leg shaves.

• Daily Challenge

I did a quick tour of Europe for today’s shave with a little detour of the USA and I’m in the UK.

• Brush Semogue from Portugal, may not have the flair of some of the newer craftsman but they do have some great brushes and this is one of the best.

• Razor The Swing from Sweden is a peach of a razor with just a beautiful simple design and the disc shaped case is with really wins it for me.

• Blade Polsilver from Poland have been my go to for many years and the brown boxed ones especially.

• Soap Wholly Kaw from Merica have fallen off my radar a little recently but they seem to always be adding some great additions to their lineup.

• Post Shave Myrsol from Spain have long been producing some great products, not seen as much these days but they are worth a spot in anyone’s den.

• Fragrance ADP from Italy seem symbolic of summer fragrance for me and this Neroli forward scent is perfect for hot summer days.

• Bowl This Bowl came to from my friends in the Romanian wet shave group, it’s produced using traditional Horezu Pottery and maintain ls a special place in my den.

Bon voyage, Lather games

Prep: Warm shower
Brush: Vie Long Professional Horse Hair - 20mm knot
Razor: Gillette Milord - 1946
Blade: Voskhod
Lather: Cella - Milano Crema Da Barba - Soap
Post Shave: Water Rinse
Fragrance: Issey Miyake - L'eau d'lssey pour homme

A Spanish brush, razor made in the USA, Russian blade, Italian lather and Japanese fragrance. Have good day everyone. Bon Voyage lather games.

July 30, 2023 – Alpha and Omega

• Brush: r/wetshaving Zentih MOAR BOAR 31mm🇮🇹
• Razor: Valet Autostro🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
• Blade: Feather – FHS-10 (5)🇯🇵
• Lather: Mickey Lee Soapworks – The Kraken🇺🇸
• Post Shave: E&S Rasage Traditionell – Equinoxe🇫🇷
• Fragrance: Jean Paul Gaultier – Scandal🇪🇸

And so it ends. The lather games are over, long live the lather games.

Daily Challenge included:
Soap:
A little bit of flex here. u/Djundjila provided me with a sample of unobtainium MLS – Kraken last year.
Made in the US, it lathered pretty easy, although I prefer my lather more dense. The soap scent is not that much for me. Aquatic patchoulli. It fits the name and theme, and although I have a thing for giant sea creatures, this one is not my thing.

Shave:
The italian Zenith, never felt so good. After all the shaves I had with it, it is very soft by now. Maybe not suited for samples with its loft size. The Valet from great Britain was my razor from first day (thats why I called my shave Alpha and Omega). Unfortunately, the japanese blades had seen better days. The shave did not feel comfortable, I have some stublle left. Not my standards.

Aftershave:
The french Equinox is a nice classic masculine fougere aftershave. Bergamot as a head note, jasmin and rose followed by musk, moss, sandalwood and amber. In my opinion, this is nothing special, but works fine for every day, especially in the office.

Fragrance:
Scandal is made in Spain. It is really sweet and often compared to One million, which I wore a lot in my early twenties. A small vetiver note is also there, probably to avoid little teens to drink that sweet juice.
I wear Scandal quite frequently, and it does not develop much during the day. It is my go to fragrance for warmer days.

#FOF
There is no link between my scents. I am mainly focused on the world traveler daily challenge than to have a great match here.

Extra:
Nobody asked for it, but I want to review the lathergames and reminisce.
Before the games started, we read on discord that a lot of high stakes players would not attend the games or do not go full throttle into them. Djundjila joined the djudges, RedMosquitoMM was hit by holiday season like many others. I was afraid the games would be boring and die.
In the first days, I felt confirmed. Was it a bad choice to make RedMosquito a LG winner? I saw a lot of people trying to copy his style. Quality posts filled with memes to support the written word and make the post more entertaining.
After the first week, I felt a bit like an outcast. There were few of those madness dipshit posts, and I read a lot of posts, especially in the first week. Finally frigid friday happened, and from then on I was not the only one to do unnecessary nonesense, I was outclassed from others. The lather games were exactly what I wanted them to be like. We had a great podcast with lots of posts mentioned.
To be honest, I hoped my posts would be covered a bit more. I feel like I started the frigid friday escalation with Priusaurus. Nobody mentioned my “F*** PAA” and other Memento Tatoos on duppleganger day. I guess I had a lot of misfortune with my djudges for my best days. But what happened is history. I see it as a sign. Marquis… it’s time to grow up. These games and your motorcycle travel were the climax of your egoistic year.
My plan was to reach the top 10, but it’s realy hard to stay creative every day. Nonetherless, I won a DG brush, which feels like second place. It’s okay to leave the games with a nice 25 bucks gift card and get a Blackland razor. That brings me to my next point. The challenges. I loved the themes, I loved the challenges. Dear Djudges. You did a great job. The themes left a lot of creativity open and I hope not halve of the cast was disquallified during hippy dippy baloney day. Especially music day was great. We had so many opportunitys and soaps to choose from.
Die to the challenges, I got to explore wetshaving and answer some long lost questions about it. Why do we start WTG? How good is a GEM? And many more.
Knowing the next days challenge beforehand made my daily schedule so much easier. I shave before 7am in the morning. By 8 in the morning the post for the day comes online (german time). By knowing what the challenge is, I could already act accordingly. Last year, I had to shave after work and then prepare my post. Last thing I want to make clear is, that this is the first games where we do not have TTS at hand and I for my side had some battles with the new database. I am very certain that two times my aftershave was missed in the markdown and after I clicked “edit” “save”, it was there. In the beginning of the games, I hoped to reach 3 consecutive days without talking to a djudge about something that went wrong in my post. In the middle of the second week, there was no need to talk to djudges anymore. I also loved the transparency the portal gave us and hope it did not overwhelm the djudged to fix our tiny errors.

Thanks everyone for these awesome games.
u/onionmiasma and u/Priusaurus are already planning shenanigans for next year with me. I got some idea for frigid friday to end the discussion of the coolest shaver once and for all.

July 30, 2023 – June Shaves

• Brush: Omega – Model 20106 Black Handle Boar Hair Shaving Brush (Italy)
• Razor: Karve Shaving Co. – Overlander, TechniColor Edition (Canada)
• Blade: Gillette Wilkinson Sword (3) (India)
• Lather: WestMan Shaving – Utopia (Portugal)

Again, I'm glad I get to do Lather Games because it forces me to think about this craft a bit differently. I got a great shave from the Overlander razor without the blade chatter I got with other razors. Pure comfort while shaving; pure bliss in personal grooming.

And I'll get some rest in soon, thanks.

#LatherGames #WorldTraveler

Bonus:

https://i.imgur.com/qJFDvqj.mp4

&

https://i.imgur.com/6FR1yZ8.mp4 ← The In-House Inspection Cat "Eowyn" Reviews the Omega Brush (above)

Today I shaved with Saponificio Varesino Felce Aromatica Shaving Soap. I used my Proraso boar brush and a Fatip Retro open comb. I followed up with Cella aftershave and a splash of 4711.

July 30, 2023 - Shaving around the world

• Brush: Semogue Owner's Club boar
• Razor: Mühle ROCCA R95
• Blade: Wizamet (5)
• Lather: MacDuff's Soap Company - Raspberry Metheglin
• Alum: Osma
• Post Shave: Alt Innsbruck
• Fragrance: Australian Private Reserve - Marbles

I live in the United States. Every item from my shave today is from a different country other than my own.

Brush - Portugal 🇵🇹

Razor - Germany 🇩🇪

Blade - Russia 🇷🇺

Lather - Canada 🇨🇦

Alum - France 🇨🇵

Aftershave - Austria 🇦🇹

Fragrance - Australia 🇦🇺

So long Lather Games. It's been fun. On to a month of drudgery.

• Brush: Omega 63171

• Razor: Muhle Rocca R94

• Blade: Bic Chrome Platinum

• Lather: Australian Private Reserve - Lixiviant

• Post Shave: Rubicon Formulations - Old Spice Original

• Fragrance: Dolce & Gabbana - Light Blue

Today's Theme: Bon Voyage Lather Games - the tub says "Handmade in Australia" and I'm in the USA

Tody's Challenge: World Traveler - I managed to get this one with the help from some friends (detail in my theme writeup).

Omega brush from Italy, Muhle Rocca from Germany, Bic Chrome Platinum from Greece, APR from Australia, Old Spice Original from India, D&G from France, pridetwo from USA.

My theme for today's shave: The Generosity of Others

As I contemplated the end of the lather games, I decided that possibly one of the best parts of this community is how generous everyone is to each other - with their time, their trust, and sometimes with their soaps. So my soap, post shave,and fragrance are all the result of someone being generous to me.

/u/zimora sent me the tub of Lixiviant on a whim when I mentioned in discord that I'd like to try APR one day. No questions asked, just offered up something so that I could try a bucket list worthy soapmaker. Thank you /u/zimora.

/u/undream22 saw me pining for Indian-market Old Spice splash because of the recommendation by /u/cowzilla3 in IRC and basically said, "I know a guy, and Old Spice sells better than artisan stuff anyway so I'll go drop five thousand dollars to make your indian old spice dreams happen." Thank you /u/undream22.

Lastly, for my fragrance, my fiancee has been supportive and accommodating of my shenanigans all month. Last night, when I told her I might need to go to the mall to pull an /u/onionmiasma and use a tester to get my daily challenge points, she volunteered her own perfume sample made in France so that I could complete the challenge without too much stress. Thank you.

So as the Lather Games draw to a close, I'd like to be a little introspective if you'll indulge me this. I'd like to congratulate everyone who participated, even if you didn't make the whole month or get all the points. You were part of what made this year's games special and you should be proud of that. Even when the competition was fierce, and our personal lives got so difficult that it felt like that we were all alone, we didn't stop moving forward.

Things got weird, and we rose above it. Some days, the Lather Games challenges felt like an exercise in self harm. Other days, the games were the only thing that kept us sane.

We all took on a little bit of each other, and saw each other as we hoped we could be seen.

Even the djudges, despite our attempts to bend the rules, were always happy to keep the games going and give us all something we could enjoy together. Even when they were certainly frustrated with us behind the scenes.

So as we all exit the lather games together, let's remember that we are (not) alone. We have each other in this community, and even if we get to the end of it all and turn into orange juice, we can still choose to rock out and choose to be happy when happiness is a choice and not a default.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. #photocontest #FOF #ROTY

July 30, 2023 – LG Airlines Flight 30

• Brush: Zenith r/wetshaving Exclusive Moar Boar 31mm (Italy)
• Razor: Gillette Tech (England)
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (2) (Russia)
• Lather: Tabac – Original (Germany)
• Post Shave: Nivea – Sensitive Post Shave Balm (Mexico)
• Fragrance: Givenchy – Gentlemen’s Society (France)

fof #photocontest (masterpiece)

Sir, I’m going to need your passport.

Huh? I’m going into my bathroom, how exactly does that leave US soil.

Per the terms of today’s challenge, this shave is a tour of Europe with a brief jaunt into Mexico.

Still passport?

Just roll with the bit.

Fine but as much as I’ve given up privacy these games I’m not stupidly posting a picture of my passport.

That’s sufficient. We’ll be rolling through countries as they appear in your shave. First up us England, where your tech was made.

Helpfully stamped on the back to avoid any confusion with those US techs. There’s a picture in my #regus hashtag post, should anyone care to verify.

Next up would be Russia, where Nacets are made, but the airspace is just a bit… unsettled. We’ll hang around the Finnish border.

Smart move. When looking for blades I was stunned how many were made in Russia. Seems like Russia and China output the bulk of DE blades. My preferred 7 o’clock yellows are also made there.

Next we have the brush, as everyone knows the Moar Boar is an Italian creation.

Yep, and quite the beast, let me just get out my scuttle…

Sir, that would kick you out of this challenge, it’s US made.

C’mon, I’m just loading the smush with it, they don’t have to even know. It’s not listed.

Sir, you’re literally typing out your internal monolog. They know.

Damnit.

Luckily your old standby, baseball helmet ice cream bowl is stamped with made in China.

Oh joy.

For the purposes of this tour though it doesn’t count. So next up is Germany. The home of Tabac.

Somehow only the Germans could make depression in a shave soap. So German soap, Italian brush. Good thing a German/Italian collaboration has never gone bad.

Shaving dad jokes? At least you didn’t use the feather blade.

I figured incorporating Russia and England balances the scales a bit.

Sigh. Let’s move on. That smush is getting small, hopefully Moar Boar doesn’t eat….hey put down that Nivea!

Why? It’s made in Mexico? Also the tabac smush lives another day.

Yes, the balm qualifies but logistically that’s a pain, we’re gonna so the frag next. It’s from France.

Does…Does it matter how we travel on the imaginary journey?

Yes, now shut up or I’ll make you wait actual travel time before applying balm for the bit. We could have done this in Flight Simulator.

OK, ok, sheesh. French cologne, a sample that came with one of my wife’s Ulta orders, sounds expensive.

Actually, all those Maher Olafactive testers you were using were much more expensive. It’s not even in the same universe as Creed or other big brands.

Smells nice enough, can I put on the balm now?

Since Nivea is made in Mexico, an entirely different continent, it’s out on your dresser. Think of it as a flight transfer.

We’ll thanks.

Don’t forget to check your area for any luggage you may have forgotten. This is after all the final flight of LG 2023.

Yep, bittersweet. Thanks, internal monolog!

Anytime, glad to help with internet points. Think you pulled off #ROTY with your antics?

It’s in the judges’ hands now.

Honestly, I think you lost to u/pridetwo.

Exactly what I expected my internal monolog to say.

I hit the character limit to be continued below.

Player creates an airline in his head and goes on a trip with his inner monologue.

https://imgur.com/a/PHtyvEK

• Lather: Martin De Candre - Vetyver Soap
• Brush: Maggard Timberwolf Synthetic 24mm
• Razor: Rockwell 6C (R4)
• Blade: Gillette 7 O'Clock SharpEdge Yellow
• Post Shave: Old Spice - Classic AS

I have company today, so I'm just gonna jump right into it.

I live in the US.

Martin de Candre is made in France.

Old Spice proudly displays "Made in Canada" on the bottle.

Rockwell has their 6C razors manufactured in China.

Gillette manufactures their 7 O'Clock SharpEdge blades in Russia.

Finally, I have no clue where the brush was manufactured...hopefully Taiwan. I did check the site and Maggard has over 850 of their black synthetic knot brush in stock, so I'm betting he's not setting these in-store.

It's been fun this year. I look forward to seeing the results tomorrow. Thanks for a great Lather Games!

Have a great day folks!

Jul. 30, 2023
Brush: Yaqi Green Obsidian Synthetic
Razor: Green Cult GC 2.0 II
Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux
Lather: Stirling - Boat Drinks - Soap
Post Shave: Bulldog - Original After Shave - Balm
Fragrance: Boucheron - Quattre

I’m from Slovakia,

My razor is Austrian and the blade Russian.

My brush is Chinese and the Soap is American.

The AS is from the UK and the EdT is French.

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

July 30, 2023

​

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Zenith 507U XSE
• Razor: Hoffritz Slant
• Blade: Gillette Platinum
• Lather: Mitchell's - Wool Fat
• Post Shave: Mandom - After Shave Lotion
• Fragrance: None

​

Born and raised in the good ole USA. And knocking out the final theme and challenge, we're going to take a trip to Europe and Asia. Starting with the lather; some tallow Mitchell's Wool Fat from England, whipped up with a Zenith brush from Italy. Popped in a Russian made Gillette Platinum into a German made Hoffritz slant. Finishing up the shave in Japan with some Mandom aftershave.

​

Thank you again to all of the judges and sponsors for making this happen. It was my first Lather Games and it was a blast not having to make my own decisions for what to use on a daily basis. I can't wait for next year. Well done by all of the other participants, and may the best shaver win!

​

Until Next Year!

​

#ROTY

• Brush: Simpson Classic #1 synthetic brush
• Razor: Karve Shaving Christopher Bradley
• Lather: Pre de Provence - NO. 63 shave soap
• Post Shave: Pre de Provence - NO. 63 After shave balm

ROTY

FIN.

Well I was made and reside in the USA.

The Simpson Classic #1 synthetic brush was made on the Isle of Man which is an internally self governing dependency of the British crown. Its inhabitants are British citizens. Thanks Wikipedia!

The Karve Shaving Christopher Bradley was 100% made in Canada.

The lather and after shave products were made in Provence, France.

Well it's been a ride. Though I know I didn't set any records with my lather games performance, I originally set out to shave 30 days in a row using a different scent each day, to do as many of the challenges as I was reasonably able and to have fun. I feel like I accomplished this and am overall happy with the experience. I'm hoping to build on this for next year incorporating 30 brands, hopefully get some more of the hardware scavenger points, take more and better photos etc. Thanks to everyone who did so much more than I to help to make the lather games the weird creature that it is. I also met some friends along the way. What could be better than that?

Cheers yall, thanks again for making my first lather games a good one.

Edited: Removed bad imgur link. Imgur is not cooperating right now for me for some reason. I will try to re upload later.

Jul. 30, 2023
Brush: AP ShaveCo Synbad
Razor: Tatara Masamune
Blade: Voskhod
Lather: Cella - Red - Soap
Post Shave:* Bombay Shaving Co - Post Shave - Balm

Soap is made in Italy, razor in Portugal, brush in Canada, blade in Russia, and balm in India. No splash today as I don’t believe any are made in a different country than what I’ve already used or are US based which I cannot use as I’m from the US of A.

Shared from My Shave Den for iOS

LG23-30: Bon Voyage, Lather Games!

• Brush: Мужской Материк 26mm Zenith Boar
• Razor: Blutt Rasur BR-1 0.99
• Blade: Kai Blue (2)
• Lather: Los Jabones De Joserra - Orris Root - Shaving Soap
• Post Shave: Oaken Lab - Serious Moonlight - After Shave
• Fragrance: Jo Malone London - Peony & Blush Suede - Cologne
• Passes: WTG, XTG
• Coffee: Peru. San Ignancio, Cajamarca. - v: Caturra, Pache, Typica - p: Washed
• Music: Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World
• LG Tags: #FOF, #photocontest for that "story/thematic" theme

We did it everyone! Lots of planning, smush mailing, and prep, thirty shaves, thirty posts, plus lots of chatter on the SOTD threads and community apps. If you're one of our essential event planners or judges, you did all the work in the background to make this thing happen, often while playing along. As always, a huge thank you. The Lather Games are always a highlight of the year and 2023 was no exception.

My final shave of the month is a globe-trotter; each product from a different country, crossing several continents, and none of them are from the United States, where I live. Regarding my photo, this archival map is extremely out of date—apologies for anything problematic. Listed in SOTD formatting order, starting with the hardware:

• Brush: This red wood Мужской Материк handle hails from Russia. It's among the most comfortable handles I own and I love the saturated color. I paired it with a Zenith boar knot from Italy—shoutout to u/djundjila for the hookup. I've tried a few loose boar knots and none of them top the Zenith's density.
• Razor: This Blutt BR-1 is made in Switzerland. It's impeccably crafted out of 316L and looks terrific even without the polished finish. Another shout-out goes to u/djundjila!
• Blade: I unwrapped this blade from Japan for the second time. It was a better pairing with the BR-1 than the Astra SP I've been using.

My soap, aftershave, and fragrance are all from different countries, and are also all leathery florals. Again, in SOTD order:

• Lather: Los Jabones De Joserra (LJDJ) soaps are made in Spain. I like the performance, but the pricing seems high for CONUS shavers. This sandalwood and iris scent would have worked for yesterday's theme as well and it's the least leathery of today's three.
• Post Shave: Oaken Lab's aftershaves are "handcrafted in Indonesia". Ironically for us Stateside shavers, Serious Moonlight is the scent of a night drive through the Los Angeles hills.
• Fragrance: I'm new to this Jo Malone cologne, but I don't have a French florals and leather perfume, and my wife has this sample made in England with peonies and suede leather right there in the name. I thought Canadian house Zoologist was going to come through for me, but I haven't picked up a sample of Northern Cardinal (bergamot, rose, and leather) yet. Same goes for Etat Libre d’Orange Putain des Palaces.

And the rest:

• Coffee: These Peruvian beans put a pin down in South America.
• Music: Super Furry Animals hail from Cardiff, Wales and Rings Around the World captures today's theme perfectly.

All three of today's scents are floral with varying degrees of leather.

The LJDJ Orris Root scent has the least leather of the three, focusing on sandalwood and spiced iris, sometimes highlighting the suede-quality of its namesake flower. The sandalwood is a lovely foil to the fleshy-green floral accord; woody cedar helps the iris read as flower in bloom, versus freshly-applied lipstick. Lathering makes the scent warm and open, spiced sandalwood moving up in the mix.

Serious Moonlight is the most interesting of the three, the smell of lovingly maintained leather combined with sulfurous asphalt to suggest a (bright red, according to the label) car cruising down the highway. Oud, leather, and tar would be gnarly on their own, but the warm breeze rushing by is hazy with lush jasmine; Oaken Lab lists a black tea, coconut, and vanilla accord, which surely brings the scent its overall smoothness, though I can't pick out those notes individually. Most surprising is a pomelo note, first listed but more subtle in the mix. That fruity note brightens the entire blend, shaping the rubbery oud, and lifting the scent from tire-level to head out the window. It's a shame the fragrance isn't available outside of Indonesia.

I finished my shave with a spritz of Jo Malone's flirty Peony & Blush Suede. This perfume is unabashedly pretty, focusing on a heart of peony blossom that's soft, honeyed, and delicate. Jo Malone claims there's a crisp red apple note in the opening, which I don't pick out, though I'd guess it's what brings this perfume some added sweetness. The "supple" leather base wraps the floral accord in powdery texture; as that gossamer opening dries down, the suede is more obvious, though not particularly engaging. I like a floral with more hard edges and a leather with more presence. More concerning is how this combined with Serious Moonlight; Mrs. Mosquito says I smell like the front entrance to a Macy's department store, in the display-stuffed liminal space between cosmetics and shoes. Not a compliment.

And with that, we've arrived at the end of Lather Games 2023! I hope our newcomers had a blast, our judges had plenty of good material to critique, and our spectators enjoyed the show. I'm going to take a nap.

July 30, 2023 – All Around the World Day

• Brush: Zenith Moar Boar
• Razor: Rockwell 6s
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
• Lather: Martin de Candre – Rose
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps – International Studies
• Fragrance: Jean Paul Gaultier – Le Male

I decided to go with good ol’ MdC today. Many of you probably know that MdC, or more accurately attempting to replicate MdC played a huge role in making our hobby what it is today. 10+ years ago MdC was considered to be far and away the best shaving soap out there. European shaving products were top notch and MdC was king. 10 years ago a post was made on another shaving forum about attempting to replicate the awesomeness of MdC. The poster would go on to start The Los Angeles Shaving Soap Company. The founder of Dapper Dragon also can be seen posting in that thread. That thread was essentially required reading for all new artisan soap makers that got their start. At least those of us who started between then and the artisan boom that happened 5ish years ago. We all googled “how to make shaving soap” and found that thread. It is interesting to look back and see how things evolved and changed. The founder of LASSCO, jbisinla, is also the reason we have r/wetshaving as he claimed this sub in the early days of reddit. Just some fun pieces of history for you newbies!

2023-07-30 Lather Games SOTD

• Brush: Omega 21762 (27x64mm Boar)
• Razor: Merkur 41c
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux (1)
• Lather: Mitchell's Wool Fat - Shave Soap
• Post Shave: Epsilon - Blue Mediterranean
• Fragrance: Jean Paul Gaultier - Le Male

Italian brush, German razor, Russian blade, English soap, Spanish aftershave, and French perfume for this Canadian shaver. The last soap I used with this brush was so strong I couldn't even smell the MWF today... oh well, that's just the way she goes.

That's all, folks.

July 30, 2023

• Brush: Maggard 24mm Tuxedo Synthetic
• Razor: Karve Overlander Aluminum
• Blade: Personna P74 (8)
• Lather: Arko
• Post Shave: Razorock - Puros - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Eufros - Dama Noche - Balm
• Post Shave: Nivea - Sensitive Balm

Adios, 2023LG. It's been real.

Brush - China
Razor - Canada (thanks /u/visceralwatch)
Blade - Damnit I messed up - USA (where I live)
Lather - Turkey
Post Shave 1 - Italy
Post Shave 2 - Spain
Post Shave 3 - Mexico

At least the lather is on theme!

Arko is really not bad. I enjoy the scent, which to me is mostly patchouli, with citronella and I guess lemon.

The Overlander was an interesting shave! I can see what Freedberg was talking about with the drag, but for me I think it's more caused by the geometry and the blade. It's hard to explain. I hate to say it, but it's almost like a Henson! /u/visceralwatch doesn't like Henson, so I guess more testing is needed before I jump to conclusions. Nice close shave though, and very comfortable! Maybe this blade is hitting it's stride, because I've had some not-so-close shaves with it lately, and even a little irritation here and there. Not today, though.

Fall out of Lather Games

• Prep: Poor Decisions
• Brush: Wolf Whiskers Beehive / Maggard 28mm Premium Boar
• Razor: Weck thing that weighs nothing #SHITTY #TERRIBLE
• Blade: Personna Hair Shaper #AWFUL
• Lather: Boellis - Panama 1924
• Alum: Osma
• Post Shave: Brut
• Balm: Zingari Man - Unscented
• Fragrance:

Had this Weck thing in my closet a while. I don't remember if someone sent it to me with something else, or I bought it for $10 or something. Ya'll hype these things like they are the second coming of the greatest razor ever. Clearly i'm missing something, or maybe my skin is too sensitive or my beard is too wirey. Or you're all just batshit insane or there's a level of crack thrill I just have not attained yet.

I probably should have watched a video or 2, or read something, but I didn't. I actually didn't cut myself, so if it's gore you're looking for, that didn't happen. The problem is this was the roughest shave of my entire life, and i've used both an ATT S2 and a Blackland Dart. The blade is just terrible. Absolutely uncomfortable. Just scraping hair off my face. Was my angle wrong? Probably. Will I ever try this again? Hell no, i'm just going to bitch and moan that the razor is shit because it couldn't possibly be my technique or my lather. As I was doing parts of 3 passes, my face was getting splotchy? wtf.

The osma....Burned like a mf. Like I felt what all of you are talking about when you say "I don't see how anyone ever gets a burn free shave with alum". Well, my theory is confirmed, it's your technique. Yeeee.

Took a shower (duh), face felt a little Better. Brut was a little stingier than normal. Figure my face still feels like it's on fire, let's use some balm. Didn't help. Face is still sore af.

TLDR: Wecks suck, it couldn't be my technique.

Lather Games Day 30- Hasta la vista juegos de espuma

• Brush: Semogue 1800
• Razor: Mühle R89
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux (6)
• Lather: D. R. Harris - Marlborough Soap
• Post Shave: Proraso - Eucalyptus and Menthol AS

It's over? Really? I feel like we just started these shenanigans. Man, how quickly 30 days of shaving asshattery, nutbaggery, borderline stupidity, mild insanity and marital harmony questioning flew by. These Lather Games seemed to go from ho-hum to what the actual fuck in no time. For me, I had no designs on winning or even a Top 10 finish. I'll be happy if I finish a place higher than last year (I think I was 42nd). Did I hit 30 different soaps for the month? You betcha. Did I slay the hardware scavenger hunts or photo contests? Absolutely not. I was just content to grind away in the middle (or bottom) of the pack and watch everything unfold around me. To all of the 'competitors' this year, congratulations on getting across the finish line of one of the weirdest months of the year on the internet. To our esteemed djudges, thank you for all of the hard work to get these Games up and running and manage the insanity once they took off. Oh, and thanks for giving us a day of notice of the following day's challenges. That was immensely helpful.

So on to today's final shave. As a US-residing competitor, my shave had a European flair. The Semogue 1800 hails from Portugal. The Muhle R89 was made in Germany. The blades came from Russia (prior to the Ukraine invasion). D.R. Harris is my favorite English shaving soap. Proraso...well we know that next year's Big Soap sponsor hails from Italy. I nailed the theme. I nailed the challenge.

Now, to welcome a day of shaving rest (what the hell am I going to shave with tomorrow??? What is this free choice of shaves day that I have??) and to make decisions about how I will spend Austere August. Should I use Sonder, Alive or Hygge to get into the Mammoth Mafia fun (feel free to push me one way or another)? Will the Zenith boar that I ordered that got lost in the post office here in Maine actually land on my doorstep tomorrow or will I be using the Omega boar that I quickly ordered from Amazon to engage in another August of Raw Hoggin'. Tune in on August 1st when these and other razor burning questions will be answered.

Until then, arrivederci, shalom, adios and goodbye Lather Games.

2023-07-28 Safe Travels, Don't Die!

• Brush: Yaqi - Metal Timberwolf
  China
• Razor: "Germany"
  Germany
• Lather: Abbate Y La Manta - Blue Tobacco
  Italy
• Post Shave: Løthur Grooming - Oregon
  United Kingdom
• Fragrance: Guy Laroche - Drakkar Noir
  France
• u/ginopono
  United States

Bon Voyage/Buon Viaggio/Gut Reise/旅行愉快:
Soap is from Italy. I'm from the most backward developed country in the world.

Challenge Accepted: Places of origin listed above.
It occurred to me this morning that I could conceivably trek down to Mexico for a Games-final huzzah, but the list of reasons not to do that is long. I won't be surprised if someone does cross a national border today, though, particularly in the Schengen area.

Relevant Post-Shave and Fragrance: As required by the challenge. Also, pleasing black/silver color scheme.

I grabbed Blue Tobacco around last year's Games, motivated by a stupid as-many-tobacco-soaps-as-I-can thing, but I ended up using Garibaldi instead. For today, my original choice was Earth of Mankind, because it's a bit special to me, but the colors Blue Tobacco's tin work better here and it says travel right on it! How perfect is that?

#FOF The tobacco note seems to be the same as that of Garibaldi, and both strike me as being in the neighborhood of Tobacconist's, so that's a win. It allegedly also has eucalyptus, but either the tobacco or menthol drowns it out. I think it is a very good thing that it does not smell like a tobacco-y Proraso Green.

Oregon I also picked up last year, largely because I very much want/plan to relocate to the PNW (Pacific Northwest). I had my eye on Oregon as a destination, but everything I've heard indicated that it has become a terrifying place in the past few years. I had been planning a trip there in January of this year, but I set my sights a bit more northward and scoped out the Seattle area instead. I still feel like the summers there are hotter than I'd like. I do not care for being warm.

Oregon (the scent) is a "tribute to Wonderwood by CDM". FFS why does no one just say what these abbreviations are? Comme des Garçons. Oh, pardon me. COMME des GARÇONS. But with an asterisk as the cédille for some reason.
I haven't used Oregon much since I got it, and I do like the Oregon scent, but this aftershave seems oddly inconsistent. The last time I smeared this on my face, it immediately took me back to Cascadia. This time, it almost didn't have any scent at all. Perhaps it's a matter of how it interacts with the preceding scent, and Blue Tobacco is quite understated itself.

Drakkar Noir I think was the first fragrance-fragrance that I ever bought. Let's see, how is it classifi—oh, fougère. Of course. Dammit. As if it weren't bad enough that is has a reputation.

I'm probably inclined to just renounce everything I've learned over the past month about fragrances, which admittedly is not a lot, but huge compared to where I was at the start. I don't think I care about picking out scent notes, or what's a fougère or a chèvre or an aromatic (which is kind of a batshit label when talking about different aromas, I might add). I just want to appreciate scents holistically without the need to analyze the components. There's nothing wrong with that!

I can't deny the practical convenience of say, being able to inform a purchase decision based on scent notes and such, but if I ever manage to stop buying so much damn soap because, dude, how many years do you think the soap you already have with last, then that won't be an issue anytime soon. Certainly not next year when the new Games calendar comes out and I try to work out what I can cover with what I already have...

#photocontest
Photo: Mobile Phones
Not quite as shoe-horned as some have needed to be, so that's good.

July 30, 2023 Bon Voyage, Lather Games!

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: Omega Model 11126 Ovangkol Wooden Handle Boar 24mm
• Razor: Yaqi SE (Half DE)
• Blade: Voskhod (5)
• Lather: Westman Shaving - Gerês
• Post Shave: Myrsol - Aqua Balsamica
• Fragrance: Paco Rabanne - One Million Elixir

Fantastic shave today with this soap from Westman. Fully intend on picking up a tub or two more of their stuff up while I'm on my trip. Software is linked by being on theme which also leads to the challenge.

Challenge - I live in the USA as you'll see from the passports in my picture today.

Omega Brush - Italy

Yaqi Razor - China

Voskhod Blade - Russia

Westman Lather - Portugal

Myrsol Aftershave - Spain

One Million Elixir - France

Lather Games has been a blast this year thank you to all those who participated and made it so fun this year. Of course, thank you a ton to the djudges and rules expert(s) that made it all possible through all the hard work behind the scenes!

July 30, 2023

https://imgur.com/gallery/ju5D6Tw

Prep: Proraso - Refrescante Preshave Cream

Brush: Simpsons - Commodore X3 Best Badger

Razor: Gillette - Slim Adjustable Prospector Edition

Blade: Feather (1)

Lather: Cella - Aloe Vera (Blue) Shave Soap

Post Shave: Cella - Aloe Vera (Blue) Aftershave Lotion

This was a great shave to end the lather games. The blue Cella soap with Aloe Vera was just what my face needed after a month of daily shaving. I live in the US and Cella is an Italian soap, so it's definitely on theme. I don't have what's needed for the daily challenge though, so I'll end my lather games posting by saying thank you to all of the organizers and fellow participants. I'll be looking forward to next year's games. Happy shaving!

#ROTY

• Brush: Van Der Hagen Boar Brush
• Razor: Van Der Hagen 85mm Safety Razor
• Blade: Tiger Platinum
• Lather: Master Soap Creations - Zeus God of Thunder

ROTY

July 30, 2023 – Bon Voyage, Lather Games! (previously International Day)

• Brush: Semogue /r/ LE #91
• Razor: Hurrise Razor
• Blade: Astra SP (Green)
• Lather: Phoenix & Beau – Imperial Rum
• Post Shave: Phoenix & Beau – Imperial Rum

I’m from California. Brush is from Portugal. Razor is from China. It’s under $5 on amazon. It’s like a V3A but fully covered. Great travel razor. It’s got lots some blade feel. Blade is from Russia. Software is from the UK.

gg

Day 30 - Bon Voyage

• Brush: Royal London - 1980s Brush Taiwan
• Razor: Merkur - 34C. Germany
• Blade: Astra Green Russia
• Lather: Saponificio Varesino - Cubebe Italy
• Post Shave: Saponificio Varesino - Cubebe Italy
• Fragrance: Tarife Attar - ASEEL Kuwait

We are going all over the globe today. Except USA because that is home base. Every time I bust out the Saponificio Varesino, I am surprised how hard it is. By far, my hardest soap.

For the Fragrance, Today was my first time wearing an Attar. I am very curious about Attars, but this one is ok. So far, it has been very powdery. The description has lots of citrus in it, but I mostly get a floral, powder, and light musk. The Attar in the picture is White Musk. I switched it up after the Cubebe shave. I just was not feeling it.

I am also curious about the Attars projection. It is still stong to me, but it was an oil. I don't want to overpower a room.

This has been fun, I am just happy making a post every day. This is the most posting I've ever done. Thanks to the judges. Good luck, P Dino and Onion dude.

ROTY #FOF

2023-07-30 Bon Voyage, Lather Games!

• Brush: Semogue - Semogue 830, Boar bristle 22mm (Portugal)
• Razor: Gillette Sterling (7 O'Clock) (India)
• Blade: Lord Cool Super Stainless, DE (Egypt)
• Lather: BBS Artisan Soaps - Nile Lotus (Greece)
• Post Shave: Kosmetik R. Nuener - Alt-Insbruck (Austria)

The Shave:

Been away on an unplanned emergency business trip. Had to skip the last three days. Not all that happy (and although I'm not super competitive my score is gonna show it). It happened fast with very little packing and so this shave is taking those days growth off. Normally I shave everyday so I needed this shave. Got stuck on the tarmac waiting for them to open the gate for just shy of an hour in a thunder storm at Dulles. I had been crawling around on a roof and walking a construction site and doing a punch list and providing solutions for contractor confusions for a couple days and just finished up a couple hours earlier.

I was sweaty, gross, dehydrated, and most assuredly smelled nasty. The poor sap stuck in the seat next to me had to put up with that while the air on the jet was in tarmac mode (barely there). Humid, hot, stinky and tired. Finally they decided there were few enough lightning strikes and allowed the ground crew out and we docked. The next leg of the trip ended up push back first an hour then a little more. That flight went much better and I finally got home at 2:00 am.

I needed this shave! And it felt good.

Daily Challenge - World Traveler:

Me? I am from the USA (Midwest)

Brush - from Portugal

Razor - from India

Blade - from Egypt

Lather - from Greece

Post Shave - from Austria

​

Been a fun run! My best to all - enjoyed this year.

Take care and have a good one.

___________

^(Ed: fixed brush - I typed Italy for it I dunno why 'cuz it is definitely made in Portugal.)

DAY 30 LATHER GAMES! AU REVOIR!!

• Brush: DS Cosmetics 30mm Tuxedo Knot (China)
• Razor: Blackland Vector (U.S.A.)
• Blade: Chinese(14) (China)
• Lather: Chiseled Face - Midnight Stag (U.S.A.)
• Post Shave: Chiseled Face - Midnight Stag Splash (U.S.A.)
• Fragrance: Chiseled Face - Midnight Stag EdP (U.S.A.)

​

PIC OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN (THIS TIME IT'S IMPORTANT)

​

I am a Bulgarian and live in Bulgaria!(important for Daily Challenge)

​

Right, last day of the LG, everyone is teary eyed and sentimental, but I ain't done yet. Not until I press the "comment" button! I have one last day and I am going out with a BANG!

As for the Daily theme I am THE ONLY ONE ( u/ChangoBat doesn't count, cause WCW) to incorporate THE STAG into a normal day theme! Granted it is easy for me to use THE STAG, cause I am not from the U.S.A., but plenty of other people also are, I AIN'T SEEN ANY OF THEM USE IT!!!! CAUSE THEY'RE SCRUBS!!!! u/cosmobarber would be sad at the lack of Stag this year, but I hope at least my post would make him happy, the last frontier!

​

Fun fact: This is also my AA setup, minus the Vector, I will do Sub-Cero Fili for AA, but for certain reasons I did not use it today and you will soon find out!

​

MY GOING OUT WITH A BANG

I was wondering, what can I do to stand out, to finish on a bang, and it finally clicked, some of you might have noticed in the SOTD picture!

Today I went to my local police station and talked with the nice police officers on duty. The conversation went something like this(keep in mind police here is different than police in the U.S.A.):

​

• MrTangerineSky: Good day officer!
• Officer: Hello Sir! How can I help you?
• MrTangerineSky: Well I have a strange request for you....
• Officer: Go on....
• MrTangerineSky: Can I shave in the back of your squad car?
• Officer:.....
• MrTangerineSky:....
• Officer: Are you trying to get into trouble?
• MrTangerineSky: Well no, it's just for this shaving competition(tried to explain a bit detail of what's going on, he wasn't having any of it).
• Officer: Boy, you better get out of here before we whoop your ass....
• MrTangerineSKy: ok, ok, ok, can I at least go there on the other side of the street and shave while I film it?
• Officer: Yeah no problem, you can go there but you can't film, now BEAT IT!

​

So that's exactly what I did, I got a lot of laughs, giggles and shaking of heads from the officers while they watched from the sides. I also managed to sneak a picture from the corner, as you can see the cop cars clearly!

​

You might think what gave me the strength to do this well it's simple, continue reading below.

#FOF

CAUSE OF THE STAG BROTHERS! AIN'T NOTHING BETTER SMELLING IN THIS WORLD THAN MIDNIGHT STAG! This stuff will make you grow hair in places you've never heard of. It is such a blissful scent, that the heavens open up and you hear angels singing while you apply the aftershaves+EdP! Everytime you use THE STAG, your balls grow an inch in diameter! That's why u/cosmobarber didn't participate in the LG this year, his balls got so big from last year, he can barely move or get to the PC to post! The gasoline in it will make your penis hard(personal experience), the smoke will attract all the women, the wood will solidify your position in society as a badass and the leather will make you irresistible not to touch! COME NOW BROTHERS AND JOIN ME IN AA WITH THE STAAAAAAAGGGG!!!!!

• Daily Lather Themes: 30/30
• Daily Challenges: 30/30
• Hardware Scavenger Hunt: 21/20
• Hardware Vendor Points: 2/2
• Software Vendor Points: 13/13
• Software Vendor Bonus Point: 1/1
• 30 Different Soap Brands Point: 30/30
• 30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point: 30/30
• 30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point: 30/30
• 30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point: 30/30

​

P.S.- Now for the teary part.... I will do this again when the results come in, but a GREAT, FUCKING, BIG, THANK YOU, to all the Djudges and their patience and willingness to help with errors on our part, trying to give all the participants the maximum chances of getting the best score! Next I really just want to thank everyone that participated and made this event so great, the rivalries, the memes, the shenanigans, everything! Thank you so much!!!! You probably don't know it, but the LG are really a highlight of the year for me and a very special time! Again thank you! Can't believe it's over....

Contestant attempts to shave in squad car, almost gets arrested, shaves across the street from squad car instead.

Contestant attempts to shave in squad car, almost gets arrested, shaves across the street from squad car instead.

7/30/23

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving Exclusive MOAR BOAR (31 mm × 57 mm bleached boar) (Italy)
• Razor: Filarmonica 14 Doble Temple (JMP) 8/8, Extra Hollow Square Point (Spain)
• Lather: Beefimus - Beefs Clean Laundry (Canada)
• Post Shave: Løthur - Samber Aftershave Splash (UK)

A fond farewell to this years Lather Games. It was my first year (if you somehow couldn't tell by the roty tag all month), and I can definitely say I enjoyed myself. It was fun to watch how others approached the games. I don't have a lot of shit posting in me, but I made sure to try my best for WCW. I tried more combos of soaps and splashes this month than I have probably the entire year. I also had the opportunity to try a number of new scents and bases this year than I anticipated. Big shout out to u/J33pGuy13 for helping me out with smushes.

My brush of choice today is the ever infamous MOAR BOAR made in Italy by Zenith. This brush was my first experience with boar and a 31mm knot. By everyone's account, this hair was an exceptional batch. I was completely surprised by this brush and just how awesome it feels when broken in. It is easily one of my favorite brushes.

Today's razor comes from Spain and is a treasure in my den. This a first generation Filarmonica and an original 14 Doble Temple, made by the man himself, Jose Monserrat Pou. The face of the blade still features his signature JMP initials. It sings the prettiest note when stropped.

My soap today comes from one of my dearest friends, based out of Alberta Canada (I am based out of the US). We met gaming on Playstation about 7 years or more ago. This gentleman is the first person I ever made anything wetshaving related for. He became interested in trying to make soap and has since made a couple of batches using Silverfox's old recipe, with an addition of bentonite clay. It's a tallow based soap with a fresh laundry scent (to me) composed of Bergamot, vetiver, and fir needle. The performance is really good. It whips of a thick lather quickly and has really good primary and residual slickness. I hope he continues to make and experiment with soap, as well as perfumery.

Say what you will about Løthur, and you'll hear no argument from me, but damn Samber smells so good. Based out of the UK, it is one of my only splashes from outside of the US. Amber, incense, sandalwood, patchouli, and spices. This one is way up my alley. It's honestly a shame about the soap and toxic marketing. The splash is good, though, and my face feels great.

It was a very nice shave today as I said goodbye to the Lather Games. Best of luck to everyone.

#ROTY

JULY 30, 2023

• Brush: Parker - CHST Silver Tip Badger (India)
• Razor: BAILI - classic 3-piece DE razor (China) #JETSETTER
• Blade: Gillette - Silver Blue (Russia)
• Lather: LOS JABONES DE JOSERRA - Good Company (Spain)
• Post Shave: Tallow + Steel - Cognac Splash (Canada)

I liked the soap, a lot cognac on it. I haven’t tried this brand before so it was exciting! The razor is super mild and just slipped around my face. Surprising for the price.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Well I placed all the countries of origin in the description. This was tricky because not all manufacturers state their country of manufacturing.

A super thanks to the judges and all organizers that put time and effort to make this competition come together as well as it did. Thank you to all that have helped me survive this month and looking forward to AA.

ROTY

Jul. 30, 2023
Brush: Van Der Hagen Boar
Razor: Merkur 33c
Blade: Merkur
Lather: Speick Stick- - Soap
Post Shave:* Speick - Aftershave - Aftershave

Decided to take a trip to Germany today. I am from the USA. All products I used today were made in germany(except maybe the brush who claims Germany but probably china). The games have been fun! Much to improve on next year!

ROTY

July 30, 2023  

• Brush: Simpson Synthetic  
• Razor: Gillette Tech  
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue   
• Lather: Taylor of Old Bond Street – Rose  
• Post Shave: Ethique – Like and Ginger Lotion Bar  

Theme: I’m in the US. TOBS is made in England. I know rose is an ‘old lady’ scent. I want to smell like my grandmas rose garden damn it! It’s a shame that the soap itself isn’t that great, hard to get a smooth glide.

Challenge: Gillette Tech made in England. Simpson Chubby Synthetic is made in Great Britain. Blade made in Russia. Post Shave made in New Zealand.

A thank you to everyone who made the games a great experience this year. I look forward to next year.

July 30, 2023 – Lather games day 30 – AKA Au revoir les amis!

• Brush: r/wetshaving Zentih MOAR BOAR 31mm
• Razor: Blackland Vector
• Blade: Feather Pro (AC) (10)
• Lather: Moon Soaps – Trade Winds
• Post Shave: Moon Soaps – Trade Winds

So this is it, eh? Proud that I was able to shave every day this month and use 30 different brands of soap. The rest… not my best showing, but always fun to play along.

Trade Winds is not as popular as it should be IMO. Great base from Moon Soaps and the scent is absolutely one of my favorites. Especially great for summertime. Moon Soaps are from California, my razor is also from Blackland in California. Blade was made in Japan and much brush in Italy. I am in Canada so I think that all makes sense for the last daily challenge. That’s all. Happy summer to you!

#PhotoContest

Sunday, the 30th of July, 2023

• Brush: Omega 81054 #OLDWORLD #RUNT
• Razor: Baili BR177
• Blade: Topaz Platinum (77)
• Lather: Tabac - Tabac Original
• Post shave: Australian Private Reserve - Velours Noir
• Fragrance: Pierre Cardin - Pour Monsieur

Hi, I'm Matt. I live in the United States.

... wait, this sounds like the beginning of a third grade presentation on a foreign country. Well, I couldn't figure out how to start writing about today's challenge. But now you know where I live! At least the country I live in. And it took me a few minutes to put all this together this morning. I hadn't planned this out, but turns out I was able to complete the challenge with what I have:

We start off by picking a brush from Italy: the Omega 81054 is just barely a #RUNT, with a 20mm knot and 54mm loft (I love the high lofts on all my Omega brushes).

Next is a quick trip to China for the Baili razor, which was also my pick for Frugal Friday's theme. Today's shave was a little more irritating... I may have been a little off in my technique.

We definitely get these Topaz blades from India... although there's a bit of slightly confusing dual branding here. On one side it says T.M. Malhotra International, another says Laser Shaving India, which is apparently a subsidiary of Laser Shaving UK. The Laser UK site doesn't even list these, just Laser branded blades. It seems Malhotra is definitely the manufacturer, and I guess the Topaz brand is now owned by Laser.

For the lather we return to Europe, as Tabac comes to us from Germany... too bad this isn't a Tuesday, I suppose. Hmm, given that Tuesdays during the Games were the seasonal days, I suppose nobody made a Tabac Tuesday Lather Games shave.

After the shave, we have to go all the way to Australia, as I picked my last APR splash today. Velours Noir is, as is APR's signature, an complex vetiver scent with , where the vetiver is more smoothed out than any other vetiver-prominent scent I've got, but while smooth, this is still a very earthy scent. Black velvet, indeed.

Finally, it's back to Europe again for the perfume. Pierre Cardin is a French brand, and I bought this bottle of Pour Monsieur (or maybe "Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur"; I'm not quite sure if I should be using the brand again in the name of the perfume, but Fragrantica lists it that way) on the bazaar. And... this is from 1972? Huh. The scent, of course, I'm sure this particular bottle was made more recently.

In the end, it's been a fun ride! Good luck to all the contestants, you made it through!

July 30, 2023

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 26mm G5C
• Razor: Karve CB (SB – C)
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (8)
• Lather: Abbate y La Mantia – Don Jose
• Post Shave: Myrsol – Blue

World Traveler. I’m from, and live in, the USA. Today’s soap is from Italy, the aftershave splash is from Spain, the razor is Canadian, and the blade is Russian. I struggled with the brush. AP Shave Co doesn’t make any of the things he uses, he just assembles the pieces (not a knock, I love all my brushes from him). The knot itself uses hairs from Japan (citation), and the handle was made in Germany with German Resin (citation for the same kind of brush I have, mine is just purple). Every part of my shave, even breaking the brush into pieces, from distinct countries different from the one I live in.

Good shave overall today. Don Jose has way way more menthol than I remember. I don’t know what Blue is supposed to smell like, but it’s not for me.

Lather Games recap: Well, I managed to hit every daily theme and every daily challenge (I think, judges don’t at me, I like my head canon). Got every sponsor, got 30 different soaps, and 30 different aftershaves. I don’t have the den for frags or 30 different brands. Not bad for my first time LG. What I’ve learned is that my collection is very trickholed, and could really use some variety when it comes to aftershaves.

I really appreciate being able to use this external thing to help with some other self-improvement projects. I rode 111 miles this month on a bike that I bought right before LG started. I haven’t ridden a bike in almost 15 years. This amounted to me riding a little more frequently than every other day (I rode about 75% of available days. 2 days on 1 day off). Started with rides of about 15 minutes and ended the month at almost hour long rides. My goal for August is to increase this frequency, but I’ll feel like I’ve succeeded if I can maintain it. The motivation to ride after work starts again is going to be very hard to find, but I’m feeling very positive about my chances.

Really appreciate everyone here, especially everyone who’s just letting me do my own thing with the Lather Games. People can get different things out of communities, and I’m glad that I’m getting what I’m getting, and that everyone seems to understand there’s space here for more than shitposts and shenanigans.

Tags: #ROTY

July 30, 2023

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving 31mm x 57mm Moar Boar #CHONK #OLDWORLD
• Razor: Smart Helix Apollo (setting: 0.5 Plate)
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword Black (1)
• Lather: WestMan Shaving - Alma - Soap
• Post Shave: Eufros - Rosa Oud - Aftershave Balm

2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

---

I've used this quote before on the sub, and I think that it captures perfectly the spirit of the Lather Games: "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro", Hunter S. Thompson.

• Brush - Italy
• Razor - Ukraine
• Blade - Germany
• Lather - Portugal
• Post Shave - Spain
• Me - USA

Thank you to the djudges and organizers of this event. You provide the incentive for the madness that occurs. I look at the Lather Games as just 30 Theme Thursdays, but the comments and activities of the other LG contestants is my real reason for playing. So, again, thank you!

Being a part of the community has certainly broadened my experience of shaving. Alma was recommended to me by u/sahenders, u/VisceralWatch made it possible for me to get the Eufros Balm, and I would not have used a Rolls Razor in the Hardware Scavenger Hunt were it not for u/djundjila.

Reading djundjila's post today, reminded me that online communities do morph over time. i was involved with communicating via bulletin board systems, then used Usenet in the early days of the Internet, and participate in more modern online communities today. So I have seen this happen many times. I'm certain many in the community will be driven away by Reddit's charging for use of the API. Reddit is a for-profit company so, to me, the oddity is that, given the number of subredddits, they don't charge for use of the API. If I wanted data to use for machine learning, "free" seems like a pretty good deal. It makes sense to me that Reddit corporate would want to put a value on data access.

Anyway, the ability to have community bots that add personality to the community experience, and to have availability of low cost, or free, apps to use for access to the community suggests a more open source approach to me.

Also, I'm grateful for all of the very positive remarks I've received on my photography this month. In case you're interested, this is an album of my Lather Games photos including some (like an un-retouched squirrel photo) that I did not use.

À bientôt.

July 30, 2023 - Bon Voyage Lather Games

• Brush: Stirling 24mm Boar (中国)
• Razor: Fatip Lo Storto (Italia)
• Blade: Gillette 7 o’Clock Permasharp (1) (Bhārat)
• Lather: Derby - Lemon - Cream (Türkiye)
• Post Shave: Nivea - Soothing - Balm (México)
• Fragrance: Chanel - Bleu de Chanel (France)

Daily Challenge/Write-Up:
Given that it’s international day… I thought I’d head to the most international place I know and grab a light breakfast, before heading home for my final shave.

As I was eating my crepes, my 5-year-old mentioned that the flags reminded her of something, and I realized that…. Well…. There’s definitely someplace more international. Much more appropriate for seeing off the final departure of the Lather Games. Luckily I have my mobile shave den with me at all times now, so after we finished up all four Miasmas jumped in the car and headed to the International Terminal at O’Hare International Airport.

For those of you un-aware - O’Hare was recently named the most-connected airport in the world, and was first in number of airplane take-offs and landings. So, there are few places in the world better to travel from internationally, and few places better to send off the Lather Games.

Since my whole family was with me, I decided to make a game of the trip. A scavenger hunt - find a national airline from each of the countries used in my shave.

• Blade - India - Air India
• Lather - Turkey - Turkish Airlines
• Post Shave - Mexico - Aeromexico - Note that DE blades are not allowed!
• Fragrance - France - Air France

Those were the easy ones.

The national flag carriers of China stopped flying in and out of O’Hare during the pandemic, making my Chinese-made Stirling Brush difficult to find a match for. But - Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong airline does fly, and given that Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, I’m counting it.

I couldn’t find ITA Airways, the flag carrier of Italy, anywhere. Luckily, we don’t need to travel to experience Italy - the kind folks of O’Hare brought the best of Italy to us, right in the terminal!

Now that the scavenger hunt was done, it was time to get a quick shave in. I wanted to make sure to get it done in case I decided to fly somewhere, because as the Aeromexico sign states, my Fatip and the blades are strictly prohibidos.

I found a surprisingly busy bathroom, and made my way to the sink. Lathered up with the truly awful Derby cream, and got down to the business of shaving. I even commented to the guy next to me that “sometimes it feels like we live in the airport”, reminiscent of the scene from The Terminal with Tom Hanks.

I cleaned up, and found my family to head home.

Tom reminded me to say T.Hanks to everyone for the great month - see you next June for the 10th annual Lather Games!

Soap Theme Justification
* I'm US-based, the soap is made in Türkiye.

Post-Shave and Fragrance Relevance Notes
* Today’s theme is “Bon Voyage" - all three are made somewhere other than the United States. Additionally, the sharpness of the lemon really compliments the bright aquatic nature of Bleu. Stirling Deep Blue Sea (a dupe of BdC) was the first artisan soap I tried- I thought it was fitting to end my 2023 Lather Games by returning to that scent.

User shaves in location which would have seemed not lame before main competitor destroyed it

Sun Jul 30 2023

Prep: Coffee, Face wash soap/warm water

Razor: Merkur - 34C HD Germany

Blade: Feather HI Stainless Japan

Brush: Semogue 620

Lather: Speick - Classic Soap Germany

Post Shave: Truefitt And Hill - Grafton A/S England

Last day of the Lather games. First time using this soap before, I spent extra time on the lather and it really took off. Considering the price I was very surprised, Still congested so couldn't smell the scent.

Thanks to u/tsrblke for the heads up. I originally posted this in the SOTD thread.

ROTY

July 30, 2023 – LG23 Day 30: Bon Voyage Lather Games

• Brush: AP Shave Co Black Gold Flake 24mm Synbad (CA)
• Razor: Edwin Jagger DE89 (GB)
• Blade: Gillette Winner (IN) (1)
• Lather: Master Soap Creations – Pole Position (SA)
• Post Shave: Sir Irisch Moos – Sir Irisch Moos (DE)
• Fragrance: Ermenegildo Zegna – Uomo (CH)

What a month! I’m struggling to believe it is actually going to be August and not July. Hopefully we can be back on track for June next year. I have to say I knew nothing of anything that lead to the departure of u/Phteven from the judging team but I am super thankful for the brain power that has given us the djudging portal this year.

I appreciated the flexibility of the new scavenger hunt challenges, in that I wasn’t locked in to 30 razors and 30 brushes. I called a few audibles and even noticed a potentially missed sponsor point when, thanks to the portal, I discovered that Dogwood and Dogwood Handcrafts are apparently not one in the same to the harvesting bots.

I really enjoyed creating the content for the Games and I hope it was appreciated. I was more heavy-handed in the cutting room this year and I think it lead to better results.

Thank you all and bon voyage, Lather Games. It’s been fun.

Today’s Shave and Special Challenge

My country of citizenship and residence: US

When I first acquired the Rolls, I thought, Wow! I’m can start and finish the Lather Games with the same razor fitting two themes. I’m done with donating skin for a day or so we’ll stick with a good old Brit, Edwin Jagger DE89. Loading it with a blade from a former colony, the India. Gillette Winner is a winner. The razor was a good call because it color matches with today’s brush from AP Shave Co. another loaner from Junior_Donut. Likely a multinational product, we’ll call it Canadian since that is where it was when it was shipped to me following purchase. Lathering up, we have the South African challenger to Stirling, Master Soap Creations. This is a fabulously good base at a great value with a wide range of scents available. It’s well worth trying. Jetting back to the northern hemisphere, we head to Germany for some Irisch Moos. Being of Deutsche heritage myself, I expect a certain degree of engineering precision in my Irish moss, so kudos to the Germans in engineering this scent. Taking a quick climb over the Alps into neutral territory, we finish off with the fine Suisse fragrance Ermenegildo Zegna Uomo. It’s quite nice and reminds me of Bleu de Chanel, which I already have in the version of Stirling Deep Blue Sea and is a favorite in the Donut household.

Keeping the Theme Alive

In what might be my most Non-Dickhole, Non-Complimentary shave since flex day last year or the year before, todays olfactory assault follows the special theme criteria of being from different countries other than the one in which I reside.

Jul 30, 2023 - Bon Voyage, Lather Games! / World Traveler

• Brush: Highlander Brushes Jade 26mm Cashmere Knot
• Razor: Ever-Ready 1914 Little Lather Catcher #JETSETTER
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE [17]
• Lather: Westman Shaving - Adamastor - Soap
• Post Shave: MacDuffs Soap Company - Black Rock - Aftershave (Alcohol Free)
• Fragrance: Zingari Man - The Navigator - Extrait de Parfum

This shave is coming to you from 🇩🇪, so everything I've used today is made in another country. The brush is from 🇲🇪, the razor and blade are from 🇺🇸, the soap is from 🇵🇹, the aftershave is from 🇨🇦, and the fragrance from 🇺🇸.

With a sense of traveling in mind, I've used a travel razor and aquatic scents for the products today. The soap and aftershave also have petrichor notes as well that make the aquatics all the more interesting.

I guess this is a wrap on LG 2023. A big thank you to all the judges for making this a great month. I know there was some initial concern around pushing LG back a month, but I'm glad that it was done to make sure everything was in place to make this such a smooth games. Maybe it only seemed smooth to the players, but either way, nicely done!

Rating: 4/5

July 30, 2023 – Bye bye LG

• Brush: Yaqi Badger
• Razor: Karve CB
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux (2)
• Lather: Abbate y La Mantia – Laureato
• Post Shave: Epsilon – Blue Mediterranean

This has been a good year for LG. Plenty of good shaves and some fun reading. Today was a really great shave. I don’t usually use Badger brushes for samples but the Yaqi (China) was the only foreign born brush I had. Although, in truth, most of the brushes I have were probably mostly made in china. The Karve razor is a great product from Canada that I don’t use often enough. The blades are from somewhere foreign. Maybe Russia. They have some writing I can’t understand in the blade, so that counts. And some Spanish aftershave. The Lauretto soap is fantastic and I would like more of it when i finish this sample. Great shaves every time.

Thanks to all of you for a great lather games. Especially the judges for sorting through the madness. After last years games I went away for a while and kind of lost my passion for this stuff but I have really enjoyed this year and may stick around a bit more. I kind of missed this sub and didn’t realize it. Happy shaves!

July 30, 2023

• Brush: Omega Penelli White HI-BRUSH Synthetic
• Razor: Karve CB SB-D
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: WestMan Shaving – Adamastor
• Post Shave: Australian Private Reserve – Coeur de Vert

Me: Made in the United States

Brush: Made in Italy

Razor: Made in Canada

Blade: Made in Russia

Soap: Handmade in Portugal

AS: Made in Australia – I don’t know where to find this link but its right in the name

I’m from the United States and luckily had everything for this challenge ready to go. Soap has notes of Rhubarb, Melon, Sea Salt, Cut Grass, Damp Earth, Vetiver. I get a lot of what I consider green scents and rhubarb, which has kind of a tart and tannic taste. I somehow got that in the soap. Performed well too. It’s not something I would buy a tub of but would be willing to try some more based on this sample and experience. The pairing had to be Coeur de Vert, both for the challenge and it’s the grassiest scent I own.

Thanks everyone for a great LG this year. Hopefully as the years go on, I can slowly move up the ranks and more importantly, become closer to the community.

Sunday, July 30, 2023

• Brush: Zenith - r/wetshaving "MOAR BOAR" (B35/508A XL) - 31mm Bleached Boar 🇮🇹 [MADE IN ITALY]
• Razor: Wolfman Razors - WR2 0.75 DC x WRH2 🇨🇦 [MADE IN CANADA]
• Blade: Vintage London Bridge 🇬🇧[MADE IN ENGLAND]
• Lather: Kepkinh - Aroania - Soap 🇬🇷 [MADE IN GREECE]
• Post Shave: Eufros - Vetiver de Haití - Balm 🇪🇸 [MADE IN SPAIN]

Day 30 of Lather Games: Bon Voyage!

July. 30, 2023

• Prep: Hot water splash
• Brush: Zenith 31mm boar r/wetshaving 2022 sub exclusive
• Razor: Wolfman WR2 1.25
• Blade: Gillette 7 o'clock super platinum (1)
• Lather: Declaration Grooming - Cerberus Fougere - Soap
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Cerberus Fougere- Aftershave splash
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Cerberus Fougere - Fragrance

I guess that's the first and last day for lather games for me this year. Unfortunately the year so far been quite a bit of rollercoaster ride for me and found it hard to commit to anything serious around this all. But hey, thought I'd post at least once this month.

Originally it was supposed to be on Wildcard Wednesday, but completely fell out of my mind.

To keep on theme, I decided to go with my wolfman razor purchased earlier this year. 1.25 gap in SS makes it sweet and efficient razor. Smooth, enjoyably aggressive, and perfect for me. Honestly, it kinda became like moar boar for me - 90% of my shaves are done with use of it.

Moar boar is also still going strong - ever since it arrived with me in January this year, it's been getting used huge majority of the time. To the degree, where it actually lost a few hair by now, and the golden etching seems to be fading a little... or maybe it's just so dirty? I don't know - will need to try and use some old toothbrush to gently try and clean it up.

Other than that, opted out for Cerberus Fougere trifecta. Great scent on that one and what not to like with the base of soap and splash. Definitely one of the gems in my den. Brilliant scent that I regret not grabbing a backup of... mostly of the EDP

Guess for a daily theme I hit it fine... Razor - canada, brush - Italy, Blade - india, trifecta - USA :) and I'm still in UK....

Well done to all that participated in Lather Games. I'll aim to be back to proper participation next year! Now I'll go off and catch up on all the lather games podcasts, since so much of it all has missed me!

July 30, 2023 – Bon Voyage, Lather Games!

• Brush: Edwin Jagger Silvertip Badger (England)
• Razor: Merkur 34C (Germany)
• Blade: Astra SP (Russia)
• Lather: Los Jabones De Joserra – Good Company (Spain)
• Post Shave: Tallow and Steel - Cognac (Canada)
• Fragrance: Georgio Armani - Emporio Armani EDT (France)

The Soap/Lather: This was my first time using a Los Jabones De Josera and it went ok. Good Company has a vanilla cognac scent that is actually pretty damn good. While the soap appeared to lather up relatively well, it just didn’t have the thick consistency I like to see. Perhaps it was user error, but either way it was less than perfect.

The Shave: Even with the thin lather the shave was still pretty slick, just not quite as cushioned as I would prefer. That said the Merkur provides such a gentle shave it wasn’t that big a deal. I finished off the shave with Cognac to double down on the cognac theme. Finally I topped it all off with Emporio Armani to smooth down the scent of alcohol a little just in case I get caught speeding today.

Theme/Challenge: I’m located in the US and the products (Hardware & Software) used were all made in other countries.

Final Thoughts: I was admittedly unprepared for the craziness that is the lather games. Quite frankly trying to explain a shaving competition to someone who hasn’t done it is impossible. Trust me I’ve tried. I take my hat off to all of you fine competitors, and look forward to the simplicity that is AA.

#ROTY

July 30, 2023 – LG Day 30 – It is Finished

• Brush: Zenith r/wetshaving Exclusive MOAR Boar 31mm
• Razor: Merkur 34C
• Blade: Lord Platinum Class
• Lather: Wolfpac Shaving – Ice Pac
• Post Shave: MacDuff’s Soap Co. – Dark Sky Preserve

Well, that’s all folks. We made it. Tomorrow, you can choose what to shave with, out of anything you own, no parameters. And then it’s August, time for unscented Mammoth ultra hard mode with a Weck and a live boar (what’s more raw hoggin than that?).

International Day. I live in the US of A, so pretty much all of the sub’s favorite artisans were out for today. The Moar Boar by Zenith was made in Italy. Merkur 34C is made in Solingen, Germany. Lord blades of all varieties are made in Egypt, which is stamped right on the blade for our convenience. Wolf Pac is made in Australia, per the label (but is discontinued from what I can tell). MacDuff’s is based just north of my homeland, in Canada. Finally, Al Haramain is based and made in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). I don’t have anything for my #FOF today, which feels disappointing for the final day, but this was the only way I could meet the challenge. Actually, I almost actually messed up the challenge as I was going to use Zoologist, but then I realized I was doubling up on Canada. Ice Pac smells like straight up menthol, nothing else. Dark Sky Preserve is lavender, evergreens (I smell fir, in particular), and moss. Amber Oud (BC540 clone) honestly just smells to me like a typical designer amber accord, but Ruby Edition is far too strong for me, and even one spray feels like overkill. How do these scents connect? You tell me.

Happy Lather Games 2023, everyone. It’s been a wild ride. Here’s to the whisker water we’ve drank together and to all the shenanigans to come. Cheers.

July 30, 2023 - Bon Voyage

• Brush: Yaqi Panda 24mm Two Band Badger
• Razor: Karve CB C Solid Bar
• Blade: Lord Platinum
• Lather: Whispers From The Woods - Pomelo
• Post Shave: TFS - NASA Marte
• Fragrance: Versace - Blue Jeans Man

FOF

Today’s theme and challenge:

I tried to go around the world for this shave. It comes from five continents. Now quite a bit of my gear comes from my home country of the United States of America.

Brush: China
Razor: Canada
Blade: Egypt
Lather: Australia
Post Shave: Italy
Fragrance: Italy

Closest to home would be the Karve razor from the Great White North. while the furthest would be the Whispers From The Woods soap from Down Under. Next time I’ll try to get some shave product from South America. Maybe my sister can pick something up when she visits her in-laws in Colombia.

Today’s Fragrance:

I originally had a different post shave in mind with this, but picked up the TFS - NASA Marte on clearance last month and made a change last minute. It is interesting what limitations will do to how to build a set for the day. As soon as I saw today’s theme, Pomelo was going to be the lather. It is all citrus and really smells like a clementine or tangerine to me. Kind of a firmer soap base of Nordost. Originally, MacDuffs Royal Earl Grey was going to be the splash, and it would have worked very well, but when I got out the Pomelo, I wanted even more citrus. TFS - NASA Marte starts off smelling like citrus and pineapple, like a tropical drink. When I used it, I got some of the musk, patchouli, and other base notes. Things were working well together. I had 4 Fragrances left unused that would fit the challenge. I have two Victorinox fragrances, a sample of exceptional, and this Versace Blue Jeans. It was coming down to the 125 Year fragrance from the purveyor of fine pocket knives, and Versace. Blue Jeans won the close decision. There are a lot of similar scents to the splash, but Blue Jeans is giving me more vanilla, musk, and woods. The citrus and other top notes faded pretty quick. The description I found on Fragrantica says the fragrance is an Aromatic Fougère, but it isn’t very similar to the other fougères I’ve smelled.

I’m glad I tried the FOF challenge. I learned a bit more about what I like (tea, citrus, tobacco), and found ways to link my soap, splash, and fragrance together. I won’t use an EdP/EdT every day, but I am more willing to go after interesting scents. A few years ago I never would have thought I’d be buying fragrances, but here we are now and I have a pile of samples and a growing collection of full bottles.

Today’s final haiku:

All Around the World,
Five continents, five countries,
Farewell Lather Games.

July 30th 2023 - Lather Games Day 30

• Brush: Zenith MOAR BOAR
• Razor: Mühle Rocca R95
• Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (1)
• Lather: Abbate y La Mantia - Don Jose
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Grapefroot
• Fragrance: Louis Vuitton - Météore

Congratulations everyone on completing the Lather Games! Like the marathon runners who shit themselves at the end of the race, I disgraced myself at the finish line by using a soap and a brush from the same country, and realizing this morning that I have three post shave products that aren’t from the United States but I used all three of them already. So since I am chasing 30 post shaves, I had to use something American. So my brush and soap are Italian, the blade was made in Russia, fragrance is French, and the razor is German, but Southern Witchcrafts is American like myself. Womp womp.

And the shave itself was terrible. I’m not familiar with the AyLM base at all, because this is a sample I bowl lathered it, which I am out of practice doing, and using the soap-hungry MOAR BOAR just ruined the poor lather. Too much water, not enough soap, just a drippy mess. What made it to my face had enough slickness to get through two passes but it was ugly.

At least I did get a nice balance of summer fruit scents, the banana and coconut from the soap intermingling nicely with the grapefruit splash, and then topped off with the oranges, bergamot and vetiver from Météore.

I’m proud of myself for completing my third Lather Games, and getting 30 different soaps, post-shaves, and frags for the first time. Maybe next year I’ll try getting 30 soap makers too. Big prayer hands emoji of thanks to the djudges for orchestrating all of this fun, and taking time from your real lives to make this happen for us all.

July 30, 2023 – LG 30: Bon Voyage

• Brush: r/wetshaving Zentih MOAR BOAR 31mm
• Razor: Tatara Nodachi with Masamune OC Plate
• Blade: Ladas (2)
• Lather: Jabones de Joserra – Kush
• Post Shave: Henri et Victoria – Cognac and Cuban Cigars
• Fragrance: Viktor and Rolf – Spicebomb

Alright, brush from Italy 🇮🇹, razor from Portugal 🇵🇹, blade from Russia 🇷🇺, soap from Spain 🇪🇸, aftershave from Canada 🇨🇦, fragrance from Netherlands 🇳🇱. I hail from the United States 🇺🇸, more specifically California. Today I opted to shave in the city I currently live in, which is Oakland in front of a cool mural by a local artist and fellow educator (not that I know them personally well). The mural depicts stylized versions of BART trains, Oakland Port cranes, and the Bay Bridge which connects Oakland to the better known but less cool (MOIMO) San Francisco. Loaded all the supplies and managed to convince MsChronn to come film me, so I tried to be extra short. Shaving in public is not for me. The street was busier than I like, but at least mostly cars and less pedestrians, and a helicopter. Horrible hydration and dismal spotty shave.

I feel like the fact they are all from different countries is what links them, but the scents also pair quite well from a #FOF standpoint too. They all have citrus top notes with some tobacco in the base, often complimented by some wood, leather, or spice. Kush is a dupe of Nasomatto Black Afagano. It opens with tart lemon and grapefruit but quickly moves to darker accords. Warm, resinous, woody notes then move to a dark woody incense base. Cognac and Cuban cigars brings a bit more spice, touch of zesty lemon, and sweet cognac. It is anchored and muddied by leather, smoke, and tobacco, giving the unmistakable old cigar lounge aroma. Lastly, Spicebomb punches citrus and cinnamon spice from the get go, with hints of pepper. It is sweeter than one might expect and than I remember. It moves to worn out leather and a tobacco reminiscent of an almost caramel/toffee like whiskey.

For #PHOTOCONTEST we close out with urban/architecture. Figured all my products are from around the world, so I’d use an urban art/graffiti mural where I currently live as my backdrop.

soap brands 30/30, post shave 30/30, frag 30/30, post/frag linked 30/30, software sponsors 13/13, hardware sponsors 2/2, razor hashtags 11/15, brush hashtags 10/15, photo contest 30/30, daily challenges 5/25, special challenges 5/5

Player shaves on a busy street and has his significant other film.

• Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac
• Brush: Declaration Grooming - B14 “Nebula” Badger
• Razor: Gillette - NEW LC
• Blade: Feather (6)
• Osma: Osma - Osma
• Post Shave: Thayer's - Original

A final Lather Games shave. Looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

July 30, 2023 – Bon Voyage, Lather Games!

• Brush: Semogue SOC Boar
• Razor: Gillette English Flat Bottom Tech
• Blade: Wizamet (18)
• Lather: Fitjar Islands – Slåtterøy
• Post Shave: Los Jabones de Joserra – Vanitas
• Fragrance: Serge Lutens – L’Eau Serge Lutens

And so, the Lather Games come to an end. I wasn't able to spend quite as much time as I would've liked reading all the SOTDs. Truth be told, I've been stressing over my own posts more than last year. Still, it's been fun. Another one on the books. Thanks to all the djudes. Thanks to /u/djundjila for stepping up and taking the reins on the portal. I found it very helpful as a player. I'm sure the djudes are fans, too. The Games wouldn't be possible without it. Thanks to /u/uss-spongebob for answering so many stupid questions.

Challenge:

• Semogue – Portugal
• Flat Bottom Tech – England
• Fitjar – Norway
• Los Jabones de Joserra – Spain
• Serge Lutens – France
• Me – U.S.

I got Slåtterøy in the 2k subscribers giveaway from /u/kammander-kim. I smell bay as soon as I open the lid to the soap. It’s kind of piney. There’s a bit of lemon oil which adds some brightness and makes this feel fresh. When I smell the soap puck the bay is kind of herbal sweet. It’s not your typical spicy sweet bay rum scent. This fragrance feels more placid and serene.

According to thirstybadger.ca, Vanitas is a dupe of Amouage Jubilation XXV. I immediately get notes of Tonka bean and castorum. I went nose blind to this very quickly. Smelling the bottle I get a balsamic blackberry note. I think there’s some amber in the mix with the castorum. There’s a sweet spice, probably cinnamon. It smells good, but I'm having a hard time picking out more than this. I'd like the smell a sample of Jubilation at some point.

I got this sample of Serge Lutens L’Eau in a lot of samples on the bazaar from someone who was in the market for a lemony fragrance, as there were a couple other lemon heavy samples in the lot. If you get a car that’s a lemon, it’s a very bad thing. If you get a fragrance that’s lemon, it could be very refreshing. With a fresh application of L’Eau, I smell lemon peel and zest. It’s bright. Very fresh. Geranium, green vines. Once it dries down a bit I get a leathery note. Further into dry down I get a lot more geranium and greenness. It’s a very clean fresh fragrance.

#FOF

Jul. 30, 2023 - The end of the Games as we know it!

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving Exclusive MOAR BOAR

• Razor: Karve Christopher Bradley SB-C

• Blade: Astra Green (2)

• Lather: Australian Private Reserve - Fenchurch

• Post Shave: Nivea Mens - Sensitive Aftershave Balm

• Fragrance: Terre d’Hermes - Eau Tres Fraiche

Let’s get the challenge out of the way first today. I’m US born and raised so everything from today is not from my home country and made in all different countries.

Brush: Italy

Razor: Canada

Blade: Russia

Lather: Australia

Post: German company, made in Mexico

Frag: France

I can’t believe that this month is already over! This was my 3rd time doing the Games and it went by the quickest of the three. It might be because of the traveling that I had to do during this month and couldn’t dive into each thread every day. It’s always a blast but I’m definitely looking forward AA when I don’t have to bounce around between unfamiliar bases as much. Just will be Wecking my face on a daily basis!

Thank you judges so much for putting this on! I know it’s a shit ton of work but it is greatly appreciated! As my post yesterday showed, the amount of effort some people put into their posts is astounding and I love it! The people are the reason why this community is so incredible!

My last #photocontest of the month is Story/Thematic theme! I got (almost) everything together from my whole month of building for today to remind me of the month! I actually ran out of room on the table and there also are some things that didn’t survive to the end of the month. Here is the album of every days build! I had a ton of fun and really just took this challenge to myself!

July. 30, 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: HAGS - Eulogy
• Post Shave: Nivea Men - Sensitive Soothing Aftershave Balm

ROTY

July 30, 2023 – World Traveler – Bon Voyage

• Brush: Simpson Badger Wee Scot #WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINGBADGERS #SMOLL #RUNT
• Razor: Merkur 34C
• Blade: Feather (DE)
• Lather: Abbate y La Mantia – Crumiro

A world traveler I am not. I’ve been out of the US a few times – Mexico a couple times, Bolivia once, and the Bahamas on a cruise. So – not really well traveled. Today’s shave, though, is world traveled.

Crumiro hails from Italy. The Merkur 34c hails from Germany. The Feather is from Japan. The Wee Scot is from England (The Isle of Man)

Didn’t use a post-shave today because I don’t have anything that’s not from a US artisan. Not the greatest feeling to not use some sort of post shave, but, points are points and you gotta do what you gotta do at this point. The cool thing about the Wee Scot is that you can sample tub load and it’s really not bad. Then just paint that on over and over with some water until you have a usable lather. I wouldn’t use this brush every day, but, maybe on my world travels (see what I did there) I would take this along instead of a bigger brush. The Merkur is such an easy shave – really hard to mess it up, even with an ultra sharp brand new feather. Overall a very good shave.

Crumiro is such a good scent. Delicious warm vanilla spicy cookies. I think I said at last years games I would add this one to my list – it is true to the description and smells like fresh baked Italian cookies. I can’t vouch for the Italian portion, but, it nails the fresh cookie scent. The pricing on it, though, keeps me away. Someday maybe I’ll own a set, but, it’s not inexpensive by any means and while this would be a really great late fall and all winter scent it probably just isn’t in the cards.

These games have been fun, thank you judge(s) for all your hard work and for all you fine folks who were competing. Well done and I look forward to seeing you in AA and beyond!

FOF Haiku of the Day

Italian Cookies
Fresh, Warm, Vanilla and Spice
I’d eat a whole box

Bonus Haiku
The games are now done
Simple, complex, hijinks, bland
Fun was had by all

Jul. 30, 2023
Brush: Omega Travel Boar
Razor: Merkur 45B
Blade: Perma Sharp
Lather: Eufros - Brisa De Oriente - Soap
Post Shave:* Black Ship Grooming - Aladdin’s Spice - Aftershave

Soap-Spain

Brush-Italy (Dog chew marks-Dogs are Maltese/Shih Tsu)

Razor-Germany

Splash-Commonwealth of Pennsylvania…

Tunes of the night….

The Grateful Dead…

Tennessee Jed…

https://youtu.be/r-pGzIRR0ZE

July 30, 2023

• Brush: Yaqi Rocks 28mm
• Razor: Henson Ti22 +++
• Blade: Wizamet (1)
• Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac
• Post Shave: RazoRock – Santa Maria del Fiore
• Fragrance: Kosmetik R. Nuener - Alt-Innsbruck Eau de Cologne

Yaqi Rocks -- China

Henson Ti22 -- Canada

Wizamet -- Russia

Tabac -- Germany

RazoRock -- Italy

Alt-Innsbruck -- Austria

I live in the United States, which is also where most of my shaving products are from these days. I don't think Tabac needs any introduction, and this is the older tallow version. I decided to go along with the tobacco theme, and Santa Maria del Fiore is a much sweeter cologne scent than Tabac. Alt-Innsbruck however, brings us back to the stank(ish) we all know and love, with the only notes being tobacco (flower) and mint. It is sold as an Eau de Cologne which is typically stronger than an aftershave, but some also use it as an aftershave.

#ROTY

July 30, 2023

• Brush: Yaqi Evil Zebra – 26mm Synthetic Brush - China
• Razor: Karve Copper, Plate C - Canada
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword - Germany
• Lather: Boellis - Soap - Italy
• Post Shave: Master Soap Creations – Apricot Pie - South Africa
• Fragrance: Guerlain - L'Homme Idéal - France
• Music: Puff Daddy ft Notorious B.I.G. and Mase – Been Around the World

I love the expression: “Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.” It gives you a chance to see fascinating/historically important sites, meet a lot of interesting people, and to experience other cultures and the food that goes along with each. Traveling really helps gain the perspective that we are all sharing this giant rock called Earth, flying through the Universe, trying to exist among one another. It shouldn’t be hard, yet it is.

One of my favorite parts of traveling getting to try the different foods that different countries have to offer. Food connects us all. In China, the most considerate way you can greet someone is by asking them, “Chrh guo luh ma?” which translates to “Have you eaten?”

So today, for our final day of the Lather Games, I’m went in my car to go on an international food tour and eat a different food from every country represented in my set-up today. For clarity, I'm from the United States. Speaking of #photocontest category is vehicles.

The first stop: France for my fragrance: Guerlain - L'Homme Idéal. A great way to start the day, I arrived at Làkon Paris Pàtisserie. Got myself a French Roast Coffee, an almond croissant, and a vanilla macaron. Given the scents of the shave today, these pastries were spot on and sitting outside on this beautiful day is a great way to kick off my day of eating food from around the world.

Next up: South Africa for the post-shave: MSC – Apricot Pie Splash. This one was more difficult. There are no South African restaurants anywhere around me. From my searching, the only South African restaurant in my state closed a couple years ago (shout-out Covid). Which is a shame, because I was hoping to eat some Bobotie today. The next best thing I have found as a specialty food store that stocks the South African favorite Bledie Lekker Droewors – which is basically dried sausage jerky made from beef and lamb. Very common in South Africa, and gives me a much-needed protein boost to take on the day today. I don’t have time to waste, so I eat these in the car enroute to my next destination.

Now, I hop back in my car and drive into Boston. I can knock out most of set-up in the best city in the world. I park my car downtown and walk to my first stop.

For China, we have my Yaqi brush: I go to Chinatown. I love this area of the City. Having been to China a few years ago, this area is actually a somewhat fair representation of China – crowded, strong sense of community, and delicious, cheap food. Went to a hole in the wall that had a decent amount of people going into and out of it. Picked up a Steamed Pork Bun and Chinese drink. I enjoyed it in a park, where I was surrounded by people speaking Cantonese as they gambled, smoked, and seemed to enjoy each other’s company.

Next stop: Canada for my Karve Razor. Poutine! And I’m told the poutine at Saus in Boston is authentically Canadian. If I didn’t know better and had to guess who decided to take French Fries and smother them with gravy and cheese curds, I gotta admit, Quebec would not be the first place that came to mind, yet here we are. And I’m forever grateful for them because this is delicious! By the time I eat my poutine and leave Saus.

I’m feeling very full, but I can’t stop now.

For my lather: Italy, thanks for a smoosh courtesy of u/J33pGuy13 of Boellis. So off I go to Boston’s North End. This is like our Little Italy. Except we don’t call it Little Italy. It’s the North End. This is where people who immigrated from Italy all decided to live in the early 20th Century. And of all the iconic establishments, Mike’s Pastry’s has got to be #1. I once again, took inspiration from the scents of my shave stuff today and got a box of Italian cookies and a cannoli (because Mike’s has the absolute best cannolis). I despise going here on the weekends, especially in the summer, because it’s packed with tourists. But it’s packed for a reason AND it’s the Lather Games! Sidenote: as I held up the little baggy with my white smoosh for the photo, I realized just how much it looks like I’m holding up a bag of something illegal. Glad I didn’t cause any incidents today. I took my treats to a nearby park to enjoy them.

Now, with all that out of the way, it’s time to shave. But where? Shaving at one of the many Embassies in Boston seems like a bad idea. And Boston’s World Trade Center is okay, but it’s not as aesthetically pleasing as I would like. No. The airport? No, that’s too obvious for international day. Seems like a second-place idea and using running water for a shave on the final day seems boring. I bet someone else will have that lame idea. I need something unique! It has to be the Oldest Park in the United States: Boston Common, in the shadows of the Massachusetts State House. For those who have never been the Boston Common, it is a beautiful 50-acre park located in downtown Boston. Through the years, it has served many purposes: it started in the 1600s as a place for cattle to graze, became a site where Puritanical punishments occurred, and then during the Revolutionary War, it was here that the British Army made camp before the Battles of Lexington and Concord. It’s also where Charles Lindbergh promoted commercial aviation, while Martin Luther King Jr led Anti-Vietnam War and civil rights rallies in the 1960s. In 1979, Pope John Paul II gave Mass to a gathered crowd. And, now, it will forever be known as the place where Priusaurus had his last shave of the 2023 Lather Games.

I found a nice spot, under a tree, and with the Massachusetts State House directly behind me, and got set up. I’m feeling a little sad this is my last Lather Games shave of the month. I’ve given it my all this month and it’s hard to believe it’s coming to an end. But I’ll have time to reflect tomorrow. Now it’s time to shave. There’s a lot of people out and about, enjoying their day. Luckily, any shame I once had has long disappeared during these Games and I had a very enjoyable two-pass shave.

The scents of my shave, were once again sweet, as the self-proclaimed Gourmand King strikes again with an almond centric day. Boellis has a delicious almond scent which carried into nicely into the Apricot Pie aftershave splash, which features apricot, almond and vanilla. Then L'Homme Idéal also has a sweet almond scent to it, but the builds on that with citrus fruit and a woody base. Not bad at all for a nice #FOF shave in The Common.

About 6 hours after I left for the day. I feel full & bloated, but have sense of accomplishment, knowing I did everything I possibly could to compete for the top spot this year.

But wait, there’s more! I haven’t yet honored the blade I used today: My Wilkinson Sword blade from Germany. And I, like most people in the Lather Games, take vehicle safety very seriously, so I decided to consume this final piece of the puzzle at home. After my kids went to bed, I poured myself a nice, cold, refreshing German beer from the oldest brewery in the world – Weihenstephaner.

And it is with this, that I give a figurative toast to everyone who competed in the 9th Annual Lather Games. We had a lot of fun, with a tiny bit of spite mixed in. To the djudges, organizers, and sponsors – THANK YOU!!! This marathon would not be possible without you. To the artisans who agreed to take part in my interview series – thank you so, so, so very much. You are literally the best on the planet at what you do, and the fact so many took the time to answer 10 silly questions is truly humbling. And to my fellow participants: I told you on day one you were all playing for second place. Hopefully that ends up being true, but even if it doesn’t, it was a hell of a ride!

Peace, Love, and Hakuna Matata.

User proves that he's one of the great players of these games by pulling off the magic trick of a warm, dignified, gracious signoff in the same post in which he also stuffs himself to the gills on international cuisine and shaves on the location of Boston's Shakespeare in the Park

User proves that he's one of the great players of these games by pulling off the magic trick of a warm, dignified, gracious signoff in the same post in which he also stuffs himself to the gills on international cuisine and shaves on the location of Boston's Shakespeare in the Park

July 30, 2023 – Ciao!

• Brush: Extro Cosmesi Tricolor Synthetic 26mm (Italy) #oldworld
• Razor: Hinne Travel Razor (Germany) #jetsetter
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword (Germany) (2)
• Lather: Santa Maria Novella – Tabacco Toscano (Italy)
• Post Shave: Santa Maria Novella – Tabacco Toscano (Italy)

Of the many shaves I had planned out, this was THE one that without a doubt was not changing. This shave meant a lot in many different ways and I’m proud to have had this forum to share a little bit about myself through these shaves.

I’ve think I’ve mentioned before the enormity of my recent trip to Italy. I am a citizen and resident of the United States. It was a trip I never imagined could happen, it was out of the world of possibility for me a 6 or seven years before. I was in a bad way for a long time. And there I was in Rome, Florence, and Venice. I was almost brought to tears many times. I wish I knew then what I know now and I still don’t know that much. But a little research and I found out that I needed to visit Santa Maria Novella while in Florence. It did not disappoint and neither does this soap and scent. They’re paired so well. It’s more of a croap in that Italian style, so fluffy and soft when given even water, mentholated and scented with just enough of the Tobacco scent to coming through during the shave. Splashing on the lozione and you know you’re instantly in for a luxurious treat. I don’t know the fragrance world at all but I you know when you know this scent is so luxurious and creamy and rich. Truly phenomenal. Kicking myself for not going full dickhole and buying the parfum while I was there too. I could talk for hours on the shopping experience there. But that’s for another day.

For the razor, this little travel set was my great grandfathers, my namesake, and passed down to me from my father lat year. There was still an old made in England Wilkinson Sword in it, but I decided to opt for a new German one. Here’s an albumof the razor. I actually got a pretty decent shave out of it but it really needed to work aligning the blade while tightening the cap down. I always marveled at his old razors in the box my father kept with some family keepsakes, these were next to Soviet bills he has on him when he left the peasant life of what is now western Ukraine as well as my grandmothers ration stamp book from the Great Depression. I’ve only known of him but proud I could shave along with him tonight.

There’s more to say about each of these moments, the games, Italy, life, tragedy, family heirlooms, soaps, razors, and the joy of it all. But I’ll tidy it all up and just give a big thank you to everyone who put so much into this as fellow players and most importantly organizers and judges. I feel privileged to have been a bit silly with all you good folks this past month and to hopefully have ingratiated myself to this community with a post or interaction here and there.

Cheers and stay fuckin rad everyone. Thank you thank you. 🤙

ROTY

July 30, 2023

• Brush: Semogue – Owner’s Club 24mm Boar
• Razor: Wade & Butcher – Extra Hollow Ground 7/8 Straight
• Lather: Proraso – Aloe & Vitamin E
• Post Shave: Master Soap Creations - Tabacchi
• Fragrance: Diesel – Only the Brave Street

It’s the final day! Somehow this month has both flown by and dragged on! I definitely feel like I understand the community better than before and have such an appreciation for the level of dedication some of you have for the games. I did the best I could, given the time I could dedicate to this. I hope I did good enough to get a prize, but the daily posting was fun enough if I didn’t. Austere August doesn’t seem like it’s my thing because I like variety too much, but kudos to those that do it.

For the sake of the final challenge:

Me: USA
Brush: Portugal
Razor: England
Lather: Italy
Post Shave: South Africa
Fragrance: France

Not my favorite shave of the games, and I wish I could've ended it on a high note, but the calendar asks and the calendar shall receive!

The scents of today are all connected because they are because they are all a little woody-spicy. There’s something I don’t love the scent of this lather, but I smells woody and musky to me. The splash is actually okay, it’s very tobacco forward, but has some warm, wood-spicy undertones to it. And Dior Sauvage is also spicy, but is a lot lighter than the scent of the splash. Not the best combination I’ve used all games, but not the worst either. #FOF

Great fun in The Lather Games and already looking forward to next year!

July 30, 2023 * Brush: Zenith Moar Boar * Razor: Gillette Flat Bottom Tech * Blade: Gillette Silver Blue * Lather: HAGS - Ficus Carica - Soap * Post Shave: Old Spice - Original - Aftershave * Fragrance: Parfums de Marly - Herod - EdP

A shave that would make Mr. Worldwide himself proud. * Brush - Italy * Razor - England * Razor Blade - Russia * Soap - Greece * Aftershave - India * Fragrance - France

What a fun challenge, quite possibly my favorite all month. Cheers to another LG in the books, everyone!

30 July 2023 Complementary Non Dickkhole Kool 3D

• Prep: Warm Shower
• Brush: Trotter Handcrafts Hunter Green Maggards G5C 28mm
• Razor: Ever Ready Streamline
• Blade: GEM (26)
• Lather: Kool - 3D (1)
• Post Shave: Saponifico Varesino - Felce Aromatica A/S
• Post Shave: Thayer's Concoction
• Post Shave: Cold River Soapworks - Sandalwood Post Shave Lotion
• Post Shave: Mstr Balatura Balm
• Fragrance: Chienoir - BedeauX

Cheers

July 30, 2023 – Month of Lather Day 30

• Brush: Simpson - Trafalger T2 Synthetic
• Razor: Razorock Game Changer .68-P
• Blade: Rapira Swedish Supersteel (4)
• Preshave: Proraso – Eucalyptus Oil and Menthol
• Lather: Wholly Kaw - New York
• Post Shave: Nivea – Sensitive Post Shave Balm
• Fragrance: Chanel - Allure Homme Sport EdT
• Music: Skillet - Finish Line

Daily Theme/Challenge: I work/live in Singapore. Virtually all products sold here are imported, including shaving supplies. Here are the countries of origin of every piece of hardware and software I used for today's shave:

1. Simpson Brush: UK.
2. Coconut Bowl: Philippines.
3. Game Changer Razor: Canada.
4. Rapira Blade: Russia.
5. Proraso Preshave: Italy.
6. Wholly Kaw Lather: USA.
7. Nivea Post Shave: Germany
8. Chanel Fragrance: France.

The Shave: My caveman sniffer has great difficulty differentiating between olfactory groups, but it knows what it likes. I really enjoyed the scent of WK New York off the (sample) puck and have been looking forward to today's shave. It did not disappoint. BBS to end LG2023!

Final Note: Thank you everyone for letting me play in your LG sandbox. Beyond the individuals called out during yesterday's homework assignment, I want to recognize the following: Fellow Rooks who kept the pressure on so that the ROTY Top Scorer knows that the title was earned, u/Impressive_Donut114, u/MrTangerinesky, u/cowzilla3 and his evil twin u/AirBudRuler for providing me daily must-read post/comment entertainment, u/Enndeegee for keeping it real, and finally to the LG2023 Organizers and Djudges whom make this all possible. #ROTY

July 30, 2023 – Lather Games: Day 30

• Brush: Zenith Boar
• Razor: Tatara Muramasa
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Master Soap Creations – Vintage Spice
• Post Shave: Le Pere Lucien – Lotion du Barbier

Here are the countries for the challenge:

Brush: Italy

Razor: Portugal

Blade: Russia

Lather: South Africa

Post Shave: France

Me: USA

MSC Vintage Spice is a dupe of the original(?) Old Spice. It is certainly better scented than the current Old Spice iteration. It’s also a great performing soap. I never expected a soap from South Africa to be as good as this, but MSC made me a believer.

For the challenge, I realized that I buy too many things. If I would have stuck to buying only what I needed, the plan when I first got into wet shaving to save money, I wouldn’t have been able to complete this challenge. Is this a good or bad thing? I know my happiness and my wallet disagree on this. Damned Shave Bazaar!!! lol