July 11, 2023 - Sunny Days
- Brush: Stirling Soap Company 24mm Boar
- Razor: Gillette Travel Tech #JETSETTER
- Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
- Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Montrose Beach - Soap
- Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. - Montrose Beach - Balm
- Fragrance: Chicago Grooming Co. - Montrose Beach - EdT
- Music: Jimmy Buffett - Fruitcakes
Daily Write-Up:
Montrose Beach, part of the Chicago Park District, is the inspiration for today’s soap. It’s a very good beach, with a separate dog beach for our four-legged friends, and is the largest of the many public beaches along Chicago’s lakefront.
And it’s only 25 miles from my house, so it’s totally easy to just go shave there, right?
Well… not exactly. Traffic.. When I looked it up, it was going to take between 2 and 4(!!) hours to do a round-trip drive to Montrose Beach from my house, due to rush hour traffic.
Ok… so I need to leave the house by 5 a.m. in order to make it back in time for work.
Instead, I opted for a little subterfuge. Please don’t tell the judges.
First, I looked around my house for some materials. I grabbed some cardboard left over from our move, some markers, and got to work.
I put on my best beach wear, loaded my mobile shave den, some materials, and a way to play music - it is the beach after all - into the back of my car, and set off. Grabbed some quick breakfast at a local eatery, and then headed to the beach. Perfect weather for a pre-work trip to the beach.
I got to the beach, and got parked. I looked around to make sure there are no police or park district personnel around, and then shot my shot. I quickly modified the beach to make it on-theme. I wonder if Vida got her inspiration for the label artwork from the waves on the sign at Montrose Beach?
I stepped back and took a look at my handi-work and then headed to the lakefront. Now, I’m not a huge fan of the /r/airbudrule, but turns out it absolutely applies to today’s shave. Ain’t no rules saying you can’t shave in the park. Just no swimming or wading.
For being the biggest beach in Chicago, I expected Montrose Beach to be… well… bigger, but I claimed a spot and laid out my beach towel. I was also surprised at how… suburban?... it felt. Not a skyline to be seen anywhere. The Chicago Park District really did a great job of making this feel like an oasis in the city.
After eating my breakfast, and doing some light reading (ok... work emails), I figured I would get a shave in. I put some beach music on, unpacked all my shaving items, and then had a horrible realization. I had grabbed my Nalgene for my lather water, but in my rush to leave the house, I had forgotten to fill it.
I’m so stupid. This is the second year in a row I’ve forgotten something critically important in my mobile shave den. But - this one was easily recoverable. I dipped my Nalgene in the lake and had plenty of water for a good three-pass shave.
I used my lake water to whip up a really drippy, slick lather, and got out my Gillette Travel Tech, which was conveniently packed away in a Montrose Beach blue case that came all the way from West Germany! Who knew there are two Germanys?!
I got my shave on with my lake water lather, and had a good, if somewhat dramatic shave. Just as I was finishing, someone came to yell at me for shaving on the beach. Well, not someone, exactly. Something. A one-legged goose that I’ve named Monty, since he lives on Montrose Beach. Monty was VERY angry that I was there, and was not shy about making it clear he wanted me gone.
I quickly packed up my items, left the beach as I found it (take only memories, leave only footprints!). The best part about getting up stupid early to go all the way to Montrose Beach before work? I can get other things done before getting started, like tile shopping in my beach wear.
Daily Challenge Notes:
Close up, non-beach shot of my items. The ivory and black in the brush handle are exactly the same as the ivory and black in the label. The blue of the tech case - a ringer for Montrose Beach blue.
Soap Theme Justification
* Per the artisan: ”Just in time for Summer! Montrose Beach is what I imagine the beach should smell like! Scent notes are sea salt, dried coconut, eucalyptus, jasmine, carnation, vetiver, driftwood and seaweed.”
Post-Shave and Fragrance Relevance Notes
* Montrose Beach Trickhole