u/worbx's SOTDs for challenge 'Feats of Fragrance 2023'

Saturday, the 8th of July, 2023

• Brush: Maggard Razors 24mm synthetic, marble resin handle
• Razor: Maggard Razors V3
• Blade: Gillette Rubie (24)
• Lather: Maggard Razors - Northern Moss
• Post shave: Maggard Razors - Orange Menthol
• Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts - Lycanthropy

All of the non-Maggard brand items in today's shave were still at least purchased from Maggard Razors. The razor and brush were in the starter kit I bought from them. I don't have any Maggard-brand perfumes, but I have bought a few through their shop, including Lycanthropy.

Lycanthropy is... challenging when first sprayed. The mix of notes in the opening is not pleasant, at least not to my nose. However, once it settles down a bit, it's quite nice. I'm not sure what blows off quickly... looking at Southern Witchcraft's page, I see they list fir tree, lilac, musk, mildew, moss, Egyptian jasmine, palo santo, white sage, and ozone.

Ozone might be what I don't like about the opening, but honestly I don't smell ozone when I smell this. Even on open. Maybe I need to pay more attention to that opening the next time I use it. At one point I think I was down on the juniper, but today I notice the juniper sticks around a while, although it's not as intense after a couple hours. The juniper I like. And I think it's especially good with what I can smell of the fir note, and what I think is the moss, musk, and mildew notes under that. There's a dankiness in here that I believe would come primarily from those, anyway.

I'm trying to imagine "white sage;" I'm sure that contributes to the jumble I smell in the opening, but I cannot pick it out. Palo santo I had to look up, but it seems this would be another woody note, along with the fir.

I suppose I should tag this #FOF, since this is the most in-depth I've gone on talking about scents in some time. Although I'm sure this goes at the bottom of the list of entries there.

The daily questions thread is great. Well, today it seems to be about 95% shitposting, but that's still fun to read through. I feel a bit sorry for anyone not a regular who stumbles on it today. But the actual questions and discussions that come from it are often quite good. I put up an actual question today, which may well be lost in the noise for now.

Tuesday, the 18th of July, 2023

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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