June 1, 2024 - New All The Things

• Brush: Zenith 506U XS Horse Hair #HORSESASS #OLDWORLD
• Razor: Ralf Aust 6/8 Square Point w/ Horn Scales #STR8SNOB
• Lather: Talent Soap Factory - Wolf Mother
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Jasmine Green Tea Splash
• Fragrance: Michael Malul - Jet Black Intense EdP

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New All The Things:

I bought the Talent Soap Factory soaps back on a Black Friday sale. I waited until the LG to actually use it. The brush I bought from the Your Shaving anniversary sale, and is my first horse hair brush. The Noble Otter splash is a recent purchase and was still sealed until this morning. The fragrance is a sample I got in a recent order, and the brand and scent are new to me. When I saw the calendar, there was a gaping hole on day 1. Every category of razor I’d pretty much tried. Except straight razor, that is. When I got a bonus last month, I decided it was time to learn with a real straight.

Theme and Challenge:

Everything used today is a new brand, product, type of razor, and/or scent for me.

The Shave:

I have 70+ shaves on Weck/Kismet hair shapers, but this is my first shave with an old fashioned straight. I figured learn honing too, so I have some inexpensive straights I got from Ebay that need varying levels of work. However, I didn’t want my first straight shave to be with an amateur edge from me. I splurged on this straight from Maggard Razors, and Brad honed it for me. So what does a crazy idiot like me decide to do for his first straight shave? Why shave off the sides of an untrimmed full beard of course! I normally only shave my neck and trim around the cheeks daily. I told my wife my plans, and after some head shaking, she asked me to keep the goatee. I guess she doesn’t want to see my chin. For the shave, I thought the brush was very soft already, so I just got it wet and started building lather with a generous scoop of soap. Ok, first mistake, I didn’t soak the brush for a few minutes. The horse is thirstier than any boar I’ve used. I needed a lot of water, and the brush kept soaking everything up. Still I persisted and eventually got enough for a couple passes. Second mistake, I’ve been spoiled in only breaking in bleached or pretty clean boars. The brush stank of barnyard when it got wet. This wasn’t a “Raw Hog” challenge so why didn’t I prep the brush more? It also shed a fair amount. Third mistake, I should have brought up a paper towel to clean the razor as I went, instead of rinsing off the piles of lather and beard. My sink got a little clogged. I kept things slow and steady, still have all my skin, no blood loss, and my earlobes are still there. I think I’ll enjoy the next straight shave more though. If you are going to shave off a beard without trimming first, a straight is definitely the way to go.

Fragrance:

I was pretty limited in my restrictions to keep it all new to me. I picked Wolf Mother from my Talent soaps, that were purchased ages ago and waiting patiently for a turn, because it had some gourmand/beverage notes that would work with the jasmine green tea. Of course the horse hair destroyed the scent of the soap, so any of them would have worked. Jasmine Green Tea is a nice clean scent with hits of citrus and the earthiness of green tea. I like that scent. Wolf Mother, I love off the puck, so next time it will get a better chance to add to the fragrances. The EdP sample was nice smelling and has some compatible notes, but it leans more to traditional cologne and fougere. It does not complement the other choices. If I were giving it a US letter grade, I’d say today’s choices merit a C+. It passes, but didn’t wow me.

Sponsor time:

I have one brush so far from AP Shaving. It’s a G5A SHD, and is the best synthetic I’ve used. Ordering was easy, and no issues with shipping. I’d definitely recommend picking up a brush or two.

June 2, 2024 - Ahoy, Lather Game * Brush: Yaqi Atlantis 24mm Synthetic #FAUXFUR #COMPOSITE * Razor: Aylsworth Razors - Apex-AL6063 #CNC * Blade: Gillette Nacet * Lather: Chiseled Face - Bay Rum * Post Shave: Noble Otter - Plunder Splash * Fragrance: Maher Olfactive

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Today’s Theme:

Product must be Bay Rum. Check! I was able to keep the whole shave on theme. My picture today has an Old Spice lighthouse decanter from back in the day when you would buy this kind of thing as a gift for dad. I think it was made in the 80s and still has a lingering Shulton Old Spice scent to it, though any aftershave is long gone. The brush has sea shells and seaweed in the handle. The razor is Aylsworth Apex, well pirates were kind of an apex predator of the sea, and Aylsworth sounds like it could be the name of a first mate on a pirate ship. Could also be a British naval officer chasing pirates across the Carribean Sea. I used a Nacet for the crocodile logo. I can’t tell if it swallowed a clock though. Noble Otter Plunder is working for my theme perfectly as a scent and imagery. Finally, my fragrance Maher Olfactive Treachery also ties in great.

Razor Review:

Since this is my first go with an Aylsworth Razor, I thought I would give my first impressions. I love the black and aluminum color combo. I don’t have a Henson, but the head looks similar to me. It is a very light razor. It would be very easy to apply too much pressure, but the feedback kept me from doing that. It is almost toast buttering like an MM24. I’ll need some more shaves to get it down, but so far it seems pretty good.

Paleontology Day:

This is my third Lather Games. Some players immediately come to mind from past games. My first games, I got to see a shave on a train by u/OnionMiasma. Another journey shave was done by u/djundjilla giving us a bicycle tour of Switzerland. The Air Bud shenanigans of u/cowzilla3 started that year too. Last year, u/Priusaurus took up the torch of shit posters past. His ongoing and escalating feud with another participant was required reading. The threads can get very wordy in the games, but his posts were must read everyday. I think that is the best praise, because who takes the time to read everything?

Feats of Fragrance Festic ~~F~~Themes:

I only have my soaps planned out, and a handful of fragrances. I figure this allows me to make a spontaneous change to better fit my mood or inspiration from the other players. After reading Onion’s post I knew I had to pivot a little. Side note: Either it was negligence, or a brilliant move against a competitor, not sure which, but running with cunning plan. I was originally going to use Old Spice aftershave and Plunder EdP. But reading about the treacherous betrayal that happened to Onion, I remembered Shawn Maher’s scent Treachery. It was perfect for today.

Bay rum is a scent that plays with spices. The bay is West Indies bay, not the dried leaves you throw in a soup or in Old Bay seasoning to completely cover crabs. (Blue crabs in particular, not the kind a pirate would get having fun ashore.) West Indies bay gets mistaken for cloves in scents. In fact, many bay rum scents may use clove oil instead of the bay. So I started with a foundation of traditional bay rum from Chiseled Face. Plunder is today’s sponsor’s riff on a bay rum, adding cannon smoke and rum/grog. This combo alone was wonderful as Plunder adds an extra layer of depth to bay rum. Topping it off with Treachery took the scent to a fantastic level. It has spice elements and whiskey to tie into the base laid down by the soap and splash. The whiskey adds a smokiness to play with the black powder cannon smoke of Plunder. I think it is the tobacco scent that wraps it up with a bow. I think I could consider the combination the scent of the captain’s quarters on a pirate ship. He has the spices and tobacco plundered from merchants, and the lingering cannon smoke from attacking those ships. He leans back in his chair, drinking his rum thinking, “It’s a pirate’s life for me.”

Sponsor Time:

Noble Otter is one of my favorite soap artisans. I have a lot of their products and many are on my desert island consideration. Barrbarr, Rawr, and Thé Noir et Vanille are my top three, but the order changes from time to time. The Plunder I used is discontinued, but I think it is still available until Cody runs out. This brand was in the first couple of artisan soaps I purchased and is usually a must buy for me. Except Batter’s Up, I’m not down for green bell pepper in my shave.

June 3, 2024 - Where’s the Beef?

• Brush: Aurora Grooming Lather Games 2024 - Blurple
• Razor: Unbranded Solingen Silver Steel 6/8 #RUSTYBUTTRUSTY
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co - Montrose Beach
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co - Sandy Cheeks Splash
• Fragrance: Noble Otter - Manoi de Tahiti EdP
• Alum: Osma and Green Block

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Today’s Theme - Don’t have a cow:

First thing I thought of was the Darkwing base of Chicago Grooming Co. I got this soap in a generous PIF from Vida at CGC. Also included was the Sandy Cheeks splash. The Darkwing base shows that duck fat is good for more than just French fries.

Today’s Challenge:

Alum or potassium alum KAl(SO_4)*12H_2O has been a folk remedy for millenia. It is often the ingredient in styptic pencils and many antiperspirants. If you ever used the brand Certain Dri, it has a very high concentration of the alum which can last for days. There are 3 prevailing opinions in the group. Alum is great and Osma the best, ain’t nobody need that shit, and ehh? from the fence sitters. When I got my first sampling of blades, a free block of alum was included. I used it off and on, usually if I had weepers. I was in the ehh? camp.

I decided for today to unscienticianly determine if Osma was the aftershave GOAT (hmm any soaps with goat tallow?). From the Osma camp the claim was since it was cut from solid blocks of mineral alum, the smoothness made it miraculous. After spending Saturday evening honing a couple straights for the first time, some of my equipment was still out, and I got an idea. Now out of the box, the Green Block has a rougher surface texture. I actually opened this block yesterday, and it was pretty grainy, but pretty solid. Could I polish this ~~turd~~ alum block? Now I didn’t want to use my new Shapton ceramic stones, but I do have a fine/very fine Duosharp diamond plate. It is approximately #600 and #1200 grits. I got the Green block wet and started polishing all 6 sides of the GB. It made a milky swarf/slurry of alum pretty quickly. Once I got it smooth to the touch on fine, I flipped the plate over to very fine. On 1200, I could feel the stone was much flatter. It started doing that thing where flat ground surfaces can kind of stick to each other. I got out the Osma to compare. I learned a little lesson. If you put Osma in a plastic box wet, some of the salts will dissolve and crystalize on the surface. To the diamond plates with the Osma. It was quick work to remove the rough crystals from the surface. I dried both blocks, and I was ready for today.

To give myself the best base to test these, I decided I should either do a Weck shave, MMOC, or try my first self honed razor. The Nameless Solingen has a fair amount of character from the black iron oxide stains, and surface putting. Not sure why the tag is Rusty Butt Rusty, but I added it. I went with testing my work with myself as the 🐹. One thing that did happen from wet polishing alum for about 20 minutes. My fingertips are crazy soft today. Anyway, the shave was a bit crunchy, but did remove the hair. Back to the stones and strop before I try again. After a 2.5 pass shave wtg, atg, other atg cheeks only, I was sure I had a perfect test bed for a bit of alum sting. To my surprise, nothing. No stinging and both blocks felt pretty smooth on the skin. While I dried off the razor, I left the alum on my face. Still no stinging, so I washed it off. Then applied the splash. Now there was some stinging.

Conclusion: ehh, if you like it use it, if you don’t no big deal. It is this decisiveness that I’m known for after all. As for Osma vs. other blocks, buy the Osma if you can get it. Sure a cheap block made from crushed up alum can be smoothed, but that isn’t worth the time unless Osma cost 10x more.

~~Smelly feet~~ Fragrant Feats:

This set of smells is all about my wife’s least favorite food, coconut. Fun fact, when your wife hates a food, she assumes you should hate it too. I don’t get a lot of coconut here. Montrose Brach starts this tropical party with a pretty aquatic scent accented by coconut. It is quite a refreshing scent. Sandy Cheeks slaps you in the face with a sweet coconut with my mind thinking I spilled a piña colada all over my face. I was back on a cruise having my after breakfast piña colada. If you buy the alcohol package, you have to drink pretty steady while on the boat. I didn’t touch a drop for months after the trip. Manoi de Tahiti is a wonderful tropical fragrance with a base of sandalwood and vanilla. The floral tiara flower, coconut, and ginger mix well with the base notes. All said, it is a tropical gourmand scent combination that would be perfect for the sweet day.

I have pictures to add later tonight, but first I’m late for dinner now.

June 4, 2024 - K.I.S.S.

• Brush: AP Shave Co Purple Ivory 26mm G5A SHD #SHD #PREMIUMPLASTIC #FAUXFUR
• Razor: GEM Junior #TWINS #FLIPTOP #RUSTYBUTTRUSTY
• Razor: EverReady 1912 #TWINS #FLIPTOP #RUSTYBUTTRUSTY
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Mikes Natural Soap - Lime
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Remote Learning
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Cheshire EdT

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Today’s Theme - K.I.S.S.:

Today I started with a smoosh from u/tsrblke of Mikes Natural Soap - ~~Shag~~ Lime. Now it arrived in a bag in a box that had a smoosh and a spritz of Shag. The hazmat warning on the box was for everything taking on a bit of Shag. Luckily it faded once I separated the Lime from it. For Post Shave kept the simplicity going and used Remote Learning. Maybe the worst Old Spice dupe fragrance wise. It’s just Mtn Dew. I finished with Cheshire which I’d say has a one scent description of Earl Grey.

The Base Wars

“I’ve seen things shaver’s wouldn’t believe. Glissant soaps on fire off the shoulders of Orion. Milksteaks glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like soap down the drain.” - Roy Batty

I’ve been actively pursuing the perfect soap now for about 3 years. After almost killing a puck of Colonel Conk - Bay Rum, I stumbled upon the group on Reddit. Originally, I was only on Reddit for ~~porn~~ fountain pens. The r/fountainpens group is pretty decent with enthusiasts pretty free with advice and recommendations. Pretty judgement free too, so I stuck around there for a while feeding my pen collecting FOMO. I think I kept getting this group and W_E in my feed. I had started shaving with the Colonel and a TTO Chinesium Viking. It was ok, but then I started reading SOTDs and the questions. I learned there was better out there. Right after everyone was getting their mugs of Spearhead Shaving Co. Seaforth Sea Ice Lime, I took a leap and got Sea Spice Lime, then some samples from Maggard. It wasn’t too long before the ledge near my sink was out of room. Since then, the artisans I have bought have mostly been on their current formulas. Through PIFs and smooshes I have tried a few of the old bases and some from artisans that stopped or passed away. The big example of a new base I can think of is Spearhead moving to the Highland base. It was a great soap before, but the new base that I have in Black Watch, 3 Scots, and Roman Spice is great too. Ok, maybe even a little better, but it was S tier before, and not going higher, so the new one is S tier too. There are lots of great bases right now like Doug, Tusk, Omnibus, Milksteak, not sure if Noble Otter named theirs, and many others that I think we all know. Just look at March Madness.

Feats of Fragrance

Ok, keep it simple stupid is the theme not Knights in Satan’s Service. Sometimes doing a simple scent right is harder than a more complex one. Starting with lime though gave me some options. Probably due to it being stored with Shag, the lime scent wasn’t strong to my nose until I unwrapped it. I could smell Shag before I opened the box the Tsar sent me. Still it is just lime and a bit of plain soap. I wanted more citrus. At first I was thinking Nordost would be great (it really would have been), but then I remembered the Old Spice dupe that actually smells like Mtn Dew! Let’s do the Dew. Remote Learning splash is nearly 100% Mountain Dew soda. I expect it to be carbonated from the smell. I’ve heard some people say it really is an orange flavor, but it isn’t like Fanta, Sunkist, or Crush. I think it is more a universal citrus scent. Some may get orange, others lime, or yuzu, maybe kumquat. It works well with lime. To finish it off, I took inspiration from an earlier post pairing an Earl Grey scent with lime. That was the direction I wanted to go. Cheshire is one of a few Earl Grey scents I have. I think adding it to the mix gives me almost one of my favorite teas, Harney & Sons - Royal Palace. That is similar to Earl Grey, but the citrus oils are lemon and grapefruit. I haven’t planned every detail for my scent combinations this month, because I wanted the flexibility to ~~steal~~ be inspired by y’all’s choices. I think it was a great choice today. Going to give credit to u/wyze0ne for steering me in the tea direction. I originally was thinking Hydra or Barrister and Man - Limon. Tea was a better choice today.

June 5, 2024 - Goop Day

• Brush: Colgate Youth Soft Toothbrush #SMOLL #RUNT
• Razor: King C Gillette #ZAMAC
• Blade: King C Gillette
• Lather: Nivea Men - Sensitive Shave Foam
• Post Shave: Nivea Men - Moisturizing Post Shave Balm (Polo Green?)
• Fragrance: Ralph Lauren Polo - Blue EdT

Today’s Theme:

This is my least favorite challenge for quasi-internet fame, or is it infamy? To make sure I stayed within bounds, I went to the Walgreens that I can see from my kitchen window. I think under 200m qualifies as my local drugstore. While my daughter looked at Squishmallows, I perused the shaving aisle. I still have my old Dorco Pace razor that I sometimes saw at Target a few years ago, but nope Strike 1. There were Walgreens brand cartridge razors that look the same as the Dorco, but not a match according to my strict yet arbitrary standards. Years ago I would use Bic Metal razors sometimes, but Strike 2: not at Walgreens, Walmart, or Target. Then I saw their “premium” section filled with King C Gillette products. I have a match. Didn’t buy a new one since I still have a couple King C blades and the razor. Then I was looking for the goop I used to use before I got in this hobby. That was King of Shaves Gel. It is a water based lubricant that I liked for shower shaving. Strike 3 for KoS. Man I need more strikes, ok t-ball rules, just keep going until I get a hit. Maybe Cremo was there? I bought some at Walgreens for the first Drugstore day I participated in back in 2022. Once again, no luck, no Cremo shave cream at all, Strike 4. There was a Cremo bump cream, but not a match for anything I have. So I saw that Nivea Men was $1.50 off. I picked up the foam and balm. Last I needed a brush, because… reasons. Strike 5, no shave brushes that I could see. Maybe I missed a cheap “badger”. Oh wait, there are lots of brushes for teeth. Walgreens carries Colgate toothbrushes, and my dentist gives us them for free. Last fragrance was the easiest thing there. They carry Polo there, and I had some at home. I headed home with my plan in place.

Today’s Challenge - Put my bowl down, Flip it, and Reverse it:

I bowl lather in a <$0.50 blue plastic bowl from IKEA. I took it on a trip to use and never looked back. It works better or at least as good as any lather bowl or mug I’ve used. Alas, my trusty blue had to take a break today. I had to face lather. As I was getting ready to shave, we got a Tornado Warning. Time to relocate to my tornado shelter room in the house. Luckily, it is the downstairs bathroom. It has no windows, is on the bottom floor, and also isn’t on an outside wall. My daughter freaks out over storm warnings, but she was chatting with her friends on her iPad trying to stay calm. One of her friends said her mom just saw a tornado on her way home. My daughter started freaking out again. I told her the warning is for the next 30 minutes and we are already in the safest part of our house. Ok, the cat wasn’t in the room, a few tuna treats and we got her in with us as well. Well, not to make light of a tornado, but at that point, nothing we could do but wait. I opened the toothbrush from the Dentist. Realised it was my daughter’s and was a really small knot. 10mm high and about 10mm x 20mm. If it were a round knot, it would be at most 16mm in diameter. To me definitely smaller and shorter than my wee Omega. Ok, face was washed and ready to make some lather. Damn, a toothbrush does not hold much of the foam. Took a few applications and time to work it up a bit. If you want a seriously scrubby brush, Colgate soft is right for you. Brushing your teeth after tastes awful. I haven’t used the King C in at least a year. Not going to be my daily razor, but not horrible. An ok razor to take on a trip. If I were to lose it, I wouldn’t miss it. I was happier with it when I bought it for $17, but now I have better options. More Nivea toothpaste to the face for pass two. I’m very exfoliated now.

Fragrance Feats:

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Nivea Men - Sensitive Shave Foam smells like maybe lime, soap, and a bit like my father’s in law’s drugstore cologne. The Nivea balm was a little different. I got cheap dupe of maybe Polo Green with a bit of lime. I thought about switching to Polo Green for the fragrance, but you know Tornado Warning. Not going to sugar coat it, I don’t like the combo of the two Nivea products. Polo Blue was chosen because I’ve been able to find Polo - Green, Black, Red, and Blue at Walgreens in the last few months. I didn’t buy it there, but I could go over right now and pick it up. Also the Nivea logo is blue, King C also has navy blue packaging. It was time for some blue. Now this rescued the mediocre experience. Polo Blue is a nice fresh aquatic scent and a safe choice for me. Not my favorite scent, but just a solid choice. I get a bit of citrus, mineral, and being out on the water from it. Perfect for a fast moving thunderstorm. As I finished the shave, the thunder cell was a couple miles past the house and moving away. We all exited the little bathroom and now my daughter is still chatting with her friends, my wife is watching a movie, and I am writing this up.

As usual, a couple photos will be loaded shortly. For some reason, Imgur on my iPad doesn’t always let me select pictures I loaded from my phone. I have to save the post, and then open Imgur and Reddit on the phone.

June 6, 2024 - Thirsty Thursday

• Brush: Yaqi Dandelion Green 24mm Cashmere
• Razor: Game Changer .68P
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Wholly Kaw - Iced Tea
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Nordost Splash
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps - Remote Learning EdT

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Thirsty Thursday:

I was kind of kicking myself for already using the Remote Learning splash this month. Drink and other gourmand scents make up a decent portion of my software. Really the choice was which one to go with today. I chose Wholly Kaw - Iced Tea. I could have also used this for freeze your face day too. Staying on theme, I went with Nordost which is a fantastic orange scent. I followed it up with Summer Break Soaps ode to Mtn Dew (and Doritos) - Remote Learning. All three fit for the theme today.

WetTubing Appreciation Day:

I make my WetTubing debut today via Imgur. Last year my video kept failing to upload. This year I kept it shorter by time lapsing from my lathering in my blue bowl through 2 passes. It didn’t quite work the way I wanted it to, but it’s my first try of something like this. I was trying to time my movements so it could look almost like the shaving cream was disappearing. I had read that the iPhone time lapse was once every 6 seconds, so I was using that to set a pace. Obviously I think what I read was wrong. Still the video came in at 21 seconds for what was about 5-10 minutes. If I try it again I’ll get a time lapse app that maybe has a better signal and adjustments for when each frame is done. Or just string individual shots together.

I don’t watch much WetTubing, but I definitely am going to watch some of the honing videos of u/gcgallant. My first effort at setting a bevel and honing a razor was ok, and sharpest blade I’ve ever achieved, but could have been much better.

Feet of Fragrance:

As mentioned I had many ways to go. After some juggling of my soaps for this month, I decided on WK - Iced Tea. It is a fairly sweet scent and more a sweet tea than the unsweetened that I drink. The resemblance is of something like a bottled Lipton flavored tea. The lemon isn’t strong and my brain goes to peach tea, but I know that it doesn’t have peach, but Yuzu, Lemon, Cucumber, Peppermint, Basil , and Black Tea. I like the scent, and while I don’t drink sweet teas. It smells familiar to when I have tried them. Nordost has its scent described as Smoky Orange. I’ve never gotten the smokiness, but the orange comes across my nose as orange soda. Probably not Fanta, but something more like Sunkist Orange. Adding more citrus will almost always harmonize with tea. Building something good here, time to derail this scent train. Many years ago, I worked in a gas station/convenience store/deli/pizza place. I used to have to go in the walking cooler and spend time restocking iced tea and Mtn Dew that all the work crews would come in and buy us out on a hot summer day. I wasn’t really a Mtn Dew drinker when I was young. We were a Coca-Cola house growing up. My mom would never buy Pepsi. A Come was always a treat for mom and my uncle when they would go into town from the family farm in Missouri. Mtn Dew though I started drinking in college, usually together a caffeine and sugar rush while cramming for exams, or finishing a paper the night before a deadline. Of course if you are drinking a Mtn Dew, it often was washing down some Doritos. This is my fourth time wearing Remote Learning. I must be going nose blind to the nacho cheese note now. I’m am getting the Dew and corn scent out of it. Maybe the cheese wears off faster and allows the more pleasant scents to express. This combo brings me back to my early 20s. College and low paid jobs with one of the few benefits - free soda. Tea wasn’t free, but I only had to pay cost for most stuff there.

Sponsor Time:

I really need to get more Chicago Grooming soaps and scents. I have the Montrose Beach and Sandy Cheeks that were a PIF a couple years ago. The Darkwing base is really good. I waited about an hour too long to check out on the exclusive drop a few months ago. I think at some point I will get Armonia and a couple others. I do have a smoosh of the AG 1889 to try after the games.

June 7, 2024 - Vetiver You Want

• Brush: Aurora Grooming LG2024 Blurple Synthetic
• Razor: Parker Adjustable Injector #ADJUSTABLE
• Blade: Parker Injector
• Lather: Martin De Candre - Vetiver
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Field Day
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Velouria

Today’s Theme:

I didn’t have what I think I could say that’s a vetiver soap. Sure it is in lots of stuff, but I just think ok, it is a “green” scent of growing plants? Luckily we have smoosh trading, and once again u/tsrblke set me up. MdC - Vetiver is just vetiver. That’s pretty spot on for the theme I’d say.

Today’s Challenge:

Why would anyone start against the grain? I guess for points. That’s the only reason I shaved atg and only atg. Just don’t unless you have a need for a fractional improvement in points. I usually shower after my shave, but today I went before. I wanted every chance to improve my shave I could get. Also grabbed my Parker Adjustable Injector because it may look like it has a huge gap, it shaves pretty mild for me on any setting. I went with 1, but I’ve tried them all and yes the gap gets measurably wider, I can barely tell a difference in feel. The wider gap makes it harder to clog I guess. Post shave, I feel like I scraped the whiskers more than shaved. Lots of stinging too from the splash.

Feats of Fragrance:

Obviously today needed to start from a base of Vetiver, but all I knew about it was it was a green plantlike scent. So I smelled the smoosh, ready scent descriptions, and went through my splashes. I don’t know for sure if Field Fay has vetiver in it, but smelling it after the MdC soap made me think it could. They had a similar grassy note to them. The harder part was the final fragrance and finding one that had vetiver, or at least took off running from that playground grass scent. I went with finding one that has vetiver. I was down to House of Mammoth - Indigo or Maher Olfactive - Velouria. I decided why not both? They both have vetiver listed, and I could sneak indigo into the mix since it is my bar soap in the shower. I’m not certain how successful this really is. Indigo gives me a more peppery berry scent to my nose, while right now Velouria is a mix of the top notes of violets, blueberry and frankincense. It has two kinds of vetiver listed as notes, so as it dries down, maybe more green will come out. It’s a nice scent, but I think I’ll have to see how it evolves over the next couple of hours.

Sponsor Time:

Aurora Grooming is fairly new in the wetshaving world. I recall when he started selling brushes, he reached out to the sub to see what we thought of his work. Then of course he jumps in and not only becomes a sponsor, but made a LG2024 exclusive brush and has the audacity to only charge $35 for it. They even have custom coins for the base. When I ordered mine I was so specific with my color choice saying ok purple, blue, green, or red. Obviously, I gave very specific demands since I have such high standards (cough Colgate Toothbrush?). Undeterred by my strict demands, I get an email asking how about a dark purply navy blue being called Blurple? Well the picture of the pour looked blue/purple, so sure, Blurple it is. Now my brush was just a blank piece of resin, but in just a few days, it arrived (helps that I’m about a 4-20 hour drive from Norfolk depending on traffic). In person it beat my expectations. I love the color and using the powder pigments gives it a nice chatoyance. The shape is very comfortable for me too. If you are on the fence, get one.

FOF

June 8, 2024 - Small Business Saturday

• Brush: Maggard Razors Blue 24mm Brown Synthetic
• Razor: Maggard Razors V3M
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Maggard Razors - Limes & Bergamot
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Co - Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime Toner
• Fragrance: For the Scent of It - Grand Soleil

FOF

Today’s Theme - Small Business Saturday:

Today my soap, brush, and razor are all Maggard Razors brand. Hits the theme right in the bullseye. Just like Maggard Razors hits me square in the wallet.

Mad Braggard Day:

I decided to review my account on Maggard Razors today. I have placed 15 orders since April of 2022. I didn’t think it was that many until this challenge made me peer into the abyss of my wallet’s despair. I better hide the page before my wife sees how much I’ve spent there in the last two years, and she decides she needs a trip to the jewelry store.

My largest single purchase was my most recent one of a Ralf Aust 6/8 Square Point with Horn Scales. Now that was the largest in dollars, but my second purchase was the most items at 17 which includes what I shaved with today. I’d say the straight razor was my biggest item in cost, but is it my “biggest, most stupid Maggard order?” Well obviously it is not in quantity.

10 years ago I would have thought it was stupid for a few reasons. Why are you spending $249 to slice open your neck? A Gillette Fusion Razor with 5 cartridges is just $20. 10 years ago was before I learned that Dorco made the Dollar Shave Co’s razors and cartridges. I could buy myself for about $1 per cartridge on Amazon Prime without getting into subscriptions and save $4 per cartridge. That’s a huge savings at 1/5 the Gillette cost. Then I learned how a DE blade can be bought for $.10 or less per blade. That’s like a zillion times less than Big Cartridge. I’ll save so much money I can retire early. Like many investments I’ve made, this turned out to be wishful thinking. Well the straight razor isn’t that stupid a purchase if you are getting into straight razors. Sure I can buy vintage razors made back when quality blades from Sheffield, Solingen, and the US were common. But unless spending big bucks, they will need some work.

I’d been toying with the idea of learning to shave with a straight razor since before I got into this hobby. Fear of butchering my face and neck kept me away, but last year’s Weckonista challenge got me to take my first steps. I only lost a couple ~~pints~~ drops of blood. The idea of finally getting a real straight was not seeming to be so far fetched. This year I decided to leap in if I was still getting a bonus and raise. Well, luckily I did get that last month. I promptly bought a bunch of “shave ready” restored vintage razors and a strop. Well the shave ready ones were sharp enough to cut some hair on my arm when I tested the edge, but it didn’t feel better than a Weck I’d used for a month on 1 blade. I probably could have asked some of the straight shavers here if they’d hone some, but I was swimming in cash (not literally, but bonus money for me is 50/50 for saving and playing). From my couple of years on this subreddit, I knew that Brad started his shaving empire honing razors. I needed to know what a honing master would do with a razor he sold. When I think of it that way, most sensible thing I’ve done in this hobby.

Last year I was lucky to place in the top 10 of the 2023 Lather Games, but in July. I won a generous gift card from the kind folks at Maggard Razors. I placed, what if it were from my personal funds, an order for the most expensive single soap I’d ever bought - Saponificio Varesino - Opuntia. Already pricy at €35-40 across the pond, it sells for $51 at any store that carries it in the US. Sure it is a triple milled hard soap that will last a long time, but is it 3 tubs of Stirling good? Better than 2 tubs of House of Mammoth? I’d say it’s not better than them. It is good, but I think reading other people’s SOTDs and why would so many people use it when it costs so much if it wasn’t better than free beer and blowjob night at the brothel? I’m guessing everyone buys it on sale or with a gift card like I did. I’ll put that tub as my most stupid order. Not that it isn’t a good product with a nice smell, but it could never live up to my expectations. Would I buy other SV products, probably, but on sale or with a discount code and/or gift cards.

Frangrant Feet:

I have a handful of Maggard Soap samples. I didn’t plan one, but originally I was between Lilac (my favorite spring flower) and London Barbershop. I got all of them together and spent some time deciding which ones smelled like what I want today. I love the scent of lilacs, but didn’t want that for a couple hours today. I would have paired it with DG - Mayfliwe splash, and maybe NO - Two Kings. Perhaps BaM Lavender Interrupted would have been good too. I kept going back to Limes & Bergamot. It is a great citrus bomb. Next what to use with it. Sea Spice Lime builds up that citrus some more with a bit of the spice implied in the name, but no mistake this is a LIME scent. Now the hardest part is what to cap it off? I thought perhaps Dr. Jon’s Hydra (I should have bought the splash and soap when I still could). No, I’ll save it for RIP day. Then I saw this sample of Grand Soleil I got not too long ago in a PIF. It opens up with bergamot and lemon, has some floral element, berries, vetiver, musk, and incense. 15 scents listed in total. It is playing nicely. The lemon and bergamot tie together with the lime and bergamot; while I think the incense and musk enhance the spice from the splash. Very pleased with this combination today.

The Shave:

Quick note if you are reading this far. Today’s secret word is smooth. After yesterday’s disaster of ATG only, I did a 4 pass shave and am as smooth (Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! RIP Peewee) as a baby’s butt.

June 9, 2024 - Shave and a Haircut

• Brush: Rubberset 49-3 #TOLL
• Razor: Graeger GR100B AC #KAMISORI
• Blade: Dorco AC
• Lather: Zingari Man - The Master
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Barrbarr
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Seville EdC

FOF

Shave and a Haircut:

I looked at my selection and asked myself which Barbershop should I use? My response: All of them! Ok didn’t fit 100% of them but hit the big three and gave myself a bonus spritz after I used my selections. Justification for hitting the soap theme: ZM - The Master is blatantly a barbershop and even has a picture of a barber’s chair. For the post shave, once again hitting the theme in the name itself- Noble Otter - Barrbarr. Plus the label art is a riff on a barner’s pole and has an Otter getting a shave like at an old fashioned barbershop. Last Barrister and Mann - Seville is marketed as a barbershop, but the name is a play on “The ~~Rabbit~~ Barber of Seville”. I’ll be giving myself a haircut with a Wahl trimmer and #3 guard later today.

Today’s Challenge:

I am an idiot. I should have known that the djudges would throw u/cowzilla3 a bone and only pick Old Spice as the correct answer. I got a paltry 8.

Fragrantica:

This is a theme that just gives me the warm fuzzies. I never really went to an old school barbershop, so no clue what they should smell like. As a kid, my dad traded services with my mom’s favorite hair stylist. She’d come to our house and cut our hair, or we’d go to the salon where she worked. So a barbershop to me smells like fruity-floral shampoo, hairspray, styling mousse, and permanent chemicals. That is not what these are thank goodness. This was my first use of The Master. I’ve had the sample for a while. When I opened it, I thought it smelled similar to Seville. Citrusy, spicy/herbaceous (but not cinnamon/clove), a bit earthy and woody. Lathered it lost a lot of the scent. Maybe that’s because it is at least two years old. Noble Otter - Barrbarr was one of the first scents I got from them. Every time I use it, I think I could just use this everyday. It is clean with the lemon, but woody and earthy from the sandalwood and patchouli which complements The base notes of The Master. Finishing off this trio with Seville is a no brainer. How can you do a barbershop without “God’s Barbershop”. I first tried Seville in the Reserve base with a smoosh from u/OnionMiasma. It immediately went on my buy ASAP list, except in Omnibus. When Will introduced his EdC’s in Seville, Limon, and Nordost, I got the first two, but waited too long on Nordost. It is a funny thing, but the scent notes to Seville and Barrbarr are almost the same, but they are distinctly different in execution. All three scents worked well to build a harmonious trio. Wait a second, barber’s don’t do trios, needs to be a quartet. I gave myself a bonus spritz of Summer Break Soap - Picture Day EdT. It is a more powdery and clean barbershop scent, but still has enough in common with the trio to achieve

Today’s Sponsor:

What more can be said about the mad genius Kyle u/rocketk455? He somehow got a group of us to commit to a Dorito and Mtn Dew trifecta. It must be part of some sinister plan to take on big soap. Doritos and Mtn Dew are pretty popular products, and if that can be harnessed in the wetshaving world, first takeover the hobbyists, then use that momentum to get in every grocery store, Target, and Walmart. I think some people will claim someone else from these very games convinced Kyle to remake that scent, but why would he make his house stink of stale nacho cheese if it wasn’t part of a bigger plan?

June 10, 2024 - Happy Together

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving Exclusive 31mm Moar Boar #SUBBRUSH
• Razor: A. Witte NY. A1 5/8 Hollow Round Point #REVENANT
• Lather: Declaration Grooming - 1904
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming - Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Smash

FOF

Today’s Theme:

Almost everything here is a collaboration. 1904 has the soap by Declaration Grooming and the scent by Chatillon Lux. It is the same with Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli. For the fragrance we leave the Midwest and get what I guess is a collaboration between the Boston Red Socks and NY Yankees (maybe Mets). Smash is a collaboration between House of Mammoth & Barrister and Mann. The brush is a collaboration between Zenith and r/Wetshaving with an assist by Stirling Soap Co. I count the brush because the logo was designed by the sub.

Today’s Shave:

It is my third shave with a regular straight (maybe 80th including Wecks). I got it partially restored from the seller who had removed the rust, but did not fix the edge. It was about as sharp as a butter knife, and had several chips near the point almost like a serrated knife. Definitely not shave ready, and almost no bevel to the edge. I ground the chips down with my medium diamond plate. It made a bit of a flat spot near the round point, so I fixed the profile on the same plate. I set about remaking the bevel starting on the 600# diamond until I got a burr and the bevels looked pretty even. I moved to the 1200# Diamond, and did the same. Next were Japanese ceramic water stones in 3000#, 8000#, and 12000#. I stropped it on linen and buffalo hide. I didn’t try a hanging hair test, but it easily shaved hairs on my arm. This was the second straight that I went through this same process and it also had similar chips. Today’s razor shaved better than the other one did. I did three passes wtg, xtg, xtg except my neck. Neck was xtg and xtg. The lather was excellent, but I think I could have hydrated it a little more. Just a slight tingle from the aftershave too. It is still a little intimidating using a straight, but it does feel pretty good. A spritz of Smash on my wrists finished it up.

Today’s Challenge - Music to Shave by:

I think the kind of music I like for shaving is calm and almost ethereal. I chose Still Corners “The Trip”. I’m linking to an unofficial video I think. Someone set the song to old 8mm vacation footage to emphasize the title.

Feats of Fragrance:

Today I mixed things up and decided to use multiple collaborations. My first instinct for this category is to go with possibly my favorite use of patchouli, but I’ve done that. At work while ~~goofing around~~ waiting for some programs to kick out the results, I was looking up collaboration soaps that I have. I had written down Cerberus Fougere to start, but I got a strange idea. How can I link the three together? The hardest part was the splash, though I do have Smash. Browsing DG’s website on my phone, I saw 1904 has coffee. Well smash is a drink flavor, and coffee is a drink. Stretching my potential matches that are still collaborations, I realized that I’ve had a yuzu drink before. My daughter really likes those Ramune sodas from Japan. One that we all liked was the yuzu flavor. Ok I’ve connected the dots in my mind, but will this work? First I’ll say if I used 1904 in a splash or EdP, this probably would be a fail. The darker earthiness of the coffee and other scents would probably clash in EdP strength, but in the soap base, it was better as an earthy undertone to this drunken brunch theme I made. The splash for yuzu/rose/patchouli definitely has a stronger citrus and rose scent than the soap. In my mind I’ve moved it to a fragrant black tea with yuzu and rose notes. This is starting to work now. Smash is a sweet cap to this meal (ok, the brunch theme fails at dinner time). I am not a coffee drinker except once in a blue moon I get the urge for coffee with pancakes. While I love brinner, this isn’t going to be that. No strong caffeine this late in the day. The bourbon in Smash gives a subtle sweet smokiness to the peach and herbal elements like the St. Germain in the cocktail. That is what this scent is doing. I’m sipping a cocktail and unwinding from work. Now at home I don’t have any peaches, so I think just an old fashioned might be in order.

June 11, 2024 - April Showers Bring Dandelions

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving Exclusive 31mm Moar Boar #SUBBROOSH
• Razor: Razorock Eco Hulk Green #RAINBOW
• Blade: Crown Stainless SE
• Lather: Noble Otter - Rawr
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Rawr Splash
• Fragrance: Noble Otter - Rawr EdP

FOF

Today’s Theme and Feats of Fragrance:

Combining my FOF with the theme. I think today Rawr is going to be most used because this Noble Otter is the King of Spring. It is a tribute to fatherhood, and Father’s Day is one of the last holidays of the Spring before the solstice. The scent leads with the grassiness of dandelion and happiness. Rawr is a delightful scent that to me makes me feel like I’m taking my daughter for a walk on a beautiful Spring morning. She’s picking the dandelions that have gone to seed and making a wish blowing the seeds into the air, delighting in how they slowly float away. The orange scent reminds me of playing soccer in the Spring season. Oranges were always a big part of Youth Soccer when I was a kid. We had two seasons of soccer in my town one in Spring and the other in the Fall. Rawr feels more like the Spring season with the bright sun and days getting longer. Fall would be more like apples and burning leaves. Rawr is one of my favorite Spring scents, but I’ll use it anytime when I want to feel like a kid and also a father. I picked up the EdP not too long ago while buying some refills for Rawr and Barrbarr. Honestly trying to keep trick-holes to a minimum, but Rawr I will always want to load up the scent.

Rawr is a great Spring scent, and it is one of the first Google responses to best shaving scents for Spring.

Today’s Challenge:

Everythings Gone Green

Today’s Shave:

Ok, we all know Noble Otter makes great stuff: soap, splash, and EdP. Definitely no complaints there. The Moar Boar is a fantastic brush. Top marks again. The razor and blade are not good at all. Really half DE blades lose the rigidity you can achieve by bending the blade when clamping it down. Secondly, if the could achieve a little rigidity in how it is clamped, that isn’t done here. It is held pretty flat. Third, there is a ridiculous amount of blade in front of the cap. I think I feel the blade more here than on many Weck shaves. You’d think at least it should give a close shave, but I can’t find a great angle with it. The best thing about the razor is the color Hulk green. The shape looks good; it’s like the love child of DE razor and an Injector. There must be a better way to get a razor in this form factor. Yes, the Hawk uses AC blades. Maybe they could make one with a DE head, but with the cap covering over one side. You’d use it for several shaves, then flip the blade around. It could look like a modern take on a GEM 1912.

June 12, 2024 - Crema

• Brush: Zenith Copper 28mm Boar
• Razor: MM24 #MODERNGEM
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Proraso - Green Tea and Oatmeal
• Post Shave: Proraso - Pelli Sensibili Balsamo Dopobarba
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Just Right For a Tuesday

FOF

Today’s Theme:

I had a couple creams to use, but decided last minute to switch to Proraso. It is a cream in a tube and fits pretty well.

Today’s Challenge:

My den is getting a bit more organized. At the end of last month I picked up the shelves to replace a tiny little bookcase in the corner of my bedroom. The intention was to use the lower shelves for the books, and the upper shelves for shaving gear and fragrances. I thought I would be able to fit all my fragrances on one shelf. Instead they are taking up 1 1/2. I might make some kind of shelf grandstand to make it easier to see everything. For now I used various boxes to lift up the ones in back and tried to keep the taller stuff in the back. I put the stuff that still has a box in the front to block the light a little. On the spill over shelf of fragrances are all my small vials kept in a lab sample rack. I think it was designed to hold 5ml tubes up to 12mm in diameter. The 2ml tubes from today’s sponsor House of Mammoth fit really well. I thought I would take longer to fill it up but I have 3 different samplers and usually get a sample of new products before committing to a full bottle when I can. The rest of the shelf will eventually hold more splashes. Stuff on the bottom shelf is either new and no home decided, or soaps I pulled out for this month. Trying to keep out the splashes I’ve used so I think twice to see if I already used it. Most of my blades and hardware gets kept in a Walker’s Shortbread tin. I emptied it out to drive home to myself how much stuff I have. A couple years ago I got a gift tin of the Proraso used today. I use it to hold sample soaps. Last I have 6 plastic bins for my soaps, and 2 for aftershaves. I have a couple things in my office like a vintage Old Spice mug and a Seaforth! Highlander mug. A few razors I need to clean like a Fatboy and Slim, but 90% or more of my stuff is in the photos. I also need to figure out where to put my straights. I’ve seen pen racks or test tube racks used and may go that way. That’s pretty much it. Now I don’t want to count how much I have. Somehow need to maintain plausible deniability. Willful ignorance may be best.

Fragrance Feats:

The Proraso Pelli Sensibili or Green Tea and Oatmeal is a very mild scent that gives me a green leafy scent. Can’t say I get a strong tea impression, but definitely fresh leaves with maybe some cut or torn to release a little scent. Basically it provides a base to add almost anything. Looking over the pile of fragrances on the shelf, Just Right for a Tuesday caught my eye. To quote the description on Barrister and Mann,:

“I find myself reaching into my shave den and reading notes for, say, Hallows, Leviathan, or Night Music and going, “Well that’s lovely, but just a bit much for a Tuesday.”

I found that sentiment just right for a Wednesday too. A light yet complex scent with ~~12~~ 11 scent notes; rose is listed twice. What I can pick up from it is the green fig, violet, and vetiver. Because of the Vetiver day last week, I can actually pick up that green grassiness. The lavender is giving me a slightly powdery vibe and while not getting the scent in particular, my nose is feeling the black pepper. About 10 years ago or so, whenever I have something with a bit of black pepper, I get a stuffy nose. It goes away a little while later, but it took a while to figure it out. Seems like scents with a black pepper note can do it a little, but worse when I eat something heavy on black pepper like steak au poivre or sausage gravy. Still JRFAT is a great fragrance, and I have a full bottle kind of hiding in the middle of my shelf.

June 13, 2024 - Duppelgänger Day

• Brush: Omega Bambino 18mm Boar
• Razor: Robert Klaas 117 5/8 SP Kissing Cranes
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co - Mountain Man
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co - Sharp Dressed Man
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co - Executive Man Solid Cologne

Today’s Theme:

Well at Stirling Soap Co all the “Man” scents are Creed dupes. Mountain Man is a dupe of Creed Silver Mountain Water. Sharp Dressed Man is Green Irish Tweed, and Executive man is Aventus. When I thought what dupe should I use, I just said yes.

Today’s Challenge:

I channeled my inner art forger and made an authentic copy of my shave products for today. Available at Stirling, some assembly required.

Feats of the Fragrant Kind:

When I was thinking about what to use this month, I started looking up different dupes. Then I saw we had a couple new soap sponsors. Eleven has an Aventus dupe. In their description they say Aventus is what an astronaut should smell like. So the idea of getting something Aventus started percolating in my head. I didn’t get Eleven’s dupe though. I knew I had a couple samples of Stirling’s Man series, but no Executive Man. That needed fixing. I ordered a set including the solid cologne. Then I started thinking hard, and after the smoke cleared I had a brief epiphany. But then I forgot it.

The next day as I was writing down Prom King on my calendar, I said, “Oh wait I had an idea yesterday.” I’ll trickhole Executive Man, but use my sample of Creed for the fragrance. So I wrote that down. A few days later, I thought why trickhole a single dupe when I can use three dupes on a common theme. To my soap stash I went. Then got disappointed because I had a sample of Mountain Man and Sharp Dressed Man soaps, but didn’t see a splash. Back to the drawing board? The next day I saw a small box on a bookshelf in the hallway that had some samples I forgot about. It was all different splash samples I got in a PIF a while ago. I had kind of put it aside because a couple of them leaked in transit. Nestled in the box was a sample of Sharp Dressed Man. Game On!

Mountain Man starts the ball rolling with a nice citrusy, woodsy, kind of aquatic vibe. Reminds me a little of visiting my aunt’s cabin near Crested Butte, Colorado. The smell of the woods, walking down to Cement Creek to scare some trout. Just missing a pure sugar hit like all the hummingbird feeders my aunt had. Next Sharp Dressed Man. The fragrance strength of the splash covered up the Mountain scent, but in it’s place I’m smelling like Cary Grant. More lemon and sandalwood, but with a bit of florals from the iris and violet leaves. Pretty good so far. Capping off the scent extravaganza with Executive Man starts with the solid cologne. When the heat of my finger hit the cologne, pineapple really jumped out. I know there is citrus, apple, black currant, and birch listed as scents, but the bright sweet scent of pineapple is what I mostly get. I expect the birch to express as the pineapple and bergamot fade. I think Mountain Man and Sharp Dressed Man are more related fragrances, having more notes in common, but the three together is a very nice grouping. I’ll do this again sometime.

June 14th, 2024

• Brush: Yaqi Panda 24mm Two Band Badger
• Razor: Fatip Il Piccolo Storto - Oro
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps - Rope Swing
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Cannonball Splash
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps - Daydream EdT

FOF

Today’s Theme:

One of the first soaps with synthetic menthol that I got was Rope Swing. It is a slow build of cold, so I added four drops of the menthol that I got with splashes from Declaration Grooming. Very cold from the first pass, and just got chillier and chillier after that. Cannonball splash adds more WS-23, so I gave myself two splashes of it. Definitely feeling cold today. Also, the shampoo I use sometimes has menthol as well, so I got coolant three different ways.

Today’s Challenge - Reverse Jenga?

I got this idea after getting everything out for the show your den. How tall a stack could I make from all those soaps? Well a straight up stack has been done, so what twist can I put on it? Actually, I could do a twist. I decided to make a spiral tower I’d call The DNA of Shaving. I started by stacking groups of three and then rotating the next group about 1/2” (13mm). I got several layers along before I remember to take a picture. A A few more layers after that, and I noticed the tower started to lean. I realized that, though I was making each layer from similar jars, the differences in how much soap was in each one seemed to make it lean. Plus I might have been stacking to one side. Start over this time with layers of 4 jars. This was working well and easier to judge how much to offset each row. Oh wait time for a photo. Not long after that, I ran out of full size jars that matched for a layer of I’ll go single stack from here. Another picture at the start of the narrow section. About 10 tubs more and the tower was taller than me. It was at least 6’ high. Now where did I leave the camera? I noticed my erection was leaning to one side. Better fix that before I add the last few…. Oh crap! Like Icarus flying to high to the sun, it came crashing down.

That was it for me. After about an hour of organizing and stacking, I wasn’t feeling like rebuilding. There was one casualty. My tub of Sonder from last Austere August broke part of the lid. Time to put it all away. I sorted it all by brand and Noble Otter, House of Mammoth, Summer Break Soaps, Declaration Grooming, and Stirling Soap Co each got a tub. Everything else was put in the leftover spaces. Pretty successful reorganization at least.

Oh the Smells:

In yesterday’s dupe day, u/rocketk455 mentioned that other than Prom King, he didn’t go into dupes, but thought he was most known for Cannonball. I decided Cannonball needed to be in the mix. I almost went with it as the soap, but decided that I liked the Rope Swing/Cannonball/Daydream progression. I’m on a summer vacation and swinging out over the water on the rope swing. It is on a lake surrounded by woods. After getting exhausted, head back to the resort and hang out with the family at the pool. Of course my daughter has a Pineapple Fanta, while I have an Orange Fanta. A bit later decide to have a more tropical cocktail with some passionfruit and citrus. Hanging out now on the deck near the bar, I still get the clean scent of the woods wafting over me. Oh crap, I didn’t reapply my sunscreen soon enough. This is going to burn, but I have just the thing to cool me off today.

June 15, 2024 - Near Death Experience

FOF

• Brush: Yaqi Cola 22mm Synthetic
• Razor: Game Changer .68P
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac Original (Tallow)
• Post Shave: Thayers Facial Toner - Unscented
• Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac Man EdT

Today’s Theme:

This was almost a coin toss for which soap was closest to death. A few weeks ago, it may have been a four way race, but I refilled Rawr and Barrbarr. So it was down to Sonder and Tabac. Using my well calibrated eyeball, I decided that Tabac was the closest. Plus I already have a second tub of Sonder that I got for August. Yesterday I almost killed the tub of Sonder anyway in my tower collapse yesterday. The lid is broken, but still kind of functional. For the post shave it was down to Thayers. Either cucumber or unscented are the lowest. Putting them together, unscented won by about 1/4” or ~6mm. For the fragrance it was tricky again. My most used full size bottles are Tabac Original and Tabac Man. Since original is 100ml bottle and Man is 50ml, I went for Man.

Today’s Challenge:

Why? Just why would anyone shave with a pasty lather? Soap needs water to be slick. Slick lets the razor glide over the skin. On Youtube you see a fair amount of dry lather, but a thick dry lather looks better on video than slippery, drippy soap suds. When I make my lather, I’d rather get it a little too wet than a bit dry. Visually, I want it to be like the ribbon stage in cooking. You can make a trail in it, but it will self level fairly quickly. To get the pastiest lather I could, I barely wet the brush, and started whipping that soap like I hated it. Really it’s more like I hated my face. What I ended up with was a thick foam like over whipped egg whites. Kind of like the dry foam left after breaking a meringue. The shave was awful. On my face it was sticky. This kind of lather protects the whiskers more than the skin. The razor dragged through the mess, and not sure how successful it really was. This paste of a lather managed to pack itself tightly into the razor. This was just a gummy mess of a shave. -5/10. Now the post shave was delightful. Since Thayers is one of the best bargains in post shaves, I gave myself a couple healthy splashes to sooth my irritated face.

Feats of Fragrance:

Really the theme took out most of the choice away from me. Tabac is a fairly divisive scent. You either love it or hate it. I love it. The powdery funkiness is ok by me. Like u/cowzilla3 would say about Old Spice, Tabac itself is practically a scent note. Sure you can find descriptions saying it has lavender and citrus, but you need a super nose to break anything out distinctly. Now Thayers Unscented does not add to the mix, but if they were closer to death, rose petal or lavender would pair well with Tabac. That’s mostly what I used before I got a bowling pin full of the aftershave. The Tabac fragrances let more notes materialize, but still my nose has trouble picking up a single thing. Tabac Man gives me kind of a lemony, green, powdery impression. I like it, but maybe you think my opinion is suspect since I like Tabac. Some people liked the Four Horsemen scents. YMMV.

Pictures have been added.

June 16, 2024 - Old Man Leg Day

• Brush: Semogue Owners Club - Cherry Wood
• Razor: Gillette English Ball End Tech
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Williams - Mug Soap
• Post Shave: Thayers Facial - Toner Rose Petal
• Fragrance: Ralph Lauren - Polo Cologne Intense

FOF

Today’s theme:

Every brand used predates me. I was born in 1970. Williams soap started in 1840 and went out of production around 2022. Thayers started making their products in 1847. King Camp Gillette first started work on his patented safety razor in 1895, but the company was incorporated in 1901. Just like cartridges today, the business used safety razors to sell blades. The Gillette Techs come later being introduced in 1939. This one has notched cap so manufactured likely between 1964 and 1973. There is no date code that I can see, just Gillette Made in England under the plate. P4 would be my birthday razor. Semogue brushes started being made in 1954 in Portugal. The one would fit the OLDWORLD tag, but I finished my scavenger hut a few days ago. Last the youngest company represented start in 1967, Ralph Lauren. This cologne was introduced in 1978, but the company at least started before 1970. So I kept it pretty old school today.

I had thought about going vintage lady razors. I picked up this vintage Curvfit Razor -for personal daintiness. It had two blades in that tuck, but both had rust along the edge. I didn’t trust it enough, nor want to test the tetanus booster I got earlier this year. From the drawings on the box and instructions, it looks more intended for axillary depilation. I also had a couple other vintages I could try, like my Wilkinson Sword Empire 7-Day Razor, or Ever Ready Shovelhead 1924.,:but while the Wilkinson is worth 2-3 hashtags (7 day, non-disposable, and carbon steel safety), it is close to stock. The strop is still wrapped in waxed paper, but it took a hard bump sometime and the bakelite blade organizer is broken near the hinge. It is a pretty amazing little razor though. Kind of wanted to show that at the same time men were being sold razors like the Empire, women were marketed that gimmicky Curvfit or the Kewtie. I think Curvfit was sold from the 1930s to the 1950s. This one looks to be post war. The packaging for the earlier ones is more Art Deco.

Leg Day:

This is the second goofiest challenge presented so far (tomorrow tops it). I certainly did shave my legs last year, and due to some circulation issues, didn’t really need to shave again. I never had very hairy legs, and it is pretty fine and blond or light brown, but several years ago, most of the hair below the knee went away. Even the wiry ones on my big toe. There is still some there, but it is very faint and hard to get in a photo. To meet this challenge, I needed to shave all the way up. So I made a lather in my vintage Old Spice Mug. It was pretty dry and I had to work more water into it, but it just kept drying out in the mug. Dry lather in pic 1, but better not great in pic 2. After leg lathering to kept from loading more lather and drying up, I started to shave. Not safe for lunch. As you can see, I found some hairs to shave. I ended up redoing the lather several times. This Williams soap just starts to go away after a bit. I finally finished up smoothing my legs.Just one pass took longer than my normal shave routine. Lots of Thayers ~~Facial~~ Leg Toner to sooth the dry itchiness this left.

Feats of Fragrance:

Ok Williams Mug Soap has the scent of soap. That’s it, just soap. Starting with an empty palette today. To keep my vintage vibe going, my choices were Thayers, Ice Blue Aqua Velva, or Tabac. I didn’t want the Ice Blue on my legs, but it was also made by Williams, or bought by Williams in the 1920s. I used Tabac for soap yesterday, but not the lotion. It would have been ok. With Leg Day, the floral punch of Rose Petal just felt like it fit better. No old man stank was going on these dainty legs. Rose is a strange scent to me. In my head, rose scents used are just flower scented. I never think that it really is what roses smell like. Probably because modern roses used for bouquets have been hybridized for the straighter stems and tighter flowers, but lost most of the scent. Old school big blossom roses I guess still have the scent, but I’m not often around them. Still this Thayers is a nice clean floral. That left my choices for fragrance today. Trying to keep to a brand/company before 1970 left all of the artisan scents I have off the table. I could have used another variety of Tabac - Original EdT, Man Gravity, Man Silver, or Craftsman, but they didn’t feel right. Today is Father’s Day, and there was one choice for me that fit. Last year for my birthday, my daughter (and wife) gave me this enormous bottle of Polo Cologne Intense. It is a citrus/woody scent with Grapefruit, Sage, and Patchouli as the main notes list on the Ralph Lauren site, but Fragrantica is a bit more detailed adding basil and mint to the top notes, violet leaf and thyme into the middle, with bottom notes ambroxan & vetiver. Described as an aromatic fougere, it has been a pretty refreshing scent for today. Very clean and green for a leisurely brunch. Now I need a nap.

June 17, 2024 - Don’t Have a Cow!

• Brush: AP Shave Co - 26mm G5A SHD
• Razor: Gillette English Tech
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Pomona
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Splash
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Alive EdT

Today’s Theme:

Tried to keep it vegan today. Southern Witchcrafts base is vegan, but performs as well as a tallow. I almost grabbed a boar brush to tickle my knee, but remembered to grab a synthetic. After I already used the splash and fragrance, I realized I didn’t check to see if animal products are in the scent. Hopefully not, but it’s too late at this point.

Challenge - Further Fetishization of the Shaves:

Some judge must have a leg/foot thing trying to get us to take pictures of leg shaving and knee lathering. I took better care to leave my foot out today. I normally bowl lather for my shaves. Seeing pics so far of the front of the knee being used, I thought, “Wait a second! The back of the knee is more bowl-like.” Unfortunately that meant kind of building a lather and fighting gravity. Almost as much as built up in the brush fell onto the floor. Still, it worked. I started with an almost dry brush to load, and kept dipping the brush in water until I said that it looks like a lather. A little under ideal hydration for me, but then I think I would have made a drippy mess with more water.

FOF

Today’s theme gave me a few choices, but my best ideas for an alternate have been used or is already planned. Caties Bubbles will get a turn soon. Southern Witchcrafts is a fantastic base. Start off the bat with that before the but. But many of the fragrances feature a dark, mushroomy, dankness. So I have to be carefully what I choose! Because the first time I tried a sample, it didn’t agree with me. Pomona does not give that vibe, just apples in the fall. I decided to tie my fragrances together around apple. Alive has a green apple note, but it isn’t the dominant scent. When I used Alive for Austere August, by the end of the month, my nose could key in on the apple pretty well. My main hit is more citrus and evergreen, but behind it a hint of green apple lurks to delight my nose. Love the scent of Alive, and Pomona and Samhain are my favorite Southern Witchcrafts scents. I really should add tubs of those perhaps.

Sponsor Time:

I have slowly been expanding my CB inventory. Last year I got a PIF of Un Jour Gris. I already had Saturday Mornings and La Piment en Vie. I’ve recently added a couple more. I really like their stuff, and Saturday Mornings triggers memories of getting up at 6 on a Saturday to watch cartoons while eating a bowl of Froot Loops.

June 18, 2024

• Brush: Yaqi Panda 24mm Two Band Badger
• Razor: Aylsworth Apex
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Dr. Jon’s - Pan’s Pipe
• Post Shave: Wholly Kaw - Eroe
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Eclipse EdT

FOF

Today’s Theme:

Dr. Jon’s went out of business a bit before the last Lather Games. A little of places put them on clearance, so I picked up some soap and fragrances then. I got Pan’s Pipe for Dirty Hippy day last year.

Today’s Fragrance:

I started with the idea of matching up the cannabis note in Pan’s with something, but I struggled to find anything else with a similar note. It was time to do some comparative sniffing of posts and fragrances. I thought about going really patchouli with it, but the most patchouli thing have is already planned. I also already used YRP too. Back to the puck it was. Over the last year the soap has lost some punch, so what does it smell like now? It is just a green and kind of grassy scent now. Grassy got me thinking spring, so one of my favorite father’s day themed scents came to mind, Wholly Kaw - Eroe. I get a nice grassiness from it. To finish it up, I went with Barrister and Mann’s Eclipse with a novel take on patchouli. It is a nice complex scent with patchouli, lavender, and has a bit of a smokiness to it which fits with the grilling I did this evening on my pellet grill. Very happy with my last minute scramble to pick a scent. I had ideas, but nothing really fit my mood.

Tribute to r/Wicked_Edge:

Post by u/Environmental-Gap380:

I hate how harsh new blades can be. When I read a post about corking a razor and watched a wet-tuber video about it, I had to try it. Well I’m not a fancy guy with lots of wine corks from my cellar. So no corks to be found. I figured I’d just use a bottle cap. After several strokes on each side I put it in the razor. Wow, what a difference, not nearly as much razor burn this time. I think I’m getting the hang of this.

Juneteenth 2024

• Brush: Zenith Copper 28mm Boar
• Razor: Genco Head Barber 5/8 Hollow
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder
• Post Shave: Caties Bubbles - Purple Grapefruit
• Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Co - Seaforth! Roman Spice EdT

FOF

Today’s Theme:

House of Mammoth is created in NY and manufactured in IL. Caties Bubbles is from NJ. Spearhead hails from Ohio. My razor was made in Geneva NY. The brush is from Italy which remained neutral; however, Lincoln asked Garibaldi, the Italian General and Unifier of Italy, to be a general in the Union army. He declined i part because he wanted to be the Commander of the Union, and in part because the US had yet to abolish slavery. HoM is a fitting choice as they support organizations that combat human trafficking.

Today’s Challenge (not just Meme’s):

Originally, everything I had found about new LG sponsor Eleven Shaving pointed to IA. The name is from the #11 Lock and Dam on the Mississippi in Dubuque, Iowa. Their Julien base is after the namesake of Dubuque, Julien Dubuque. I was all in on Eleven as being in IA. Every reference on their web site was about IA. No mailing address though nagged me. Still I went ahead and planned on them. I wrote up about my history with Dubuque and thought it was a great choice. Had my post and all. Still after all that, a nagging thought lingered. So I broadened my search. I got ambiguous returns. Google responses to Eleven Shaving came up with other states. I’d click the link, and it was the vendor. A few more down, my heart fell. Their facebook page said South Carolina. Man, I never check out Facebook. I needed a new Lather Games Shave for today. I was back to my Meme Challenge. With 11 days left after today can I do it? I had to try. This changes all my plans for a couple days, but it will work!. A trip to the bathroom, a 3 pass shave including atg for good measure, and a new plan for the write up. Whew! Glad I caught this before too late.

Feats of Fragrance:

I picked Sonder for a couple reasons. It is a theme of empathy. Realizing that other people have their own lives going on, and it isn’t just your own little universe. If more people experienced Sonder, maybe there would have been less slavery going on in the past and even today. The scent is a lemon cream biscuit with sandalwood giving it that creamy woody base. Pairing with Purple Grapefruit, the citrus elements complement each other, and the lavender gives it a powdery softness. Finally Roman Spice ties into the fruit elements with grapefruit and apple, beachwood links up the woody notes, and the rest provide a soft spicy background. Pretty good combo today. As the citrus fades, I’ll be left with a floral and woody fragrance.

June 20, 2024 - Take a Hike!

• Brush: Yaqi Bali 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Game Changer .68P
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: AA Shaving - Gale
• Post Shave: Caties Bubbles - Un Jour Gris
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Waves EdT

FOF

Today’s Theme:

AA Shaving - “Gale will open as an aquatic storm.” Definitely an aquatic and one of the notes is even fresh water. Paired well with the scent of a rainy day, Un Jour Gris. Finally Waves is a nice clean aquatic fragrance - “Resurrected from the early years of aquatic fragrance.” Pretty much fits the aquatic classification as acceptable for the theme.

Today’s Adventure:

I was hoping this would be on a weekend, but nope it is in the middle of the hottest week so far this summer here. Previously I would handle this on my back deck watching the cars go by on the street I can see over the arbor vitae natural fence for my little backyard. Probably would qualify, but been there already. What can I do then in my little corner of No. Virginia? Drive to one of the Civil War Battlefields? Well maybe yesterday’s theme would have been better. Plus, kind of disrespectful to go have a goofy shave where lots of people died. Well it is u/Old_Hiker appreciation day. I needed something hiking related. Then it struck me, there is just one place nearby that perfectly fit. The Appalachian Trail stretches from Georgia to Maine. People set about hiking this long route starting in Georgia in the Spring and trying to make it to Maine before Fall and the cold weather returning. Around this time, they should be around my area in the normal timeline for a hike. The Blue Ridge is about the western edge of the super commuter range for Washington DC. To get out there in the morning would be no problem, but the eastbound (and down?) traffic could be busy. It is forecasted to be around 95F this afternoon. Early in the morning was a more comfortable 75ish. There is a parking area at a trailhead about 20 miles west of me, I was in the car headed west about 6:40AM.

About 7:00AM I pulled up in the parking lot at Snickers Gap. The view through that pass is of the Shenandoah Valley. The Shenandoah River from the lyric in “Country Roads” is at the bottom of the ridge. A few cars were here, but nobody was around. I walked over to read the information about local wildlife. Nearby was an information board about the local trails and a brewery/restaurant in the area. This is just a couple miles from the FEMA station at Mt. Weather. I took a quick look at the Appalachian Trail entrance, and a shot of the highway and valley below.

It was time to shave. My SOTD picture has the gear I brought along for today’s shave. One thing I forgot was the scoop (back of a pair of tweezers) for the soap. Luckily AA Shaving includes a guitar pick in each tub. A scoop off the fairly firm soap into my trusty blue plastic bowl from IKEA, a splash of water, and a dry brush to start building lather. Because of the dry brush, it took a while to build my lather. Several splashes from the bottle and about 5 minutes to build up a pretty decent result. Where did I put that mirror? Well the car window would have to suffice. As I was starting to lather, an SUV pulled up. A guy got out and did a bit of warmup and stretching, before heading out to run on the trail. I’m sure he thought it was strange to see a guy shaving in the parking lot. It is strange to me that someone would get up early to go jogging in the woods. A little awkward on the neck leaning over to see my reflection, but a decent shave nonetheless. Two passes were completed, a quick tidy up, and I headed home.

Feats of fragrance:

Gale is described as a storm of a scent. I got the water and some damp earthiness from it. It isn’t a storm out on the water to me. It is getting caught outside near the shore during a rainstorm. Not really petrichor, but a wet field/shoreline by a freshwater lake. Un Jour Gris is when the storm has settled and it is an overcast, wet, and grey day. Waves though has the sun coming out, you are starting to smell more than just the damp ground, but the summer flowers and grasses have come out. Things are looking brighter, and it is going to be a nice summer day. I liked this progression of scents.

It is time to get to work now. Should have started at least 30 minutes ago. What would u/Old_Hiker say about that? “Work sucks!”

If you want to read a great travel book about the Appalachian Trail, seek out Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods”. Very descriptive and humorous.

June 21, 2024 - Fougère Friday

• Brush: Zenith Copper 28mm Boar
• Razor: Game Changer .68P
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Spearhead Shaving - Seaforth! Heather
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Logbook Splash
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Fougère Angelique #FOF

Fougère Theme:

Come on it’s Seaforth! Heather. Not much justification needed, but on the Spearhead site it is called a classic fougère created for them by Shawn Maher. Noble Otter says Logbook is a woody fougère. Finally, Fougère Angelique has it in the name.

Fragrant Theme:

I don’t focus on classic fougère scents much. I tend to get tired of the ferny/mossy notes before it wears off. I like the scents when first applied, but they are often not what I want for 4-6 hours. Makes today a bit more tricky since I don’t have many classic fougère post shaves. Heather is still a great scent, and I love the green impression it gives. I like to imagine I’m back in Scotland hiking amongst the heather when I use this. I’ve been to Scotland a couple times. I backpacked for a couple weeks before the school year started. Then after all the year end stuff was over, went to play golf at St. Andrews - Old Course. Absolutely a beautiful place, and any excuse to relive that is welcome. Logbook is similar to Heather. They pair pretty well without any clashing of discordant notes. It might have a slightly stronger citrus top note, but still a very earthy green scent to me. I recently picked up Fougère Angelique on sale. I was curious to see how the Angelique/Gothique pair would contrast so picked up a sample of that too. Angelique is one I think I can wear all day. It has a bright citrus punch lightening the earthiness of oak moss. Floral notes come through a little better. It is a bright, sunny day today, and Angelique fits well with that. Overall, the scents have so much in common. It is no surprise that they work well together. Not my favorite category, but I can see why it is a classic.

The part of “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” that stuns me when a caller misses one:

1.

Oh, what to use for a Fougère?

I guess, I could use Beaudelaire.

Instead I’ll say nope!

And go with the soap.

That has a classic scent by Shawn Maher.

2.

This Friday is Fougère’s turn.

The scent that is French for a fern.

The scents you can tell,

Are a classic cologne smell.

If it’s by A&E it may burn.

3.

When guys have to shave their legs,

This tricky task really begs,

For a soap with no faults.

Maybe one made from smaltz?

Try Yard Raised Fresh Chicken Eggs.

June 22, 2024 - Spooky Season

• Brush: Semogue Owners Club - Cherry Boar
• Razor: Solingen Silver Steel 6/8 Hollow Round Point
• Lather: Red House Farm - Prairie Dog
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Co. - Black Watch Toner
• Fragrance: Jean Paul Gaultier - Le Male EdT #FOF

Spooky Season:

This was a tricky one as I used my today’s sponsor Southern Witchcrafts already in the LG. Samhain is a solid choice for fall. Instead I was scrambling to fit something. As I was perusing the sponsor list, I saw Red House Farm as a sponsor of the No Scrubs side challenge. I have a soap that I won in a PIF from u/Grindermonk, Prairie Dog. I think a soap that evokes a warm fall evening is a good choice for the hottest day so far this year, and solidly fits the theme.

Scary Squash Slicing:

June is not even close to pumpkin season. I thought about sewing up a pumpkin today with some felt, but not sure I’d finish it. I just bought some Honey Crisp Apples this week. They are firm and kind of pumpkin shaped. Time to grab the weapon of choice, a Personna GEM PTFE blade. The scariest thing I could think of was how much time I’m spending doing challenges on Reddit. So I tried to carve a Snoo. The poor guy got absolutely destroyed.

Pro tip for Halloween, if you want to be the best house in your neighborhood. Four words sum it up: Full Sized Candy Bars. When I lived in New Hampshire it was in a great family neighborhood. In September, I saw that Costco had a crazy price on boxes of 30 full sized bars. I ended up over the next few weeks buying 7 of them. Altogether I spent about $70. It was a very good deal that year. Once kids saw we were giving out full sized bars, they went nuts. Several screamed, “This is the best house ever!” It was so much fun giving those out that year. I ended up getting relocated and moved away before the next Halloween and don’t get many kids trick or treating.

Feats Fragrance Kind:

Today was a tricky one, but it worked out to be a treat. Starting from Prairie Dog with base notes of incense and sandalwood, I went to Black Watch which is also built with the same. It adds some leather and oakmoss giving it more earthiness, but that works well with the clary sage and vetiver in Prairie Dog. So far working well to me. It’s a warm fall evening. Those fall days that are called Indian Summer. Leaves are starting to turn, and I’m enjoying it as the real cold weather hasn’t come yet. To cap it off, Le Male also has sandalwood in the base notes, plus vanilla and lavender, which comes back to Prairie Dog. What Le Male adds though is a bit of warm spice from cardamom, cinnamon, and caraway. Cinnamon stands out for me from Le Male. I considered using Black Watch as the fragrance with Prom King as post shave, but I get a bit more spice from the EdT original. That felt like a better progression to me.

June 23, 2024 - Sweet Sunday

• Brush: Rubberset 49-3 Boar
• Razor: Game Changer .68P
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Caties Bubbles - Saturday Morning
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Bell Ringer
• Fragrance: Dr.Jon’s - Hydra EdT #FOF

Sweet Sunday:

I went for the sweetest set I could today. Saturday Morning on a Sunday is pure sugar cereal. Bell Ringer is very fruity. Hydra was made when Dr. Jon’s couldn’t decide which citrus scent to use, so it has all of them.

Kitchen Shaving:

I headed to my ~~Shaving Den~~ kitchen with the chosen set for today. I gave myself 1/2 teaspoon of soap in the mixing bowl. I knew to really get the most out of this long whippy brush, I needed a large bowl and lots of soap. This brush really works great in a big bowl. I whipped up a few cups of shave batter. I covered it with my favorite ~~shave~~ kitchen towel to let it proof before the shave. I looked at my ~~mirror~~ microwave door. I needed more light and a quick clean of the door to see my reflection better. Time to check the shave batter. It is at soft peaks and ready for the shave. I lathered my face for the first pass. Looking at the picture, I think some lint got left on the door. The photo makes it look more reflective than my eyes saw it in person. It was mostly a three pass shave by vaguely guided feel. Maybe next time mount a real mirror in the kitchen. I know I won’t, but it would be easier to shave.

Fragrances:

Caties Bubbles - Saturday Mornings is a pure blast of childhood nostalgia. Growing up my mom let my brother and I pick one box of sugared cereal a month. Rest of the time it was Grape Nuts, Cheerios, or Rice Krispies. Sometimes I’d have Malt O Meal or Cream of Wheat. Now when I was 7 or 8, the biggest criteria for a sugar cereal was of course the best toy in the biggest box. Often that would be Froot Loops which is the scent of this soap. Not a distinguishable type of fruit, not at all as Froot Loops smells and tastes like Froot. Just a fruit punch flavor is what it is. Now what about those colors? I’d expect cherry, lemon, lime, orange, etc. from all the colors. 7 or 8 year old me wouldn’t believe it, but all colors have the same flavor. Well watching cartoons after a bowl of cereal, maybe I’d have a glass of juice. Bell Ringer is a very fruity cocktail with the mango and apple being what I get from it. In the Spring through Fall, after this breakfast of champions (not Wheaties though, yuck), I’d be off to play soccer in the first Youth Soccer League started in Wyoming. We had in town a British ex-pat that missed football, so he started the youth league back around 1978. It was a few years before other towns in Wyoming added leagues of their own. Our little town for a while was a powerhouse in this little big state. I wasn’t very good, but when we’d go have a friendly match against a town that had just started up, then I was a goal scoring machine. Only hat trick I ever got was against a team from a town in their first year of soccer. So Hydra being a citrus kick gives me that quartered orange sensation from half-time during our matches. Gives me a hit of nostalgia, and a little guilt remembering how we’d roll in and destroy these new teams. I think in my hat trick game, in the second half our coach moved everyone to play in different positions. Somehow I ended up in goal so that team at least scored. In our town, I was average at best. My older brother was much better and played varsity through high school.

June 24, 2024 - Christmas Eve in ~~July~~ June

• Brush: Semogue Owner’s Club Cherry
• Razor: Karve CB C solid bar
• Blade: Treet Classic Carbon Steel #STAINLESSLESS
• Lather: Tallow & Steel - Shag
• Post Shave: Tallow & Steel - Shag Toner
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Limon EdC #FOF

Today’s Theme:

My smoosh, spritzer, and blade all came from u/tsrblke. He must have gone through a ton of stamps from all the smooshes he sent out. I only sent out a couple smooshes myself and a big box of samples, blades, razors, and a brush. I’m not sure who sent out more smooshes, The Tsar or u/OnionMiasma. I bet their inboxes are blowing up with notifications.

Today’s Challenge:

I have read a many of the suggestions so far. Currently I have exclusives by House of Mammoth and Summer Break Soaps. There might be a smoosh or two,or one I’m forgetting. I also have an Aurora Grooming LG 2024 Brush and the Moar Boar.

I have a few I think would be cool, but one might be another importing issue. Seeing how u/djundjila got a Bigger Badger in his Moar Boar handle, is another Subbroosh a good idea? Maybe a 29 or 30mm badger (Fan please) to really start eating up more soap. The Moar Boar isn’t as hungry after a good amount of breaking in. For soaps/fragrances I think I’d go with Spearhead Shaving Co. or Stirling Soap Co. Both are active here and it would be interesting to see what they can dream up.

FRAGRANCE:

I feel like this should be in all caps, but I’ll refrain. This came about because somehow last year I didn’t think Shag was that strong a scent. Sure my home office smelled of patchouli for a couple weeks, but when I lathered it up, the scent mysteriously faded to almost nothing. The winner of the Shag set, up/tsrblke, asked if I wanted a retry with the splash too. I was game. In the last few years I’ve learned to appreciate patchouli more thanks to scents like Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli and its use in many tea inspired scents. I was game for an extra challenge. As I mentioned when I got the package, it conveniently was labeled as Hazardous Materials. Like last year,opening up the mail was a hit of patchouli, and everything in the box smelled of it. Would this year be stronger? I would think it would be the opposite as aromatic oils evaporate over time. I was so WRONG, but not in the way I expected. The patchouli is much more present than I remember, but there is a dark grassy earthiness to it too.p, almost leathery or even rubbery. I’m picking up smoke too, but not jazz cabbage that I associate with patchouli from college. It is more a burning leaves in the fall kind of smoke. The aftershave really brought it all out. I’d say this is up there with the ode to masculinity - Stag. So fitting since they rhyme. As soon as I got the package I had one fragrance I thought would work to take it the YRP direction - Barrister and Mann - Limon. The citrus and rose fragrance could fill in the YR to go with Shag’s patchouli. Again, I was WRONG. When I first splashed some on, sure it brightened things up, but the EdC faded quickly. Maybe if it was parfum strength. I may give myself a couple more splashes. Getting harder to type as my eyes are tearing up a little.

All that said, and I don’t dislike the fragrance which does surprise me as I favor brighter scents. Still there is so much going on with it, that it is giving me a bit of a lesson in scents. Crazy.

June 25, 2024 - Xmas/Winter

• Brush: Semogue Owner’s Club Cherry
• Razor: Aylsworth Apex
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: MacDuffs - Santa’s Workshop
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Tis the Season
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir #FOF

Today’s Theme:

Everything is Christmas themed today and has a Santa’s hat on each label. Not much moreto say.

Today’s Theme:

I told my daughter it was to wear a hat while you shave today. She said wear all of them. She kept bringing me more hats, but I settled on 6. It thought about linking each picture but decided on a single album. I took a hat off after about every segment of the shave in a sort of hat strip tease and finished up with my House of Mammoth beanie.

Feats of Fragrance:

I emphasized fresh cut pine in the shave today. Each fragrance built up on it. Pine/spruce is the scent of Christmas for me. As a kid we would go into the mountains the weekend after Thanksgiving and cut down a tree for our house. I swear we inspired “Christmas Vacation” with our antics one year way under estimating the size of the perfect tree. (I’ll link to the totally true story later if I can.) Everything today is building up that evergreen blast that just smells like home during the holidays. Maybe I’ll spray my Santa Noir room fragrance later to build the mood up.

June 26, 2024 - Wildcard Wednesday

• Brush: AP Shave Co - Purple Ivory 26mm G5A SHD
• Razor: Aylsworth Apex
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Eleven Shaving - Lime and Basil
• Post Shave: EG380 - CL+T Aftershave
• Fragrance: EG380 - CL+T EdC #FOF

Today’s Theme:

Hopefully I’m the first to use this soap today. This is a super exclusive set of aftershave shave and EdC. You’ll have a really difficult time finding the CL+T. I had to go poking around to find where my wife hid it. But at last, there in a dark crevice of the fridge it was just peeking out a bit, and I found the CL+T.

Today’s Challenge:

Clean your brushes? But why clean something that is dirtied by soap? I haven’t really noticed a significant buildup of soap scum or other gunk in my brushes. I try to get them super clean after each shave. When I clean out the lather bowl. I first squeeze as much soap out as I can. Not wringing the knot, but just st getting the bulk out. I rinse the brush in clean water in the bowl, then squeeze that out. Then repeat until clear water comes out. Then I shake out the brush and stand it up on the counter. I usually rotate through 4 or 5 brushes so it gets a good chance to dry out. I think when I notice some buildup in a brush, I’ll try baby shampoo.

Fragrance:

I had two soaps I wanted to use with this aftershave and fragrance I concocted. It should be safe to drink, but maybe not drive after. It is a nice refreshing blend of cucumber, lemon, and thyme. The base for both is vodka. I added about a teaspoon of dried French thyme, zest of a large lemon, and about half a cucumber sliced to 8oz. of vodka. It macerated in the refrigerator for about a week. By that time, the liquid turned a bright yellow. I strained it out through coffee filters twice. I filled one bottle with about 3oz of the mixture and the rest into another bottle which almost filled it. For the short pour I added a mixture of water and aloe powder. I had a little too much powder for the liquid, so I filtered that out after the excess powder settled. The fragrance actually turned out better than I expected. I can distinguish the lemon, cucumber and thyme scents well. It a bright note of lemon, thyme is a favorite herb of mine, and the cucumber gives it a cool freshness. I only have two soaps I thought about using with this: Ethos Chill or Eleven Lime and Basil. Well Eleven gives me sponsor points. The soap scent is an immediate hit of the lime. The basil comes out more as a middle or base note. It smells good enough to eat, but I think I’ll pass. It was fun to come up with my own product, but I won’t be keeping it as I think it might go off before I could use it all. I considered having it as a cocktail after, but I’m going to go to the office this morning. They kind of frown upon arriving at work tipsy.

June 27, 2024 - Info Overload

• Brush: AP Shaveco Purple Ivory 26mm G5A SHD
• Razor: Game Changer .68P
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Marilyn
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Marilyn Splash
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Marilyn EdT #FOF

Today’s Theme:

Marilyn is quite a complex fragrance with 14 listed scents. I did a trickhole of it so the whole shave is up to ~~11~~ 14! That’s 4 more than 10 for those that don’t math.

Leftorium:

I told my wife and daughter the challenge today. My daughter jumped up and said I want to do it. I told her since she’s a southpaw, she had to use righty. Then she asked if she could just put the lather on my face. I said all or nothing. She asked, “Is this the right razor?” No, I’m not that crazy. She made the lather using her right hand. She wanted to switch to her left hand as it was awkward, but she persevered. “I’ll just put the lather on your whole face.” This is what happens when you let a 10 year old be in charge of your grooming. She was very nervous about shaving. I told her to just make sure she doesn’t move the razor sideways. I had to correct her angle a few times. Starting to get into it a bit. First pass almost done. A bit more confident now, she shaved the neck too. A few more strokes and she was finished with the shave. Just the post shave and fragrance left. This was her favorite part. I’ll say she did a pretty good job. She did not like using her wrong hand, and asked if we could just say she did. I told her no, we don’t do that, just try to be patient and do your best. If I would have don’t the shave left handed, it would be less of a challenge for me. I started practicing shaving left handed well before the Weckonista challenge. I’m reasonably comfortable left handed now.

Feats of Fragrance:

Marilyn is a fantastic scent. I like to imagine it is what Marilyn Monroe’s bedroom would smell like, but when she was married. So the Chanel No. 5 mixes with a more masculine cologne. This is one blend where I don’t get a lot of individual note, but I do smell the leather and tobacco. As those fade it will leave a creamy woody scent left with the cedar, fir, sandalwood, and amber. When I saw the theme for today last month, I immediately knew that Marilyn was going to be my choice. With the overload of scent notes, it is a beautiful orchestration of a scent.

June 28, 2024 - Feats of Frugality

• Brush: Colonel Conk - Badger #WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINGBADGERS
• Razor: Bic Metal
• Lather: Colonel Conk - Lime
• Post Shave: Thayers Facial Toner - Cucumber
• Fragrance: Racing Club - Blue #FOF

Cheap Shave theme and challenge:

Prices were at the time of purchase that I recall. I did not ounces because even though US was supposed to go metric when I was a kid, stubborn people canned it in the 80s.

Colonel Conk - $1.60 per oz.

Thayers - $0.84 per oz.

Racing club - $1.19 per oz.

Bic Metal - $1.00

Colonel Conk Brushy (aka Shaggy) approx. $6. It was part of a set with brush, mug, and soap.

I almost wrecked it using Williams earlier this month, but I got it on Ebay after I couldn’t find it in stores anymore and paid $12 for 2 pucks + shipping. Colonel Conk was in a 4 pack for $15 or $16 dollars with free shipping.

I am surprised I kept up wetshaving with how bad the brush I used when I was starting out. It is both really floppy and scratchy. Not a nice scrub, it is very unpleasant. I couldn’t find the other really cheap brush I called Pokie. It had broken off most of the tips losing about 5mm of loft. Shaggy on other hand is still losing about 10 or so hairs per shave and gets floppier each time I use it.

I chose the Bic Metal that I recently purchased to not travel with a DE in my carry on bag. Also, when I started out it was the soap, mug, and brush I went to first. DE razors came along about a month later for me. If I bought the BICs in bulk, would be even cheaper per razor and be really competitive vs. many DE razors in price per shave over a couple years.

Feats of Fragrance:

Not much good to be said here. I had 4 soaps to choose from the 4 pack of Conk I bought. I decided since Racing Club - Blue is sort of a very cheap dupe of Polo Blue, Lime would be the best fit. The vaguely citrus scent of the puck translated to almost nothing lathered. The Thayers Cucumber at least was pleasant and very recognizable as cucumber. It was the best of the bunch, and Thayers may be the best bargain in post shave products. It has been less than an hour since I applied Blue, and the scent is already getting very faint. This is after the really cheap sprayer pissed a stream of cheap cologne? all over my arm instead of a spritz of the scent. What is weaker than cologne? I know in the scent realm highest to lowest % of fragrance content goes parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, and eau de cologne. I guess this is eau de bath water. Sadly, when I bought it last year at 5 Below, it was probably the best of the scents they had there.

I might need to give myself a luxury pre-travel shave before I head to the airport tonight. Or maybe a bit of a nicer EdT would be a good choice.

June 29, 2024

• Brush: Yaqi Bali 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Bic Metal
• Lather: Edwin Jaeger - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Santa~~l~~ Noir
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Santal Austere Extrait de Parfum #FOF

Today’s Two:

Edwin Jaeger Sandalwood, Santa Noir, and Santal Austere are all Sandalwood forward scents. Shaving from hotel today and noticed we have a view of the Front Range. I can even make out the Flatirons. I was inspired to make my SOTD selection into a mountain peak.

Doing the djudges work:

There has been a lot going on this year. I started the month trying to read everything, but the last week or so been working on a Q2 closing meeting, so harder to sneak in time during work for Reddit.

Right out of the gate u/Priusaurus came out strong declaring himself the champion last year for a reason. -1 point for not working in getting confused for a Target employee during that shave. Red shirt and Khakis? I accidentally wore similar to the Target in Dubuque IA. Never again, people kept asking for help, and giving confused looks when I said that I didn’t work there. Maybe he was channeling Jake from State Farm.

Next was the beef between u/OnionMiasma and u/cowzilla3 over the missing dupe smoosh. Just brilliant shitposting while the feud was going.

My MVP for the games is u/tsrblke. I think if you add up all his comments and memes, no one else came close to being as active and engaged as him. Make him a djudge next year so we can all move up one.

Others to mention, last years no scrub list was fun, and this year there is some bear fat on the line. Thanks to u/Enndeegee, u/OnionMiasma, and u/grindermonk for making the side challenge happen.

u/Newtothethis rated so many leg shaves, but left out mine. 🤨 I will say my lower legs have very little hair, so maybe not as big a challenge. I did shave up to my boxers, and no blood this time. Seriously though, putting in a ton that day, and last year all the help with how to shave legs.

My award for the most verbose goes to u/alg82.

Adding u/chronnosseur420 once again for #FOF

Today’s fragrance:

I am typing this up in a hotel near the Denver airport. I f’d up my original plan for today, but 1/3 stayed. Edwin Jaeger - Sandalwood sample I picked up last year. I’d planned on trickholing Santa Noir, but had to pivot when my planning research turned out to be missing a key fact.

Pre-games I stumbled upon a short documentary about the production of sandalwood oils. Crazy that this stuff costs more than printer ink per ml. This sandalwood soap is a pretty light level of fragrance. Just a mild creamy woodiness. Santa Noir is a lot more complex than a simple single scent, but there is no denying this is a sandalwood scent. It adds some Xmas elements but with sandalwood instead of the evergreen scents of pine/spruce/fir. Absolutely a great scent for Xmas, but not amiss whenever you want. Santal Austere takes the sandalwood into darker, muskier territory. Really this is accidentally better than my planned shave. Each step layered more onto the base sandalwood.

FOF

June 30, 2024 - Addio Giochi di Sapone

• Brush: Semogue 1800 - Portugal
• Razor: Solingen Best Silver Steel - Germany
• Lather: Whispers From The Woods - Pomelo - Australia
• Post Shave: TFS - NASA Marte - Italy
• Fragrance: Guorgio Armani - Acqua Di Gio Absolu EdP - France
• Shave Bowl: IKEA - Blue Kids Bowl - Sweden but probably made in China
• Shaver: Environmental Gap 380- USA
• Consecutive Days with a Shave: 700

Today’s Theme and Challenge:

All products used today were from different countries and continents from where I live. The SOTD picture is more of a shave of the vacation set up, but shows everything used today.

I’m currently on vacation in a small town in Wyoming. A few weeks ago I did a count and if my math is correct, today marks 700 consecutive daily shaves. The streak started on August 1, 2022 with my first Austere August. With the 700th ending on the last day of the LG, I decided I needed a special shave for it. About a 30 minute drive from my folks’ place is a spectacular view. I got up in the pre-dawn hours and started getting ready. I ended up getting to Red Canyon Overlook just a little after the sun had crested the horizon and was in the golden hour. I paused a moment to learn about Wyoming wildlife. Yesterday when we drove up we almost hit three Pronghorn Antelope crossing the highway. After soaking in one of my favorite views on Earth, it was time to set up my rental shave den. Since visiting a state with frontier roots (Oregon Trail went very close to here) and a cowboy tradition, I had to be a shave like the cowboys would have done. It was time to shave. I should have wet the brush before heading out. Starting dry soaked up a lot of soap, and the high elevation and very low humidity had the lather drying out on my face. I ended up lathering each part of my face just before I shaved a section. The tinted back windows gave a pretty decent reflection. I finished two passes before packing up.

Feats of Fragrance:

The world traveler challenge really dictated what to bring. It also kept me from dickholing a set from MacDuffs. Other things restricting my choices were the brush and aftershave. I settled on the citrus scented Pomelo. It is an entirely citrus scent. The name should be a strong indicator of this. The scent is like a bowl full of lemon, orange, and just more citrus. It is a really nice blend that is similarto Dr. Jon’s - Hydra. I don’t have more than a few aftershaves from outside the US. Tabac, 1 MacDuffs, and this TFS from Italy. NASA Marte is a citrus forward aftershave. It comes of very fresh and a little sweet. The wind had picked up, so I spray my travel spritzer to my face inside the rental SUV. I brought along two fragrance samples I have that were both labeled Paris France: Acqua di Gio Absolu and Drakkar Noir Intense. The aquatic and woody Absolu was a fantastic match for the set. It starts with a burst of citrus in bergamot, grapefruit, and lemon. The woody patchouli, rosemary, and amberwood gave me a feel that I was in the nearby evergreen forests. Sometimes being constrained in your choices can be serendipitous. Having the limits today led to one of my favorite combinations this month. I sat back and watched the sunlight move down the canyon. I was in my happy place for sure. I had a peaceful morning meditation before driving back down to town, and got to my parents’s house. I passed my brother-in-law who was finishing up a morning run. The two of us were the only ones up in this really full house. I made a nice cup of Earl Grey (more citrus please), and sat on the veranda sipping my tea while having a nice chat before the madness starts when the kids wake up. #FOF

Final Thoughts:

This is my third time going on these LGs. I thought about just reading and not participating, but ultimately the lure of these shenanigans drew me back. I had an oh shit moment where I realized I totally goofed which derailed the full plan for Wildcard Wednesday, but 2/3 of it was done at least. I knew I was going to be away the last weekend and almost used that excuse to not play. I am very happy right now that I did. I would have missed seeing this small town at dawn. When I was a kid, the ranchers would drive their cattle down main street, bringing them down from their summer pasture in the mountains. I lived here for 10 years from age 5-15. We moved away before my sophomore year in high school. Over the years I’ve lived in 9 states, and a year in England. As soon as I see that view of Main Street, I feel like I’ve come home. About 20 years ago my dad semi-retired and moved back here.

So thank you all who set up the games, sent out smooshes, gave advice, shit posted, and made this a month of fun.