July 1, 2023 - Bonjour, Lather Games

• Brush: AP Shave Co - Ivory Purple 26mm G5A SHD Premium #SHD #FAUXFUR
• Razor: Valet Autostrop #SELFSHARPENING
• Blade: Feather FHS-10
• Lather: 345 Soap Co - Rocky Mountain Tree Line
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Confluence

Welcome to Lather Games 2023, or as my wife calls it, that silly shaving contest you did last year. It’s not silly. Sure, I spent lots on things for it, got some smooshes too, but at least I placed 26th and got a set of Summer Break Soaps - Valedictorian. Didn’t get RoTY, but I did get a previous RoTY soap in a PIF. I can use that and feel winner adjacent.

On to the show err shave….

There were lot of firsts today for me. First time using the Valet Autostrop, Feather FHS-10 blade, a 345 Soap Co shaving soap, and EdP from Chatillon Lux. I picked up my 345 Soap Co soaps (2 more to try in September) because of my fondness for Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. I lived north of CO in Wyoming from age 5-15, but my grandmother and a great aunt lived in Colorado, so we were visiting there several times a year. My dad had a single engine Cessna when I was young, so under 2 hours to visit my grandma in Boulder, or about 3.5 to visit my aunt in Crested Butte. My father, cousin, brother, sister and myself are all alumni of CU Boulder. When I learned about a soap company in Colorado, I had to get some. The other scents I got were White Buffalo and Estes Park.

Ok, long introduction, really on to the shave. First this new brush from AP Shave Co, a good amount of backbone, but very soft tips. I like it a lot, and it will move into my regular rotation. The soap lathered up pretty quickly, but was a bit bubbly at first. More water and stirring fixed that. I found that the Valet with its steep angle to the head felt more like shaving with a Schick injector or GEM MMOC. It definitely has a similar feel to the MMOC and the aggressive feeling with a new blade. Some blood was sacrificed to the gods in the form of weepers on my jawline. The scent of Tree Line is a citrusy evergreen. Looking for things to go with it I thought Alive would kick up the citrusy green and give me a splash of chill too. It isn’t hot, but very warm and humid today.

For the fragrance, I got myself a sample pack from Chatillon Lux and Maher Olfactive to supplement the other fragrances I have. Adding 22 samples to my other EdPs and EdTs gives me a lot of choice to pair with the soaps. I haven’t planned out all, but will be making what I feel is either a good compliment or even contrast to the shave scents. CL Confluence is almost all trees. I chose it to go with the evergreen of Tree Line. Tree Line has a stronger citrus than evergreen/pine, so Confluence took the tree scent to 10.

Sprayed some Confluence.

I’m not in a pine forest.

I just smell like one.

Now time to read the rest of today’s posts.

FOF

July 2, 2023 - Don’t Have a Cow Man!

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving Exclusive 31mm Moar Boar #CHONK #OLDWORLD
• Razor: MM24 #BRASSING
• Blade: Persona GEM PTFE (1)
• Lather: Zingari Man - The Traditionalist
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Valedictorian
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Treachery

Day two of the Lather Games, and I already am feeling very unprepared. I have my lathers planned out, but left most post shaves and fragrance tbd. I have a couple “cheat code” post shave products that are unscented or mild enough to go with anything, but I’m trying to be creative and build up on the lather base. I don’t have a lot of vegan soaps, so my choices were limited. I went with The Traditionalist to get an LG sponsor and vegan soap. I looked up the notes on The Traditionalist and decided to lean into the tobacco. Off the soap, I don’t get much tobacco, but when I smelled the Valedictorian splash, I felt it echoed the base notes of the soap and played up the tobacco. The fragrance from Maher Olfactive - Treachery took the tobacco note from the splash and ran away with it. I am getting a strong tobacco scent with warm spices. I think it brought it around full circle to the soap, as I do get a hint of spices and pepper from it. I’ll give the scent matchups a B+/A-. Right on the edge there, but not perfect. I think they did well together, but the mild scent off the sample of soap really left a lot of room to match with other things I have. Noble Otter - Plunder would play well with it. That choice would lean towards the spice more.

For the shave, the choice was easy. What better to butter the toast than a MM24? That Ever Ready Shovel Head seems to be the perfect configuration to amplify the sounds of the razor mowing the stubble. Even on finishing passes and buffing, it has loud, crunchy feedback. Good thing it is a pleasure to shave with. Not sure how well the brassing shows in picture, but the edges of the head are devoid of plating, and the top has thinned to where the plating looks like a slight wash over the brass. The yellow of the brass is shining through the nickel (or chrome?), giving it the appearance of low karat gold.

For the brush (not pictured), what more can be said about the beast that is the Moar Boar? I think I am around 50 shaves in with it. The brush is getting pretty soft now, but still is a hungry pig. I scooped twice what I normally would, and the brush could have taken more. I did get enough loaded that I could get lather out of it, but wasn’t releasing much at the end. Probably should have used the cashmere brush to be more vegan, but at least the lather was.

Second Haiku for the fragrance.

Big tobacco scent,

Like at Eads News in Boulder,

Alas, it’s gone now.

#FOF

July 3, 2023 - Almonday

• Brush: Omega 50068 Bambino 18mm boar #SMOLL #RUNT #TEXASPIGSTINKMASSACRE
• Razor: Gillette New Deluxe #REGUS
• Blade: Gillette Rubie (1)
• Razor Handle: Karve CB Brass 3”
• Lather: Cella Crema de Barba (Red)
• Post Shave: Cella Aftershave Lotion
• Post Malone: Singer, had songs on “Spiderman Into the Spiderverse
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Tempo Rubato
• Coffee: No, thank you
• Tea: Harney and Sons - Royal Palace
• Breakfast: Pancakes and Bacon
• Music: Still Corners “The Trip”
• Passes: 3 - WTG, XTG, XTG
• LG Tags: #FOF

Daily Challenge:

Did I do that right? What can I say about u/RedMosquitoMM? I don’t always listen to music when I shave, but then I see an SOTD from him, and think I should. So in honor of his glorious victory in 2022, I played some music during the shave.

Today’s theme:

Almond is a trickier one for me. I do have a few almond scented soaps: of course Cella, sample of HoM Almond Leather, Colonel Conk Almond (why did I get this?), and maybe some other samples. I have other plans for HoM, and CC might just go away in a PIF. Maybe put it unannounced in a PIF for some unsuspecting winner. So really Cella was the only choice. For post shave, I remembered last night I had a sample of Cella Aftershave. Surprisingly, not as marzipan a scent as the soap. For the fragrance I had a difficult time coming up with something. I decided to target something on the gourmand side, or at least with a lot of notes of stone fruits. Yesterday’s Treachery actually could have fit with one of the scent notes being sweet almond, but in search of 30 unique scents, I picked another Maher Olfactive scent, Tempo Rubato. First two notes listed are apricot and plum, both stone fruits so quasi related to almond, plus the description is of jazz kind of fit with the idea of music to accompany the shave.

For the shave itself, I took out my cheap ass teeny tiny Omega boar brush. This is my first unbleached brush, and I really got what I paid for ($8.50). It lost many bristles, but not one was one of those dark ones that never split. The brush didn’t seem too stinky until I soaked it. That brought out a bit of musty funk, but the soap at least overpowered it. The handle manages to be smaller than the knot. It will not be making regular appearances in my den. It took a while to build up the lather from my largish almond sized bit of lather. I did end up with a glossy, wet lather that looked a bit like Italian meringue or perhaps a runny marshmallow fluff. It was wet and slick enough for the shave. The razor head I got several months ago in a PIF, but user name appears to have been deleted. If I’m mistaken and it was someone still active, my apologies as my memory is failing me. The razor is among my most aggressive. If I would have gone for an ATG pass, I would have gotten BBS even on the neck. While shaving with this Cella is like shaving with dessert, it does not leave a sweet post shave feel. My face is pretty dry after the shave and aftershave. My first use of this aftershave. I was surprised it didn’t have much almond to it, if any.

For the fragrance, I leaned into the idea that something with stone fruits in it would work since almonds are related to peaches and plums. While I got a sweetness off the fragrance, what really hits me is the jasmine, leather, and a bit of the musk. It makes for an interesting combination. I think it still fits well, sort of an improvised almond and leather scent. It was not what I expected, but I couldn’t get a strong scent from the sample until I sprayed. As I am getting more used to it, the scent is mellowing nicely and I can still pick up a hint of the Cella. I’ll give today’s choices a B/B-. I think a different aftershave splash with a stronger almond or cherry would have been better. I should have picked up Dr. Jon’s Runaway splash when I had the chance. That would have been a better bridge to get to the EdP.

Haiku three for #FOF

Marzipan madness,

Leather, Jasmine, and some musk,

Jazz up Almond Day.

I’m surprised I don’t have more almond in the den. I really like almonds, marzipan, almond croissants, bear claws, and other almond things. I think I’ll add Moon Soaps Amaretto to my list of future purchases.

July 4th, 2023 - April Showers Bring LG Flowers

• Brush: AP Shave Co - Ivory Purple 26mm G5A Premium SHD #PREMIUMPLASTIC
• Razor: Parker Adjustable Injector #DIAL
• Blade: Parker Injector
• Lather: Noble Otter - Rawr
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Rawr Splash
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Orris Forest
• Tea: Harney and Sons - Royal Palace
• Music: Mazzy Star - “Fade Into You”

#FOF

Happy Independence Day to my fellow denizens of the USA. I’d say Americans, but today’s challenge is all sciency and stuff, so saying Americans is just too imprecise. There are many countries in the American continents, so need to be a bit specific. I forgot to say happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north. That was Sunday and the work holiday was yesterday. My team at work is half in Canada, so I am learning more about the different holidays. Thanksgiving in October? Well the harvests are earlier the further north you go, so makes some sense to have it earlier.

Special Challenge:

Today’s challenge came at a very opportune time for me. Last week I bought a new kitchen scale for some recipes I want to try. All the measurements are in grams, so easier to get the scale than a bad volume conversion. How to perform a more precise lathering for my shave? Well weighing the soap was easy. I scooped a bit more than I needed and used 2g of Rawr. Now for the trickier part, I weighed my cheap kiddie bowl and brush (127g). 2g of soap was smooshed on the bottom of the bowl. I got warm water on the brush to start (approx 40C or a decent hot tub temp). I shook out most of the water and started liading the brush. The residual water got a bit over half the soap off the bowl and loaded into the brush. The weight of the initial water was 3g. I added more water in splashes of about 3g each and decided the lather was ready after 16g of water was added to the bowl. Before the shave started, the weight of the bowl, lather, and brush was 145g, so an increase of 18g, with 2g being the soap, and 16ml of water (approx. 1Tbs). I continued to weigh the set after each pass. An average of 2g per pass was used (5 total for 3 passes). My scale is only to the nearest gram, so I didn’t get a good reading on how much splash or EdP was used.

Today’s Theme:

This was one of the first lathers I picked for the games. I was having trouble with the Christmas/Winter theme and almost switched out. Noble Otter - Rawr is one of my favorite scents. It is frequently listed as a spring scent. I think it is the grassy dandelion note that brings it about. To me it smells of new growth in your yard after a good spring rain. I love that it is a celebration of fatherhood, and I can associate it with Father’s Day which is usually in late spring, but some years can fall on the summer solstice. If I had to juggle things around, I did have a few alternate spring scents, but I was happy to bring in my favorite.

Today’s sponsor spotlight:

Summer Break Soaps brings to mind two alternate choices I could have gone with today. To my nose, Prom King has a similar feel to Rawr. Plus Proms are a spring event. My other choice would be Field Day. My daughter’s school field day was in May. It is a great grassy spring scent. Recently it was announced that one of my favorite SBS soaps was being discontinued. R.I.P. Bellringer. I broke down and bought a spare tub. Not supposed to be spending more, but I need to have a good supply of that fruity scent (apple is the strongest note for me in Bellringer). Not intentionally a fall scent, but the scent of apples has a strong fall association to me. I’ll use it year round.

The other day was Wholly Kaw’s spotlight, and I didn’t get them in my write up. Their soap Eroe (Italian for hero) is a Father’s day tribute, and could also have been my choice today. I have a couple more WK soaps, but Eroe was one of the first artisan soaps I got, and I really like it.

Ok, how was the shave?

The shave itself took a little longer with all the measuring and prep. The lather was excellent (hard to get a bad lather out of Noble Otter soaps). For the Parker Razor, I’ve settled on 3 as my setting for this. Like my other injector razors, the head angle means holding the handle a bit less steep than a DE razor. It does a decent job of mowing the lawn, but I don’t think I’ll ever get BBS with it. Still a DFS and close enough. One strange thing for my beard, as I have aged, my beard has gone from a mix of dark blond, light blond, and red to mostly white and some blond. I don’t get 5 o’clock shadow anymore. My skin looks paler as the whiskers grow.

Today’s Fragrance:

Going through my set of samples and when I got to Maher Olfactive - Orris Forest, I found my spring scent. The description is of a nouveau fougère that is a flowery spring scent. It adds a bit of earthiness with the patchouli, oakmoss, and musk. The floral notes keep it from getting too dark. I am really enjoying these scents I picked up from MO and Chattilon Lux. While I would like to get the Rawr EdP someday (plus Barrbarr, Thè Noir, and Manoi de Tahiti), I like this combination. Strangely, they don’t have scent notes that are the same, but somehow Orris Forest is making the scent of Rawr stand out stronger for me. Usually an EdP can overwhelm the soap and splash, but to my nose, this one is lifting up the scents from the soap/splash. Today I think I got about my best mix yet. I’ll give it a solid A-, just edging out when I paired Treachery.

Haiku number 4:

The soap tributes Dads,

Add even more springiness,

Makes me shout out Rawr!

July 5, 2023 - Canned Goop

• Brush: None #BRUSHLESS
• Razor: Game Changer .68 SP #CNC
• Blade: Gillette Rubie (2)
• Lather: Cremo - Refreshing Mint
• Post Shave: Aqua Velva - Classic Ice Blue
• Fragrance: Guy Laroche - Drakkar Noir
• Muzak: Spotify Shopping Playlist
• Tea: Dunkin’ Donuts - Iced Tea - Unsweetened

FOF

Today’s theme:

Before about 3 years ago, everyday was drugstore/grocery store available cream. Last year I got this tube of Cremo and the Aqua Velva at the Walgreens a couple blocks from my home. The Drakkar Noir is sold at my local Walgreens, but I bought it on Amazon. I have to say this is going to probably be my least favorite shave this month. Cremo is ok, and the mint and menthol are very chilly. It is definitely not as nice feeling as a good artisan lather. I’d just rate it as adequate. Reasonable slickness, but not much else there. The Aqua Velva is pretty awful. I think when I last used it about 13 months ago, I thought the same. Not much skin food there with the main ingredients being water, alcohol, glycerine, and fragrance. The fragrance is really strong. It didn’t help that I spilled some on the counter.

That Spotify playlist sure has a lot of Sheryl Crow on it. I skipped ahead to The Cure.

Today’ fragrance:

In keeping to the bought at a drugstore near me theme, I went with the scent of my youth. When I was in high school, I had two eau de toilettes, Drakkar Noir and Polo (the original green). I’d say the scent would be a bit nostalgic, but this Aqua Velva is overpowering my nose and I can barely get anything off it. I might smell like a teen going to a homecoming dance, but I can’t get past the Ice Blue. Today’s scent mix I’ll give an F. I’m going to shower soon and get the AV scent off me. Maybe give a new spritz of Drakkar to relive my horny teen days.

Today’s Challenge:

Fragrance is a strange thing for me. Before I got into wetshaving, I almost always chose scent free products. Sure in high school and college I might have overdone the Drakkar or Polo, but I always felt like too much fragrance made me itchy. Overthe last couple years, I have really expanded the fragrances I use. Ok, the Aqua Velva is giving me a headache and my negative thoughts on fragrance are coming back. I’ve said it many times, but I recently have learned to like patchouli. When it is balanced well by other scents, I get a very pleasant impression of it. Musk is another scent where too much is crazy awful, but a hint is quite nice. It is that really strange thing, but when you get a faint hint of skunk, not that bad, but get right up close to a freshly sprayed dog, or maybe roadkill skunk, it makes you gag. So that is two ingredients I’d want to have. I would want a citrus scent like lemon, grapefruit, or bergamot to brighten up the earthier tones. Next I’d want black tea and vanilla. Three of my favorite splashes are Noble Otter - Thè Noir et Vanille, Noble Otter - Barrbarr, and Barrister and Mann - Cheshire. Another great scent for me is freshly cleaned laundry dried on a clothesline outside. Even better was the laundry on the line at my Aunt’s cabin in the mountains outside Crested Butte, Colorado. So add in a bit of laundry musk, rosemary, and pine. So my signature scent would be fresh laundry with a cup of Earl Grey, while sitting on the front porch at my Aunt’s cabin. A few months ago, I was looking for my Aunt’s Cabin on Google Earth. It has been torn down in the last few years. Most of the cabins that were in the same part if the national forest are gone. My great aunt and uncle built the cabin themselves in the 1960s. My dad helped build the sleeping loft they added later. We spent a couple weeks there every summer when I was growing up. My aunt finally sold the place when she was in her 80s and couldn’t take care of the place by herself. Scents are such strong triggers for memories, and my ideal scent would take me back to those summer days at a cabin with no tv or even radio (no reception). We’d go for walks, fish in the creek near an abandon beaver dam, read lots of books, shoot bb guns off the back porch, and see the dozens of hummingbirds at the feeders hung up by the windows.

TLDR: Drugstore crap sucks. I like tea, citrus, and mountain air.

Haiku #5:

Aqua Velva? No!

Really just don’t get the stuff,

Be nice to your nose.

Bonus Drugstore Day Burma Shave Poem (author unknown):

Said Farmer Jones,

Who’s bald on top,

I wish I could,

Rotate this crop.

July 6, 2023 - Olfactory Overdose - Stack of Tabac

• Brush: Yaqi Cola 22mm Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Travel Tech J3 #JETSETTER
• Blade: Gillette Rubie (3)
• Lather: Mäurer and Wirtz - Tabac Original
• Post Shave: Mäurer and Wirtz - Tabac Aftershave Lotion
• Fragrance: Mäurer and Wirtz - Tabac Eau De Toilette

#FOF

Today’s Theme:

I have do have some trickholes in my den. Samples of House of Mammoth make those a bit more affordable to add with the soap and post shave products. I also have a few from Barrister and Mann, Summer Break Soaps, Noble Otter, and Declaration Grooming. Normally, I try the soaps first, and then if I liked it, I’d get the splash or balm. I have started getting the EdP/EdT more often in the last year. So if I have all those other options, why the Stank? First, my calendar balanced better with my trifectas from other brands slotted into different days. Second, When I first got the soap, it definitely had some stank, but not unpleasantly so. Once I added the aftershave and then the EdT, the scent opened up more and drove off that funkiness of the soap. I’ve fully embraced the Tabac. Ok not to the point of getting a matching brush like u/djundjila, but my Yaqi Cola brush matches the brown, and the mixed part of the handle is orangish like the stripe. It has become my dedicated Tabac brush. I also like the brush with Tabac because it is a smaller knot, and is easier to load from the tub. With a full complement of Tabac, definitely on theme.

The Shave:

Just like it was a normal Tuesday, I loaded the damp brush with as much soap as it could hold. Then transfer to my trusty kiddie IKEA cereal bowl to finish hydrating. Once I got a soft, wet, but not drippy lather, I proceeded to shaving. This Travel Tech was a bonus razor I got off eBay. I won an auction for an Ever Ready razor, and when it arrived there was Travel Tech in the box with the Ever Ready. It had a red leather case, but it practically disintegrated when I took the razor out. It is not the aluminum handle, but a short heavy little thing. I’m guessing plated brass based on the heft. While the razor head is nice, the short handle makes it a bit awkward to find the angle. Three passes today, and a fine shave is the result.

Sponsor Spotlight:

I first experienced the work of Chatillon Lux and u/hawns in the scents made for Declaration Grooming like Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli. In the last year since the 2022 Lather Games, I have been adding more fragrances to the den. In preparation for this year’s games, I got the sample sets of Chatillon Lux and Maher Olfactive. So far I’ve used a few and am blown away by how much I’ve liked them. If I had the extra cash right now, a full bottle of Treachery would be on its way to my house. I think scent mixing is a magic art. I am better at seeing differences in color than in differentiating the complex components of perfume. One thing I’ve said many times is sometimes you get a new fragrance that completely changes your perceptions of a scent. Y/R/P is one such scent. It opened my eyes to patchouli, and that helping me embrace more scents I may have passed on before.

Today’s Fragance #FOF:

Tabac is a strange beast. The soap itself is where everyone talks about the stank tank. I never found the funk unpleasant, but my wife and daughter both liked that I had a more old fashioned scent that reminds them of my wife’s father. He used mostly drugstore scents, but when I use a more traditional scent, my daughter says I smell like Papa. The smile I’d get from them was enough to keep using it. At first I’d play up the floral by using Thayers - Rose Petal or Lavender, but in the last few months, I finally got the aftershave and EdT. What a difference the medium makes for Tabac’s fragrance! Gone is that stank, but more lavender and citrus comes out. I can’t tell what the rest of it is, but it is much nicer as a trickhole than just the soap.

I thought about trying to write a limerick for Tabac using stank and tank, but then I kept trying to set it in Nantucket and gave up.

Tabac Original,

Normally on a Tuesday,

But good for Thursday.

Today’s Challenge:

Nice thing about Tabac for stacking (photo linked above) is the flat caps and lid. It reminds me of when my daughter was little and we’d make towers with her Duplo bricks. “Make it go high”, my daughter would tell me. We’d make skinny towers that were taller than me. For today’s challenge, I stacked it as high as I could and the Travel Tech made a nice finial on top.

July 7, 2023 - Let the spice flow

• Brush: Colonel Conk Badger (aka Shaggy) #WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINGBADGERS
• Razor: Stahly Live Blade Razor #UNICORN
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Stirling Spice
• Post Shave: Old Spice - Classic Aftershave Lotion
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Gratiot League Square #FOF

Today’s Theme:

For u/cowzilla3 day, I went with my only Old Spice dupe, Stirling Spice. This was a last minute change in my line up. I was originally planning on Catie’s Bubbles - La Piment De Vie, but decided to change up my Frugal Friday line up, and some things needed to be juggled. Everything was a nice spicy blend today with each product bringing different things to the table.

Today’s Challenge:

I got into wetshaving because of another hobby of mine. During COVID lockdown, I got into fountain pens. I was struggling with the pile of work it brought me and getting used to working from home. I was pretty stressed out and decided to start a journal. I used fountain pens for the journal, and fell in love with how they work and write. You have to be focused on your writing with all the wet ink on the page, and it slowed down my overactive mind at the end of the day. I watched fountain pen reviews on Youtube, and people mentioned how great the r/fountainpens community was on Reddit. That got me to Reddit a couple years ago. I was ordering a special ink from an online store, and it sold some shaving gear. To get up to free shipping, I threw in a Colonel Conk brush, bowl, and soap set (same brush used today). Eventually I started looking into learning more about wetshaving, and landed at r/Wicked_Edge, and lurked here for a while.

For fountain pens, it isn’t just the pen, but the whole process of pen, ink, and paper. Ink became an affordable luxury with bottles going from $10-30. The inks can have special properties like shading, sheen, and shimmer. To best see those properties, you need good fountain pen paper. They allow the ink to dry without bleeding or ghosting through the paper. Pens have different features that people like such as nibs which can be made from steel, titanium, gold, and palladium. The tips of the nibs come in many different sizes and grinds, and some people even get custom ground nibs to suit how they write. It is a hobby that ranges all over the place from people buying inexpensive pens (under $10) and up to the prices of cars. I saw one that was priced at $24,000. Now most of my pens fall into the lower end of that spectrum in the $10-40, but I have a few that were higher (still not crazy high though).

Today’s Shave:

I bought the Stahly just for the collection and novelty of a wind up vibrating DE razor. To get that unicorn checked off, I cleaned it up to shave today. It was in good shape already though, so more for peace of mind. Lathered the soap up in my Old Spice mug, and immediately recalled why I don’t use this brush. It sheds around 10 or so bristles every shave, the tips break off, and it is a floppy, shaggy mess. It is very soft with no backbone, yet scratches more than a new and dry boar brush. I will admit, I was able to build a decent lather, but applying to to my face was awful. The Stahly is an anchor of a razor. Very heavy with a bulky handle. Of course I tried it with the vibrating mechanism wound up. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it shaved, especially on my neck. It is a very good shaver, but will go back on the shelf with my other antique and vintage razors. Near as I can age it is between 1956 and 1964. In 1964 the name Live Blade was trademarked, but my razor does not have a TM or other trademark designation. Pretty sure it falls into the right period. The razors were produced into the 1970s, but those models switched to aluminum construction. This one is made from chromed brass. You can see the brass on the handle threads.

Today’s Fragrance:

I think with the mix of scents in Stirling Spice, there were many options for post shave and fragrance. I went with the obvious Old Spice, and decided on Chatillon Lux - Gratiot League Square for the clove and nutmeg notes. The result is quite pleasant. My daughter gave it a thumbs up and says I smell like cake. I swear, we need to get her nose checked out. What I get is the spicy and citrus of the Old Spice scents of the soap and lotion, but with the fragrance, I’m now in a plush leather chain smoking a pipe. I can still smell the clove and a hint of nutmeg in the fragrance, but tobacco and leather are the primary notes I get. Very nice combination, and may become a regular mix for me. I’ll give today’s scent combos a very solid B+.

Todays haiku attempt:

Old Spice, not old man,

Tobacco, leather, and clove,

With hints of nutmeg.

July 8, 2023 - Small Business Saturday (in July)

• Brush: Maggard 24mm Blue handle with Brown Synthetic
• Razor: Maggard V3M
• Blade: Gillette Rubie (5)
• Lather: Maggard Razors - Mango Sage Tea
• Splash: Noble Otter - Manoi de Tahiti
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Voices #FOF

Today’s theme:

I have a selection of samples of Maggard Razors’ soaps. I almost went with tobacco leather, but I’ve had a couple of tobacco scents in the last week. When I picked up Mango Sage Tea, I knew I had the right one for today.

I’m sure most of us on this sub have shopped at Maggard Razors online or in person. I would have liked to go to the meetup this year, but even if I had bought tickets, due to health issues with my wife, I would have had to cancel. It sounded like everyone had a great time. I don’t know how they are so fast, but if I place an order during their opening hours, I get the shipping notification about an hour or less after placing the order. I think every order arrived a day earlier than estimated too. Maybe it helps that I’m around 400 miles from their store. Their service has been nothing but excellent for me.

Today’s Challenge:

Looking through r/DairyQueen there isn’t any wetshaving content.

Managed to answer a question that relates to this shave.

Today’s shave:

It has been a while since the last time I used an MR soap. Decided to use my Maggard V3M razor. Looking at it next to my Travel Tech, it has a very similar head. I can’t recall the handle version, but it has about the grippiest knurling of any handle I own. No slipping of that grip even with soapy fingers. The brush is the first (ok, only) brush I have ever set. I set it pretty high with close to the max loft I could. I might pull it and reset it some day. It is very soft with no backbone. I think dropping the knot another 5mm or more would improve it. Lathering the soap from a scoop smeared in my bowl was very quick. The damp brush picked up all the soap quickly, but I needed a bit more water to get to a decent consistency. A fine shave today with my mostly Maggard sourced shave.

Today’s Fragrance:

Once I settled on Mango Sage Tea as the soap, the obvious fragrance choice for me was House of Mammoth - Voices. The mango was a good link between the two. The aftershave took a little more thought. I don’t think I have any prominently mango or sage scents. I have a few tea ones, but they would have really covered the mango up. So I thought I’d play up the fruity aspects. I narrowed it down to House of Mammoth - Sonder, Chicago Grooming Co. - Sandy Cheeks, and finally picked Noble Otter - Manoi de Tahiti. I already have plans for Sandy Cheeks, and Manoi won the side by side sniff test. The scents mixed very well. Adding Voices on top was excellent. I got this spray the last time I ordered from House of Mammoth. This was the first use, and WOW! That is a great scent. I really got that rice scent right away. With the mango, ginger, lime, coconut, and vanilla already in the other scents, that sticky rice scent makes it all smell like some kind of rice pudding dessert. After the rice note settled for me, more mango came out. I’m trying not to spend much this summer, but I am very tempted to complete the set of Voices.

Haiku number 8:

Mango rice pudding,

My stomach is now growling,

For some Pad See Ew.

July 9, 2023 - Tea Time

• Brush: Rubberset 49-3 #ANCIENT #TOLL
• Razor: Razorock Eco #RAINBOW
• Blade: Crown Half DE
• Lather: MacDuffs Soap Company - Royal Earl Grey
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Cheshire Splash
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Sun Soaked
• Tea: Harney and Sons - Earl Grey Supreme

#FOF

Today’s Theme:

Earl Grey is my favorite type of tea. The fragrant bergamot and black tea is a fantastic combo. I got the MacDuffs Royal Earl Grey in a PIF last year. I also got the splash, but I have other plans for that. Barrister and Mann’s Cheshire is one of my favorite scents. I hope the EdP is available sometime. Not sure if it has been offered in an EdP before, but fingers crossed it comes out sometime in the future. I don’t have an Earl Grey fragrance, but I found tea scents in a couple of my samples.

Today’s Challenge:

Pics in the albums linked above. This is my second time shaving in the kitchen. Last year I wasn’t as comfortable using the microwave or stove for a mirror, so I used a handheld mirror last year. This year I wanted to really embrace both the fragrance theme and challenge using more kitchen things. First, I got together my mise en place. I brewed a small pot of Harney and Sons Earl Grey Supreme, and got ready to shave. Luckily the relatives visiting stayed out of the kitchen. I wanted to make my lather using the scrub brush, but knew I didn’t want that brush on my face. While I started the lather, I gave this ancient brush a soak. I measured out a half teaspoon of lather, and put it in a mixing bowl. I hydrated with a splash of the Earl Grey tea. I started trying to build a lather, but the soap just got picked up by the bristles and got stuck at the base of the brush head. When you have a problem making lather, more soap and more tea. It didn’t work this time. I used the measuring spoon to scrape out as much soap as I could from the brush. Out came the Rubberset 49-3. That tall loft and kind of whippy bristles started quickly making a thick base lather. More Earl Grey to the mix. Then some more again, and kept adding water until I got the soft creamy latherI wanted. With the dark soap and using tea to hydrate gave me a lather that looked a bit like pancake batter. After a hard failure with the plastic scrub brush, I had successfully made my lather. Normally I make my lather in a small cereal bowl from IKEA, but this mixing bowl, with too much soap, rapidly built up enough lather to shave my whole body.

Ok, time to shave. I had wet my face while I was building the lather, and for such a stiff and brittle feeling brush when dry, full of lather it was very soft and flexible. It had a very nice feel, and I kind of understand now why a barber would use such a tall loft. I got this Hulk green Eco last year. It has a crazy amount of exposure on the blade, but the gap to the safety bar is pretty small. It is the loudest razor, other than a GEM, that I have ever used. Shave quality was not great. Maybe it is the cheap Crown half blades I got with the razor It could be the big exposure allows a bit of flex in the blade. Probably why I don’t use it more. The ergonomics are closer to a GEM, so the feel of shaving felt normal. The feedback quieted down by my final pass. The quality of the shave was pretty meh. My face though feels great. I think the MacDuffs base is really good and so is the Barrister and Mann splash.

Today’s Fragrance:

I don’t have a fragrance that is an Earl Grey, so I started going through the descriptions of my samples to find a complimentary scent. I first found a scent with tea, but it really fit a day later this month. Back to the list I found what I wanted. It has chamomile, black currant bud, and orange bigarade in the scents. Perfect compliments to a tea. I used to get a black current tea for an iced tea. The bigarade is a sour orange, so it really brings out the bergamot. The first scent I got was the orange. It really added to my Earl Grey. Later I got the Texas cedar and I think the amber. It works very well with both the soap and splash. I’m quite pleased with the result. I got my daughter to tell me what everything smelled like to her. The soap smelled fruity, the splash she said “Ew, it smells like tea”, and the fragrance smelled like cinnamon. With her success rate in the past, I was surprised she thought Cheshire smelled like tea. There are three citrus scents in the soap, so she actually got 2 out of 3. Her nose is doing a bit better today.

Haiku #9

I love Earl Grey tea,

Bergamot is good for you,

And it smells great too.

July 10, 2023 - Musical Monday

• Brush: Yaqi ROCKS 28mm Synthetic
• Razor: CJB GR-100B Kamisori Shavette #KAMISORI
• Blade: Dorco BB-20 Barber Shavette
• Lather: Dr. Jons - Runaway
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Electric Mayhem Splash
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Electri Mayhem EdT
• Pencil: Brass Kaweco Sketchup 5.6 mm lead holder
• Lead: Koh-I-Noor Hardmuth 5.6mm 2B
• Ink: Pelikan Edelstein - Star Ruby #FOF

Today’s Theme:

Runaway by Dr. Jons is a tribute to Joan Jett. The main fragrances are a play on songs performed by Joan Jett either solo, with the Blackhearts, or The Runaways. Cherry and clover are tied to “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways and “Crimson and Clover” covered by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. I was wracking my brain for something to tie into the soap, looking for cherry, clover, carnation, leather, or musk and having a hard time. Then I looked over and saw my EdT of Barrister and Mann’s Electric Mayhem. How did this not just leap into my mind. I had thought about it for music or trickhole day when planning this month. Once I realized I wanted to use Runaway, it just slipped my mind. (Dr. Teeth and the) Electric Mayhem is not only a musical themed splash and spray, but one of the listed scents is rosewood fretboard. That matches the wood used on the Les Paul fretboard in the label art for Runaway. That convinced me to combine these three today.

Today’s Shave:

I got this kamisori shavette on a whim when it was on sale at Maggard Razors. Not being to sure about the whole shavette thing, I cheaped out and got the Dorco blades that were also on sale. Then I left them on my desk for a few months, and then put them in the tin that houses my blades and some razors. Honestly, open blade razors intimidate me. I feel pretty awkward using my left hand, but I did shave for over a month left handed earlier this year, and about once a week try to be ambidextrous in my shaving. It thought that would help me when I finally tried the shavette. Nope, awkward as f*** today. Pretty sure the shavette is a clone of the Feather Kamisori, and I tried a very shallow angle to start wtg on my cheeks. Very crunchy feedback, and the razor didn’t glide well. I have a very slick lather, but added a touch more water. I found an angle that seemed to work ok. Finished my cheeks, then started on the neck. Yikes, I had a hard time finding the angle on my neck, but made it through the pass ok. The xtg pass after, I messed up my neck. A big weeper/almost a nick on my Adam’s Apple, and not blood somehow on the right side, but really managed to give it a strong burn. The xtg pass on the cheeks was ok. Two passes was it for me tonight. I feel like I can get a decent shave with most safety razors, but the shavettes I have tried now were such a different process. Probably going to stick to safety razors.

Today’s Challenge:

I got out my journal/sketchbook and gave the Runaway label a try. Not the usual pictures I draw, but made for an interesting challenge. I never had a natural talent for drawing, but a few years ago I gave a camera obscura app a try. I figure if it was good for the old masters, I could see how it helped. It was crazy how fast I got used to it for finding my proportions and making things line up. Drawing withoutit, I have improved, but with it, I usually get good results. Unless there are lots of straight lines. I don’t use a straightedge or ruler, so straight lines get a bit wobbly. I picked up this brass Kaweco Sketchup a couple years ago. I really like the weight and feel of it. Even though it is a huge lead, you can still get a decent amount of detail in the drawings. My ultimate goal is to try to sketch out a drawing on canvas, then paint a picture from that.

Sponsor Spotlight:

Barrister and Mann is one of my favorite artisans. They had the first blind trickhole I bought - 42 soap/splash/EdT (plus a towel). They were awesome and threw in the matching soap. I’ve since blind bought Electric Mayhem and Marilyn. No regrets on the results with those. If you bought the Marilyn set before Valentines Day this year, you got a wonderful presentation when you opened the box. Everything was packed and wrapped with a Marilyn/Valentine theme, and some chocolates with cherry filling to top it off. I really like it when the packaging is so well thought out. Sure, I want everything padded and safe, but if you can do it with some flare you get a lot of points from me. When I mentioned that before, u/BostonPhotoTourist told me his mother did the packaging. Pretty cool that the family works together. I don’t think I would last a month working with my folks or my in-laws.

Today’s Fragrance:

These scents are working great together. Both have a fruity, floral, and a bit of musk and funk. The leather and musk of Runaway play well with the woody musk in Electric Mayhem. The florals and fruit notes are sweet together, but not cloying. I worried about pairing the Runaway soap with its upfront hit of cherry. Once lathered the cherry was out there, but really mellowed and allowed the leather and musk to come out. I think I could pick up the carnation, but those are the fragrances I picked up. If I didn’t know it was carnation, my nose would have just said flowers, but my mind is taking the hint and I can recall what a carnation smells like, and it is mildly present in the soap. Only at day 10 of this increased use of fragrances, but I feel like my nose is starting to develop a little. The Electric Mayhem for me is plum up front, then the wood and musk come later. I think this trio harmonizes pretty well.

Haiku 10:

Electroswing and some,

Joan Jett- Queen of Rock and Roll,

Ch ch cherry bomb!

July 11, 2023 - Sunny Days

• Brush: Yaqi Atlantis 24mm Synthetic #COMPOSITE
• Razor: MM24
• Blade: Persona GEM PTFE
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Montrose Beach
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. - Sandy Cheeks
• Fragrance: Dr. Jons - Hydra #FOF

Today’s theme:

So many posts using Montrose Beach for the lather, I need to go through the rest to see if anyone else has the same splash and fragrance. The lather and splash were given to me in a PIF last year from Chicago Grooming Co.

Today’s challenge:

This made my selection a little difficult. Not including samples knocked out 3/4 of my fragrances. Maybe something could be said for the 2ml sprays since they have the label. Not sure, but I had a great little sample that fit a beach theme. It is an aquatic scent called Ibiza. I sort of had Hydra in mind when I settled on using Montrose Beach. Needed to get some blue. My only other blue labeled/bottled fragrance is Versace - Blue Jeans. I think it might make an appearance later. For the picture, I had two beach themed brushes, the Yaqi Atlantis which looks like the bottom of the sea with the multiple materials including seaweed, shell, and gold glitter as a sandy sea bottom. The other is a Yaqi Bali with layers of sandy ivory and a light blue. I thought the Atlantis fit better. After seeing all the wonderful pictures, I needed more than just a stack of products on my counter. I decided since I’m not at the beach, I’ll bring the beach to me. I looked in the linen closet, and there were two towels that fit. Still not enough, so off to the Lego bins I went. I thought my daughter had some Lego palm trees somewhere, but I couldn’t find them. In a bit of serendipity, the little red guy was sitting on top. Finding everything and setting up the picture took more time than the shave.

Today’s Shave:

I wish it had gone better. No fault of the excellent base or the MM24, I irritated the same area I messed up yesterday. It wasn’t looking very red today, so I thought a light pass would be ok. Nope, I’ll have to skip my neck tomorrow.

Today’s fragrance:

I know the soap is themed on the public beach in Chicago, but I took a trip to Cozumel today. The first time I went scuba diving, my certification dives were done in Cozumel. I took the training classes in the diving pool at CU. It was a great facility for our practice dives with a 12 feet depth by the platform and springboards, but to finish your certification, there are open water dives you need to do. Ours we did at a beach/park in Cozumel. Once I passed my tests, we were done for the day and spent a couple hours at the beach having tropical cocktails and fajitas from the grill there. All these scents built up to give me the smell of the beach, piña coladas, daiquiris, and margaritas. Not sure that pineapple is in there, but the coconut in the soap and splash bring the drink to mind. The citrus explosion of Hydra brings in the other drinks. Only problem, my wife hates coconut for the scent, flavor, and texture. This will make tomorrow interesting also. She says even things cooked with coconut oil, which shouldn’t bring a coconut flavor, taste too much like it. I like this combo though, very fruity and tropical.

Today’s Haiku:

Piña Coladas,

Margaritas, daiquiris,

Great tropical drinks.

July 12, 2023 - It’s so fluffy

• Brush: Zenith Copper 28mm Boar
• Razor: Karve CB C Solid Bar
• Blade: Gillette Minora Stainless (1)
• Lather: Catie’s Bubbles - Un Jour Gris
• Post Shave: Catie’s Bubbles - Un Joir Gris Splash
• Fragrance: Haute Vie - Ibiza

FOF

Today’s theme:

I have just a few choices for soaps with coconut oil in the first 3 ingredients. When I read the sponsor spotlight today, my plans were changed. Luckily, I could make the call to switch my lineup without having too much shifting in the rest of the month. Coconut oil is ingredient number 3 for the soap, so it fits.

Sponsor spotlight:

I only have three soaps from Catie’s Bubbles, Un Jour Gris, La Piement de la Vie, and Saturday Morning. Not a lot in common between them, but very interesting scents for sure. I really like that their samples are 2oz. If you like it, you have a decent amount already, but didn’t commit as much cash if you don’t care for it. Saturday Morning was a blind buy out of pure nostalgia. Today’s soap I got along with the splash in a PIF. Thanks u/loudmusicboy. I need to further explore this artisan when I start buying software again.

Today’s challenge:

Reverse lathering for me is face lathering. I don’t tub load except for Tabac and hard soaps like Pre de Provence, so I scooped a largish almond sized chunk of soap and smooshed it into the bowl. I briefly soaked the boar, and loaded the soap in the brush, butas soon as I could see most of the soap was off the bottom, to the face I went. I brushed it into my face, and it was too dry. I dipped my brush into the soaking cup a few times before the lather was getting close to hydrated. The brush as I scrubbed and splayed the bristles just pumped out fluffy lather. A bit more water was worked in before I started to shave. This brush is nowhere near the size of the Moar Boar, but it can pick up a ton of soap, and hold more lather than most of my brushes. This soap makes a lot of lather from a small amount, and rinses off very clean. I barely had to rinse out the brush before the water was coming out clean.

Today’s fragrance:

Today’s soap may be themed after a gray day, but the scent is clean, a bit citrusy, and with sandalwood and spice. It seems fairly aquatic to me, so I got out the sample perfume I was going to use yesterday. Haute Vie - Ibiza is a sample I got recently with a purchase. It has a bit of an island theme. Didn’t have the scent description handy, so my first sniff of the sample I got a citrusy wood note. After I already used it, I found a description of the notes, and was surprised that I didn’t see any citrus, but the first listed was a pine scent. I’ve read some descriptions of pine scents as being a little citrusy, so I guess that makes sense. A lot of different wood notes including cypress and cedar to go with the pine. My sample is in a little vial, so I didn’t get a lot out compared to a spray. The scent has faded some already. Altogether, I think the scents played well together. There was a lot of menthol in the splash, but the menthol scent faded quickly. I would have liked a stronger hit of citrus, but no complaints about the combo today.

Haiku 12:

Coconut does make,

Such a bright, fluffy lather,

An abundant foam.

July 13, 2023 - Hippy Hippy Shave

• Brush: Oumo Passion Warhammer 29mm 5th Anniversary Fan
• Razor: Ever Ready 1912 Chain Handle #TWINS
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Declaration Grooming - Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli - Chatillon Lux collaboration
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming - Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli Splash - Chatillon Lux collaboration
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli EdP

FOF

Today’s theme:

I went to a college that is a bastion of the modern hippy culture, CU Boulder. Back when I went there (holy crap it is almost 30 years since I graduated), patchouli was a frequent fragrance encountered on campus. I did not like it much then. For me, patchouli is like musks, a little is great, but too much can be gagging. Well, this trifecta of YRP is a fantastic patchouli scent.

Today’s Challenge:

Why just pick one song? I decided that I’d find songs that feature the three named scents in my choice for today. Rose is the easiest, found a few instances for patchouli, but yuzu was tough. Then I found there is a an Asian group called Yuzu that has been featured on some soundtracks.

Yuzu

Rose

Patchouli

Bonus Incense

Today’s shave:

I got this Ever Ready razor a while ago, but hadn’t cleaned it up yet. Some dish soap and a soft toothbrush to get as much gunk off. Still some tea stains here and there, but clean enough for a shave. Maybe a soak in the ultrasonic cleaner to get the stubborn bits to lift off will be done later. Like the GEM version, it is a pretty mild shaver. It is not as loud as a MMOC or Ever Ready Shovelhead. Since this soap is one I like a lot, my second hungriest brush was perfect for the shave. A generous scoop of lather into the bowl, and much water added before I got it dialed in to where I wanted it. This brush absolutely swells and is a massive puffball of lather when I load it up. I had an irritation free shave. That oopsy with the kamisori was felt for a couple days, but it was better tonight. 3 full passes tonight, very good shave.

Today’s fragrance:

This was the first day I had picked out for the calendar. It is an obvious choice of course, but still it is a fantastic patchouli based scent. That magician at Chatillon Lux turned one of my least favorite scents into one I love. Of course it is a predominantly patchouli scent, but not a solid wall of patchouli like my past experience of people using it. The citrus comes out stronger once I started lathering. The rose is a background floral for me. I can smell it there, but I have to tease it out to get more than just “floral” smell. Rose is that way for me. It isn’t like lavender or lilac which my nose can usually recognize right away. The yuzu sweetens things up with a clean citrus note. Obviously since I trickholed the scent today, there is no real conflict of the scents, just more of it. Right now, the EdP and splash are giving a stronger yuzu/rose scent. Those notes faded from the lather pretty quickly, leaving a mild patchouli scent until I added the post shave and fragrance. Scents are going to get harder to match the more I’m using up my samples for most days. I only have two firmly in mind for later shaves, so more experiments left this month.

Today’s Haiku

Patchouli balanced,

By the fruity, floral notes,

Is so delightful.

July 14, 2023 - Frigid Friday

• Brush: Yaqi Dandelion Green 24mm Cashmere
• Razor: GEM Junior Chain Handle #TWINS
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Wholly Kaw - Iced Tea
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder Splash
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Sonder EdP

FOF

Today’s theme:

I paired up a mentholated soap with a splash that also has coolant. I looked up the ingredients to be certain. The soap has menthyl lactate, which is made from menthol and lactic acid. It is primarily used as a coolant in cosmetic products. The splash has the WS-23 synthetic coolant. My face is definitely freezing today.

Today’s challenge:

Ok, shaving with ATG on the first pass is contrary to all the recommendations on how to wetshave. Still, points are at stake. I used the second half of my twins set today. At first, I was apprehensive about using a GEM and starting ATG, but the 1912 head design is a very mild shaver for me, plus the blade has a few shaves on it. No worries about the new blade harshness I sometimes get. Even though not really part of the challenge, but in spirit of the theme, I decided to really freeze my face (helps that it is quite hot outside today). I have a couple menthol droppers that I got with Declaration Grooming splashes. For the first pass, I added a drop of menthol into the lather (made with cold tap water). I proceeded to go atg for the entire first pass (yes, even my neck). This GEM razor handled the atg pass very well. A little tricky on the neck, but no real issues. My beard growth is mostly centerline out on my cheeks and neck. Going ATG on the neck meant finishing around the Adam’s Apple where I am most likely to get a nick or weeper. Not today, no nicks or faults.

A rinse with cold water, and added another menthol drop for the next XTG pass. This one I did top to bottom. Really starting to feel the coolant. I think last time I used Iced Tea, I didn’t really feel freezing until rinsing the third pass. Today, those two drops really brought the chill faster.

Another cold rinse, and another drop of menthol. Pass three was XTG bottom to top. Did I say it was getting cooler, now we are getting frosty. Still, awesome lather out of the Siero base. Third pass verdict, cold and face getting as smooth as ice.

Still I felt there was more to do. Rinse with more cold water, and add another drop of menthol to the lather. It was a 4 pass shave today. Finally going WTG giving me a nice and smooth shave. 4 drops of added menthol was crazy strong now. My eyes were stinging a bit. Gotta say, my cheeks are the smoothest they have been all month. My neck is almost bbs, some more ATG buffing and touch up could get it there, but DFS is plenty for me. The splash added another wave of chill to the face. No burning from the alcohol, just the tingling cold of the WS-23.

Today’s Fragrance:

I am a tea drinker, so picking up tea themed soaps is an easy choice. However, currently living in the South, and seemingly a lifetime ago outside New Orleans, I have never liked sweet tea. I know, so blasphemous. Adding sugar to tea really changes the flavor. I’m not a coffee drinker, and for the longest time my caffeine delivery was from Coca-Cola. A while ago, I had to cut down my soft drink consumption. I can’t stand the flavor of artificial sweeteners, so no diet drinks. Tea became my new habit. Started with lots of lemon, but quickly got to drinking black tea. Not liking sweet tea kept me from picking up Wholly Kaw - Iced Tea for a while. I feared it would come off too much like sweet tea. I didn’t need to worry, it is more a citrusy tea scent, but not getting that sugary tea I don’t like. To pair it with splash and fragrance, I went to House of Mammoth for the wonderful Sonder. It gives me a creamy lemon scent. Kind of like a nice lemon curd filling (I finally learned how to make some for a cake last week. Yum!). I also get a bit a vanilla in it. So today I smell like a fruity iced tea served with the lemon bars my mom makes when we visit. Feeling pretty good.

Today’s Haiku:

A cold frozen face,

Lemon freshly brightens things,

Perfect for summer.

July 15, 2023 - Sheep Ruh

• Brush: Yaqi Cola 22mm Synthetic
• Razor: Karve CB C Solid Bar
• Blade: Gillette Minora Stainless
• Lather: West Coast Shaving - Chypre
• Post Shave, West Coast Shaving - Chypre Splash
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive - Red Skies

FOF

Today’s Theme:

I went pretty obvious and used a soap called Chypre. Splash is the same, and the fragrance is described as a Chypre on the description from Maher Olfactive.

Today’s Challenge:

God I feel so old sometimes. I recorded a video of my first pass handheld. However, I tried to upload it to imgur 5 times. First at full length, then trimmed, trimmed some more, etc. I have uploaded small snippets before, but this kept saying it uploaded. When I’d go to get the link, image says resource unavailable. I gave up. Maybe there is a simple solution, but I don’t want to spend all afternoon trying to figure it out. So I thought about drawing a pic for every second of the clip to make an animated flip book. Yikes, that would be about 90 pics to draw and image. If I draw one image every 5 minutes, I’d be done later this evening. I could try to upload it to Youtube, but I preferred to keep it hidden in my imgur. What’s left to do? I guess start watching some shave tubers, or better yet, a selection of todays postings. BTW, I’m informing the Postmaster General about the u/OnionMiasma’s crimes against scent, that were distributed through the mail. Now we can all move up a spot once he is arrested, unless he figures out how to make prison soap. (ok, we know he will improvise a fougere out of toilet wine and smuggled ingredients, a brush out of his bunkmates mattress, and a shavette from a toothbrush shiv.) For some other clips, I was impressed with the timelapse u/ginopono posted. I had to watch a second time to catch the wardrobe change. I am going to watch more of them that I missed later. I was reading u/tsrblke’s post before my shave, but didn’t see a link. I checked again and it is there now, so another one to watch on the list. Ok, last review for now, I didn’t actually see a shave in u/RedMosquitoMM’s video. It was about shaving software and hardware though, so I’m sure u/AirBudRule will allow it. (He did do both parts anyway.)

Today’s Shave and Fragrances:

I tend to ramble into the tldr territory, so will combine my fragrance and shave commentary. This is my first use of the duck fat base that WCS gets for their line of soaps. I forget for sure who supplies it, maybe Grooming Dept.? It is on the firm side of the soap range, not a triple milled soap, but similar to perhaps Tabac, but a little crumblier. With a damp brush, it made a very dry foam right away. It took a lot of water to get it to the soft, slick lather I prefer. The scent is very citrusy to me with a kind of mineral background. I’d say it smells like rocks we had surrounding our woodstove in the house where I grew up. The rocks were all flagstones from the local mountains and were covered in lichen. So maybe a mossy scent there? Not as strong as a fougere, but the scent has a strong presence. When I opened the plastic bin where I store my soaps, I got a strong scent coming out of the bin. It was this soap and splash. Maybe I got a drop of splash leaking out? For the fragrance today, went back to my samples and found a chypre scent from Maher Olfactive. There is a bit of similarity to the WCS Chypre, but there is more going on in the fragrance. Definitely a bit stronger citrus off the top, but still untangling the scents I am getting from it. I really need to get some kind of fragrance trainer that has the individual scents. Looking at the listed notes, some of that extra depth I’m picking up is from the leather. Until I saw it listed though, I couldn’t name it, but it clicked when I read the description.

Today’s Haiku:

Video failure,

At least my scents today feel,

Fresh and outdoorsy.

July 16, 2023 - Shave and a Haircut

• Brush: AP Shave Co - Ivory Purple 26mm G5A SHD Premium Synth
• Razor: GEM Junior
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Chiseled Face - Ghost Town Barber
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Seville Splash
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Barrbarr
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Hygge

FOF

Today’s Theme:

One of my first soaps I bought when I got into wetshaving was Noble Otter - Barrbarr. Of course, I already used another NO soap this month, but had to squeeze it in somehow. Reading u/tsrblke’s post reminded me that Hygge is indeed a barbershop inspired scent. Today I used 4 on theme scents in a glorious mélange of tonsorial parlor scents.

Today’s challenge:

I appreciate meme, but don’t often think of one to make. I sometimes struggle with creativity. Today however, as I was getting my gear together, inspiration hit me. My thought process everyday this month really. I sometimes suffer from the paralysis of choice. With a pretty full den of soaps, and the joy of trying new things, it can be difficult to get around to a favorite. Or just stick to favorites and not try new things.

Today’s Fragrance:

Barbershop is a pretty generic genre, but there are a few really interesting unique scents out there. I went with Ghost Town Barber to give a nice clean base. Not a strong scent from it, just a familiar soapy scent to me. Barrister and Mann - Seville adds more depth and a good citrus and spice mix to it. Noble Otter - Barrbarr adds more citrus, more spice and a hint of rosemary. To cap it off, House of Mammoth - Hygge ties into the citrus and the juniper plays up the rosemary, and has a mellow warmth to it. Even though it is 90+ today, I’m not minding this warmth. On todays theme, I got to mix a few favorites and that was really good. I stopped rating after a few and thinking it would all be B range. Today is an A.

Today’s Haiku:

Barbershop question,

Seville, Barrbarr, or Hygge?

I’ll just say, “Yes, please.”

July 17, 2023 - Happy Together

• Brush: Oumo Passion Warhammer
• Razor: Karve CB C Solid Bar
• Blade: Gillette Minora Stainless
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Smash
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Smash Splash
• Non Luxury Alum: Green Blok
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Smash
• Cocktail: Bourbon Peach Smash

FOF

Happy Together:

Well, now I’ve got the Turtles song stuck in my brain. Maybe the cocktail will drive it out. Smash is a wonderful collaboration of those geniuses behind House of Mammoth and Barrister and Mann. They were probably having cocktails at a secret meeting of the shaving illuminati, and said “Let’s make this cocktail into a scent!” Some mixing and magic later, we got Smash. I went for the trifecta + cocktail. I made a bunch of these at my sister’s house last year for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately November isn’t a great time for peaches, so frozen had to do. I picked up a box of peaches at Costco after work tonight.

Today’s Challenge:

I don’t know which is more divisive in the community, using Osma or GUTL. I land firmly in the middle on alum use. I tried it when I was newer to wetshaving, but was pretty meh about it. I still keep it since it does a decent job of stopping the weepers. Today’s use of alum wasn’t bad. A bit drying, but no stinging from it or the splash. I might need a bit of lotion later.

Today’s Sponsor Spotlight:

I’ve already read many great praises of House of Mammoth, and I have to echo them. Last year, I used Alive for Austere August: soap, splash, and balm. If you don’t have it, pick it up if you get the chance. I finally killed the tub from last year just before the LG started this month, but I already had a spare. One thing I can’t praise enough is their commitment to charity. I still haven’t won a raffle, but I’ll keep trying. Even if I don’t win, I feel ok since I helped them raise more money. I do regret not jumping to get the Voices soap when I was more financially stable, but hopefully things will turn around soon, and I can get the soap at least. I also foolishly let Jitterbug slip from my grasp. I had it in my cart for about a week, and when I finally decided to go for it, too late. Not like that feeds the FOMO at all. There are a few artisans making shaving software that I will blind buy, and have not regretted or been underwhelmed by what I got. House of Mammoth so far has exceeded my expectations every time I decide to go for it. They also give me something to look forward to on Mondays. (Except when points are involved.)

Fragrance of the day:

Smash is a set that I wanted as soon as the release was announced. Also, decided I had to try the cocktail when u/mammothben included the recipe in the announcement. So a new liquor was added to the cabinet, a small bottle of St. Germain. BTW, the cocktailis awesome, and so is the scent that resulted from the collaboration with u/BostonPhotoTourist. The soap gives me a slightly smoky scent of the bourbon and tobacco with a slight hint of the peach. The splash brings up the peach and sweetness. The EdP brings out even more peach and sugar, but I can still get the bourbon and tobacco. The scent notes include hedione, but not sure what that should smell like. Fragrantica says it is a “fresh floral fragrance reminiscent of jasmine with green nuances.” I think that is representing the St. Germain in the cocktail. It smells floral and herbal. Having read the description, I’m not quite isolating it from the tobacco and bourbon.

I might be a bit off on the recipe but here is a haiku of my cocktail:

Muddle peach, sugar,

Add St. Germain, Bourbon, ice,

soda splash - enjoy!

July 18, 2023 - Spooky Season

• Brush: AP Shave Co - Ivory Purple 26mm G5A SHD Premium Synth
• Razor: GEM Junior
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Valedictorian Splash
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps - Valedictorian EdP

FOF

Today’s Challenge and shave:

Look if you want to here. My beard is a lot of white hair, but some darker blond bits are holding out. Still wasn’t sure how visible it would be, so I evened up the sideburns to get some darker, longer hairs to show. I over hydrated the lather and tried adding more, but the sample is running low. I got it to an ok lather, but on the drippy side. Still, the performance was pretty good. Pretty decent shave today.

Today’s theme:

Reading through the previous posts today, Southern Witchcrafts - Samhain is an obvious choice. The Druidic (I think, maybe just Celtic?) holiday of Samhain got restyled into All Hallows Eve (Halloween) with the spread of Christianity. Christians were really good at co-opting other culture’s holidays like Saturnalia. So the name alone would make it a fall theme, and definitely spooky season. Also pumpkin is in it, and that is a fall fruit.

Today’s fragrance:

It is getting harder to match up new fragrances for me. Some that may fit, I used already, or may be a better fit later this month. Looking at the scent description of pumpkin, sandalwood, bourbon, and tobacco, I knew I’d have the best chance by working up the tobacco. Smelling the soap, I get an earthy sweetness, with dark undertones. I think I am mostly getting the pumpkin and tobacco. For the last decade, pumpkin spice has really blown up. So I thought, can I incorporate some of those scents. I settled on SBS Valedictorian. It has a lot that works well with Samhain. Vanilla, Ginger, Tobacco, and Smoke are some that bring out the scents in the soap. Ginger and vanilla are usually in pumpkin pie. The tobacco is what really tied it together for me.

Southern Witchcrafts has some creative scents that play up with the Witchcrafts in the name. Samhain and Pomona are the two I’ve liked the most out of those I have tried. The others had to much of a darker earthiness that didn’t gel with me. The soap base though is excellent even when I start with 3x more water than I should have.

Today’s Haiku:

Pumpkin Spice Season,

Is back early in my house,

But not in my mug.

July 19, 2023 - Cream

• Pre Shave: Proraso - Crema Pre Barba - Pelli Sensibili
• Brush: Sock with a Golfer on it
• Razor: Karve CB Solid Bar
• Blade: Gillette Minora Stainless
• Lather: Proraso - Sapone De Barba - Pelli Sensibili
• Post Shave: Proraso - Balsamo Dopobarba - Pelli Sensibili
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Agua Fresca

FOF

Today’s Cream, umm Theme:

I have a limited number of shaving creams. I got a gift set of Proraso Sensitive (White) over a year ago. I don’t use it enough, but for today, I doubt anything else would have worked as well as this did.

Today’s Challenge:

Lather with a sock is up there with shaving in the kitchen as a thing I wouldn’t do unless it was part of a contest. Well here we are. I chose my sock with a golfer on it since The Open Championship starts tomorrow. I though to make it easier, start with a huge dollop of the cream. I don’t think that helped. I started with wetting the sock and trying to make lather in my bowl. It was pretty pasty (perfect for tomorrow), so more water. I got what seemed like it may work, but everytime I added more water, the sock just soaked up more of the water and soap. First pass was pretty thick. The razor clogged a few times, but it felt like it was slick at least. More water, but more disappeared into the sock. I thought since the sock was a cotton/poly/spandex blend, it wouldn’t soak up as much as a mostly cotton one would. For the remaining shave, I had to squeeze out a bit of lather to get enough on the face. I was left with a very soapy sock. I don’t see this becoming much of a fad after today. To add a bit more sock to the shave, I rinsed and wrung out the sock, then used it to wipe the excess lather off my face.

Today’s Fragrance:

The set of Proraso I used has a very mild and pleasant scent. Proraso says it is a light lime and apple scent. The oatmeal and green tea are there to sooth irritated skin. I didn’t pick up a tea or oatmeal scent anyway. All three products smelled about the same. I thought of a few of my scents that could work here. Dr. Jons - Hydra would definitely work, but I already used it. If I had the EdP of Noble Otter - Thè Noir et Vanille or even Rawr could work, but I don’t have them. I have another EdP that I’m planning for tomorrow. I reached yet again into that versatile box of sample from Chatillon Lux. Agua Fresca is mostly a blend of fruit scents plus vetiver and cream. I can get the melon, pineapple, and maybe some cucumber and the yuzu. The rest is just fruity to me. I’m really not positive I’m getting the yuzu since pineapple I think has a fairly citrus note to it even though not a citrus fruit. The melon is probably covering up the cucumber, or the melon I am picking up blends very well with the cucumber. There are really a lot of scents that could work with this Proraso scent since it is very mild, and would not likely clash with much of anything, but I’m trying to pick things that can tie to the soap scent. There are a couple days coming up that will probably have fitting the theme dictate what choices I have more than matching things up, plus I have now used close to half of the EdP/EdT fragrances in my den.

Todays Haiku Effort:

Socks are not good brushes.

Really they are terrible.

Awful for lather.

July 20, 2023 - Dupelgänger

• Brush: Yaqi Ocean 28mm Synthetic
• Razor: MM24
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps - Prom King
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - Prom King Splash
• Fragrance: Jean Paul Gaultier - Le Male (Pride Edition)

FOF

Today’s Theme:

When Summer Break Soaps brought back Prom King, I got it as soon as it dropped. When I saw Dupelgänger Day, it was the first one I thought about using. It is on the often linked list as a dupe of Jean Paul Gaultier - Le Male.

Today’s Challenge:

When I normally shave I want my lather to be a wet soft peak, or ribbon to borrow a couple cooking terms. In making a lather it is kind of the opposite of cooking though. If you whip cream or egg whites, the more you whip, the stiffer it gets until it breaks. But for lather once it starts being a lather, you start at crazy stiff and go down from there adding the water. I made a mistake in picking a bigger brush today, so hungry, it ate up the lather. I ended up adding soap to get it to leave some lather in the bowl. Finally, the brush stopped eating the lather and I could see how thick the lather was getting. I ended up with a thick fairly dry, but somehow glossy lather. It had the feel somewhere between mayonnaise and yogurt. I figured rhe MM24 wouldn’t clog much, but the soap took more effort to rinse. The soap clung onto the razor. I probably loaded 3x more soap than I normally would. On my final pass, I squeezed out the lather into my hand. Not to waste it, I applied as much of that to my face as I could. I probably had 1/4” or more of lather (6.5mm) on my face. It also took longer to rinse the residual soap off my face. I didn’t feel like the shave was rough, but the splash really stung my face. I’ll be glad to go back to a more hydrated lather tomorrow.

Today’s Fragrance:

After I got my Prom King soap and splash, it was quickly a favorite scent. I keep waffling on buying the original scent for a while. I saw a good discount at Macy*s, but by the time I decided to buy it, the offer was gone. So I waited until I got my annual bonus and raise. The special Christmas edition was gone, but I found a good deal on the Pride Edition of Le Male. My wife laughed when she saw the “bulge” on the bottle. In the tin can packaging, there is a cutout in the stand to accommodate it. The scent is difficult to pick out individual scents. It blends together and I just compare it to two other Spring scents Noble Otter - Rawr and Wholly Kaw - Eroe. Now by the notes, they aren’t similar, but to my nose they have a similar scent. Now that I’ve added the original, I get some of the mint and vanilla. Fragrantica calls it an Amber Fougére. I get a little bit of an ice cream float scent from it, but I don’t find it too sweet.

Today’s Haiku:

Prom King smells better,

Than a bunch of horny teens,

Dancing at the prom.

Edit: 4 hours later, the spices and wood notes have come out, and the mint and vanilla are gone. Very interesting perfume, I get the sandalwood and cedar, and nearby is a bakery making cinnamon rolls.

July 21, 2023 - Fougère Friday

• Brush: Yaqi Dandelion Green 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: MM24
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Heather
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Lavender Interrupted
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Weinstrasse

FOF

Today’s theme is a tougher one for me. I do have a couple fougère soaps, but they are not my favorites. Heather performs excellent, and I got a very good shave. I’m surprised there aren’t a lot of shaves with it today. Maybe everyone went with Sea Spice Lime for the summertime theme. I don’t have the splash or much else in a traditional fougère, but I recall that Lavender Interrupted could be a modern interpretation of one. It certainly shares a lot of the same scents. For the fragrance, went with one of the few fougères in my samples of EdPs.

Today’s Fragrances:

Heather gives me a strong hit of earthy greens. It is a bit sharp to my nose. Baudelaire is the same for me. Since I don’t have lots in the category, my choices were limited, but Lavender Interrupted was a good choice for me. The vanilla on top of the lavender, oakmoss, Mousse de Saxe, sandalwood, etc. warms and sweetens it up for me. The EdP Weinstrasse was very interesting for me. It is somewhere between the other two. I can smell the woody and moss elements, that dark forest smell, but the white grape adds a wine-like note to the mix. The scent reminds me a little of House of Mammoth Damocles, or maybe it is the combo. I feel like I should like the category more than I actually do. Yesterday’s EdP, Jean Paul Gaultier - Le Male is called an amber fougère in the description on fragrantica.com, but it is very different from these scents.

Today’s challenge. I’ve been trying haiku’s all month, but now that it is the challenge, why is it harder to think of one?

So dark and mossy,
I prefer my scents brighter,
Two and a half stars.

July 22, 2023 - Strange Times For Leg Day

• Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving Exclusive 31mm Moar Boar
• Razor: Schick “Stick Schick” (Type L)
• Blade: Parker Injector
• Lather: Black Ship Grooming Co. - Captain’s Reserve
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Jack Splash
• Fragrance: Dolly - Smoky Mountain

FOF

Today’s Theme:

Another tricky one for me since I don’t have any banana or watermelon soaps. I had a couple possibles, but 30 for 30 killed them as I really needed the brands on another day. So I was looking through my soaps and finding all the scent notes, when a recent purchase popped up 2 choices. I picked up Black Ship Grooming Co.’s Dark Side and Captain’s Reserve just after Star Wars day. Dark Side has blackberry listed 3rd, and first listed scent on Captain’s Reserve was black currant. After debating between the two, I felt Captain’s Reserve was a better fit. Then it was a search to find anything for post and fragrance that fit the theme. Juniper berry is in Jack, and Dolly - Smoky Mountain has black currant. My selections were set.

Today’s Challenge:

First things first, regular leg shavers a tip of the hat to you. Holy **** that is harder to do than I thought. I picked the Moar Boar as it is one of my biggest brushes, and for the razor, the Schick is a longish handle and pretty forgiving (At least I thought so). I scooped 3x what I normally would use to lather. I got my blue plastic IKEA kid’s bowl pretty full of lather, and got it to just starting to drip. I started with my lower left leg. I really massaged it onto the leg. A thicker lather would have been more photogenic, but I wanted the slickest I could get. I didn’t notice it as it happened, but right at the bottom of the shin where it meets the top of the foot, I gave myself a bit of a nick. (warning a little bit of blood) Ok, I need to be more careful on the right leg, but oops, more blood. Next was the thighs, and I am not flexible enough to see what I was doing there, but I shave up to where my boxer briefs would cover. I realized that my pre shave pic doesn’t tell the story, so I took a careful photo that shows where I stopped shaving. I didn’t do the neatest job, but around where the shadow ends is about where the shaving stopped. When I rinsed off, found I had a big nick on my right hamstring area. I really thought this would be an easier challenge. I don’t have a lot of leg hair to start with, and it is much finer than my beard. Not being a contortionist and out of shape really upped the difficulty.

Today’s Fragrance:

As I mentioned, I was a bit stymied n setting up today. I settled on the soap at the beginning of the month, but had no clue what I’d do for everything else until today. First the soap had a fairly familiar scent, but I was having trouble placing it. I picked it for the black currant, but in the jar I was just getting a slightly sweet fruit scent at first. Then I started to make the lather, and it became even more familiar. It smells a bit like this black currant iced tea I used to get. I love tea scents, so I was liking this choice. I don’t know if it was intended to smell like tea, but that is what I got from it. Noble Otter’s new scent Jack is very much a gin and tonic scent (maybe light on the tonic). The lime and juniper berry played well with the soap. Finally the perfume is one I gave to my wife around Valentines day. I decided since she is the only leg shaver in the house, I should use her perfume. It is a bit sweet, fruity and floral on the first whiff. Black currant is listed as the second scent on Fragrantica, and I felt it tied up the whole package pretty well. I wouldn’t make this a common set, but overall pleased with how well they worked together. I almost went unscented for the post shave, but I’m happy I picked up Jack.

Today’s Haiku:

Are points worth so much,
That I try shaving my legs?
I guess they must be.

July 23, 2022 - What Smells So Good?

• Brush: Yaqi Dandelion Green 24mm Cashmere
• Razor: Fatip Classic Grande Nickel Open Comb
• Blade: Gillette Minora Stainless
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - 42
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - 42 - Splash
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - 42 - EdP
• Music: Herb Alpert and the Tiajuana Brass
• Book Recommendation: “Last Chance to See” - Douglas Adams

FOF

Today Theme:

This was a bit of a thinker for me. I usually shave after work, so my coworkers never say anything. Plus, I haven’t been into the office since May, and I don’t wear EdP if I do go into the office. Now most of the time, just about anything I use my wife and daughter like. I picked 42 because every time I use it my wife and daughter tell me I smell good. I set up my gear for the picture, and our cat Phoebee came over and knocked the tub over. I think she was saying good choice, now pet me. When I stepped out of the bathroom after the shave, my wife did say, “Ooh, that smells good.” That’s a win in my book. She told me she likes the lemon, and I told her it is from the Pan Galactic Gargleblaster. She said, “So I was right.” I love that she knows the reference.

Today’s Challenge:

I had the idea for this brewing in my head since the last lather games. Wouldn’t you know it, u/Impressive_Donut114 beat me to it by a bit over an hour. My whipped soap and other delights. I had to promise my daughter I would return her Hermione doll back the way I found it. For the photo, I needed a lot of lather, and to keep it thick. For the shave, I added some water in the remaining lather to get a well hydrated lather.

Today’s Shave:

After my bloodbath yesterday for leg day, I wanted an easy shave, but something that could handle a bit more stubble. The Fatip was a good choice for me. I find it pretty easy to use, and the open comb keeps it from getting clogged. I moved the blade from the Karbe over to the Fatip. Still plenty of shaves left in it. Great shave and now my face is as smooth as my legs.

Today’s Fragrance:

When I first started posting and reading SOTDs, It was close to Towel Day. I read a lot of posts using it, but it wasn’t available until a few days after. I set a reminder for the drop, and got a the trifecta plus Towel. Barrister and Mann threw in a sticker and bath soap. From the first use, I really liked this scent, and my family agreed. Unfortunately, I don’t bring it out often enough. With LG, AA, Sample September, and Moarch Madness, theres a big chunk of the year gone. I truly do like this one. From the first hit of citrus, to the petunias (my favorite flower that we plant every summer), later comes the tea. It is a great tea scent, and tea themed scents are among my favorites. I do need to use the EdP more often. The lemon lasts longer than it does from the soap.

Today’s Haiku:

Answer: 42.
And the ultimate question?
What really smells great?

July 24, 2023 - Christmas in July’s Eve

• Brush: Yaqi Dandelion Green 24mm Cashmere
• Razor: EldrormR MM24
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Tallow + Steel - Shag
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Satsuma
• Fragrance: Rogue - Derviche

FOF

Today’s Theme:

I went with as many things as I could fit into today’s shave that came from this community. First up is the razor that u/EldrormR put together for me. He made it from a broken MMOC that I sent to him. Next is the lather from u/tsrblke. He won it in a PIF, and immediately turned it into a smoosh PIF. The splash is from a big box of samples I got from u/putneycj. Finally the fragrance is a sample that was in a den clearing PIF from u/wyze0ne. I hope I remembered everyone correctly, but thank you again.

Today’s Challenge:

It is easy to say nice things about people here. I don’t know if I’ve encountered such a generous group of enthusiasts before. Reminds me a bit of a group of friends I made in my early online days playing on MUDs. Very friendly group, and I met my wife on one MUD. This group shares its passion for the hobby, and really help out those who are new to it. Anyone I don’t mention, sorry, but there isn’t enough space for everyone, and I’d hate to miss anyone if I try to list you all. If you’ve ever given a nice reply, funny post, good advice, or read through my sometimes, ok often, rambling posts, thank you. You guys are what keeps me coming back. To highlight a few u/gcgallant always has some good advice and nice comments. I was pondering trying the Weck challenge, and even though the answer was in the post already, helped me not only decide on the blades, but sent me a couple to try. He also included a dull razor shaped object to get a few practices in before I commit to slicing my face off with the real thing. Another person I’m sure is on many people’s posts is u/OnionMiasma. I commented on someone’s post last year how I kept seeing people rave about Seville. He reply asking if I wanted a smoosh. Then he just does some awesome other things, like turning his personal tragedy into an opportunity to help other people. Ok, maybe the Park Police are after him for the sign makeover, but I’d say he’s still good people. Post is getting long, so again if you are reading this, know you made the list.

Today’s Fragrance:

My scents are a bit of a hot mess today. Deciding to go with only PIFs and Smooshes really limited my choices. The T+S Shag off the soap is almost an assault by patchouli. When I got the smoosh in the mail, I left the envelope in my home office for a few days. My office smelled like patchouli for several days. When I opened it up today, the scent was still strong, and all I could smell was patchouli. Knowing I had to deal with that, I picked Stirling - Satsuma for the citrus to give a clean and fresh scent to temper the soap. Finally, I only have two little EdP samples. Both are from Rogue, Derviche and Jasmine Antique. I thought tobacco, leather, and musk of Derviche would play well with the scent of Shag. So I went to make my lather, and as soon as water hit the soap, I lost the patchouli scent. I still can’t figure out how, but that full forward patchouli I was getting from the smoosh just dissipated. Did my nose just break? Well Satsuma still had that smell of tangerine peels, and Derviche was a tobacco and leather mix to me. Total surprise, and not sure what is going on here.

Today’s Haiku:

Where did the scent go?
How can patchouli fade so?
Strange, I just don’t know.

Just a very nice post, exactly the kind I was hoping for with today's challenge

July 25, 2023 - Santa’s Early Visit

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

#FOF

Today’s Theme:

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

Today’s Sinister Challenge:

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

Today’s Fragrances:

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

Today’s Haiku:

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

July 26, 2023 - Wildcard Wednesday

• Brush: High temp silicone pastry brush
• Razor: Fatip Classic Grande Nickel Open Comb
• Blade: Gillette Minora Stainless
• Lather: Momofuko Milkbar - Lemon Curd (homemade)
• Post Shave: Harney & Sons - Earl Grey Supreme tea
• Tea Cup: Calamityware - Things Could Be Worse (20 oz. Mug)
• Fragrance: Danncy - Pure Vanilla Extract

#FOF

Today’s Theme:

After reading many posts looking to avoid what has already been used, I decided to make my own lather from scratch. A couple weeks ago, I made lemon curd for the first time using Christina Tosi’s recipe from the “momofuku milk bar” cookbook. It was pretty easy to make and quite delicious. I didn’t have any leftover, so I went ahead and made some after dinner. For a splash, I decided to add in some Earl Grey tea, and as long as everything was coming from the kitchen, some vanilla extract my in-laws brought us from Mexico. Since lemon curd is about half emulsified butter, it acted a lot like a cream or lotion. Shave was surprisingly average. The curd was very drippy, especially after rinsing the razor and getting a bit of water onto things. The tea was cold by the time I used it as a splash.

Today’s Challenge:

I took the opportunity of a den tour to straighten things up. So all the loose stuff onto the bed for pictures. The first picture is everything that was in my home office. The second pic in the group is the hardware, fragrances, and loose odds and ends from my bedroom. While the third is the bulkier storage bins of soaps and splashes. Putting everything out like this really drives home how much stuff I have. Not pictured are some samples that will be finding a new home next month.

Today’s Fragrances:

There are not a lot of ingredients in the lemon curd. Lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, butter, eggs, and some gelatin. The fragrance is pure lemon. Not getting a lot from the butter and eggs. I thought what better than some Earl Grey tea. Strong hit of bergamot, followed by the earthy black tea. It is from one of my favorite tea companies. What could complete this evening tea? How about transforming the lemon curd scent into cookies? This vanilla my in-laws gave us is very strong. When we use it in recipes, we usually cut it in half. Just a drop was enough to fill the bathroom with a bright, floral, vanilla. I now smell like a nice little dessert after dinner.

Today’s Haiku:

Vanilla, Lemon,
Having some tea and cookies,
For my shave tonight.

User cooked and shaved with lemon curd, splashed tea, and wore vanilla extract for frag.

July 27, 2023 - Lavendursday

• Brush: Yaqi Balu 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Game Changer .68 SP
• Blade: Gillette Minora Stainless
• Lather: Martin De Candre - Original
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Barrister Reserve Lavender Splash
• Fragrance: Mäurer and Wirtz - Tabac Man EdP

FOF

Today’s Theme:

All three products used have lavender listed as one of the first scents. The soap by Martin De Candre only has three listed - Lavender, Mint, and Rosemary. Tabac Man has lavender listed first in the scent notes on Fragrantica. The splash has it all in the name.

Today’s Challenge:

The link above is the pic of my shave gear in place on my deck where I performed my shave. This year, I forgot a portable mirror, so I used my sliding glass door. The mixing bowl held the water to build my lather, and was used to rinse the razor. I forgot to bring out a towel to clean up after the shave, but I dropped a lot of lather on my shirt anyway. I just took off the shirt and cleaned up with it. I felt going back inside to clean up was not in the spirit of the challenge. A couple sprays of the splash, and then a spritz of Tabac Man and my shave was over. There was a strange thing about using the glass door as a mirror. I was seeing a double image of my reflection. It worked, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It was 97F this afternoon as I went to pick up my daughter at her camp. We ended up getting a late afternoon thunderstorm. Luckily, the storm broke before sunset. I wouldn’t have wanted to shave outside when it was dark out. The mosquitoes would have eaten me alive. The good thing about the storm was it really cooled things quite nicely. Temp was more like 80F when I made it outside.

Today’s Fragrance:

Lavender is not a favorite of mine. I don’t have much in my den that is really focused on it. I picked up a sample of the MdC soap to try the brand and for the lavender. The splash I got in a box of samples, and Tabac Man I got because it is Tabac. The soap is just the three scents and lavender is right out front. The mint is very light, but gives it a cool sensation. The rosemary gives a familiar pine scent that blends well with the lavender. The splash is just a spray of that purple flower. It was the strongest lavender scent I used for sure. For the Tabac Man, I’ll quote the description from Fragrantica.com:

“Tabac Man by Maurer & Wirtz is a Aromatic Fougere fragrance for men. Top notes are Lavender, Orange, Bergamot and Mint; middle notes are Coriander, Vetiver, Cardamom and Geranium; base notes are Nutmeg, Sandalwood, Vanilla and Patchouli.”

I don’t feel like this really is a pure Fougére. There isn’t that moss and fern note I associate with the category. This fragrance is more floral to me. The first thing I noticed was the lavender. Maybe I was looking for it, but it is still present an hour after I sprayed. Maybe some of the citrus is there in the background. I haven’t been able to distinguish the sandalwood or patchouli. If anything, the scent is very similar to the MdC Soap, but with a hint of the citrus and other florals and green scents besides the lavender. I’ll have to see how it holds up. Those bottom notes may come out as the lavender and citrus fades.

Today’s Haiku:

It’s not my first choice.
I have to use lavender.
But at least Tabac!

Edit: Follow up a few hours later. I can still smell lavender from the Tabac Man, but not really getting the sandalwood or patchouli yet. Tabac Man is pretty good though. Maybe time to explore lavender some more, but in Sample September.

July 28, 2023 - Frugal Friday

• Razor: Wilkinson Sword Black Plastic
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword
• Lather: Edge - Sensitive Skin w/Aloe
• Post Shave: Curel Lotion - Unscented
• Fragrance: Racing Club - Blue

FOF

Today’s Theme and Challenge:

It was a little tricky to figure out what to use. I tried looking up the MSRP of some of my products, but for the cheapest things in my den, not finding a consistent answer. I had a gel I used to use with cartridges a couple years ago, but no sticker on them, and ugh, current price was higher than Cremo which I already used. I thought Thayers may be my cheapest after shave product, but per oz. not cheaper than Aqua Velva which is around $.80 per oz. My best recollection is the Thayers cost me around $10 for 12 oz. bottle. Now some of them were bought with a buy three ore more for 20% off, but looking for consistency in my pricing. To the store I go. I actually use Curel lotion sometimes for a post shave and it is cheaper than Aqua Velva per oz.

Prices:

Razor: I paid $8 for the razor and blades together.
Lather: Edge gel was $4.00 for 7 oz. or 198g, so just over $.02 per gram.
Post Shave: $9.95 for 25 oz or about 750 ml, so under $.02 per ml.
Fragrance: $5.00 for 100ml or 3.4 oz. That comes to $.05 per ml.

If I threw away the razor, I still would have had the whole shave for under $8.50 in gear and consumables. Pretty cheap shave then.

Shave quality was average. I had a shower shave for the first time is over 2 years. No brush today, so just my hands for the goo. The shower shave was ok, but I forgot how much shadow my right side is in my shower. The gel performed about as well as I’d expect for a can of goo.

Today’s Fragrances:

To start with, there is description on the can of the scent other than aloe. Out of the can this blue goo smelled of green leaves and aloe. Not much else going on with it. After the shave and shower, the Curel is fragrance free, but has a basic lotion/oil scent. My face was a bit wet, so I had way to much lotion, but that’s ok, I just put the excess lotion on my arms. Now the cheap fragrance from five below has no description of scent other than blue in the name. This was a real test of the nose as I just get a basic cologne scent from it. To the interwebs to see what I can find. The most consistent description was citrus, salt, musk, and woods. Not giving me a lot to go with. Closest I can compare it to is Victorinox Classic. I am not getting anything distinct or that impresses me from this scent, but what should I expect for a spray that cost a couple pennies. Today my fragrance journey took a few steps backwards. In the pursuit of cheap as possible, I was limited in what I could do. Kind of kicking myself for not picking up the perfume in a pink skull from five below. It was very floral and sweet though. It would have been a fun bottle next to all the rectangular ones.

Today’s picture. I think I got 5G reception.

Today’s Haiku:

Cheapest is not best,
What does blue really smell like?
About five dollars.

July 29, 2023 - Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Yaqi Dandelion Green 24mm Cashmere
• Razor: Pearl Blaze
• Blade: Lord Platinum
• Lather: Edwin Jagger - Sandalwood Shaving Cream
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Santa Noir
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux - Rose Santal

FOF

Today’s Theme:

All three are sandalwood scents. Pretty much hits the theme.

Today’s Challenge:

Not a fan of cheating on the homework, but points are points.

For the LG overall there are a few people I can see winning and one I’d think would be awesome, but not enough shaves to contend.

u/OnionMiasma - I think all the on location shaves were great. Very engaged and funny. Not which one to win! This timeline, or the alt-universe. I guess this universe because in Bizarro World, PAA is a top artisan. Trying to guess where he’ll go next year, maybe shaving in the bleachers at Wrigley?

u/CrispMango - I can barely think of a few things for a haiku, going for 30 songs? Also, not sure the location, but if in the US, is shaving very late at night.

u/Priusaurus and u/MrTangerineSky: The feud was very entertaining, but got a bit crazy at the end.

Really a lot of good performances this year, but I’m sad that this poster didn’t go for it every day.

u/ktturtlesue - Not shaving everyday, but I looked for your replies, and all your dunking on Onion. u/OnionMiasma looks like you got a keeper.

Feats of Fragrance:

Fragrance has been a real journey for me this year. I’ve enjoyed learning more about the art, and trying more. I’ll say the the likely winners would be between u/RedMosquitoMM and u/chronnoisseur420

Photocontest:

u/gcgallant - consistently has beautiful arrangements, color, and lighting.
u/jwoods23 - I like the Lego themes

Today’s Fragrances:

After the underwhelming cheap stuff yesterday, it was nice to get back to something good. Sandalwood is in a lot of things I have. It is usually more a base note I think, so not always upfront or in your face, but it comes out as a mellow foundation that is a bit woody (duh) and sometimes a bit creamy. I couldn’t find a list of scents in the Edwin Jagger other than warm spice and sandalwood. The soap/cream was very mildly scented, and just gave me a hint of sandalwood once I got some water in the lather. To really get things more interesting, House of Mammoth - Santa Noir adds a dark and musky flavor to the sandalwood. Lots of interesting things added to the sandalwood like black currant, evergreen scents like balsam, spruce, and hemlock, then musk, patchouli, and sandalwood. A few other scents are listed, but to me it is a fresh cut pine tree with some incense in the background. Definitely get the sandalwood from it, but there is a lot layered in there. The Rose Santal from Chatillon Lux took the darker sandalwood experience of Santa Noir, and brightened things up with the rose and bergamot. This scent has the strongest sandalwood of the three. Rose as a scent is a strange one to me. Whenever I smell something rose scented, my mind just says flowers. I’d only be guessing if I said rose. I can smell lavender and lilac and pretty much identify them, but rose seems to be my default flower scent. I was talking about that with my mom a while ago. She thinks it is probably because most modern roses you get in floral arrangements have very little scent. The were cultivated for their appearance, and lost a lot of scent over time. Features like the shape of the buds, and long straight stems were the goal. I do like this EdP, and it pairs nicely with the splash.

Today’s Haiku:

Sandalwood, musk, rose,
A freshly cut Christmas tree,
A bit dark, yet bright.

July 30, 2023 - Bon Voyage

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

FOF

Today’s theme and challenge:

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

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

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

Today’s Fragrance:

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

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

Today’s final haiku:

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