July 18, 2023 - Spooky Season
- Brush: Summer Break Soaps “Mood Indigo” 28mm Synthetic
- Razor: Chiseled Face Legacy
- Blade: Gillette Platinum (4)
- Lather: Red House Farm - 9 Days Up Nort’
- Post Shave: Declaration Grooming - Darkfall - Splash
- Alum: Nope
- Fragrance: Southern Witchcrafts - Labyrinth - EdP
- Music: Death Cab for Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan
Daily Write-Up:
I love fall. It’s my favorite season, and it’s not even close.
And part of fall in the upper midwest is deer hunting. People take time off of work during the small windows when deer hunting is allowed, and arrange their personal calendars around being able to get out in the woods. To me, that’s what this soap is about - setting time in the fall (Wisconsin deer season is November 18th-26th) to get outside and spend some time in the woods. And if you bag a deer, even better - you can fill your freezer and maybe make some shaving soap.
The music (which feels very autumnal) and the shave has me feeling in a very fall mood. Autumn is only 10 weeks away. So, in honor of that fact, I am going to be completing a 10-pass shave today (broken up, throughout the day, for obvious reasons).
Passes 1 and 2:
* Location: Home.
* Direction: WTG, ATG
* My wife insisted that I clean my sink before showing my internet friends my dirty sink, so… it’s clean
* Pic of whiskers available here
* On a personal note - I find this to be the most revolting daily challenge thus far, across two Lather Games. It is made far worse by the video etched in my mind of u/hugbckt drinking his whiskers.
It's officially fall on the Lather Games calendar. So I got my flannel on, time to go get my fall on. Luckily I have autumnal tunes and somewhat autumnal weather. LFG!
Passes 3 and 4:
* Location: Starbucks
* Direction: XTG, XTG
* Nothing says fall like a Pumpkin Spice Latte. I learned my lesson from others and chose a chain coffee shop for these two passes, as the baristas don't get paid well enough to deal with randos wearing flannel and shaving on the patio.
Coffee was...sweet. Passes were ok- I should have chosen a less aggressive razor for a 10-pass day.
A lot of times during the fall we get our of the concrete jungle and head up to quieter areas. Given the source and theme of my soap today, I just decided to head to Wisconsin. Maybe do some apple picking and get some Octoberfest beer? See some woods? I don't know if there will be time.
Half an hour into the drive I realize that the PSL already needs out. I pull into a tollway oasis and make my way to a surprisingly clean and empty restroom.
Passes 5 and 6:
* Location: Tollway Oasis
* Direction: WTG, ATG
I made it to Wisconsin!
Passes 7 and 8:
* Location: Welcome to Wisconsin Sign
* Direction: WTG, ATG
* I asked a nice woman walking a dog near the sign where she goes apple picking around here. It might be my Illinoisan accent, or the fact I was actively shaving, but she didn't seem to understand my question. After I ~~asked~~ shouted at her three more times she gave me some suggestions and walked away very quickly. Nice lady.
I stopped by a liquor store to pick up some local craft beer. When in Rome, am I right? I was hoping to get some stag, but sadly, they were out, and I got some Moon Man instead.
Knowing my trip up Nort' was coming to an end, I stopped to get some gas, and noticed that the temperature outside had dropped a bunch. Time to cardigan up and put a beanie on!
I finally got to the apple picking place the nice dog lady suggested. I was amazed at the apples I could pick. I made my selection and walked to my car, dejected that there didn't appear to be a good place for my final two passes, and were nary a wood anywhere. Turns out SE Wisconsin is really pretty suburban.
I got in my car, and it hit me. Anything can be a mobile shave den if you try hard enough! I used my remaining PSL, to rehydrate the lather in my brush and lathered up.
Passes 9 and 10:
* Location: The Ultimate Shaving Machine™
* Direction: WTG, WTG
Now that all my passes were done, I after shaved and then got back on the road for home.
Fall is the best.
Soap Theme Justification
* 9 Days Up Nort’ is a u/grindermonk creation celebrating the 9 days of the Wisconsin deer season, and is made with deer tallow. Rules require the soap be “Explicitly marketed for a holiday occurring between Autumnal Equinox and Winter Solstice “ - deer season is undoubtedly a holiday in the rural upper midwest, and falls in November.
Post-Shave and Fragrance Relevance Notes
* My theme for scents is “fall in the midwest”
* For the AS, I chose Darkfall. Scott made this scent to evoke a Southern fall, but the scents feel really similar to fall in my midwestern hometown. Specifically the burning leaf note, which is ever-present.
* For the Frag - I pulled in SW Labyrinth. The note here that really rounds out the theme is the wet stone - midwestern autumns can be pretty wet at times, and the damp notes in this frag really round out the theme well.