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.