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.