July 1, 2023

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 22mm Faux Horse w/ Ruby Ripple Handle #fauxfur
• Razor: Univilions #KAMISORI
• Blade: Artist Club (1)
• Lather: Zingari Man – The Master
• Post Shave: Zingari Man – The Master
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Unconditional Surrender

So here we are the opening of lather games. Today’s challenge, new stuff. Now it’s advice here not to change too many variables at once, and today throws that out the window for one…subpar shave. New, never tried before razor style: Check New brush with a knot I’ve never tried before: Check Soap brand I’ve never tried before: Check. (I’ve only used Zingari bath soaps, lotions and post shaves.) Post I’ve never tried before: Not check, but I’ve only used this once and I get a funny tingle form the cinnamon, so why not use it on a day I’m going to butcher myself. Frag I’ve never tried before: Check. (We’ll get to that in a moment.)

Soap was a generous smush from u/straightshaversix sitting on my den for probably 6 months or more now. Loaded it into a tub and started swiriling. Building my lather realized it wasn’t enough, went back and did it again, got a good lather and set to work. This kamisori was a PIF from u/loudmusic boy. He even included a blade. Now it’s been wrapped in foil to protect it from any kids who stumble into my office (and me when I reach in the box) so I don’t know if that affected the blade. We’ll see! Now, as mentioned before I have a hand eye coordination issue that exacerbates when I’m doing fine detail work and nervous. I also have 2 protruding moles on my cheek and chin. (No pics no one wants to see a weird pic of my chin). This shave is..acceptable. Took like 5 passes and I feel raw, but I had 0 nicks or cuts, so a win. By pass five my hand was shaking quite a bit from nerves and exhaustion so I called it quits. Asked wife “do I look acceptable” she said “yeah, I guess?” So we’re off to a kid free breakfast.

Now the frag. I don’t normally wear frags every day, but this month is special so armed with a Chatillon Lux and Maher Olfactive discovery set (plus a few other things) I’m going to roll into #FOF and see what the hell happens. As many of you who’ve trade smushes with me know, I’m also born, raised and still in STL. So when I use Chatty Lux stuff, I’m going to throw in my own take, though often it won’t be something quite as ad copy ready as Shawn’s stuff. Unconditional surrender is named after Pres. Grant, honestly expected more tobacco given…well Grant. And maybe some booze. But it’s actually got a floral note and something musky underneath. Grant is of course well known here and much in the odd way STL is always in tension so was his rival Lee. Lee famously developed the riverfront that would become known as “Laclede’s Landing” during his time with the Union Engineers. Obviously though, there will be no Lee themed frag for good reasons. There’s also a lesser known Union General Lyons who, upon hearing some folks were gonna storm the union arsenal and take the weapons to secede rode down and had himself a bit a battle. This battle is not as famous as many others in the history books, but had the traitors succeeded they would have had the weapons to open a new front in the war. So, there’s your brief and probably 90% correct military history lesson for the day.

Also throwing in to the #photocontest. In honor of u/cowzilla3, I read the rules and ain’t no rule that says I can’t use Photoshop’s generative AI to add a golden retriever to my photo. And damnit I needed an excuse to use that since I pay for photoshop.

Lastly shout out to all my fellow #ROTY participants. I’m not demanding unconditional surrender yet, but this will be a heated and friendly competition. (I wasn’t going to get through this with at least one joke about the frag name).

Looking forward to fun month internet friends.

Edited: forgot a tag damnit.

Edited again. Well I hope there posts are judged on final format because in my excitement I forgot to call out the internal theme. Obviously I dickhole set this shave but actually all 3 elements were scented by Shawn Maher.

July 2, 2023 – MM24 in transit.

• Brush: Body Shop Synthetic #runt #smoll #ANCIENT
• Soap: TOBS - Tobacco Leaf
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Shire
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Romance in Middlesex County
• Razor: Gillette Superspeee taped on one side
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (7)

Well this day came too early. I just picked up an MM24 that won’t arrive until Wednesday. So I had to make do with the taped up SuperSpeed. Doing this I realized how much I’ve incorporated flipping my razor into my routine. It’s basically muscle memory at this point. Regardless I got a good shave.

This was my first use of TOBS which I did not realize was a cream. There’s no ingredients on the sample but the TOBS website says all their products are vegan. The shave itself was ok but man was my face dry after. Normally I can distinguish post feel.. But now I understand.

This brush is odd. I found it in a drawer. I remember buying it with their cream to make carts bearable, deciding it didn’t. Growing a beard then finding it again when I started wetshaving, deciding it was kinda crummy (rough and no splay) getting a maggards Synth and during all this time never throwing it out. Well it’s time has come.

On to #FOF: The shire plays off the tobacco notes in the soap (though the soap was not what I expected for a tobacco) And as I mentioned the discovery sets only get you a little over 2/3 of the way so I’m backfilling. All my tobacco frags are earmarked for better days so I thought I’d continue the intended progression from tobacco to lighter spring tobacco mixed with air and grass go the fruits and florals of RIMSC and… It didn’t really work. It’s not bad, they are (edited this should read "aren't") totally clashing but they don’t blend. Oh well. But there was also a subtle second reason for this choice. My choices spell out my initials. (I actually swapped my frag to make this happen.)

And to #photocontest I’m still not sure how many of these I’m going to take. But as I mentioned in practice LG we’re a family of weirdos so we all goof along in each other’s hobbies. My kids especially love helping with photography and smelling my new soaps. So for the architecture theme we used their train setup which is full of buildings (some custom made for this shot) and they composed the shot. Which is why it’s a wide angle, because “it all has to be in there dad.” they wanted to be in it too but the wife and I nixed that because we’re putting less pics of our kids on the interwebz.

Lastly, shout out to all my fellow 23 #ROTY. Let’s have some fun!

Edited: this post was DQ'd because I effed up formatting but replaces it for u/wallygator88 and FOF.

July 3, 2023 – RedmosquitoMM day  

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Badger  #SHD #composite
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed  
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (1)  
• Lather: Cella – Red  
• Post Shave: Zingari Man – Traditionalist  

• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Crystal Moon  

• Coffee: Switch Coffee Collective Columbia

• Music:. sweet silence followed by my son singing “you are my sunshine.”

Today we celebrate last year’s winner u/redmosquitoMM. I looked over his posts and I’m pretty sure the judges would prefer I not copy his verbosity from last year. So we’ll leave this to a few points, first including the coffee and music, which he does in his SOTD posts and second, making my #photocontest an outside affair (scenery) the home of mosquitoes. But also since this is a competition (but a friendly one) including something to keep away our winner from last year. I also used cella red, but that was totally coincidence so I’m not counting it.

On the #fof side, my calendar notes just said “traditional” which made sense for cella (a traditional soap and scent) and “the traditionalist” in name. But I couldn’t remember why I chose crystal moon. So I went back and read Shawn’s blog about it and saw the bit about the legend of the princess in a crystal castle. And it came back to me. I was thinking of all the various traditional story tropes that seem to crop up in every culture. There’s a lot of that when you look at it. Humans love traditions and we create them like crazy. Sometimes we borrow directly from each other (as Shawn did with elements of this fragrance) sometimes we independently arrive at the same things (as with many of the tropes.) Still fascinating to me. Here at the sub we have a tradition that turns a decade next year and while I’m just a rookie (going for #ROTY) I’m glad to be a part of it.

Also found out I DQ’d myself yesterday by triggering the spam filter and effing up my formating causing the lather to drop off, which probably chucks me from several places and might throw me out of ROTY (that's up to u/j33pguy13) On the flip side frees me up to use use stuff I had set aside to maximize points. :shreds calendar he spent 3 weeks making: let’s go.

July 4, 2023 – Hail Science

• Brush: Omega 40033 24mm #oldworld #hollow
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (2)
• Lather: Talent Soap Factory – Wild Flowers
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Bergamot Lavender
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Yuzu/Rose/Patchouli

Ah spring, season of renewal. A time to come out of the doldrums of winter. This is perfect timing actually as I’m still working to come out of the doldrums of my stupid mistakes day two. Perhaps, this theme day will provide the renewal I need to get out of the ~~dog~~ Airbud house.

Wildflowers seems appropriate, did you know wildflowers are the first thing to return after a fire and some flowers require a fire to grow? May I rise from the ashes of stupidity like the flowers. I will keep hashtagging and #FOF the scent progression seems somewhat obvious here, bergamont lavender (playing on lavender being a flower) and Y/R/P. Y/R/P is, per Shawn, based on the Missouri Botantical Garden, a place well known to all St. Lousians. While we may not go every year, we often make it out every few to see the flowers. My earliest memories of it are of going into the “Climatron,” a giant geodesic dome that holds an artificial rain forest. The humidity was a lot even for us Midwesterners and so you’d always get a punch to your breath when you walked in. Then go looking for the banana tree, because who doesn’t live bananas? (Soap to make appearance later.) Back when I was younger it seemed an expansive area, now it seems so small. We’re members now, but mostly for the butterfly house (which is much closer and more my kids style.) But (bringing us full circle) a little known piece of the garden is “Shaw Nature Reserve” out in Grey Summit, a massive property maintained as mostly natural land with…you guessed it! Wildflowers galore. It’s about a 35 minute drive and we go out a few times a year to let the kids run around in the prairies and play on the nature scape playground.

For the challenge: As I told u/merikus on the discord, I cannot go full shit post. It’s not my style. So I’ll be competing as much as possible still by trying to hit every challenge to the best of my abilities. As a former lab jockey, this one was right up my alley. But Beer brewing is where I devote my science skills. As a current research administrator I’m familiar with many aspects of the NIH many people can’t seem to care about. For example: Did you know the NIH has an Office of Alternative Medicine?. It changes names every few years to make sure it stays up to date with the most current technology (and out of the reach of people who may criticize it.) But to me it will always be OAM, shelling out millions a year test the boundaries of traditional ways of healing. And in the vein of a study designed to test “energy Chelation" on rabbits I present a study to test my ability to transfer my negative emotions to my stubble, ultimately to my soap, and down the drain.

Step 1: Find a quartz crystal. I am to understand quartz is essential for this project. However I have no quartz. Until I realize my bathroom counter is “artificial granite” which is basically ground up quartz held together by epoxy. I now have a 6 foot long emotional resonator.

Step 2: Choose brush. The Omega will do, the hollow handle provides a place for the negative emotions to build up and transfer to my lather. But wait you say, transfer to the lather? That goes on your face! Yes, but the emotions are inside me, so to the lather and ultimately down the drain. Step 3: Choose a lathering method known for attracting powerful emotions. GUTL it is.

Step 4: Build lather, during this process as I add water I imagine my emotions being poured into the lather.

Step 5: Shave, while shaving push your emotions into the stubble, causing them to be severed from the body.

Step 6: Rise away emotions. Repeat 5 and 6 for 2 more passes.

Based upon initial results I can report that I feel significantly better. I’m now only 30% pissed at myself. More importantly, this experiment can serve as preliminary data that, based upon my fairly substantial knowledge of the NIH granting process and OAM’s thresholds, would provide a serious chance an R01 devoted to the study of the mediative practice of shaving. I believe there’s enough here to propose the ApplIcation, appRopriateness and Benefits of Using Dedicated grooming thinking to help emotional wellness (AIRBUD) trial. I’ll have to see if u/cowzilla3 feels up to being Co-Investigator. R01 grants run about 700k/year plus F&A (Overhead).

On to #photocontest: Listen, I was serious about being able to only hold that schtick for so long, so here’s a picture that hits the SPACE theme, with our solar observing telescope. There’s a partial eclipse in October, and a full eclipse in April, and we’re preparing. Later we’re going outside to continue documenting sunspots, so my daughter can see how the sun changes over time. (The reflector scope was too damned big for the picture.) But also, please stop funding the OAM.

Am I DQ’d from #ROTY Unsure. But I’ll keep putting the hash all month long just to be safe.

Edited: Fixed some markdown. I hope this worked this time.

Edited again: effing hashtags. This isn't a bit I'm doing I just fuck up this much. Which is why being caught in the spam filter killed me.

July 5, 2023 – Gillette Day

• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (3)
• Lather: Gillette – Satin Care Sensative Skin
• Post Shave: Nivea – Sensitive Post Shave Balm
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Santal Auster

Gillette Razor: Check

Gillette blade: Check

Gillette Canned Goo: Unfortunately Check.

Now I didn’t want to buy a brand new can of goo just for this, so I used my wife’s leg stuff. Nothing said not to use it on my face and the ingredients look mostly like what I had when I last used a can of goo over a decade ago now. “But tsr, you’ve only been wetshaving for 8 months? How is that possible.” Well before that I used a norelco shaver which is gooless and before that I used a shave butter from Dollar Shave Club that’s no longer made. (Flashback to how horrible that was.) So this shave was not as bad as my first wetshave ever, but still sucks. I put way to much gel on my hand, scooped some into my sample loading bowl (which served for pass 2 and 3.) Its clear this stuff is for a multiblade razor, it’s too thick for the DE to really get near the skin, but by using wet hands to get parts 2 and 3 I thinned it into usable. Got a socially acceptable shave but irritation everywhere. Used the nivea balm to stay on “big box store” theme.

Which brings us to #fof, I didn’t remember a smell to this stuff when I last used it. Maybe it’s because what I used was targeted at women and a scent is added.l or maybe my memory is just bad. It was vaguely medical aloe. This actually made me smell the aloe in the nivea a bit more than usual which was interesting. But can’t really build a fragrance flow off “medicinal aloe.” To hold the theme of big box store I’d have had to find an EdT there, which was likely possible (Axe anyone?) but opted instead for wordplay. This was an austerity shave if there ever was one. The shave I would have to do if I ever run out of already purchased soaps and my wife and I have to go back to our “to the bone” budget. (Note: I don’t recommend this. It sucks on multiple levels.) So Santal Austere it is. Not my normal style of fragrance, one of the accords plays horribly with my nose. But here we are.

Which is a good slide into #photocontest and the challenge. I’ve tried to incorporate the daily challenge into my photo challenge most days. And today is no exceptions, fruit. Why fruit? Because the apple is in my favorite wetshaving scent:Alive. (yes it’s green apple but it’s all I had.) Had I tried to design a scent it wouldn't have ended up at all like this because I couldn't have figured out this combination of notes would be so emotionally soothing.

Also, as I've mentioned I'm wierd when it comes to scents. I want to shave with a gourmand but not smell like that for more than the shave. So my ideal scent would actually be a progressive trifecta. It would start with the sweet almond of Stirling Almond Creme, mixed in with chocolate and vanilla for the soap. For the splash I'd keep tbr chocolate and vanilla but move them to the background of a coffee accord. This would carry though to the frag but here we'd scale back the coffee, lean into the vanilla and accentuate with Lavender and a sweet tobacco (two of my favorite single notes.)

Would this work at all? No freaking clue. I won't quit my day job and just leave this perfumery to the experts.

Finally, the judges have shown me mercy and I thank them. So I'm still in this and competing heavily for #ROTY.

July 6, 2023 – Alive with Olfaction

• Brush: AP Shave Co. Cashmere
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (4)
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Alive
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Alive
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Alive

Today is a good day. Shave was somewhat lessoned by the fact that the cashmere knot does not work great in my hands yet but there are no bad shaves with Alive. I went all in on olfactive overload, literally bathing myself in it with the Alive bath bar.

This theme dictates my choices top to bottom so for #fof I’m going to note Alive was my first dickhole set that grew to become my second trifecta. As I’ve noted before, I went from Stirling sampler to 4 horsemen, which will make one a bit gun-shy about new stuff. I had a used tub of hygge I bought when u/MammothBen posted about his pending Black Friday clearance. Get a free beanie! How could I resist? I looked over the things in the sale, and was sorta cautious. I saw Alive and went “hmm sounds like a fairly safe bet.” TTS estimated a 3 for me, but I also knew it was always a bit low on guesses. (Almond Creme 2.6?!)

Up until now I had 0 matching balms, following u/Itchypooter’s dickhole theory, I had a bunch of generally complimentary to stuff I owned balms but nothing matching. But this was on sale, so I went in. I distinctly remember thinking even at half off blind buying a trifecta was madness, especially since at that point my entire frag collection was a 25ml bottle of YSL l’homme gifted to me 5 years prior. I passed on the frag and would not realize my mistake for some time.

When it arrived, I found the smell pleasant, but didn’t get around to using it. I finally did, and I was sitting at my desk later, frustrated by some paperwork I was tired of and I put my hands to my face and suddenly I smelled it. A scent that said “hey, pick yourself up, you’re alive and that’s a damned good start.”

I used it several more times and realized I needed that whiff of smell through the day wanted and EdP. But by then they were all gone. I stalked the ‘zaar but most of them came in lots and I didn’t want extra stuff. Then a fateful email came, Alive was coming back. I snagged a bottle the morning it launched and haven’t looked back.

Alive and Hygge while being totally different categories of scents, share themes of comfort. But while Hygge surrounds you, protecting you from the outside world, Alive draws you back into it. It reminds you, sure life sucks sometimes, but you’re alive and that’s a damned good start. I come back to it whenever I need this uplifting reminder (which lately is quite a bit.) When this tub gone, I hope Ben’s still selling it so I can buy more.

So, a thank you to u/Mammothben for creating this and so many other scents that have brought me enjoyment or renewed energy these last few months (and for years to come).

OK, emotional time over, after probably getting a negative point for being too wordy. It’s #photocontest time. Went for the “Pets” theme. Also, you’ll see my stacking challenge completed here. This was a fun challenge and when I was talking with my daughter (Preview of hobbies tomorrow, we do photography together so she’s helping on all these) we agreed that stacking in front of the only pet we own was appropriate. Took forever to get that fish in frame, but we did it. The items are not leaning on the aquarium I promise (the brush fell once, luckily it was a seconds brush so I think the scratch was already there.) Also #ROTY

July 7, 2023 – Spicy

• Brush: Zenith r/wetshaving Exclusive Moar Boar 31mm #oldworld #chonk
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (5)
• Lather: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company – Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime
• Post Shave: Jack Black Face Lotion
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Admiral

​

Today I went with Sea Spice Lime. Now when I first asked, I was told it was not spicy enough. I moved on, I hadn’t bought it yet anyway and later our Chief Judge u/USS-SpongeBob updated his answer to "probably." Since I prefer SSL to spiced I took this as a green light. The spice notes to me are quite prominent. They are listed clearly in the ad copy on Spearhead’s website and the tub. This is pretty straight forward to me. If not for the pink pepper and Coriander, this would be just lime. No this is a spicy margarita. And it’s wonderful.

For #FOF I want with what is probably the obvious choice, Admiral. They’re tied together by citrus tones, and while there’s some pink pepper in here this is not really spicy, per se but rather a progression from spicy to a more citrus aquatic, which works quite well, although I’m not 100% sure on the scent itself. Shawn nailed Laclede’s landing actually (or at least nailed it at 6pm, not 12am when the addition of vomit would probably make for a bad frag) but I have no real great memories of that area so it creates no emotional tie in like say YRP.

Obviously, there are nautical tie ins here. I’m from St. Louis, so I did not confuse this for an ocean scent, however. I’m well aware of the (former) ship SS Admiral. In fact as I was putting it on my mind kept singing “The President Casinoooo… Downtown by the Arch!” The President (Which is what they named the casino on the Admiral) was in some ways a curious product of Missouri legalizing gambling only on river boats. Eventually larger casinos would be built on permanent” boats” (really buildings on piers) in channels off the river. Entirely indistinguishable from a normal building, you only recognize they are in fact “boats” as you drive over the bridges next to them. This change would move casinos out to the burbs and eventually kill the admiral. (apparently we can now build casinos within 1000 feet of a river as long as 2000 gallons of water is maintained in the basement… We’re weird.) The President was also parked just upriver of the steamboat McDonald’s, back when this town leaned more heavily into its riverboat past. (And oddly….future. We’re building larger ports just south of here as the shipping trouble in LA and the surrounding areas makes it more efficient to go through the Panama Canal and up the Mississippi to deliver goods to the midwest and areas east. Not that the river was ever not busy. If you ate cornflakes this morning no doubt the corn spent some time on the river down the road.)

​

On to hobbies, which makes a nice transition to #photochallenge. I have a couple of hobbies reflected in this post. Firstly, I’m a fan of homebrewing. And to that end, here for the Drinks category is my SOTD with one of my pop top homebrews yet to be drank, all in front of my 6.5gal carboy. Homebrewing has a lot of technical jargon (Krausen, trub, etc.) but I find the lingo is less diversified than wetshaving. If I go into any homebrew store and say “I want an extract clone kit of Sierra Nevada with a slap pack of ale yeast” I’m going to get exactly that (a kit, using only malt extracts and maybe a steeping grain, but a full all grain, that is a mimic of Sierra Nevada using a Wyeast starter.) It’s harder to find a shave shop for me than a homebrew store, but if I walk into one and say “I want a dickhole dupe of Adventus” I’m…gonna get thrown out. I’m also a hobbyist photographer, I’ve had a couple of decent shots. And when I get some time to get them into imgur, I’ll upload them as comments to this post (to avoid any spam bots killing it.) As I mentioned, my kids are also engaged in my hobbies (and my wife’s too, though mine seem to be bigger). My daughter and son have point and shoot cameras and both help with beer bottling. My daughter actually helped compose todays SOTD picture (it was her plan to use the Carboy as a background. Last tag #ROTY.

Edited: Put in markdown mode and fixed formatting

July 8, 2023 – Buttering toast for the first time

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24 #brassing
• Blade: GEM (1)
• Lather: Maggard Razors – Lilac
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Bergamot Lavender
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – La Petite Prairie

Today I used the MM24. And tied that directly into my DQ thread question.

So no not a shit post but nicely tied together.

I want to thank u/EldrormR for the opportunity to grab that MM24 before he went public with it. It’s a beautiful unique razor. This one in particular because the plating was in such bad shape he removed it from the lid creating a two tone top. His picture is better than mine. I hope he won’t mind if I use it.

The shave was not my best but no worse than the first shave with the Parker or the kamisori. I titled a little too much in several places, nicked my chin 3x and mole once. But nothing serious, a little stypic and fixed. Some feedback on the balm and I feel a bit raw but I’ll get better and probably pretty quick if today’s start was any indication.

On to #fof. Now you’re thinking “wait wouldn’t Le petite prairie made more sense with wild flowers?” No. And let me tell you why. Because my grandparents and mom lived off a street aptly named “Lilac Road.” it’s the second to last Missouri exit on the bypass. They weren’t directly off it but that’s how we got there. Once it was a large farm but by the time I was born and we’d visit (most notably for the large annual family reunions that occurred outside) most of the land was unfarmed and while not quite fully restored prairie, pretty damn close. I used the bergamot Lavender to bridge these two scent profiles and I think I did pretty well. A trip down memory lane. I appreciate Shawn’s recreation of the prairies that became south stl, because I’ve stood in the ones that remained just 15 miles or so away. (that area won’t be developed so they’ll stay there for a while I’d bet).

Hard to tie today’s #photocontest to the challenge as I have been, so I turned my kids lose and this extinct animal is the result. The giant dinosaur may as well be alive with it’s roaring sound. You can see my daughter’s arm holding it up as she tries to get the perfect shot for me. #ROTY

I want to close by just giving my appreciation for Maggards. This hobby revolves around small businesses and Maggards is one of the best. Yes I try to buy from the artisans directly when I can. My sister also has a small business (a clothing boutique in Chicago) so I’m aware of wholesale problems, profit margin, inventory costs, etc. But artisans can’t sell everything and sometimes you need a broad variety of things and it’s more cost effective go get it all at one place. I’ve had to exchange emails with Brad over a few tiny order issues (one my mistake and one the stock counter) and he’s always been awesome. They ship faster than imaginable. There’s a reason they’ve managed to get the most of my shaving spending (though u/Mammothben is trying to overtake them, and he doesn’t sell much in the name of hardware, so that’s impressive.) Today’s shave used as much Maggards stuff as I could. Brush soap, that bottle of bergamot Lavender didn’t come from them but it’s almost empty and the replacement did. They were my first stop to prep for lather games and where I send my wife to get me gifts. Yes I gave away some of my sample to others did this which cost them a sale or too, but I also have spent enough there to offset that several times over. Thanks Maggards!

July 9, 2023 – It’s a kitchen!

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (1)
• Lather: Master Soap Creations – Peppermint Latte
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Hipster
• Post Shave: Nivea – Sensitive Post Shave Balm
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – 1904

Shave in a kitchen, ok. Doesn’t have to be my kitchen? Double ok. My kids have a Disney Princess Kitchen Set I can shave in. No mirror? Fine I’ll use my tablet in camera mode. (that only kinda worked). Of course it’s short so you gotta sit cross-legged and run using a bowl and towel. Don’t believe I did this? My daughter captured photographic proof. (WARNING: I’m clothed so pic is sfw, but I’m also just wearing shorts and a t-shirt so you probably don’t want to click on it.)

Shave went surprisingly well I gotta say all things considered. No nicks, fairly smooth. I used a wet towel to soften the whiskers. Since it’s kitchen day I broke out a mixing bowl for rinsing water and my trusty baseball helmet ice cream bowl to make the lather.

My #fof only sorta worked here. Obviously coffee ties all these together, but while coffee is prominent in the soap that has only 2 notes (no dq concerns there), after 15 minutes of shaving your nose is blown out by the peppermint. I got nothing off hipster. I showered before applying 1904 which brought some back. But in my ongoing thread of “how chatty lux speaks to a fellow St Louisian” let’s talk coffee. Coffee is a seriously underrated part of St. Louis. Shawn’s right to speak of the 3rd wave roasters. My morning coffee is from a small operation in North St. Louis, my wife and I basically courted at the on campus Kaldi location. But STL also has a few massive operations too. If you’ve drank coffee at a big hotel good chance it as made by Ronnoco (which is O’Connor spelled backwards.) who is hq’d here. And my old office was a few blocks from Thomas Coffee. Roasting days were my favorite day to walk into the building. Sure it’s a canned coffee but in a pinch you could do worse at the price point. (it was one of our go tos during our budget troubles.)

For #photocontest gonna go a different way than u/jwoods23. Yes coffee but I’m going to go with technology. Modern coffee makers are getting increasingly complex. This one alters timing based on brew size and type (it does coffee concentrate and iced coffee with proper ratios.) Sure a simple pour over or French press is good, but I can’t set that the night before. Technology is great.

Also #ROTY gotta keep it going.

July 10, 2023 – CH-ch-Ch-eery Bomb

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 22mm Faux Horse w/ Ruby Ripple Handle
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (2)
• Lather: Dr. Jon’s – Runaway
• Post Shave: Dr. Jon’s – Runaway
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Tempo Rubato

Today I went with Dr. Jon’s (RIP) Runaway. A tribute to Joan Jett, this song lives up to the bands well known hit and is a cherry bomb. For #fof, well I was a bit confused actually because when putting my calendar together I noticed Chatillon Lux has no musical themed scents. For being a place several musicians have called home (Chuck Berry most noteably played the Duck Room regularly until just before his death) I was sorta stunned Shawn hadn’t taken this idea and gone with it on that line. But the Maher Olfactive line does have Tempo Rubato. Theme here shifts from rock to jazz. Based on the notes of apricot, plum and orange essence I had expected more fruit forward scant than what this is. I’m kinda glad it’s not. I wouldn’t want to smell like a fruit stand all day after the cherry bomb. So the end result works. Just like how a good playlist will seamlessly move between genres, so so my scent does. (of note, wife was a fan of Runaway, not of Tempo. Say a prayer for her, this is a hard month a guy going from a spray of adventus cologne every 4 or 5 days to 30 days of niche frags.)

For the #photocontest, I’m entering the picture linked in the date line under what else? Music! This is separate from my picture for today’s challenge. Regarding the challenge, I suck at drawing. But I tried to use the beta photoshop AI to produce a rock star and the output was the stuff of nightmares. Distorted faces, extra arms. For some odd reason I thought adding “Rockstar shaving” would be better but it was even more cursed. The faces we’re lathered from top to bottom and the dipping lather was rendered as dripping face. “fine,” I said, “we’ll do a Rockstar from behind looking at the crowd.” and it produced views from behind of several people with inverted knees (curiously no crowd.) I considered rolling with this, but they were so horrifying I wish I could unsee them (especially dripping face dudes who looked like they peeled their faces off with a straight.) It want from shit post into “negative points” so I deleted them and tried hard to forget. So instead here’s my interpretation of runaway. Since Jett was not my crush like it was the soap Maker’s I opted for a object only label. And added a cherry bomb to tie in the scent notes.

Hey fellow #ROTY 30% done!

July 11, 2023 – A Day at the Beach

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Badger #shd #composite
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (3)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. – Montrose Beach
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Co. – Montrose Beach
• Post Shave: Jack Black - Face Lotion
• Fragrance: Chicago Grooming Co. – Montrose Beach

Today I opted to shave with what Vida calls a scent “just in time for summer.” Just in time indeed. To hit the challenge today I needed a full tub, but the website was sold out. I used the contact form to explain to ask Vida if she expected to have a restock by Mid July for lather games. As a sponsor I figured she’d at least I know understand I was crazy, rather than wondering what I was asking about. I received a quick reply, she actually has 2 in stock and the web site was now updated! I bought the dickhole set, planning to use a different EdT and received a quick email that she had thrown in a gift for lather games. Surprise! She’s thrown in a travel size EdP, which nicely matches the lable of the other products. Score, totally matching set. Got my Jack Black lotion (which also matches the blues in the trifecta.) Lastly my C&H brush seems made for this moment with both blues and the sand color. Use the blue Lancaster Razor Works towel as a background and bam #photocontest entry for r/wicked_edge.

Let’s talk #fof. As I said, I wanted Montrose Beach for this day. I’m off to Chicago next week and 60/40 we end up taking the kids there so it seemed appropriate (even if the timing is off.) It’s a fairly clean aquatic scent to me. It develops nicely from soap, to splash to EdP. I pick up the fruitier notes better in the latter. I do have to chuckle a bit at the sea spray note, since Montrose is on a freshwater lake.

Keep it up fellow #ROTY we’re getting closer each day.

Edited to add the JB lotion. While it doesn't count it's in the picture so I put it in.

July 12, 2023 – Flowers for GUTL

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (4)
• Lather: Martin de Candre – Rose
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Bergamot Lavender
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Sunrise on LaSalle

Today’s shave was thanks to a smush of MdC from u/loudmusicboy. I’ve never used this soap before so I now better understand the title of today’s day. For today’s challenge, I’m a bit of an odd ball, I basically equally bowl or face lather depending on how much time I have. But I pretty much stick to one or the other. Either I get out my bowl or I don’t. So what’s the opposite of that? GUTL. Mixing my face and bowl lathering together and hoping u/merikus draws my post to judge. Let’s do it.

Firstly, I’m kinda only aware of GUTL in theory so look up u/GUTL_bot to get instructions. Ok good. Scoop into bowl. Now as I said I’ve never used MdC before so I don’t know how much. Based on u/EldrormR’s brain bowl experience I need less than a gram so put a little in and.. The whole smush crumbled in, whelp hope u/loudmusicboy gave me the right amount for a shave. I’ll smear it around the bowl. Doesn’t look like too much. Should be fine. Make proto lather, ok that’s easy. Put proto lather on face. Ok so far so good. Return go bowl ok this I’m familiar with. It’s about this point I think “man my face feels dry…is coconut oil the one that dries you out?" Oh it is.. Leaving a heavy coconut oil proto lather on my face while I build my bowl lather is… Probably not a good idea for my skin. Do I stop? No I press on. OK tons of bowl lather built, now face lather. Ok… Explosion of lather on face… But the wet brush has hydrated it ok. Add some more water, keep building…..done. I look like Santa Claus (alas I forgot my phone and now having built lather twice for a single shave I’m running behind.) OK, mix bowl and face lathers….I sorta did this when I went from bowl to face didn't I? (was I supposed to clean my brush at that step?) but ok. Somehow this is making more lather! OK, shave, with a 1 inch thick lather… Rinse my razor every 10 seconds.

I ended up with enough lather for 3.5 passes oh my face, 3 on my upper chest and probably another 2 or 3 that went down the drain. But shave complete. Apply balm. About 20 minutes later my my face feels like leather so…apply more balm.. 20 minutes later…well crap.

So one of two options here. Either my face does not like MdC or GUTL makes it especially drying. Or both I guess. Huge time sink, for lather that was about my normal. So I don’t think I’ll join the GUTL crew yet. But u/merikus is right about the g20. That thing is awesome.

Edited: u/merikus and I have discussed in the comments and he has explained the errors of my ways converting me to GUTL going forward.

On to #fof. Should be obvious here I went for a flower heavy thing. Rose, Lavender, and Sunrise on Lasalle. Lasalle market is interesting. It’s where all the local florists get their flowers. And this scent nails that. On Fridays you can run down and get “date flowers” which is a dozen roses for like $10. Though it’s probably gone up since I last did that. We have a few large local florists here, and they set their main operations on Lasalle, so it remains as it was long ago. One of the more interesting things in this sampler set which largely discusses the past. This one is the present. A rare unchanged thing I this town.

For #photocontest, probably my best shot yet, though I wish my back yard were less messy. As you can see in the heavy bokah background there is a pair of fawns, making this my wild animals entry. Keep plugging #ROTY friends.

July 13, 2023 – Free Love!

• Brush: AP Shave Co. Cashmere
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (5)
• Lather: Tallow + Steel – Shag
• Post Shave: Tallow + Steel – Shag
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Nefertiti

Hippie day. Today is the day we go back to the free love times with our patchouli and incense. In honor of free love movement today’s soap has been shared around. From the original pif couresty of u/35048467, I then doled out close to 10 smushes of this soap. I hope to see a lot of them today (a few we’re holding out for Christmas eve in July). This soap was from 120inna55’s collection and while my time here does not overlap at all with his, I read through many of his reviews when the collection went on sale. The first “full” tubs I bought (Summer Storm, which I bought because of his review, Ghost Town Barber, and Hygge) came from this sale in fact. So, while no longer with us, he’s very much still an influencer in this community even to us noobs. I hope he’d have approved of this effort to tie together this community in what’s could be a small as hoc group shave. I hope to see some tags so I can count, but I might hit 10% of total shaves today from this tub.

For #fof, I used the Shag splash and layered on Nefertiti. With it’s “jazz cigarette” accord, I felt like it most naturally kept to the theme. After all patchouli and pot are old friends. As a practical matter, the patchouli is doing what it is supposed to do and totally covering up any of the frag scent. No one will be any the wiser of the jazz cigarette! I’m safe. Thought my wife is wondering why our bathroom smells like hippie, so this may not have been the smartest decoy.

Entering into the vehicle theme of the #photocontest. My daughter’s RC car is called “petal power” and just continues our 60s theme. I love the composition, but the technical side needs work. I chose the cashmere brush because while not a 60s thing per se, playing off the material names (“shag” means many things but here we’ll use it in the style of carpet) seemed interesting. I have had 0 luck with this knot so far. But after u/merikus converted me to GUTL yesterday, I used it again here (and will continue to GUTL with different brushes!) scooping and developing a proto lather helps this knot shine. My previous lathers with it have been thin, runny and scarce. This time I had a fluffy abundant (has to wash a bunch down the sink) lather leading to a great shave. GUTL forever!

For the challenge: I may be going for #ROTY this year but after this shave I feel like an old hippie (performed live in 1986.)

Edited, fixed some links.

July 14, 2023 – Cool Summer

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Badger
• Razor: Gillette Tech #Regus
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (6)
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps – Rope Swing
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps – Prom King
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Sun Soaked

Picture for Regus hash. https://i.imgur.com/l1gXDMY.jpeg

Totally by coincidence I had to remove the tech from my Spearhead Shaving khaki kit. So I’m also involving today’s sponsor. It’s a great kit of you have a 3 piece and travel at all. Also helps me store my tech when it’s not in use.

Summer is an excellent time to use my 1 cooling soap. It’s not as hell here (already feels like 85F at 7:30) and it’s nice to cool my face. Rope swing is supposed to smell like jumping into a river. I prefer it it cannon ball, probably because I spent more time in rivers and creeks as a kid than at pools. Might as well do stuff out of order and finish my #fof here. I went with Prom King Next. Obviously, they’re both SBS products, but they both have cedar undertones and the grassy notes of Prom King compliment the aquatic notes of Rope Swing very well. Like the shore of the river. Lastly, Sun Soaked. This describes the summers of my youth. It also has a cedar undertone. I pick up pine perhaps too? When I put it on I was immediately transported to rolling up to the campsite and getting ready to have a weekend by the river. (the citrus notes are coming through to me as bug spray, but not in a bad way, in a “memories are better in black and white” way.)

Today’s challenge was rough. What to say about it. Well, for starters, when I started wetshaving I got horrible burn on my lower neck. Took me weeks to figure out my hair changed direction in the last 2-3 inches of my neck and grew up. So I had been unintentionally shaving ATG there causing problems. So I start each shave going up on that part of my neck. Starting with the aggressive Parker 96R, ATG was just a nonstarter. I tried it with the tech and SuperSpeed and frankly, the irritation wasn’t worth the minor increase in smoothness. But for lather games everything is worth it. The rules say half the face, I chose the left, sinister, half in honor of this challenge. Used the tech to minimize the harm. I’m also still using GUTL, which I just now realized rhymes with scuttle. Appropriate. Leaving proto lather on my face while I built my bowl lather meant I was pretty num from the coolant, and so I didn’t feel horrible during the shave. So score one more for GUTL and another selling point for u/merikus. I felt a lot of tugging, no nicks. But since I don’t go ATG normally, I couldn’t get the angles right and the shave was not good. Not even socially acceptable. I did my right pass normally, confirmed the suckiness by comparison, then basically started over with my normal routine. But the pass was completed, so rules followed with no loopholes (sorry u/airbudruler.) I have some irritation, but less than expected.

For #photocontest, entering in sources of light. My bathroom has a 4×3 window in it (yes feet not inches) that faces west. Making it easy to get this picture with back light the evening before.

Getting closer fellow #ROTY

Edited: added Regus hashtag. I already have the ones for the C&H so it's fine to let those go. Fixed tag

July 15, 2023 – I have become death, destroyer of videos.

• Brush: Body Shop Synthetic #runt #smoll #ANCIENT
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24 #brassing
• Blade: GEM (2)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – The Four Horsemen: Death
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Alive
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Red Skies

So here we go. First parts first: I did a video. It needs to be cleaned and uploaded so I’ll update once I have time to get to my desktop. This pushed the boundaries of my desire for a sort of privacy. Interacting through text (even if many of you have my name and address from trades) acts like a mask. So the mask slips a little and I’m uncomfortable, but the point here is to get out of our comfort zone. It’s not a good video but I tried.

Edited: As promised here is the video. TBQH, it's painful even I couldn't watch all 8:37 of it and it's me. My demanded we watch 3 minutes then they got bored. Before any judge hits me with a negative point, I warned you! You can simply verify there is a video for the challenge.

On to the choices and #fof. So death is a chypre (yes I mispronounced it in the video.) the others, I’m not sure they haven’t become a new category. They’re built off a chypre accord, but Will didn’t call them chypre so… I didn’t take the chance. But I do want to use war “during” lather games. So next Saturday, leg day, gonna use war for shave 2 (non LG shave) to shave my face. So, I am a bit superstitious, so after slathering death all over my face 3 times, I countered it with Alive. Take that death! (Edited: according to our Chief Justice, Alive is also a chypre! So my superstition created a chypre trifecta. How's that for a feat of fragrance! " Red Skies is listed on Shawn’s website as a chypre so I went to it get back to the theme. Given its name comes from the old adage “red skies at morning sailor take warning…” it also ties into the overall theme of death and life I got going too.

After I turned off the camera I nicked myself 3 times. Twice under the nose (as I noted is giving me trouble with the MM24) and once during the cleanup pass with the tech, because I forgot to tighten the head (doh).

Today’s #photocontest is water. That is actual holy water. My wife, who isn’t particularly religious, grabbed that many years ago after a Christmas Mass, because she thought you were supposed to. I, who is religious can’t bring myself to throw it away, so I keep it in a drawer. A friend, who’s a priest, saw it and told me I can dump it onto dirt and that’s proper disposal, but it still seems weird. I did not use it to make lather either. But it goes nicely with the death and life theme.

I did a shout out to my fellow #ROTY in the video but will do one again here. I count about 15 of us remaining. Since we’re halfway there here’s a song “Shaving our hair” to the tune of “living on a prayer”

Tommy’s got his moar boar in hock.

Now he’s letting grow what he used to shave off

Ohh shave off

Gina wishes the beard would go away

When she cries in the night tommy whispers

“Baby it’s ok, I’ll shave today”

You’ve gotta load up with what you got

It doesn’t make a difference if you GUTL or not

We’ve got each soap and that’s on theme for now

We’ll give it a shot

Oh, we’re half way there,

Oh-oh shaving our hair

Your skin is raw, but we’ll make I swear

Oh-oh, shaving our hair.

(Edited Video above)

July 16, 2023 – A trip to the barber

• Brush: Omega 40033 24mm #oldworld #hollow
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (7)
• Lather: Noble Otter – Barrbarr
• Post Shave: Zingari – The Wanderer
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Gratiot League Square

Barbershop day. My den is actually full of various takes on this scent. From the more modern like Hygge, to the interesting takes like Ghost Town Barber, to this more traditional take from noble otter.

It’s a great scent and was good to use today. Though I mixed up too many variables and not even the magic of GUTL could save me. I normally use this brush for face lathering CF soaps, but for some reason it just screamed “barbershop” to me, and so I loaded too little. So less a grand unified face and bowl lather and more unification across multiple loads. I got a good shave.

For #fof, obviously The Wanderer is a barbershop, the classic preblend from crafters choice. And I’m ok with this preblend. It smells good and goes with my myriad of barbershops in my den. Gratiot League Square is interesting to me. Interesting in part because the area described is very much my old stomping grounds, hanging out, at a friend’s house who lived in that area, going to the resturants, ordering local pizza. Wandering you might say. I can imagine old barbershops in the area, but much like the old hardware stores they have given way to the entertainment district inside/adjacent to the neighborhoods. The charm is still there even if it’s a little different. And the scent itself plays well with the barbershop scents (but what doesn’t play well with those?)

For #photocontest, got myself an entry for “The law” actually plays well with FOF above since I’ve been pulled over in that area before for the crime of… Trying to drop off my friend late at night. Anyone with kids the same age as mine will recognize Chase, the annoying cop in the pawP Patrol.

So will my fellow #ROTY bring it with the memes this year? I’m tired from a concert and spent my energy on yesterday’s video. But here’s a meme about our dens. Sorry I don't have a ton to overload you with. Gotta get packing (can't forget my calender and soaps!)

But since song parody is a meme of the LG this year and I was at a concert and have a song stuck in my head, here’s one to the tune of Eric Church’s “Drink in my hand.”

Lather up

Mow it down

Slicken your face with soap from a cow

No need to complicate it, I’m no wicked edge man

All you gotta do is put a blade in my hand.

You make me go "ow ow ow" when you nick like that

You got that little weeper there playing peek-a-boo on my neck

If you wanna good dress me, baby here's the plan

All you gotta do is put a blade in my hand.

Lather up

Mow it down

I got 4 days growth worth of stubble to plow

That hair on my face is calling “shave me man”

All you gotta do is put a blade in my hand

OH! That hair on my face is calling “shave me man”

All you gotta do is put a blade in my hand.

Edited: in a moment of inspiration had an idea for a verse. Edited 2, changed "not a wicked edge man" to "no wicked edge man" because it fits the tempo better.

July 17, 2023 – Team Work Makes the Dream Work

• Brush: Zenith r/wetshaving Exclusive Moar Boar 31mm #chonk
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (8)
• Lather: Declaration Grooming – Weinstrasse
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Smash
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Weinstrasse

Collaborations. Where would this hobby be without them. Almost everything used today was either a collaboration or a part of one (the frag being the base scent for the soap collaboration.) Even Moar Boar was a collaboration of several members of this sub. By the by, moar boar is not a GUTL brush. As soon as I tried to put the proto lather on my face of started to lather. This brush was made for faces and faces only.

On to #fof. So let’s talk about this scent. Wientresse. Ah the Wientrasse. If GLS was the stomping grounds of my teenage years, then the wientrasse was my mid to late 20s. A lovely spot down MO-94 with wineries every few miles. So many memories. My wife told me we were having our second kid at one of these wineries. I connected the soap and frag with another booze themed collaboration, Smash from HoM and B&M. It worked very well. The cherry and peach of smash played off the reisling scented soap. So what’s wrong? The wientrasse doesn’t smell like reisling. Sure the wineries make some reisling but the speciality is Norton, which is a native grape, and earthy and dry. Not sweet like reisling. And Norton is one of my favorite wines. (Sometimes it’s called Cynthiana). And whether you knew it or not, norton root stock is basically the main stock behind European grapes too. Now you’re asking “why is is so adamant about this? He said reisling is great too.” It is, and frankly I love this scent. So why? Simply because reisling is more associated with Hermann, which is not really on the wientrasse. But Augusta is, and Augusta was the first place in the nation to get appellation. (Certification as a recognized growing area). Take that Napa valley. So my concern here is 2 fold. First pride for the area and second u/hawns, could you make a norton inspired scent? EdT may be a bit much but maybe something for a splash?

Rant over, #photocontest. This is for history. But it’s also a collaboration! Written by a Russell and Burch, this book forms the basis for all modern animal research ethics and regulations, including the 1984 animal welfare act. My dissertation is an updating if this work. Russell was a zoologist and Burch was, an expert in the humanities, making this some interesting reading as they weave science with, I shit you not, a citation from Alice in Wonderland. It’s amazingly well done for being from the 50s, and my updates are to correct die developments in underlying ethical theory (the rise of principlsim). They weave Darwin and other stuff through the work. When I found a 1st edition for $30 I had to pick it up. It also meant I had the only first edition in the department meaning my mentor had to check my cites with my book.

OK still doing #ROTY but vacation has started (I’m at the amtrak station now waiting for a late train. So risk is high but gonna succeed. All my shaves are planned, SOTD pics pretaken. Let’s gooooooo.

Edited oh right the challenge. I think so little about alum I forgot. I know it's the source of flame wars here. I don't use it except for my stypic pencil. So I rubbed that on my neck where I have problems. It stung. It did nothing else.

July 18, 2023 – Fall into Lather Games

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Parker (1)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Boonana
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Gatlinburg
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Confluence

Autumn day. Before I picked this I checked the description. While all the SW scents seem autumn llke, wanted to be sure. Description says “This no ordinary banana scent – it is a complex and rich blend of dark and spicy accords that are perfect for autumn.” Works for me. Blame u/j33pguy13 for me liking this scent, it was a smush he sent. I bought a whole tub.

My #fof is a bit interesting here. Went with Gatlinburg, another autumn scent. Ended with confluence, which, while fresher than the others still has a cedar undertone that ties everything together nicely I think. Shawn is right about the importance of confluence in stl and I’m bringing it to lather games by mixing up my vendors, mixing my vacation with lather games, and apparently meeting fellow sub members on the road. Shout out of u/admirable-nobody-946, who graciously hosted my family for a few beers last night. A confluence of reddit and vacation was not in my original plans when I started this month but it was a lot of fun. We both discussed how nice everyone here is, so if you get a chance to meet up sometime with others do it!

On to #photocontest, say hello to my dead azalea in the plant category. Dead stuff fits SW so we’ll I couldn’t pass on the visual here. It only just died I’ll replace it in… Autumn! Just confluence of life and lather games everywhere here.

For the challenge, the judges have some wierd kinks but… Uhh here’s the Pic. I’m in a hotel so I had to sneak this shot in the shared bathroom before my wife jumped in the shower and I had to explain myself. https://i.imgur.com/7VtETSK.jpeg

OK #ROTY let’s… Uhh I’m out of confluence jokes. Let’s mix it up.

July 19, 2023 – I Creamed a sock

• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Parker (2)
• Lather: Barbasol – Classic Shaving Cream, Brushless Cream
• Post Shave: Zingari – The Watchman
• Fragrance: Jo Malone – Wood Sage and Sea Salt

Since today is cream day and I’m traveling, I used the barbosol brushless I originally bought for this vacation before lather games moved to July. Which posed and interesting problem for lather in a sock day, as you don’t really lather this. Also my kids were sleeping, so I couldn’t get to my clean socks. Nevertheless I loaded some cream on yesterday’s dirty sock and went to town on my face. It… Didn’t work at all. The cream simply absorbed into the sock. Now I have a soapy (well creamy) sock and no slickness on my face. I realized I need to just get the job done up so I finished with my bare hands. While shaving I realized I may have misunderstood the directions for the barbosol, it was way too thick and clogged the razor. I had to unscrew it a ton to clean it. Pass two I I realized it was supposed to be so thin it was transparent. And that’s when I sliced my mole open. Oh well. Listen judges I rubbed a dirty sock on my face. I think that at least gets some credit for trying.

So #fof. I dunno why but barbosol makes me think of boats? It’s a generic barbershop scent but.. I get boats. So I completed it with The Watchman and this wood sage and Sea salt tester. It worked surprisingly.

Today’s #photocontest is for cell phones. This is our spare phone that runs our telescope. (One of those celestron models that uses a phone to locate itself.)

Still tagging #ROTY too.

July 20, 2023 – Dupe Day

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Parker (3)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Haverford
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Haverford
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Treachery

So today is the day we pay homage to the copycats in our collections. The one day we can say we saved money because we didn’t buy the expensive name brand stuff. So the challenge, I wasn’t quite sure how to handle this challenge with my newfound love for GUTL though. After all with GUTL you’re making 2 lathers basically. One on your face that’s leans dry and one in your bowl, that, if you overhydrate you can mix with the face lather to hit that sweet spot. It’s sorta a built in correction. So here I was worried I’d have to abandon the GUTL I only just now adopted. When it dawned on me, GUTL is really just the acknowledgement we’re not tied to the formalities of wetshaving just because they’re formalities. We blaze new dorito and mountain dew scent categories here. GUTL is just eschewing the old rigid categories of face and bowl lathering to do something novel that works and over engineers our shave. So as long as I’m over engineering my shave, I’m GUTLing in spririt. Basically I’m air bud ruling my GUTL here. So u/merikus and u/airbudeuler (who is definitely not u/cowzilla3) can sit down, share their commonalities as 2 sides of a coin and get along as the memes have now been poorly unified. Or not.

Back to challenge. I’m somewhere between a medium water and too dry normally. But we’re vacationing which means, collapsible dog bowl. And I am always underhydrating in this thing, it’s why I moved to scuttle. So wet sloppy lather it is and I tried to take a picture to show it. The picture doesn’t do it justice. My wife came in to talk to me and I had to hold my face over the sink because lather was dripping everywhere.

For #fof, I’m dickholing Haverford. Which is a dupe of Tobacco de vanille. So far fairly easy. I’ve never smelled the original but this one is quite nice. I don’t have the EdT, but I’ve finished it off with treachery. Not only do the tobaccos play well (though I find treachery to be a slight bit less sweet) but also there’s a bit of wordplay here. After all dupes are, in a sense a bit of treachery. Trying to pass a less expensive version of something as the real thing.

Similarly, my #photocontest in the field of literature. Here we have Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Obviously an early work of philosophy literature. But also, a translation (I don’t read Greek) which is another thing you might call a dupe.

Let’s go fellow #ROTY 10 days left. 2/3 done.

July 21, 2023 – How do you even Pronounce Fourgere?

• Brush: Maggard Synthetic
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Parker (5)
• Lather: Catie’s Bubbles – Blugère
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Varen
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Orris Forest

The shave was ok. My smush (~~I think from u/j33pguy13? Looks like hand writing.~~ Edited: it was u/putneycj. ) was stuck to the wax paper from disuse and traveling no doubt. The database says this is a cream, it was not by the time I opened it. I managed to get the smush into a bowl, and kinda ad hoc GUTL may way to a good lather. I tried to save what was left, but will see how it travels home. This has been a rough travel week shave wise. Got a massive cut on the mole on my cheek which opened up again while we were walking. Glad to be heading home, even if vacation was fun.

Today is another of those classic wetshaving fragrance category days. I’ll be honest, a lot of these categories just confuse me. I can grok “Gourmand” as it just smells like food. And “barbershop” is more an synthetic category (or meta category.) So it’s also something I can manage. Chypre? Still no effing clue. Amber? That’s a color right? Green? Also a color.

Fourgere is somewhat in the middle. I understand it’s supposed to smell like ferns. My mind processes that as “outdoors in the woods.” Which works, because my experience is the woods of the Ozarks which are loaded with ferns. So I can sorta handle the idea. Which transitions to #fof, not sure I could identity blugrere as a fourgere just based on sent notes, but it’s marketed as one. Varen is a bit easier as it smells as expected l. What tells me I’m getting better is that when I went through my discovery sets I saw Orris forest, looked at the notes and said “that matches great!” I then read the description where Shawn calls it “a nouveau fougère of sorts.” I’m getting better at this.

My #photocontest entry is sports. The vacation is over and it ended with a cards cubs game at historic Wrigley Field. My wife and kids first time there and my first in over 2 decades. It was an experience. And we won, which is surprising this season. And my entry into #ROTY remains unscathed. I honestly figured I’d forget at least one post this week. So I’ll close with the challenge:

Four vacation shaves

All on theme for the lather games

Time to head back home

July 22, 2023 – What did I just do?  

• Brush: Zenith r/wetshaving Exclusive Moar Boar 31mm  
• Razor: Parker 96R  
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24  
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (1)  
• Blade: GEM (3)  
• Lather: Daveli Farms – Cranberry Pomegranate Vanilla  
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Black Cherry  
• Fragrance: Replica – Coffee Break  

Okweredoingthis.gif

My wife keeps laughing, I don’t know why? My daughter is somewhat shocked, but… Here we go? The before: https://i.imgur.com/Kv2f7s6.jpeg The after: https://i.imgur.com/MaJFK0k.jpeg I’m giving my best Lavender Interrupted pose there. (warning, all pictures are SFW, but not exactly something you want to look at.) I’m blonde so trust me when I say there’s more hair than the picture shows. Also my whole family came to witness this and took video. Here’s a 30 second clip. (I’m in shirts and trunks so SFW.) https://youtube.com/shorts/QDiqSFcieeI?feature=share

This did not go as planned. You can see me using the 96r in the video, but after that initial luck I couldn’t find an angle anymore. After 10 minutes of struggling I remembered u/unitedstatesghost told me in the discord the MM24 was a great body shaver. Who am I to argue with an expert. And she was right. It cruised though and was almost like using a cartridge. I did 2 passes with it and some last cleanup with the Parker. Only 1 nick on my knee. And the back of my knees are in fact done. I want halfway up my thigh (the trunks were for video purposes.

Let’s get businesses, for #fof, here’s a series of scents involving botanical fruits. Obviously the soap hits the theme with raspberry and pomegranate. As a stone fruit, cherries are not berries but they’re fruits, as is coffee (a berry and a fruit.) Now I know u/newtothethis said bathing is splash was not good. But so many bad choices went into this I’m doubling down on stupid. For #photocontest, I’m running out of themes, so here’s insect! It’s my kids’ bee puppet.

Finally how many other #ROTY did this challenge? Gotta make up for u/pridetwo getting a legendary point. So here’s the most legendary thing I can do. My legs are cold and need lotion…but my wife just called it sexy so... What have I started?!

Edited to add. Holy crap I have freckles on my legs!

Edited 2: I forgot to mention I was singing a song in my head the whole time. No not "man I feel like a woman" too obvious. I went with the deep cut Deana Carter Did I shave my legs for this

Yes yes I did.

Edit 3: yep I shaved my face today. Doubling down on bad decisions I used War https://www.reddit.com/r/Wetshaving/comments/156br72/saturday_sotd_thread_jul_22_2023/jt1424g?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=2

July 23, 2023 – My Children are my only complimenters.

• Brush: Zenith r/wetshaving Exclusive Moar Boar 31mm
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (1)
• Lather: Chiseled Face – Banana
• Post Shave: Zingari Man – Traditionalist
• Fragrance: Creed – Aventus Cologne

Ok. Before any not u/j33pguy13 judge reaches for the DQ button, allow me to explain. This is not a wild gambit to get u/j33pguy13 to give me a legendary point. I had thought this out before I knew he was gonna be a judge. Today’s theme is “product that gets you the most compliments.” Now a Creed dupe or something classy from HoM would be an easy play. But also not me. I work from home 3 days a week, and my wife doesn’t care much for my fragrance choices. But if yesterday’s SOTD video showed anything it’s that my kids get a kick out of this whole thing and are always telling me what’s good, what’s bad and what they want to lather and pretend with. So I let them choose and this is the result. They love the banana. It beats out other fruit scents (Runaway) and flower scents (Rose of Phyrgria) which are distant second and 3rd accordingly. But wait there’s more! My #fof today is my craziest. Now u/pridetwo beat me to banana split yesterday, but, with due respect, it was sorta Meh (banana and an ice cream cone who serves a split in a cone?) So let me walk you through this: banana, obvious here. Traditionalist: the vanilla and musk here smell EXACTLY like the mix you put in a frozen custard machine. (The cream and eggs give an oddly musky tone to the vanilla.) Now Shawn Maher perfumed this, and he pulls from his STL experience, maybe this was intentional, maybe it’s my sus nose. But that’s what I get. Finally the Aventus Cologne. It’s not as pineapple forward as Aventus regular, but it’s citrus fruity, and it works to complete the stack. That’s right, this is my kids’ favorite set: the banana split. Complete with ice cream smells. (My wife likes the adventus too so 1 for 3).

Challenge: CF is the only soap I exclusively face lather and exclusively with a boar brush. So here’s some pics of my face and my brush. Go ahead sub, roast me, give me 1s!

For #photocontest. On the surface this looks llke a horrible SOTD post. And as a display of gear it is. The creed is basically hidden. But it was challenging to get. Since today is about my kids I bent the no kids rule to be no kids’ faces. This is my entry for “society” and can be seen 2 ways. The background is my son pretending to shave his face with my empty 96R. So it’s either shaving (something many people do every day) or parenting (also something many people do every day.) After leg day he wanted to get a picture and video shaving too. He also asked if he was gonna “win the games. ” And he’s using banana soap of course. I will refrain from the argument he’s an honorary sub member and that this should count for 30 points.)

OK #ROTY folks, home stretch, last week coming up. Let’s finish strong. No more dropouts.

Edit: many embarrassing typos.

July 24, 2023 – It’s best to give and receive

• Brush: AP Shave Co. Cashmere
• Razor: Gillette Superspeed
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (2)
• Lather: Wholly Kaw – Masquerade
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Shire
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps – Valedictorian

Today is soap swap day, so here’s some soap graciously provided to me by u/worbx as part of his Lather Games 2023 pif. It’s my first time using Wholly Kaw and it should close out my sponsor points. Yay! Curiously, looking at my schedule it’s almost all smush trades from here in out. That’s the nature of the game and fitting I think to close out LG with help from all of you. And with that I’d like to say a few nice things about several people here. The challenge says to say something nice and I’ll be doing that via some thank yous.

u/newtothethis: thanks so much for helping us all through leg day. Was there blood? Yes, but far less than if you hadn’t taken the time to post your tips.

u/j33pguy13: thanks for dragging me out of my lurking to join in this group. It’s been a ride. And thanks for getting me the moar boar in the end, even if I found the hidden sock puppet detection feature in latherbot. u/onionmiasma: Thanks for being consistently entertaining for my first lather games (even if you did 1 up my kids kitchen shave.)

u/admirable-nobody-946: Thanks for being generous and hosting us at your job for an evening. I had dinner with my parents this weekend and there still very confused “so you never met this dude in person before?” “nah but he seemed nice.” (hey onion, take him up on his invite it’s fun.)

The Djudges are gonna be tagged to hell today, so I’ll spare them the ping (except J33p above) and say thanks to all of you for your time and effort into this. It’s a great example of how this sub rocks.

I could go on and on. This sub is full of great people who are beyond generous, with time, hardware, software, etc. And that’s before you start in on the artisans who hang out here too and get roped into making meme soaps (u/rocketk455) or PIF away new sets with interesting (and often hilarious) story based side contests (u/Mammothben) just to name a few. I may be relatively young, but I’ve been around the internet since it’s early days, so I know people are gonna come and go and come back again, but hopefully the generousness vibe of this place doesn’t change too much.

Enough of the emotional stuff #fof time: I carried the tobacco note though this entire shave, but in different forms. The more muted, blended tobacco in masquerade. The light summery tobacco in Shire and the more straight tobacco in valedictorian. Overall a great progression of I do say so myself.

For #photocontest an entry into the story category. Can you tell my daughter composed this? I turned her loose with a directive to tell a story with the Babrie kingdom delivering the gift of wetshaving to stuffy land. And after some description of what an old kingdom gift exchange looked like she arrived at this. And I placed the gear.

OK #ROTY folks 6 more.

July 25, 2023 – Christmas in July, Secret of Santa

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 22mm Faux Horse w/ Ruby Ripple Handle #fauxfur
• Razor: Gillette Slim #dial
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (3)
• Lather: Siliski Soaps – Santa’s Pipe
• Post Shave: Chiseled Face – Santa Paula
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Rose Santal

Ah Christmas. Wonderful time of the year. So great it’s starting to sneak up sooner each year. I see Christmas stuff for sale before Halloween now, usually at Sam’s. So Christmas in July may end up being accurate in a few years at this rate.

For today’s theme I chose Santa’s Pipe. I mean it just screams Christmas in the name. Now, as far as I can tell the type of pipe is not specified, but given another magical Christmas character, Frosty the snowman smoked a corn cob pipe, and I live in Missouri, home of a corn cob pipe company I’m inclined to believe Santa also smoked such a pipe. And in honor of this, not only will I shave with my non-dominant hand for the challenge, I have brought out my old cob pipe for this shave. (picture is neck up, so SFW-ish) Alas, I have no pipe tobacco anymore so I’ll have it just keep it for a phantom smoke. Add a red brush for Santa’s jacket and this is a Christmas themed shave. Even has a present. A loaner razor from u/Chronnoisseur420 so I can get a bit of a point. I set it to 1, did 2 left hand passes, turned it to 2, did a 3rd and ended up with a surprisingly good shave, even if I had trouble finding the angle. Not sure I’ll switch to an adjustable, but it was fun for one use. Glad the shave went well because it's not like tomorrow's will be enjoyable.

For #fof, the soap gives me peaches and cherry when lathered and that and the EdT go surprisingly well with the citrus in Santa Paula but they all also have a theme. All of their names contain the word “Santa” in the name. Just ignore the extra L. Continuing my trend with the Chatillon Lux scents, these tie a bit into my own experience. This scent is described as being inspired by Henry Shaw’s travels before returning to Saint Louis. It’s a testament to the impact of Shaw’s legacy in STL that Shawn has not one but 2 scents that can be traced back it him in some way. (The other being YRP, which is inspired by “Shaw’s Garden” what the Missouri Botanical Garden was called for years of my youth.)

For #photocontest, I’m running out of ideas. So here’s “Royalty.” anyone with kids my age will recognize the child versions of the queens of Arendelle, Elsa and Ana. Could have chosen any of my daughter’s Disney princesses, but for the winter themes I went with the ice queen. And put them in front of our Christmas tree with my son’s adult Elsa version (he’s a copy cat of his sister sometimes and wanted in on the fun l) for good measure.

Keep slogging my fellow #ROTY well have winner soon.

Edit almost forgot hardware tags.

July 26, 2023 – Wildcard Wednesday, Baby

• Razor: Gillette Travel Tech #jetsetter
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (4)
• Lather: Johnson’s – Baby Oil
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Marilyn
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann – Marilyn

Let’s get down to it. This is a baby shave. Even the razor is baby sized. I mean look at the travel tech! So tiny! Another loaner from u/Chronnoisseur420 to help with the tags.

The internet says mineral oil (the main component of baby oil) can be used as a shaving solution. So we’re gonna do it. Baby Oil, baby post shave, and a baby frag. “Wait what?” you’re thinking. Well let my #fof post explain. I get a very heavy powder note off Marilyn. Not to say I don’t like it, I like it enough to own a trifecta. But it reminds me a bit of baby powder, (I’m old enough to remember using that for my siblings.) So here we are, a shave that’s not quite BBS but smelling like a baby’s butt. Even my #photocontest entry is babyfied. It’s an entry for “food” and what food did I choose? A pouch of baby food puree. (alas the only way our kids will eat vegetables.)

For challenge, I give you a video tour of my den led by my daughter. It’s only a minute and 20 seconds so take a look around with us.

OK #ROTY folks. 5 let’s go.

Lastly, since this is Wildcard Wednesday, Wildcards are cards that than mimic or beat another card’s value. I’m gonna assume that applies to LG bits today too. Sorry u/Priusaurus, gonna make use of your interview bit your use with a not at all made up interview with ~~our friends~~ the assholes at PAA.

1. So you’ve gone by a few names, who exactly am I talking to now?

I suppose that depends on who gets me the most clicks.

2. Ok.. Uhh how did you get into shaving supplies.

I was on on a trip to the exotic land of…

Ok I’m gonna stop you there. Don’t really need one of your rambling bullshit product descriptions. Is there a real answer?

I saw some marks to leverage.

3. You mean markets?

No.

4. Sigh. Ok. You’ve been accused of ripping off… Well a lot. including recently the Hawaiian Punch logo Care to talk about this?

You’re blatantly ripping off this bit, do you have a leg to stand on?

5. I’m shit posting. But I did walk into that, so let’s move on. Is there anything that makes PAA different?

A legion of bought YouTube influencers, SEO, and a ton of r/w_e shills posting affiliate links? What do you got?

My integrity. And enough sense to end this.

Edited to fix some formatting

Edited 2, forgot the travel tech pic.

July 27, 2023 – Lavender 3 ways.

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Badger
• Razor: Valet Autostrop #selfsharpening
• Blade: Feather (SE) (1)
• Lather: Spieck – Lavender
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Bergamot Lavender
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann – Lavender Interrupted

You know given Will’s marketing maybe that title was a poor choice. Or a epic one? You be the judge.

Final loaner razor from u/Chronnoisseur420 to get some points. From here on out it’s u/j33pguy13’s CFL pass around (except Friday and Sunday when I need my English tech.) So I gues it’s tech on out except Saturday when I use the CFL…. Then, somehow we’re at AA… Wild how fast this went. Gonna blow off the first week of AA to test the CFL a bit more before I send it back. I’m both relieved and sad we’re reaching the end of our LG time.

Back to the valet. This thing is wild and over engineered, and it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to load it. (the blade goes on the top which flips over?) I guess if you strop disposable blades maybe it’s useful? Dunno. I borrowed it so I could hit 8/10 hardware points. This is where I stop on that because I’m out of time. (note to anyone counting, I’m counting ahead. This makes 6/10. the CFL hits CNC and Rainbow, for 8).

For the challenge. Did I ever mention I live on a corner lot? With a backyard that faces the street? This is basically shaving in public, with a nosy neighbor in that house above me who contently looks out her window at anything going on. Only difference is I can’t get thrown out of my house. Or rather, I don’t think my wife will throw me out. She’s already left for work. 20% chance my neighbor calls the cops on me. I waited to shave until after kid drop off to give me time to do this uninterrupted. Downside is it’s already 85 out. But hey shave sister ain’t that mister mister? Ah yes, that can keep me cool and moisten my stubble while I shave since this is well after showering. Got my gear ready outside, including a baby Yoda travel mirror I borrowed from my wife.

Start shaving, if I dump soapy water all over the brand-new patio, I will be thrown out by the wife. So, I have a cup to rinse my razor in. But as I lather, I stick my face in the mister to get more water. Then alternate the brush in. It works…not bad. Get a decently wet lather. OK this razor is…odd, and I can’t really stretch my skin. Boy that’s a lot of blade feel, but I can muddle through pass one. Suddenly! Sounds…oh shit, the nosy neighbor has opened her garage. Crap, she’s coming out….more sounds.. WHEW, her and her husband are having a spat trying to get in the car (nothing serious, he’s been hurt and not letting her help him get in.) They are distracted and not noticing me.* I can get done if I hurry. But once they pull out of the garage I’m busted. Best case I have to talk to them. Worst case I have to explain myself. Stick my face in the mister mister…oh crap, it’s not strong enough to get the lather off! Crap my hands are too slippery to turn off the hose and unhook Mister Mister. Quick, wet hands, rub face clean, pass 2. This pass hurts, I can’t see what I’m doing in the mirror, I’m XTG, WTG, and ATG all at once. Try to rise the razor in Mister Mister…it doesn’t work. Glad I brought the cup, but cup water is getting soapy. Make it happen, finish shave. Stick head in mister mister. Still not rinsing. HOW ARE MY SHORTS WETTER THAN MY FACE. Fine, whatever, hurriedly walk in with soapy, but socially acceptable shaved face. I did shave outside. Challenge complete, no neigbor questions. Once inside rinse off, change shirts (eff it it’s hot, soaked shorts are actually not bad.) Notice I’m bleeding in several spots. Whelp styptic time. Apply balm. Apply Frag. Roll into home office late.

Today’s #fof is pretty straight forward, Lavender everywhere. Which is good, I love Lavender. First post shave I bought: Bergamot Lavender. But I’ll go a bit deeper here with the theme and expound on types. The spieck Lavender strikes me as a more woody Lavender. This transitions nicely to the bergamot Lavender, which mixes with the citrus in the bergamot in the most fantastic way. The we move to the polar opposite of the spectrum: Lavender Interrupted. Lavender interrupted is sweet to the point I get vanilla first, and a punch of it. But it dries down to a sweeter Lavender. I want to stop and thank u/unitesstatesghost here for this sample. I was skeptical of Lavender Interrupted. I don’t like lavinille, which is nominally where Will starts here, it smells musty to me. So I didn’t jump on it. But she threw this in a PIF box to me and I’m glad because it’s nothing like lavinille. It defintely dries down more woody, but that just makes this FOF a full circle! Go me!

On to #photocontest, since we’re shaving outside, here’s an entry in holes. Specifically the hole left over from my old deck after removing the piers. It’s appropriate since I’m shaving on the patio that replaced it. I filled it in after this photo finally (one more to do done!)

Last 3 shaves remaining #ROTY folks. Who’s gonna finish strong?

*So occasionally they do notice when I do weird things and it ends not great. Which is why I’m glad I dodged it this time. About 8 years ago, I grew 4 hop vines off my back patio. She asked if I was growing pot. “Yes, I grow pot right out in the open!” When I explained it was hops, she inquired as to whether I was bootlegging because she didn’t know homebrewing was legal. When I brough home my first deer’s head to get the antlers off and did that in the back yard…yeah you can imagine how well that went over. Fun fact for u/AirBudruler I didn’t know it at the time, but I was saved from trouble by the Air Bud Rule. “Ain’t no rule that says you can’t perform cranial surgery on a deer head in your own backyard.” (As long as you legally hunted it and properly dispose of the remains, and I did both.)

July 28, 2023 – El Cheapo

• Brush: Omega 40033 24mm
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (4)
• Lather: Arko – Arko
• Post Shave: Nivea – Sensitive Post Shave Balm
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Agua Fresca

Cheap day! I will be honest, if I told myself I’d save money for it was only briefly. Before I bought my first razor I was actually concerned about getting started because the barrier to entry into wetshaving, before you even know if you can do it, is pretty high. (Starter sets make it easier but, unless you stumble into the sub first you may not find them. So you end up like me, buying a $27 Parker, then separately soaps and splashes in samples, which cost shipping, remembering you need a brush, paying more shipping. Then trying to figure out how blades work, shipping more.) I did some back of the napkin math to make sure I wouldn’t spend significantly more. That math was useless once I found the sub and thrill. Oh well. TBQH, I’ve probably still spent less than a new norelco costs over it’s (increasingly short) life cycle. And I’m starting to tamp down my fomo, and focus on using what I already have… Oh remote learning, gotta order that.

OK, well fine. But this still is less than some of my other hobbies (gaming, homebrew, hunting). And it’s less by… A lot. Pretty sure my den is less than my Xbox, nevermind the TV we got for it, the gamepass, new controllers…. Let’s not talk about how much I could spend on the hunting equipment if I wanted to.

So anyway, here’s my discount shave. Obviously Arko is the cheapest you can get. I planned on this early but didn't have any in my den, but u/loudmusicboy saved me from having to buy a whole tub or stick. Thanks! I didn’t find the smell horrible (but I’ve used war.) definitely medicinal. Brush is a $6 boar I got to try boars when I ordered But first an experiment. The razor is a post war tech. Based on some research they went for less than a dollar around the time this was made (mid to late 50s) which is less than $10 today. All the blades in my den basically cost the same. On a per shave basis I get a bit more shaves out of the yellows. This one in particular has been abused to hell, baby oil shaves 3 different razors. Left handed shaving. And it’s still going. Nivea balm is pretty cheap, certainly cheaper than artisan stuff and the Jack Black I have as well. About the frag. As mentioned I don’t have a lot of frags, and the Chatillon Lux discovery set is really well priced. 11 two ml samples for $25, at the time I bought it, making this the cheapest frag in my den. Even now it’s only $30. If you’re like me and don’t use a lot of frags, and want variety, you could almost survive on ordering this set over and over again. On a price/ml basis it’s the same as the full bottles basically and you aren’t tied to one scent. Though I might get some YRP or maybe unconditional surrender.

Speaking of frags my #fof is a little disjointed here. The Arko is as I said medicinal. Maybe a hint of lemon. I was stunned that it kinda worked with the soft unisex fruit in the Agua Fresca. But it did. I had a little trouble developing expectations for the Agua Fresca. As noted, I’m from the same area as Shawn and this is another scent where the inspiration just doesn’t match my experience. It’s supposedly inspired by Cherokee Street, but that area is known for Mexican culture and food. I was pretty sure a margarita frag was not sometime he’d do. Sure “fruity drinks” I guess, but it’s not really a Pina colada either. The bars of the central west end (heavily trafficked by college students) may have been a better narrative. (seeing as Landing was already taken for admiral.) But it’s a good scent, probably a bit too fruity to me.

For #photocontest here is gaming. My daughter insisted we use Tears of the kingdom since she’s playing that. So I obliged. I wanted to use “Sorry” which is like the theme of lather games. (“sorry honey about this choas,” sorry players I stole your bit, etc.)

OK #ROTY people, 2 more. Let’s do this!

Edited because I forgot to thank u/loudmusicboy.

July 29, 2023 – Sandalwood Sandwich

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Badger #composite #shd
• Razor: Chiseled Face Legacy #cnc #rainbow
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Sharpedge (Yellow) (1)
• Lather: Red House Farm – Sandalwood & Bourbon
• Post Shave: Zingari Man – Traditionalist
• Fragrance: Maher Olfactive – Waking Dream

Had to think a bit about this setup and it took a few tries but I put it together. For #fof all three of these scents have a sandalwood note in them, prominent enough to be be called out in the descriptions. And it progresses so that the sandalwood is up front in the soap, moves to the middle of the pack in the balm and then plays base note to the iris in the EdP. Overall a pretty good, but nontraditional progression. Sandalwood up top, sandalwood in the middle, and sandalwood on bottom. Hence, sandalwood sandwich.

Since this is u/j33pguy13’s CFL, a quick note him, shaved great. Smoother than expected, no irritation. Needs some technique work on my part. I see what people mean about the pineapple handle being slippery. It’s also beautiful. I love the flame treatment (#rainbow tag). But also not sure I can justify $350. Sure could get a non treated one, or the aluminum. But why half ass anything. Maybe in a few years.

As I’ve been doing my #photocontest ties in with the challenge. It’s vegetable themed and my prediction to win this whole thing is a vegetable… Wait that doesn’t sound right. Point is I included am onion in the picture for a reason. I’ve said it before, I think u/onionmiasma is running away with this thing. He’s been on point the whole time. And while it’s unclear to me if he’s gonna lose 2 points on wildcard Wednesday for not using things marketed as posts and frags (thus blowing the 30 of each bonus) he’s still crushing it. (I think the WCW rules extend to post and frag but not sure.) Just look at the legendary post category on the portal, it’s got more onions than a Philly cheese steak. As for individual challenges hard to say he didn’t own wildcard Wednesday either. I gotta hand it to him even if he did one up my kids kitchen shave. Outdoor day, crushed it. Hell I don’t even remember the challenge for autumn, but his 10 pass on the road shave should be it’s own challenge.

There are of course other competitions. Obviously I hope to pull off #ROTY but who knows. Getting some serious competition from u/pridetwo, u/whosgothepudding, and others. Should have upped my game earlier.

And #photocontest is anyone’s game. I didn’t start this intending to take 30 photos and hit all the themes but I did (even if I used #photochallenge on day 7, so only 29 count.) Many people haven’t been declaring themes so there’s probably only been about 5 to 10 in contention for that prize. But a ton of great shots for the best shot.

And then there’s #fof. Let’s be real, I apologize to judges for my posts there. I’ve been participating but mostly as a way to focus my themes and force myself to spell them out. I’ll be dead last on that. I’m not even sure I understood the assignment enough to take a guess at who’d win.

1 more then the board is set and we just wait for the reveal.

July 30, 2023 – LG Airlines Flight 30

• Brush: Zenith r/wetshaving Exclusive Moar Boar 31mm (Italy)
• Razor: Gillette Tech (England)
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (2) (Russia)
• Lather: Tabac – Original (Germany)
• Post Shave: Nivea – Sensitive Post Shave Balm (Mexico)
• Fragrance: Givenchy – Gentlemen’s Society (France)

fof #photocontest (masterpiece)

Sir, I’m going to need your passport.

Huh? I’m going into my bathroom, how exactly does that leave US soil.

Per the terms of today’s challenge, this shave is a tour of Europe with a brief jaunt into Mexico.

Still passport?

Just roll with the bit.

Fine but as much as I’ve given up privacy these games I’m not stupidly posting a picture of my passport.

That’s sufficient. We’ll be rolling through countries as they appear in your shave. First up us England, where your tech was made.

Helpfully stamped on the back to avoid any confusion with those US techs. There’s a picture in my #regus hashtag post, should anyone care to verify.

Next up would be Russia, where Nacets are made, but the airspace is just a bit… unsettled. We’ll hang around the Finnish border.

Smart move. When looking for blades I was stunned how many were made in Russia. Seems like Russia and China output the bulk of DE blades. My preferred 7 o’clock yellows are also made there.

Next we have the brush, as everyone knows the Moar Boar is an Italian creation.

Yep, and quite the beast, let me just get out my scuttle…

Sir, that would kick you out of this challenge, it’s US made.

C’mon, I’m just loading the smush with it, they don’t have to even know. It’s not listed.

Sir, you’re literally typing out your internal monolog. They know.

Damnit.

Luckily your old standby, baseball helmet ice cream bowl is stamped with made in China.

Oh joy.

For the purposes of this tour though it doesn’t count. So next up is Germany. The home of Tabac.

Somehow only the Germans could make depression in a shave soap. So German soap, Italian brush. Good thing a German/Italian collaboration has never gone bad.

Shaving dad jokes? At least you didn’t use the feather blade.

I figured incorporating Russia and England balances the scales a bit.

Sigh. Let’s move on. That smush is getting small, hopefully Moar Boar doesn’t eat….hey put down that Nivea!

Why? It’s made in Mexico? Also the tabac smush lives another day.

Yes, the balm qualifies but logistically that’s a pain, we’re gonna so the frag next. It’s from France.

Does…Does it matter how we travel on the imaginary journey?

Yes, now shut up or I’ll make you wait actual travel time before applying balm for the bit. We could have done this in Flight Simulator.

OK, ok, sheesh. French cologne, a sample that came with one of my wife’s Ulta orders, sounds expensive.

Actually, all those Maher Olafactive testers you were using were much more expensive. It’s not even in the same universe as Creed or other big brands.

Smells nice enough, can I put on the balm now?

Since Nivea is made in Mexico, an entirely different continent, it’s out on your dresser. Think of it as a flight transfer.

We’ll thanks.

Don’t forget to check your area for any luggage you may have forgotten. This is after all the final flight of LG 2023.

Yep, bittersweet. Thanks, internal monolog!

Anytime, glad to help with internet points. Think you pulled off #ROTY with your antics?

It’s in the judges’ hands now.

Honestly, I think you lost to u/pridetwo.

Exactly what I expected my internal monolog to say.

I hit the character limit to be continued below.