July 1, 2023 - Bonjour, Lather Games! / New All The Things, or, How I Had The Worst Shave Of My Life
- Brush: Noble Otter 26mm Synthetic
- Razor: Valet AutoStrop Model VB1 #SELFSHARPENING
- Blade: Feather FHS-10 (1)
- Lather: Central Texas Soaps - Weekend Rodeo
- Post Shave: Thayers - Original - Toner
- Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Sonder
Daily Write-Up
Weekend Rodeo. Great idea for a soap, especially a soap from the state of Texas. For me, the accords of leather and sawdust remind me of many county and state fairs I attended as a youth, and have managed to completely avoid as an adult.
But - to my point - there’s the old idiom, “this ain’t my first rodeo”. Well - that’s a fact. This isn’t my first rodeo - it’s my second Lather Games.
What did I learn from last year? Chase every point, and be organized, or you’ll end up in 19th place despite following all of the daily themes and challenges, and having a few pretty memorable posts.
So I’ve already failed at the organization thing, which we’ll get to in a minute. Also, my planning doc is a disaster, and I’m just winging my AS and Frags rather than having them planned? 19th place here I come.
But - definitely trying to chase as many points as possible. Last year my plan was to be ok missing some points and make up for it in enthusiasm. But, that didn’t pay off as handsomely as I hoped, and I’m starting this Lather Games in my fifth decade of life unlike last year, which is leaving me feeling more grumpy old man than energetic youth. I’m readying my fist to shake at the new ROTY candidates as needed. Don’t get me wrong - the Spearhead trifecta I won made my top-5 scents post from last year and will make an appearance this month. But - I was really hoping for a top-10 finish.
However - what is my first rodeo is virtually everything in this SOTD post. I say virtually, because… well, organization isn’t my strong suit, and I left my brand new SBS brush at home. So I’m having to make do with this NO brush that just happened to randomly be in my bag. Or else I would have had to try to find a shaving brush in this small city, which sounds exhausting.
But - I picked up this soap on the ‘zaar a little while back, to add another potential brand for this year’s Lather Games. I was expecting to use it for RIP day, but having not actually used it yet, it fits well for today’s theme. I want to be clear - this stuff seemed really slick, and whipped up into a fast, nice lather. It is NOT to blame for the quality (or lack thereof) of my shave today.
Razor/Blade - This is the culprit. The cause of the WORST shave in my adult life.
I picked up this Autostrop from the PIF table at the Maggard Meet, courtesy of our own /u/cowzilla3. This is a fascinating piece of machinery. My favorite kind of machinery, actually, because it’s completely unnecessary and overengineered, but cool nonetheless. However, I think somewhere this one became broken, and my face paid the price.
I loaded the blade, after watching 4 of 5 Youtube videos to figure out how this thing works. Only… I think I’m missing some tabs to hold the blade in place, as it was quickly evident that there was a blade alignment issue.
But I was committed to soldier on. As soon as I tried to shave with it, the blade slipped out of place. So I had to gingerly hold my finger at the back of it to try to keep the blade forward enough to engage. As such, I had a scrape-y, awful mess of a shave. My face is burning, and I count no fewer than 8 cuts on my face, and one on my hand. I understand why this was consigned to oblivion.
The worst part about this? I just read the challenge for tomorrow. And since I’m traveling, I brought a Travel Tech. So the only SE razor I have with me? This thing.
I’ve got three options.
- Drive home unexpectedly early tomorrow, so I can use an MMOC or an MM24
- Tape off my tech, and be one of the pathetic losers who shave with a DE on SE day.
- Use this monstrosity again.
I don’t love any of those options.
The After Shave - I’ve been wanting to try Thayers based on the feedback of several guys here, and since I didn’t have any aftershaves in my den I hadn’t tried, thought this was a good opportunity to run to Wally World and pick some up. First impression is that the scent is not my favorite, but it makes my face feel good. Which I needed, given the truly terrible shave today. I’ll have to get some more time in it.
Frag - I got a set of sample frags from HoM, and this is the only one I haven’t tried. I understand why Sonder is on the monthly reports so often. It might take a back seat to Dammusi for me, but it is a great warm-weather scent.
Good luck to everyone, and have fun this month!
Soap Theme Justification
* I’ve never used any soaps from Central Texas Soaps.
Post-Shave and Fragrance Relevance Notes
* Theme: New All The Things. Soap, AS, and Frag I’ve never tried before.