u/AdWorried2804's SOTDs for challenge 'Lather Games 2024'

June 01, 2024 – LG24 Day 1 - Bonjour, Lather Games!

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Spice Blow handle w/ 26mm v23 Fanchurian Badger knot
• Razor: Weck Sextoblade Med Prep #WECKONISTA
• Blade: Kismet Rostfrei Beschichtet (1)
• Prep: Stirling Soap Co. – Unscented Preshave Soap
• Lather: Eleven Shaving - Cedar, Vetiver and Sweetgrass
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Sandpiper AS Splash
• Fragrance: Parfvm - Inspired by La Nuit EdP
• Music: AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Mabuhay from the Philippines. It seems like yesterday u/Priusaurus kicked open the door, announced that everyone else was playing for second because he was going to win, and then went out and did it. With the dawning of this year's edition of LG, we have a number of prior year's top-tier participants joining the ~~dark side~~ djudging ranks, many of our esteemed long-term staffers passing the djudging batan to the staff youngsters and taking on "emeritus" roles, returning top-tier participants feeling it in their bones that this is their year, Prius sitting on his throne with a machine gun gripped in each fist daring anyone to come close to him, the rooks wondering what the hell did they get themselves into, and then there's me, who now lives in the Philippines, no longer has access to the US Military postal system, barely survived last year's LG marathon, and is back for more ~~punishment~~ fun.

PIF Disclosure, Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: The Cedar, Vetiver and Sweetgrass smush was generously provided by u/tsrblke. This is my first time using an Eleven Shaving product. I enjoyed the scent, and while my caveman nose didn't notice either the vetiver or sweetgrass, I liked how they tempered the cedar scent to keep it from being overpowering. I went with YSL La Nuit de L'Homme dupes for post and frag to compliment the cedar by brings additional woodiness and a bit of spiciness to the mix. I thought the software scents worked well together.

Special Challenge & The Shave: Prior to last August's Weckonista contest, I had no intent of ever using a straight or shavette. Then I became aware of the Weck Sextoblade Med Prep (with US Medical Corps emblem) and FOMO set in. I lucked into a bargain on ebay and picked up some Kismets, but before I could use it, I relocated to the PI and the Weck got set aside and forgotten about... until I reviewed the LG calendar.

In hindsight it probably was not the smartest idea to use the Weck for the first time with a soap that lists glycerin as a major ingredient. I've never had any luck with soaps high in glycerin and today was no exception. Eleven's Julien base was plenty slick but not nearly as protective as I like. Shaving my cheeks went well enough, but when I transitioned to by neck it became weeper city. The soap just wasn't protective enough considering the abuse I was inflicting with the Sextoblade. When I transitioned to my upper lip and chin, no soap ever created could have protected me from the damage I inflicted on myself. I went full Reservoir Dogs on myself, leaving a 2mm slice on my upper lip and a 1mm gouge on my upper chin. Luckily, I'm used to bleeding like a stuck pig from my pre-wetshaving days, so I was able to carry on and finish the pass, declared victory (as blood oozed out of my face), and started tending to my flesh wounds.

Philippine Fun Fact: Mabuhay is a Filipino greeting, usually expressed as Mabuhay!, which literally means "to live". The term is also occasionally used for toasts during celebrations to mean "cheers".

June 02, 2024 – LG24 Day 2 - Ahoy, Lather Games!

• Brush: AP Shave Co. Black Green handle w/ AP Shave Co. 26mm Titanium Synthetic fan knot
• Razor: Gillette Slim Adjustable #ADJUSTABLE
• Blade: Gillette Perma-Sharp (5)
• Prep: Stirling Soap Co. – Unscented Preshave Soap
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – Spice
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving – Seaforth! Spiced AS Toner
• Fragrance: Symmetry Lab - Inspired by Spicebomb EdP
• Music: Vintage Shulton Old Spice Theme Song

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: In u/cowzilla3's TGSO™ series of reviews, Cowzilla states that "opening it up and taking a whiff would give anyone a hit to the nostrils of vintage Old Spice for sure". If B&M Spice is Old Spicy enough for our esteemed Old Spice Connoisseur, then it is surely Old Spicy enough to hit today's theme.

I continued the "Spice in the Product Title" thematic link with my post and frag. While no one would consider either Spiced or Spicebomb to be riffs of Old Spice, Spiced's modern take on the classic spice scents and Spicebomb's oriental woody and spicy notes are very complimentary to Spice's vintage scent.

The Shave: After yesterday's Weck-derived bloodbath, my face demanded gentleness so out came the Slim. On low settings the Slim is very smooth, and Omnibus is one of my most protective lathers, so no new blood was let, and the shave was very smooth.

u/Priusaurus Fun Fact: Prior to declaring at the start of last year's LG that "from this point forward, you’re all playing for 2nd place", prior to participating in the Spite Shaveoff with u/MrTangerinesky which ultimately led to the modification of Rule 3.4 to include the following: "You engaged in behavior during your shave that could have caused grievous harm to yourself or others, including but not limited to piloting a moving vehicle while shaving." (i.e. the Tangerinesky Rule), and prior to reminding us yesterday that "If you want to take this trophy from me, you’re gonna have to pry it from my slippery, lathered hands", Prius made an Old Spice commercial! Here's the proof. Yes, even before ~~pontificating~~ enlightening us LG minions that we are not worthy, he was enlightening Old Spice aficionados that Prius is King of the Spices!

June 03, 2024 – LG24 Day 3 - Where's the Beef?

• Brush: Wild West Brushworks Slimer handle w/ C&H 26mm v21 Fanchurian Badger knot #FRANKENBRUSH #SHD
• Razor: Merkur 23C #ZAMAC #STAINLESSLESS
• Blade: Treet Classic Carbon Steel
• Prep: Stirling Soap Co. – Unscented Preshave Soap
• Lather: Declaration Grooming - Weinstrasse
• Post Shave: Zingari Man – The Watchman Recovery Splash
• Post Shave: Osma - crystalline chunks
• Fragrance: OriginLab - Inspired by Silver Mountain Water Parfum
• Music: Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: My tub of Weinstrasse is in the Icarus base, which features both Bison Tallow and Lamb Tallow. Weinstrasse's scent was created by Shawn Maher. While it is a very complex scent, my caveman nose locks onto the grape/berry (black currant) lead and woody/musky base notes. Another Shawn Maher creation, The Watchman, also features grape/berry leads with woody/musky bases amongst its scent profile so I chose it as my post. While Creed Silver Mountain Water forgoes grape, the berry/woody/musky notes are all there, and the citrus compliments nicely the lather/post's grape so I went with the Silver Mountain Water dup for my frag.

The Shave, Daily Challenge and PIF Acknowledgement: I find the 23C and Treet blades to be a bit mild for my taste, but since my face is still recovering from the 1st's Train Weck, the mildness of each was greatly appreciated. The lather was very protective, so no irritation was noted during cleanup, but a challenge is a challenge, so I broke out my Osma smush, grabbed a pinch and applied liberally to my face. All in all, my face appreciated the "Awesomeness of Osma", but I did receive some feedback in the areas damaged during my Train Weck. For some strange reason, while using the Osma it smelled like I was back home in the Midwestern America for a brief moment. Maybe there is some truth to u/tsrblke's theory that all Osma is connected!

I owe a big shout-out to The Tsar for generously gifting me the Osma and Treet carbon blade. In both cases I did not ask for them, he asked me if I needed them and (obviously) I said yes. When The Tsar was preparing the Osma "smush" he joked that it looks like dime-bag of crystal meth, and he's right. Good thing Philippine Customs didn't inspect Tsar's package to me, cuz I'd probably be singing the Folsom Prison Blues while rotting in a Philippine high security penitentiary if they had!

Alum Fun Fact: In the Philippines, alum is known as tawas and is used as a traditional antiperspirant and deodorant, and in traditional medicine for open wounds and sores. The crystals are usually ground into a fine powder before use.

June 04, 2024 – LG24 Day 4 - K.I.S.S.

• Brush: Parker BCPB Black Plastic & Chrome Potmetal handle w/ Pure Badger bulb knot #HOLLOW #WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINGBADGERS
• Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .76-P #CNC
• Blade: Treet Classic Carbon Steel (2)
• Prep: Stirling Soap Co. – Unscented Preshave Soap
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Lime
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Creamy Coconut AS Balm
• Fragrance: Minimaliscent - Lime & Coconut EdP (Inspired by Creed Virgin Island Water)
• Music: KISS - We Are One

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Today's lather theme and relevant post/frag offering was inspired by a little ditty from Harry Nilsson called "Coconut", specifically one line from the song: "Put the lime in the coconut, you drink 'em both up". When considering the Lime as my one scent note theme lather, as soon as I saw my Creamy Coconut balm the Nilsson ditty activated in my head. Instead of fighting the ditty, I embraced it as my thematic link, so I put the lime (Stirling Lime lather) in the coconut (Stirling Sweet Coconut balm), and I drink 'em both up (Minimaliscent Lime & Coconut frag).

Daily Challenge: The Great Soap Base Wars came and went well before I purchased my first artisan shave soap (in late 2022), so I'm one of those who never knew what I missed. Thanks to the Bazaar, I do have a couple GSBW "extinct" bases (Icarus and Softheart) but I don't have enough combined shaves with these vs. their current counterparts to be able to "wax nostalgically" about them. There is one other discontinued base in my stash (Spearhead's 20.1 Tallow) which was recently phased out and replaced with their Highland Tallow. Highland has been very good to me, but if I had to choose just one Spearhead base, hands down it would be 20.1 for a simple reason: I just like it!

If you asked me what base do I have more of than anything else it would be Stirling (by far!), but the challenge question is what base is my favorite. While it's not nearly as represented in by stash as is Omnibus, 20.1 and Stirling, the base I always reach to when I have a challenging shaving situation is Tusk! I know Tusk, I trust Tusk, and when the going gets tuff, Tusk gets going!

June 05, 2024 – LG24 Day 5 - Canned Shave Goop

• Razor: Gillette Mach3 #RAINBOW
• Blade: Gillette Mach3
• Lather: Gillette – Foamy Lemon Lime Shave Foam
• Post Shave: Mäurer & Wirtz - Sir Irisch Moos AS Lotion
• Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz - Sir Irisch Moos EdT
• Music: Big Head Todd and the Monsters - The Moose Song

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Every shave product I used today was purchased at local stores. The canned goop was bought at a local drug store here in the Philippines. When I was working in Singapore, the post and frag were bought at a department store which catered to Europeans, and the razor and blade were bought at the Base Exchange department store when I was stationed in Singapore. In addition to all shave products being mass-produced and purchased at local stores, they all have one more thing in common - they're all green.

Daily Challenge: Regardless of the type of shaving lubricant I use, my primary lather-building method is face-lathering. The opposite of face lathering is bowl lathering. So, how do you bowl lather canned goop? Let me show you how it's done.

Sorry about the abrupt ending of my video, the videographer is an idiot!

User made a video of bowl lathering with canned goop... instead of using a brush, proceeds to slap the bowl on his face.

June 06, 2024 – LG24 Day 6 - Thirsty Thursday

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan Knot set in DS Cosmetics Jade Green handle
• Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .76-P
• Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (1)
• Lather: Talent Soap Factory - Tea Shoppe
• Post Shave: Procter & Gamble - Old Spice Classic AS Splash
• Fragrance: Paco Rabanne - Pure XS EdT

PIF Acknowledgement, Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: u/Impressive_Donut114 originally provided the Tea Shoppe smush to u/tsrblke, who in turn sent it to me to use this day. Thanks Donut and Tsar for the assist!

With Tea Shoppe, my sus nose ID's greens, spices, fruits and florals. I decided to lean into the spices group with my post and frag. Old Spice is about as spicy as it gets, and Pure XS is categorized as an Aromatic Spicy, so after comparing scent notes and seeing Tea Shoppe's ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, anise and vanilla notes also featured in the post and/or the frag led me to believe that they would work together. According to Mrs Worried, they did, and when she's happy I'm happy.

Daily Challenge: Today's challenge is WetTubing Appreciation Day. If we're keeping it real, today's challenge should be renamed "AdWorried Makes an Ass of Himself Day." Here's the proof that I'd a WetTubing clown!

June 07, 2024 – LG24 Day 7 - Vetiver You Want

• Brush: DS Cosmetics Carrot handle w/ 26mm 2-band Badger + Synthetic mixed bulb knot
• Razor: Gillette Tech
• Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (2)
• Lather: Martin de Candre - Vetyver
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Vetiver Witch Hazel & Aloe
• Fragrance: Benetton - United Dreams Aim High EdT

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: MdC Vetiver combines the green notes of Haitian Vetiver with the earthy character of Java Vetiver. Stirling Vetiver post adds more earthy vetiver to the mix. To compliment all this vetiver, I targeted a frag that has a vetiver base but has an uplifting green vibe. Aim High fits the bill and nicely compliments the lather and post.

Daily Challenge & Shave: My beard predominantly grows downward (with the sides of my Adam's Apple and chin being the exceptions - it swirls in those areas). To meet today's ATG challenge, for the first pass I shaved bottom to top and in the swirly areas I did the Gillette slide counter to the swirly grain. I repeated this again for the second pass. Under normal circumstances, two ATG passes would give at least DFS results, but not today. I was at best SAS along the jaw line/swirly areas, and this highlighted that once again I chose poorly the razor for the challenge. I needed a cleanup pass to get to DFS, so along my jaw line and swirly areas I repeated the ATG Gillette slide and achieved the DFS I sought. Surprising, no irritation which received 3 x ATG passes, whereas my cheeks (which only received 2 x passes) are now angry due to razor abuse!

June 08, 2024 – LG24 Day 8 - Small Business Saturday... but in June

• Brush: Simpson Trafalger T2 Faux Ivory handle w/ 24mm x 44mm Sovereign Synthetic knot #OLDWORLD #PREMIUMPLASTIC #SMOLL
• Razor: RazoRock Hawk v3 Standard
• Blade: Schick Proline P–Series Artist Club (11)
• Lather: Maggard Razors - Tobacco and Leather
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – British Leather AS Balm
• Fragrance: Minimaliscent - Somewhat Provocative EdP (Inspired by TF Tuscan Leather)

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Tobacco and Leather was the first soap I acquired that wasn't either citrusy or fougèrey. It was lust at first smell. Both today's post (British Leather) and todays frag (a Tuscan Leather dup) were procured as a direct result of my scent-sory infatuation with the leathery goodness of the soap's scent and complement each other quite well.

Daily Challenge & Shave: When reviewing my Maggard orders I was shocked that the quantity (3 orders) and dollar figures ($70 average spent) of my orders wasn't much higher. Maggard's website is always the first place I look when on the hunt for something shaving-related. Maggard's is my shave ware wiki. So why not more orders? I realized that when I figure out what I want, I tend to go to the artisan's website and purchase it direct from the artisan. While this is beneficial to the artisan, it is not fair to Maggard's. I need to fix this.

It is hard to find someone who has a legitimate gripe regarding Maggard's. Brad, Casie and their team put their customers first - just the way it should be. Today's LG SOTD posts contain a plethora of well-deserved platitudes. Here's my addition: at the time of my orders, I worked for the US Navy and had use of a U.S. Military postal address. On every order I've ever placed, one of the Maggard's team leaves me a personal note thanking me for my military service. Yes, I am retired military (US Navy), but there's nothing in my address indicating my affiliation to military services except my city and state being listed as FPO AP. That means that the Maggard's team cared enough to look at my address, realize my military affiliation, and tailor the thank you note because of this. Maggard's - you're the best!

June 09, 2024 – LG24 Day 9 - Shave and a Haircut - Two Bits

• Brush: Ever-Ready 100 handle w/ 17mm Boar knot #HOLLOW #RUNT
• Razor: Eversharp Schick Injector Type G Variant 4 #RUSTYBUTTRUSTY
• Blade: Schick Stainless Steel Injector (1)
• Lather: Zingari Man - The Master
• Post Shave: Zingari Man – The Master Recovery Splash
• Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. – Barbershop Solid Cologne

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Barbershop scents bring back flashes of memory from my youth. It doesn't matter if it's a classic like Stirling Barbershop, a western twist like CF Ghost Town Barbershop, a spooky twist like SW Desairology, a dark and spicy twist like Zingari The Master, or the Crafter's Choice Barber Shoppe EO & FO Blend 123 found in countless soaps, I am transported back to the 60's sitting in our hometown barbershop doing my best to behave while my dad bonds with his friends over coffee. I've forgotten over 90% of the shit that I've encountered in my 61 years on planet earth, but my barbershop memories are tattooed on my brain.

Shawn Maher scents really "click" for me, so Zingari The Master was my choice for today's theme soap and relevant post. Wanting to keep the classic barbershop memory going throughout the day, I went with Stirling Barbershop solid cologne for my frag.

Shave: For being a miniature brush (by my standards) the Ever-Ready boar runt performed surprising well. Because of the lack of bristle volume in the runt, I had work overtime to get the lather properly hydrated. Luckily the Sego base was cooperative, and I eventually got the hydration where it needed to be. This was my first time using the Shick Injector blades (the ones that come in the yellow blister pack and made in China). Boy, am I impressed. I'm looking forward to seeing how they perform over the long haul.

Daily Challenge: Look at how great I am! A 100% score with 1:03 time remaining. Now here's the rest of the story: While trying to figure out how the quiz worked, I inadvertently selected start, panicked and immediately cancelled the quiz. To my surprise, all of the quiz results magically appeared on my screen! Being retired US Navy, where our unofficial motto was "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'" I quickly took snapshots of the screen and then contemplated what's next. I decided that I would test my typing skills and see how fast I could type the answers into the quiz. Well, it took my 4:57 to type in the 32 answers I had snapshotted. So, instead of me being an olfactory savant, I'm really a slow-typing cheater...

User cheated on the quiz, and then was honest about it. I was sincerely wondering how someone got them all. Now I know.

Also, can go back to user's KISS post. Missed handle destruction.

June 10, 2024 – LG24 Day 10 - Happy Together

• Brush: DS Cosmetics Carrot handle w/ 26mm 2-band Badger + Synthetic mixed bulb knot #MISTURA
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24 #FLIPTOP #MODERNGEM
• Blade: Personna PTFE Stainless Steel GEM (1)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Armonia
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Tobacconist AS Balm
• Fragrance: OriginLab - Inspired by Fahrenheit Parfum

PIFs/Collaborations: Today's soap and GEM blade came my way via separate PIFs from the one and only u/tsrblke, whose collaborative spirit makes my LG participation possible. My post was PIF'd by House of Mammoth as a NOS add-on to an order I placed last fall. The frag was PIF'd by the vendor as a "buy ten get one free" add-on to an order I placed in preparation for this year's LG. The MM24 is a two-timing collaboration - u/EldrormR combined the Ever-Ready 1924 Head with the MMOC handle to create this beauty, and u/ShavingInCT donated it to the LG 2023 Prize Pool. I was lucky enough to win it and I couldn't be happier. The brush (an AliExpress purchase for use in last year's LG) is collaborative in the sense that the knot joins together badger and synthetic fibers. Unlike the other collaborations (which are all fantastic), this one is meh (even a cheap Chinese knockoff of a G5 series knot is 10 times better than this knot at one-tenth of the cost).

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Armonia is collaboration between Chicago Grooming Co. (the soap maker) and House of Mammoth (frag creator). Both vendors are prominently presented on the soap label, thus meeting today's theme. The post and frag have two levels of relevancy to today's shave. Both post and frag were vendor add-on PIFs to orders with the vendors. The second relevancy is not as obvious but still fits today's collaborative theme: Armonia is described as a modern tobacco fougère, whereas Tobacconist is straight-up tobacco and the frag (a Dior Fahrenheit dup) is an aromatic fougère. The post and frag "collaborate" to form a tobacco fougère profile which compliments the lather nicely.

Daily Challenge: When I first reviewed the LG 2024 calendar, The Beatles song, Come Together, leapt into my brain when I reviewed the "Happy Together" theme details. As I prepared my LG calendar, "Come Together" popped in my head every time I thought about Day 10. Even as I performed today's shave, "Come Together" played over and over in my head like a broken record. No reason fighting it, my song recommendation for today is The Beatles - Come Together.

June 11, 2024 – LG24 Day 11 - April Showers Bring May Flowers

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Spice Blow handle w/ 26mm v23 Fanchurian Badger knot #COMPOSITE
• Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24
• Blade: Personna PTFE Stainless Steel GEM (2)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Fougère Nemeta
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Fougère Nemeta AS Splash
• Fragrance: Fragrancelab - 019 Libre EdP

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Last games, seasonal scents were my kryptonite. I'm sure I was DQ'd on at least two of the four. My brain does not associate scents with the seasons. This is a byproduct of spending multiple decades in either extreme cold environments (Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland) or in extreme hot environments (Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia, Philippines). At this point F'n Cold and F'n Hot are the way my brain sees the seasons. To compensate for my lack of scent awareness I tried something different, I read the frickin' theme description instructions! I searched the vendor pages of all of my soaps looking for the key phrase "spring" and discovered on the first line of Fougère Nemeta's product page that it "is a Spring fragrance created for Southern Witchcrafts by award-winning perfumer Shawn Maher." Jackpot!

Finding a relevant post was a pretty simple affair since I have the Fougère Nemeta splash, but it did take some effort finding a relevant frag. I have plenty of fougère frags that I like to pair with Fougère Nemeta, but none of their bottles fit the color theme I was seeking for today's special challenge. When looking for some frags for my wife, I lucked upon the 019 Libre frag (a Yves Saint Laurent Libre dup) which fit my color theme and is a modern fougère to boot! Libre is marketed as a woman's scent, but who cares. Its floral and citrus main accords nicely compliment Fougère Nemeta's "luscious greens accompanied by blossoming florals and crisp fruit accords." Game, set, match!

Daily Challenge: Southern Witchcrafts special edition soaps typically have a cream-colored stone background image. This was the thematic color I used to link today's shaving wares. Since the frag bottle had a bit of silver and the brush had a bit of bronze which was not represented in the soap and post labels, I added the MM24 to help link everything together. Here are the results.

June 12, 2024 – LG24 Day 12 - CREAM

• Brush: AP Shave Co. Black & Clear handle w/ 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan knot
• Razor: Schick Injector Type L1 Variant 2 Style 1
• Blade: Schick Stainless Steel Injector (2)
• Lather: Crown Shaving Co. - Farad’s Tobacco Shave Cream
• Post Shave: Crown Shaving Co. - Farad’s Tobacco AS Lotion
• Fragrance: Minimaliscent - Get Up and Smoke EdP (Inspired by Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille)

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: The product label says it all - Farad’s Tobacco Shave Cream. For post I tricked Farad’s Tobacco AS lotion, and in keeping with the tobacco theme, I went with the Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille dup for my frag. In addition to its complimentary tobacco accord, the frag's vanilla and spicy notes add a bit of sophistication to the otherwise straight tobacco scent of the soap and post.

Daily Challenge: Den Tour Day. The one day of the year where I pretend that I'm organized and take selectively cropped pictures to give the illusion that my bathroom is tidy.

I am lucky that my wife tolerates my software and hardware addiction disorders. She even let me mount brackets for my razors & brushes next to our sink so that I can easily access them. I keep my posts & miscellaneous hardware in a trolly under the pedestal sink, and my soaps in two trollies in a void/nook behind our shower. I haven't found a decent place to store my frags, so for now I cart them around in a spare tray that I have.

My wife and I are in the infant stage of designing our forever home. She has an addiction to makeup and perfumes, so I am piggybacking on her addictions to ensure that I have sufficient storage for my addictions when our forever home is complete. Waiting sucks!

June 13, 2024 – LG24 Day 13 - Dupelgänger

• Brush: Oumo Venus Red handle w/ 25mm SHD 5th Anniversary Gel Tip Badger fan knot
• Razor: Schick (Krona) Double Edge TTO Variant 2
• Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (2)
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps – Prom King
• Post Shave: Zingari Man – The Merchant Recovery Splash
• Fragrance: OriginLab - Inspired by Le Male Parfum

Daily Theme: Shaving software dups come in many shapes and forms. There are high-effort dups, low-effort dups, IP-stealing dups, and shit-bag dupers.

Prom King is an excellent example of a high-effort dup. SBS doesn't hide that this is a Jean Paul Gualtier Le Mâle dupe (its stated in the second paragraph of the soap's product page after all). Everything else, from the Prom King name, label artwork, product description, etc., maintains SBS branding continuity.

My frag is an example of a low-effort dup. The frag duper openly acknowledges that the scent was reverse-engineered in a lab, and riffs on a "generic" presentation via black lettering on a white background. The kicker is the scent's name: "Inspired by Le Male Parfum". It doesn't get much lower effort than that.

IP pirates are the scum of the earth, enough said. That leads us to the shit-bag dupers (here's looking at you A&E). To me, what separates respectable dupers and shit-bag dupers is transparency. Respectable dupers don't hide the origin of their scents. Shit-bag dupers insult our intelligence by claiming their scents are original. The only person these shit-baggers are fooling are themselves.

Relevant Post/Frag: Both soap and frag are dups of JPG Le Mâle. Le Mâle is aromatic, vanilla and spicy. I chose The Merchant as my post since vanilla and spices are two of its main accords. The Merchant is also aromatic, but in a deeper sort of way that I find very complimentary to the fresher aromatic found in Le Mâle.

Daily Challenge: I have ZERO artistic ability. My drawing effort for last year's challenge was pathetic. Here is the proof. My daughter, on the other hand, inherited her mother's artistic ability. I ~~bribed~~ encouraged her to lean into the "Inspired By" concept respectable dupers embrace and to make for me a drawing that pays homage to Prom King. She did a great job with the soap label drawing challenge. I'm a proud daddy!

Low-Effort u/Priusaurus Dup: Last games, reigning and defending LG Champion Prius innovated the now ubiquitous "10 Questions with..." interview series as part his LG SOTD write-ups. He is the original. u/tsrblke ~~riffed~~ duped the champ with a new installment of "~~10~~ 5 Questions with..." in his LG SOTD post today. The Tsar is a High-Effort Dupper because he acknowledges the original yet puts his own Tsarist creative spin on it! In collaboration with Tsar I too dup Prius' interview series, but ~~I couldn't be bothered~~ had ~~ummm~~ technical difficulties getting questions to Prius in a timely manner, so I interviewed the next best thing:

~~10~~ ~~5~~ 3 Questions with the Magic 8 Ball

Magic 8 Ball predates most of our community members. A little-known fact is that the Magic 8 Ball is a laboratory-created reverse-engineered duplication of Prius! You don't believe me? Wikipedia states it so it must be true!

1. You're from the Boston area. I spent some time in New England back in my US Navy days. Every New Englander I encountered were huge fans of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox. To prove that the Magic 8 Ball harnesses the essence of Prius, answer this question - Do the New York Yankees suck?

Yes definitely

2. One of the keys to your success in last year's games was having a Spite Shave War with u/MrTangerinesky. If I were to dupe you and start a spite shaveoff with another European, u/djundjila, would I have any chance of victory?

My reply is no

3. Last year you called your shot and proceeded to win the LG crown. Now you're the defending LG champ, and you dared anyone to come after your crown. We're now 13 days in the competition, do you still feel confident in repeating as LG Champ?

It is certain

Thank you, Magic 8 Ball, for taking the time to thoughtfully answering these challenging questions.

edits: typos and grammar

User hacks Wikipedia for lg glory and interviews a toy.

June 14, 2024 – LG24 Day 14 - Frigid Friday

• Brush: DS Cosmetics 24mm SHD G7 Synthetic bulb knot set in Frank Shaving Butterscotch Classic handle
• Razor: No-Name Cheap China Crap Kamisori Form Factor Shavette #KAMISORI
• Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (4)
• Lather: Chiseled Face - Cryogen
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Black Ice Witch Hazel & Aloe
• Fragrance: Dior - Sauvage EdP

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Cryogen's product page states - "We put a ridiculous amount of menthol in here." Black Ice's product page states - "Anise with over 2% menthol crystals." Menthol + Menthol - so far so good. None of my frags have menthol but one has an Anise note, so Sauvage is today's frag choice.

Daily Challenge: I had chosen today's software and hardware over a week ago. When I saw today's challenge I smiled. I couldn't have selected better stacking items... except the kami. It took multiple failures but eventually the kami cooperated and stayed put. Here are a couple pics of my stacking effort.

Shave: Last LG I used Cryogen, and waterfall level tears were the result. Not having learned my lesson, Cryogen is back as my Frigid Friday lather. Because I am a glutton for punishment, I've added a Kamisori to today's shave (FYI -this is the first time I've ever used the kami form factor and only the second time I've ever used a straight/shavette).

I followed my normal precision load/face lather progression and was pleasantly surprised that the tears were minimal this year. Cyrogen needs significantly more water than any other CF soap I've ever used, so the face lather building went on and on and on. Cryogen lived up to its name because the more I built my lather the more my face became numb. If I was using a DE this wouldn't be a problem, but as I discovered, a numb face and the kami don't work well together. Shaving the cheeks and neck were uneventful, so I shifted to the upper lip/chin areas. I thought things were going well until red splotches started appearing on my upper lip and chin. Closer examination indicated I had nicked myself a handful of times and I didn't feel a thing!

After treating my battle wounds and showering, it was time for post. After freezing my face with Cryogen, Black Ice felt almost normal. I could feel the mentholated tingling, but it was surprisingly pleasant and helped mask the throbbing pings in the multiple kami nicks I inflicted on myself.

Self-reflection is how I learn. The definition of idiocy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting the outcome to change. Expecting a smooth shave while using Cryogen is an idiot play. Adding the kami makes it even worse. Idiot + Kami = Moron. Yes, today I'm a moron!

edit-typing error

June 15, 2024 – LG24 Day 15 - Near Death Experience

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Pueblo Opaque handle w/ 26mm v20 Fanchurian Badger knot
• Razor: Schick Injector Type M Variant D2,H1,G1
• Blade: Schick Stainless Steel Injector (3)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Fú Dào
• Post Shave: Stubble Buster - Game AS Splash
• Fragrance: OriginLab - Inspired by Acqua Di Gio Parfum (Giorgio Armani Acqua di Giò dup)

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: The vast majority of my soap tubs are nearly full. Fú Dào is the exception as it is around 50% used and is by far the closest to finishing. Mandarin orange is a predominant scent of Fú Dào, and I leaned into citrus with my post and frag. The post (a Victoria's Secret Very Sexy for Him dupe) and the frag (a Giorgio Armani Acqua di Giò dupe) both have citrus as their primary accords, and I find them to be very complimentary to the lather.

Daily Challenge & Shave: There was a time (when I didn't know any better) that my typical lather was dry, pasty, and sticky. Thanks to the r/wetshaving wiki, I have learned how to make nice, good, wet lather and I am disappointed in myself when I fail to do so. Against my better judgement, I have reached back in time and build the pastiest lather I could. I'm glad I chose the Shick Adjustable with Shick Injector blade today, because it wasn't bothered by the pasty, sticky lather. Considering how pathetic my lather was, the shave wasn't half bad. For the most part I avoided razor burn, but multiple weepers on my lower neck reminded me that today's lather sucked.

June 16, 2024 – LG24 Day 16 - Father's Day

• Brush: RazoRock 506U 26mm Natural Boar Bristle w/ Olive Wood handle #TOLL
• Razor: Gillette Slim Adjustable
• Blade: Gillette Perma-Sharp (1)
• Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac Original
• Post Shave: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac Original AS Lotion
• Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac Original EdC

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: I was born in 1963. Tabac, the brand, was launched in 1959 and its parent company, Mäurer & Wirtz, was founded in 1854. Older than me theme met. On the relevant front, I trick holed the post and frag, thus all software used today comes from companies older than me.

Keeping with the older than me theme, the razor and blade are made by Gillette. Gillette, the brand, was founded in 1901, and its parent company, Procter & Gamble, was founded in 1837. The brush is a little more complicated but still meets the spirit of the older than me theme. The 506U is branded RazoRock (which was founded in 2009, but the brush is white-label manufactured by Zenith. The Zenith brand is owned by Pennellificio Pandolfo, whose origins date back to 1902.

The Slim Adjustable brings back fond memories of my Dad. The Adjustable was his razor of choice throughout my childhood. Some of my earliest memories are of watching Dad shave with his Slim. Dad's slim has disappeared, but I got this reconditioned Slim in his honor, and it has a date code (I2) which alignes with my birth quarter.

Daily Challenge & Shave: Today's challenge is Leg Day, and its purpose is to find out how the other side lives. While some may question the placement of leg day on Father's Day, the concept itself is an honorable one. It is not my place to question why some participants chose to forgo today's leg shaving challenge, but I am of the belief that those who passed on leg day missed an opportunity to better understand the challenges leg shaving practitioners face every time they do so. Here is my leg shave.

June 17, 2024 – LG24 Day 17 - Don't have a Cow, Man!

• Brush: AP Shave Co. Black & Clear handle w/ 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan knot
• Razor: Schick Injector Type M Variant D2,H1,G1
• Blade: Schick Stainless Steel Injector (4)
• Lather: Catie's Bubbles – Florentine Fern
• Post Shave: Stubble Buster - Absolutely AS Splash
• Fragrance: OriginLab - Inspired by Ultra Male Parfum

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Catie's Bubbles is renowned for its vegan soap base (and today's Sponsor to boot!), making Florentine Fern an easy lather choice. For post and frag I leaned into Florentine Fern's fougère roots. The post (a Boss Number One dupe) is an Aromatic Fougère and the frag (a JPG Ultra Mâle dupe) is an Amber Fougère. The soap's and post's aromatic and woody accords and the frag's vanilla, fruity and sweet accords are very complimentary (at least to my caveman nose) and work well together.

Daily Challenge & Shave: I'm a ~~disciple~~ practitioner of Cosmo's Precision Loading method. Having a predictable amount of soap has helped me consistently make slick, wet, protective lather. When precision loading, I've always used a bowl to load my brush and then build my lather on my face, until today that is. With today being Knee-Lather Day that means no bowl to load and no face to lather, instead, brush loading and lather building will be performed on my right knee.

The first step of precision loading is to scoop some soap. That's about 2g of Florentine Fern, and as I discovered during the lather-building phase, that's wayyyyyyyyyy to much soap for CB's fantastic vegan base. The next step is to spread the soap ~~in a bowl~~ on your knee and wet your brush (damp only because any water trapped in the brush can cause over-hydration during the building phase). With soap adequately spread ~~in a bowl~~ on my knee, it's time to load the brush. I was able to load about 95% of the soap, but since my knee is convex (instead of concave like a bowl), picking up the rest wasn't worth the effort. Next is the lather-building phase, on my knee as per today's challenge. To avoid getting foamy lather, I dip my brush tips, do a little building, dip again, build again, and so on until the lather takes on a shiny appearance. Normally 4 to 5 dips gets the lather shiny. Not today. I dipped at least 10 times and the soap kept on asking for more! At about 12 dips the lather finally looking shiny and voluminous. I gave the lather a few more dips of water (until it started dripping down my leg) and started face-painting before the lather collapsed upon itself due to the quantity of water I added. I grabbed my Schick Adjustable and attacked my stubble. The wet, slick, protective lather was awesome and delivered a fantastic shave.

Today's Learned Lesson - Cosmo states (I think in his video, but maybe in a SOTD) that his precision loading method will work on any flat surface. Today's challenge demonstrates that precision loading can be performed on any surface, including your knee!

June 18, 2024 – LG24 Day 18 - RIP in Pieces

• Brush: Wild West Brushworks Slimer handle w/ C&H 26mm v21 Fanchurian Badger knot
• Razor: Schick Injector Type M Variant D2,H1,G1
• Blade: Schick Stainless Steel Injector (5)
• Lather: Dr. Jon’s Shaving Soap Co. - Runaway
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Stirling Noir AS Splash
• Fragrance: Symmetry Lab - Inspired by Lost Cherry EdP

Daily Theme, Relevant Post/Frag, and PIF Acknowledgement: Today's soap offering is Runaway by Dr. Jon's. Dr. Jon's ceased operations in the first half of 2023. Runaway has notes of cherry, carnation, clover, leather and musk. The frag (a Tom Ford Lost Cherry dupe) is an Amber Floral whose main accord, cherry, pairs nicely with Runaway's sweeter side. The post (a Drakkar Noir dupe) is an Aromatic Fougère whose greens and flowery top notes (including carnation), and musky base notes (including leather) help counterbalance the frag's sweetness and together the post and frag are a nice compliment to Runaway.

As I do not currently have any dead company soaps in my shaving stash, u/tsrblke was kind enough to PIF me smush of Runaway. Thanks Tsar!

Daily Challenge: It is time to suspend belief and imagine yourself being teleported to the Edge of Wickedness....

r/wicked_edge

Posted by u/AdWorried2804 5 minutes ago

Question - Can't Do Three Pass Shaves. What Am I Doing Wrong?

Ok, I'm on my 23rd safety razor. So far I've used Above the Tie H1/H2, Baili BD176, EldrormR Industries MM24, Gillette Slim Adjustable, Gillette Tech, Merkur 23C, Merkur Progress, RazoRock Game Changer .68-P/76-P/.84-P, RazoRock Hawk v3 Standard, Rex Supply Co. Ambassador XL Adjustable, Rex Supply Co. Konsul XL Adjustable, Schick Injector Type G/Type I/Type J/Type L/Type M, Schick Double Edge TTO, Schick Krona TTO, Weber PH, and Wolfman WR1. I don't know why but my skin doesn't like three passes.

So, I shave before a hot shower. Everyone recommends showering before shaving, but for reasons that make sense only to me I shave first. I use pre-shave soap, I have a lather bowl, I have a brush, I have shave soap, I have an alum block (although I never use it) & I have aftershave. I cannot for the life of me shave three passes with all of these things without skin irritation (and sometimes cuts!) Blades I've tried are Bolzano Superinox Inossidable, Elios Inoxidable, Gilette Astra Green and Blue, Gillette Minora Stainless, Gillette Perma-Sharp, Gillette Platinum, Gillette Silver Blue, Ladas Super Stainless, Personna Super Comfort Coated, Personna Lab Blue, Personna PTFE Stainless Steel GEM, Personna PTFE Stainless Steel Injector, Rapira Platinum Lux, Rapira Swedish Supersteel, Rapira Stainless, Schick Stainless Steel Injector, Schick Proline P-Series Artist Club, Treet Carbon Steel, Voskhod, Wizamet Super Iridium, and Feather. I know I've got the angle & pressure right (I practiced on my chest & legs and only drew a little blood) so what I'm here for is to see if anyone might have any insight into what I'm doing wrong? At this point anything might help. I so frustrated I can't get a three pass BBS with no irritation just like my favorite WetTubers that I'm considering going back to cartridge razors.

Edit: I shave every day, and twice a day when the need arises. My hair is thick everywhere (I think I am part neanderthal but I'm scared of my spit, so I've never done a DNA test to confirm it). I do 3 passes, with the grain, across the grain, & against the grain. I followed my WetTube shaving hero, Matt Pisarcik's advice and mapped my beard and noted that on the right side of my face my beard grows left, on the left side of my face my beard grows right, on my upper neck my beard grows down, on my lower neck my beard grows up, on the left side of my chin my beard swirls clockwise, on the right side of my chin my beard swirls counterclockwise and my lips are free of hair. Thanks in advance for any advice anyone has to offer.

June 19, 2024 – LG24 Day 19 - Juneteenth

• Brush: Wild West Brushworks Slimer handle w/ C&H 26mm v21 Fanchurian Badger knot
• Razor: Schick Injector Type M Variant D2,H1,G1
• Blade: Schick Stainless Steel Injector (6)
• Lather: Spearhead Shaving – Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving – Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime AS Toner
• Fragrance: Aficionado - F25 EdP

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Spearhead Shaving Company is located in Miamisburg, Ohio. As per the U.S. National Park Service, Ohio was a Union State during the U.S. Civil War, thus Spearhead products meet today's theme. For the post, I tricked with the SSL toner. Todays frag is a Guy Laroche Drakkar dupe. Drakkar is very citrus forward, with (amongst others) a Coriander middle note and an oakmoss base note. I find that Drakkar's citrus forward scent, with a hint of spiciness and a touch of earthiness, pairs well with SSL's similar notes.

Daily Challenge: Meme Day. This is one of the harder challenges for me. I'm 61 frickin' years old. Memes are easy for you young whipper snappers, but I'm a grumpy old man and couldn't be bothered with this meme shit, until today that is. Here's a couple lame-ass attempts at meme humor:

u/Enndeegee informed us the other day that this year would be his last in honchoing the No Scrubity List. Here's a scrub's interpretation of NDG's announcement.

u/pridetwo has been MIA from r/wetshaving due to (amongst other things) his humor being misunderstood (he can still be found slinging the monkey shit at the wetshaving discord). This is pure speculation on my part, but this is how I imagined [P2's reaction to NDG's announcement].(https://imgflip.com/i/8ueqy2).

June 20, 2024 – LG24 Day 20 - Sunny Days

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan Knot set in DS Cosmetics Queen Red handle
• Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .76-P
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (1)
• Lather: A A Shaving - Wapiti
• Post Shave: Yaqi - Malibu AS Splash
• Fragrance: Aficionado - F26 EdP (Inspired by Bvlgari Aqva Atlantiqve)

PIF Acknowledgement, Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: As I planned my LG calendar, I became desperate for a summer-themed soap and an A A Shaving soap (for sponsorship points). u/OnionMiasma came to my rescue by PIFing a generously sized smush of Wapiti. u/tsrblke deserves an assist by collecting the smush from Onion and forwarding said smush to me.

In my Spring Day SOTD writeup, I admitted that last games, seasonal scents were my kryptonite because my brain doesn't associate scents with the seasons. I would have never in a million years associated Wapiti with summer, but it is on theme today because Onion says so.

Wapiti has aquatic and woody notes. Today's post is an aquatic with woody notes, and today's frag (a Bvlgari Aqva Atlantiqve dupe) is a woody aquatic.

Daily Challenge: After yesterday's SOTD, Mrs Worried and I traveled with our son to Bali, Indonesia, where Worried Jr will be participating in a youth soccer (U14) tournament. While I would love to head for the woods in Midwestern USA and do a shave worthy of u/Old_Hiker, I'll have to settle for a poolside shave at the villa we are sharing with 6 other soccer parents. Our soccer parent friends already think I'm a bit strange, so trying to explain to them that I'm participating in the Premier Internet Wet Shaving Competition would be a futile effort, so instead I did something that I excel at - I ignored everyone and went about the business at hand. First, I prepared everything I'd need for the shave (including bowl-building my lather)and walked to the poolside location I chose for today's shave and started pass number one of my shave. The first pass was uneventful, so I dove into pass number two. Amazingly (or maybe not) no one had even noticed me. After a quick cleanup, I snapped one last photo and went about enjoying my first day in Bali.

SOTD Pic Note: My SOTD picture was staged prior to flying out the Philippines. I brought with me samples/smushes/decants of all needed software for LG use during this trip. Here's a pic for you viewing pleasure.

Bali Fun Fact: I have to use a VPN to access Reddit here in Bali. For whatever reason, the Indo government is having internet providers block Reddit. I guess those bloody facial pics at WE scared the government to take action!

User required to use VPN to participate in online shaving competition because apparently Bali hates reddit.

June 21, 2024 – LG24 Day 21 - Fougère Friday * Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan Knot set in DS Cosmetics Queen Red handle
Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .76-P
Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
Lather: Wholly Kaw - Fougère Mania
Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Dunshire AS Splash
Fragrance:* Minimaliscent - Effervescent EdP

SOTD Pic Note: My SOTD picture was staged prior to flying out the Philippines to Bali. I brought with me samples/smushes/decants of all needed software for LG use during this trip. Here's a pic of today's wares taken just prior to shaving.

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Wholly Kaw markets today's soap as a fougère in the simplest of ways; it's right there in the name of the soap - Fougère Mania.

As stated in its product page, Fougère Mania is neroli forward. I leaned into neroli when selecting my post and frag. The post (a Giorgio Armani Acqua di Giò dupe) is very citrus forward, with neroli being one of the scents contributing to its citrus main accord. The frag (a Tom Ford Neroli Portofino dupe) not only has neroli as one of its middle notes, neroli is right there in name of the frag.

The Shave: When preparing for today's shave I discovered that the master bedroom ensuite does not have a mirror over the vanity. How do you shave without a mirror? Not very well as I proved yesterday with my outdoor shave. Shaving without a mirror sucks. Luckily Wholly Kaw's Siero tallow is uber protective and kept the nicks and cuts away.

Daily Challenge:

There once was that AdWorried bore
Who ranked low on the No Scrubity score
He exclaimed Yabba Dabba Dooba
When his meme got a No Scruba
Until he realized u/Enndeegee got him once more

Edit x 2: replaced broken pic links again.

June 22, 2024 – LG24 Day 22 - Spooky Season

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan Knot set in DS Cosmetics Queen Red handle
• Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .76-P
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (3)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Autumn Ash
• Post Shave: Black Ship Grooming Co. - Davy Jones AS Splash
• Fragrance: Symmetry Lab - Oud & Spice EdP

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Autumn Ash is marketed as "The quintessential Fall fragrance" (and it has Autumn in its name to boot), thus making today's soap on theme.

Woody and amber are two of Autumn Ash's main accords. I leaned into them when selecting my post and frag. Post is a "woody, amber-moss scent mixed with a spicy Bourbon and vanilla blend". Frag (a dupe of Tom Ford Oud Wood) is in the Amber Woody group of scents. Collectively they complement each other nicely.

The Shave: Yesterday I grumbled about shaving without a mirror because our Bali villa's bathroom doesn't have one above the sink. u/Mayana8828, our "sub's most active blind person", gently challenged me to continue practicing non-mirrored shaving. I joined Lather Games to get out of my comfort zone and to learn new aspects of wet shaving not previously experienced. While not an LG-official challenge (at least not yet), it's a worthy one nonetheless, so I went mirrorless again today. Instead of whining about what I didn't have, I laser-focused on my available senses (touch and hearing) and was pleasantly surprised by how much "seeing" I could do without my eyes. I still have no idea on how to trim my sideburns without a mirror, but with enough practice I should be able to figure it out.

Daily Challenge: I didn't anticipate the carving challenge. I know what you're thinking - carving was THE obvious challenge for today - but I've been focusing on supporting my son and his team during the Bali7 U14 soccer tournament. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!

During a tournament break, I perused today's LG SOTDs (via the reddit mobile app) and u/Enndeegee's post immediately caught my attention. He baked bread and used a bread lame (complete with razor blade) to carve it. A high effort challenge execution if there ever was one.

I demonstrated on Dupelgänger Day my affinity for low effort. Since there's precedent in doing the same thing over and over (for instance u/Priusaurus making an artform out of the Urban Outdoor Shave (TM pending) and u/tsrblke making his shaves a Family Affair!), why can't I make low effort my thing. Hmmmmm... Baked bread - I have that. Razor blade - How about the DE blade I just shaved with. Lame - Doing a carving of a scary face with a DE blade on a piece of sliced sandwich bread is about as lame-ass as it gets. Here's my low effort scary carving!

SOTD Pic Note: My SOTD picture was staged prior to flying out the Philippines to Bali. I brought with me samples/smushes/decants of all needed software for LG use during this trip. Here's a pic of today's wares taken just prior to shaving.

June 23, 2024 – LG24 Day 23 - Sweet Sunday

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan Knot set in DS Cosmetics Queen Red handle
• Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .76-P
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (4)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Voices
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Rumble AS Balm
• Fragrance: Ralph Lauren - Polo Black EdT

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Fragrantica defines a gourmand smell as "...reminiscent of foody smells, specifically sweets and desserts...". Voices meets that criterion with mango, pandan, sticky rice, and coconut milk as part of its scent profile. Mango Pandan Sticky Rice is a variation of a traditional Southeast Asian dessert made with glutinous (sticky) rice, mango, pandan and coconut milk.

Today's post has scents when combined make another gourmand note. Rum, coffee and chocolate are key ingredients in many desserts, including Spanish Chocolate Cream and Chocolate Rum Coffee Mousse. For the frag, Polo Black features mango; and its main accords are tropical, fruity, and woody. The soap and the frag pair very well together, and the addition of the chocolaty post brings the sticky rice dessert scent to an elevated level.

Daily Challenge: As mentioned on Sunny Days, we are sharing a villa with 6 other soccer parents while in Bali supporting our kid's soccer team. Our villa has a common kitchen, so once again I needed to perform a clandestine shave to avoid having to explain to them what the Premier Internet Wet Shaving Competition is and why I'm participating. Luck was on my side because when I went to do my shave, all of the parents were either resting in their rooms or had left the villa to see the sights. I picked my shaving spot and built my lather. I lathered up and did my first pass, re-lathered, did my second pass and cleaned up. Once again no one in the villa noticed what I was doing. If I wasn't so old and fat, I might have had a future as a shaving ninja.

SOTD Pic Note: My SOTD picture was staged prior to flying out the Philippines to Bali. I brought with me samples/smushes/decants of all needed software for LG use during this trip. Here's a pic of today's wares taken just prior to shaving.

Oops. Comment's in the wrong place.

June 24, 2024 – LG24 Day 24 - Christmas in July, but in June's Eve

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan Knot set in DS Cosmetics Queen Red handle
• Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .76-P
• Blade: Gillette Platinum (5)
• Lather: Tallow + Steel - Shag
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Stirling Green AS Balm
• Fragrance: Ralph Lauren - Polo (Green) EdT

PIF Acknowledgement, Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Christmas traditions are the foundation of having a great Christmas. I have decided that Shaving with Shag would be my LG Christmas Eve tradition. I shaved with Shag last LG XMAS Eve, and I'm doing it again today. To make this tradition possible, I am 100% dependent on another LG participant having a tub of Shag AND be willing to PIF some to me. Luckily for me, fellow Midwesterner and Lather Games Contestant Extraordinaire, u/tsrblke, ~~had pity on me~~ gifted me a smush of Shag to help keep my XMAS Eve Shaving with Shag tradition alive.

The Tsar has really gone above and beyond to help me pursue as many LG points as possible. Beyond sending me a half-dozen smushes to fill gaps in my LG calendar, he hooked me up with Osma and a carbon DE blade without me asking for them! He also collected a couple of smushes from u/OnionMiasma and included them in the care package he sent to me here in the Philippines. You the Best! Thanks Tsar!

Shag is described as "Dirty, Smokey, and Green". Polo (Green) opens green and fresh and has a woody heart that is decorated with notes of patchouli, oakmoss and vetiver. The green, woody, patchouli, and vetiver notes make Polo (Green) my choice for today's post and frag, and the "You smell nice" from Mrs Worried is an added bonus.

Daily Challenge: When I saw today's challenge, one soap artisan immediately jumped to my mind - Stirling Soap Co.! Stirling has mastered the inclusion of frag dupe soaps in their catalogue. Most of my favorite frags have associated Stirling soap dupes, but there is one glaring omission in Stirling's soap dupe catalogue: Sir Irisch Moos. I beg of you u/stirlingsoap, please add the Moos to your catalog and free us r/wetshaving heathens from considering getting our Moos soap fix from a less worthy artisan.

SOTD Pic Note: My SOTD picture was staged prior to flying out the Philippines to Bali. I brought with me samples/smushes/decants of all needed software for LG use during this trip. Here's a pic of today's wares taken just prior to shaving.

June 25, 2024 – LG24 Day 25 - Christmas in July, but in June

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan Knot set in DS Cosmetics Queen Red handle
• Razor: RazoRock Game Changer .76-P
• Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (1)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Smoking Bishop
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Smoking Bishop AS Balm
• Fragrance: Paco Rabanne - 1 Million EdT

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Smoking Bishop is a Victorian mulled wine referenced in the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. For those who have never read A Christmas Carol, Wikipedia summarized the story as follows: "It recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser who is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. In the process, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man." If that's not Xmasy enough, Smoking Bishop's product page states: "It's one of our favorite holiday punches here at Barrister and Mann".

Today's post is a trick of the soap. When I review Smoking Bishop's notes, citrus (orange, grapefruit) and spicy (vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg) were the two main accords which resonated with me. Today's frag has citrus and spicy as two of its main accords, and it pairs well with Smoking Bishop.

Daily Challenge: I may be in the minority, but I really like our daily/special challenges. I put them in two categories: educational and shenanigan-worthy, and with a bit of creativity some can be both. Until today that is. Shave in a Hat? That's so old hat (pun definitely intended). Let's be honest. Anyone wearing a Santa/Christmas-themed hat would have worn it anyways today; and wearing over-the-top headgear became blasé after u/djundjila wore a hazmat suit and gas mask for his legendary Modern Dickholary Theory LG 2021 SOTD. So, I've created a third category for Shave in a Hat Day: Meh.

Well, I made a commitment (to myself) to do all of the challenges, so here we go. First, I need a hat. The first hat I saw was one Mrs Worried left unattended - too bad I'm not using a YSL frag, but when you're making shit up on the fly you take what you can get. I then put said hat on head and went about shaving. Here's some pics of my 1st pass, 2nd pass and final result. Is it just me, or does that hat look lame on my head, kinda like something else I can't quite put my finger on about today's challenge.

User spends the majority of the post lambasting the daily challenge. This challenge specifically is stupid, in his estimation. Managed to randomly land the judge whose suggestion this challenge was.

June 26, 2024 – LG24 Day 26 - Wildcard Wednesday

• Brush: BukoPuro Organic Coconut Husk
• Bowl: BukoPuro Organic Coconut Shell
• Razor: Merkur 23C
• Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (2)
• Lather: BukoPuro - Organic Coconut Cream
• Post Shaver: BukoPuro - Virgin Organic Coconut Oil
• Fragranc: BukoPuro - Organic Coconut Juice

Daily Theme & Shave: My approach to last year's WCW was admittedly low effort - I used Aloe Vera Skin Care Lotion. I still regret that I didn't do something more adventurous (I don't mean adventurous as in shaving with anal lube, I mean adventurous as in doing something that's both fun and a a bit outside the box). Pre-games, u/tsrblke indicated that he was considering a locally themed "bonkers food shave". I was very intrigued but was having difficulty with how to present a Philippine-themed bonkers shave without looking like I was just copying Tsar, so I took things in a different direction. Today I'm shaving with a coconut. Well, that's not quite right. Today my software, bowl and brush will all be parts of coconuts I arranged to have harvested for use today.

You see, one of Mrs Worried's friends (we'll call her Mary) has a side-hustle farming coconuts and selling coconut meat at a local market. A few days ago, Mary harvested some coconuts for me. Here you see her son (we'll call him John) using a long pole to yank ripe coconuts from trees on their farm. John then "shucks" the husk to expose the nut. The nut is then split open, the coconut juice drained, and then the coconuts are mechanically scraped to remove the coconut meat.

John delivered the coconut raw materials shortly after we returned from Bali yesterday. The last pic shows the meat to be processed into cream and oil, plus the juice, husk and bowl set aside for the shave.

The second part of the coconut transformation is Master Chef'd by Mrs Worried. Before you can make coconut cream and oil, you need to extract the coconut milk from the meat. You add hot water to help release the milk from the meat, and you squeeze the meat until it's dry. This is a very low-tech process, thus even I'm qualified to do the squeezing. Any floating bits are strained out, and what you have left is coconut milk.

The milk is then heated, which causes the milk to break down and the coconut cream separates from the coconut oil. If you continue to heat the cream/oil, all moisture will cook out of the cream, and leaving behind a powdery, sweet treat used as flavor enhancer on desserts such as sticky rice. FYI - Mrs Worried made the stick rice concurrent with our cream/oil production since they share many of the base ingredients.

I let the cream/oil cool down, and then it was shave time. Keeping with the coconut theme, I used one of the coconut shells and some of the coconut husk left over from the meat extraction process as my bowl and brush. I used the husk to mix up the coconut cream in the shell and to apply the cream to my face. One thing I discovered during the shave is that coconut cream is not very creamy (at least in the raw state we produced). The cream was incredibly slick, and I got a great shave as a result, but to be honest, it looked more like vomit than cream when I applied it. Coconut oil is a natural beauty product and it worked well today as my post. Coconut juice is naturally fragrant and was a natural choice for my frag.

Relevant Post/Frag: Lather, Post and Frag were all made from the coconuts harvested at Mary's farm. Post was made by Mrs Worried with the same coconut meat used to make the lather, and the frag was extracted by John from the coconuts when they were being prepared for mechanical scraping. All in all, today was a family/friends affair.

Product Branding: If I were to get into the coconut product business, I would name my company BukoPuro. Buko is Tagalog for coconut and Puro is Spanish for pure. I used a company name creator AI for name development assistance and in logo design.

Daily Challenge: I have two levels of brush cleaning: daily and special. Shaving soap is naturally antibacterial, so daily cleaning is almost always what I do. Post-shave, I first extract as much soap as I can from the brush (I use the lather to clean soap scum from the sink with an old brush I repurposed for this task). I rinse the brush under the tap until there is no visible soap, and then I dunk/splay the brush in my shave bowl (refreshing water as necessary) until the water is clear. I then hang to dry.

I only perform special cleaning when a brush is brand new (it's part of my brush break in process) or if a brush gets contaminated (such as falling into the toilet). I use a dedicated brush cleaning soap from a vendor on the DNB list and thus shall not be named (I bought this pre-r/wetshaving and if I ever need to replenish my brush cleaning soap, I will procure Zingari's version next time). After soaking the brush (at least 15 minutes for natural haired brushes and at least a couple of minutes for synthetics) I load the brush doing figure eight swirls (both clockwise and counterclockwise) for 30 seconds with the cleaning soap. I then use a pocket comb to slowly comb the brush from glue plug to tip. If I encounter tangles, I slowly work that area until bristles are untangled. This combing process works the soap throughout the knot and lather starts building as a byproduct. I continue to comb the brush for another minute or so, and then I rinse the brush using my daily cleaning process.

Player really went above and beyond in this post - showing how all of his shaving products (except the razor/blade) were really farm to bathroom.

June 27, 2024 – LG24 Day 27 - Information Overload

• Brush: Chisel & Hound Spice Blow handle w/ 26mm v23 Fanchurian Badger knot
• Razor: Schick Injector Type M Variant D2,H1,G1
• Blade: Schick Stainless Steel Injector (6)
• Lather: Noble Otter – Two Kings
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving – Seaforth! Black Watch AS Toner
• Fragrance: Symmetry Lab - Supreme Bleu EdP
• Music: Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes - Let's Just Do It

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: Two King's product page (as found in the Wayback Machine since it is not currently listed at the NO storefront) lists 10 scent notes as follows:

Top Notes: Black Currant, Citrus
Heart Notes: Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Rose, Carnation
Base Notes: Incense, Oud, Sandalwood, Oakmoss

From a relevancy perspective, both post and frag (a Chanel Bleu de Chanel dupe) have citrus, jasmine, incense and sandalwood as scent notes in common with Two Kings. I like how the warm darkness of Black Watch and freshness of Bleu intermingled with the two powerful notes of Two Kings.

Daily Challenge & Shave: My, how a year changes your perspective. When I initially read this challenge last year, my reaction was WTF. Then I performed the challenge and came to realize that being able to shave with your off hand can be a nice tool in my shaving tool kit. I really looked forward to doing this challenge, and finally, 26 days into this year's games, it is Leftorium day!

I'm left-eye dominant, write (and shave) righty, but perform many tasks lefty (including making a fool of myself playing hockey). I find when shaving lefty, as long as I concentrate, proper razor orientation and head pressure become automatic. My nemesis when lefty shaving is always shave angle. Because of this I decided to use the Schick Adjustable Injector. It was a wise choice. I find that the shave angle is easier to find/keep with my Schick Injectors, and the Schick Injector blades (the Chinese ones in the yellow blister packs) are sharp, smooth, efficient shavers for me. After yesterday's coconuts shave, today's lefty shave was as smooth as butter. WTG pass, ATG pass, cleanup pass, BBS result. It doesn't get any better than that, and an off-handed shave to boot!

June 28, 2024 – LG24 Day 28 - Frugal Friday

• Brush: No Brand Cheap Brush
• Bowl: Daiso Soup Bowl
• Razor: Kingever Refillable Razor
• Blade: Kingever Stainless Steel
• Prep: Stirling Soap Co. – Unscented Preshave Soap
• Lather: RazoRock – Classic
• Post Shave: Thayers - Unscented Witch Hazel Facial Toner
• Fragrance: No Brand - 21Men2 EdP

Daily Theme, Special Challenge & Relevant Post/Frag: Last year I hunted down the cheapest ~~crap~~ hardware I could find on AliExpress and was rewarded with "absolutely the worst shaving pass I have ever experienced". Not to be outdone, this year I went ~~dumpster diving~~ shopping at Lazada.ph (the Philippines version of AliExpress) and found even cheaper stuff. The relevancy between each item I used in today's shave is that it is the cheapest I currently possess (by category) in my collection. Here they are:

a. No Brand Cheap Brush - 46 pesos / 0.79 USD. The Lazada product page listed it as "Hot Badger Hair Great Mustache Wood Men Barber Cheap Beard Tool Brush". The only descriptive words they got right were "Cheap" and "Brush". I've never seen bristles like this in any beauty brush I've encountered in my six decades of living. Quality-wise, they're not even good enough for a toilet brush.
b. Kingever Refillable Razor & Blade - 15.19 pesos / 0.26 USD. This Lazada special is a cheap Chinese knockoff of razor/blade sets sold by Gillette, Wilkinson, and Dorco, amongst others. I've used the Gillette Rubie set and was impressed with its shave quality. Would the Kingever favorably compare? Considering how much effort it took to load the blade and get it properly aligned, probably not.
c. Daiso Soup Bowl - 66 pesos / 1.13 USD. I purchased this at Daiso Philippines. The price may be cheap, but the bowl is anything but. I need my bowl to facilitate precision loading my brush with the scooped shaving soap, and it is the perfect size, shape and texture for that task, thus it's now my daily driver shaving bowl.
d. Stirling Unscented Preshave Soap - 5.00 USD for 156 g / $0.0321 per gram. I purchased this directly from Stirling. It is half the price of other preshaves I've used yet it's better than the rest. I love this stuff. Well done Stirling!
e. RazoRock Classic shaving soap - 5.99 USD for 150 ml / $0.0399 per gram. I purchased this directly from Italian Barber. It is half the price of Stirling (per gram) and 40% cheaper than my Proraso and Cella tubs. The soap is descent enough, but I'll take Stirling over this any day of the week.
f. Thayers Unscented Witch Hazel Facial Toner - 10.95 USD for 355 ml / $0.0308 per gram. I purchase this from Amazon. Thayers is by far the cheapest post I own (it's 40% cheaper than Stirling's fantastically priced witch hazel!). Even when I'm using a scented post, I use Thayers first because my skin reacts well to this stuff.
g. No Brand - 21Men2 EdP - 45 pesos for 35 ml / $0.0220 USD per gram. I purchased this at a local budget department store which specializes in selling cheap China crap. A dupe of Carolina Herrera 212 Men, the borderline IP theft of the label would normally chase me away, but its price made it a must-purchase for Frugal Friday.

Hardware Cost Breakdown	PHP Cost	USD Cost
Brush	₽46.00	$00.79
Bowl	₽66.00	$01.13
Razor	₽13.67	$00.23
Blade	₽01.52	$00.03

Total Hardware Cost: $2.18

Software Cost Breakdown	PHP per gram	USD per gram
Preshave	--	$00.0321
Lather	--	$00.0399
Post Shave	--	$00.0308
Fragrance	₽1.2857	$00.0220

Total Software Cost: $0.1248 per gram

Assuming a totally arbitrary 2 grams used for each software item, my software cost for today's shave was $0.25. Also, assuming that all hardware items were one-time use only (a smart assumption for all but the bowl) and today's shave cost $2.43. Not too bad if you're into self-mutilation.

The Frugal Shave Challenge: There's a quote some attribute to Albert Einstein that goes "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Well, based on today's shave I'm certifiably insane because I had high hope for the razor/blade set. If last year's Frugal Friday shave was my worst ever, this shave is my second worst ever! The cheap-ass brush had ZERO water/lather retention, so it functioned closer to a silicone spatula than a brush. Using the brush like a very, very short egg wisp, I was able to beat the soap sufficiently in my bowl to make a lather. I tried to paint the lather on my face, but the bristles acted like Teflon and shed all soap before I could make it to my face (to avoid losing all of my lather, I resorted to lathering my face with my fingers). And speaking of shedding, every time I moved the brush a dozen bristles dropped, so by the time I made acceptable lather, there were more bristles in the lather than remained on the brush.

As bad as the brush was, the razor/blade set was worse. No matter what blade angle or head pressure I used, the razor/blade sucked. By the time I finished 2 passes, my face was on fire from razor burn, and everywhere the blade touched was as red as Jolly Saint Nick's cheeks! Good thing my cheapest post was Thayers, because my skin needed some relief. I encountered a first with witch hazel, it stung on contact similar to how alcohol does after a good shave. Stinging witch hazel, that's how irritated my skin was. I needed two doses of Thayers to get my face to relax. I finished with the frag and was pleasantly surprised by its descent scent, or maybe because the shave sucked so bad the frag appeared good in comparison...

June 29, 2024 – LG24 Day 29 - Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: AP Shave Co. 24mm G5C Premium Synthetic fan Knot set in DS Cosmetics Jade Green handle
• Razor: Gillette Mach3
• Blade: Gillette Mach3
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Vanilla Sandalwood AS Balm
• Fragrance: Frage Parfums - 021 EdP

Daily Theme & Relevant Post/Frag: The product page for today's soap lists one note, Hawaiian sandalwood, and the product's name reinforces that it is all about one scent, Sandalwood. Like the soap, today's post and frag also prominently feature sandalwood. For the post, sandalwood shares top billing with vanilla, and for the frag (a Le Labo Santal 33 dupe), sandalwood is again the star of the show.

The Shave: During a pre-LG discussion with u/tsrblke, the elimination of the leg shaving special challenge came up. Tsar considered doing his own leg shave day, and I committed to doing it with him. We settled on Sandalwood Saturday as the best day to do it. Even though we had a Leg Shave Daily Challenge, my commitment was never rescinded. With Tsar shaving his legs today, it is time for round 2 of the Leg Shaving Challenge.

To ensure I had enough quantity, I loaded 50% more soap then normal, and bowl lathered it until sufficiently drippy. I went with the Mach3 and decided on one pass since I'm only dealing with a couple weeks growth. The lather worked well for leg shaving, and I finished both legs in short order. Here's some pics of the shave.

Daily Challenge: The 2024 Lather Games Scoring Hot Strategy Tip noted "The point spread between the top five players was less than three points", so missing one LG SOTD virtually guarantees being out of the running. Scanning the DJudge Portal, I noted that roughly 45% of the participants posted SOTD posts for every LG day, and of the daily posters, around half were chasing points. Having done my homework, now it's time to answer the challenge:

• Lather Games Frontrunners: u/tsrblke, u/hugbckt, u/MrTangerinesky, u/Priusaurus. I believe that Legendary Points separates them from the rest of us. If I counted correctly, the Tsar has 2 LP, Hugs and Sky have 3 LP and Prius has 4. I am admittedly biased, but I have seen Tsar tirelessly plan for these games (dating back to last August) and confront the Jurassic Juggernaut head on. Collecting more Legendary Points is still possible, so I'm giving Tsar a fighter's chance to take it all. Hugs has been consistently awesome throughout the games, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see his given the crown. Tangerine Sky has been a force of nature. I like how he lives on the (razor blade) edge every single post. He's my dark horse selection. And finally, there's Pruis. Since Day 1 he has not let off the gas and is performing at or higher than last year's championship level of play. The LP numbers are with him, so don't be surprised to hear Bruce Buffer scream "And Still...".
• Feats of Fragrance Frontrunners: Every time I read one of u/chronnoisseur42O's fragrance writeups I can visualize what he is smelling. That may not be the criteria used by the judges, but that is what FOF is to me.
• Photo Contest Frontrunners: u/ginopono, u/chronnoisseur42O and u/raymoonie consistently posted thoughtful, eye-catching photos.
• ROTY Frontrunners: u/bacconchop is my sentimental favorite, but u/bmac92 has a Legendary Point and his posts have been consistently high quality, so he gets the nod.

June 30, 2024 – LG24 Day 30 - Bon Voyage, Lather Games!

• Brush: Simpson Trafalger T2 Faux Ivory handle w/ 24mm x 44mm Sovereign Synthetic knot
• Bowl: Handcrafted Coconut Bowl w/ Mother of Pearl Inlays
• Razor: Weck Sextoblade Med Prep
• Blade: Kismet Rostfrei Beschichtet (2)
• Lather: RazoRock – Mudder Focker
• Post Shave: WestMan Shaving - Mazagran AS Emulsion
• Fragrance: Chanel - Allure Homme Sport EdT
• Razor #2: RazoRock Game Changer .76-P
• Blade #2: Wizamet Super Iridium (3)

Daily Theme, Special Challenge, Relevant Post/Frag & The Shave: In case you didn't notice one of the ten billion times I referenced where I live (yes, I'm a location-dropper), my current residence is in the Philippines. Every software and hardware item I used today was physically produced in a different country (I ignored where items were distributed, thus the RazoRock soap is listed as Italian (where the soap is made) and not as Canadian (where the soap is distributed). For the Brush, Simpson is very opaque on where the synth knot is made, so I applied common sense and tagged it Chinese.

My "Bonjour" shave was with the Weck, so I thought it would be neat to Weck my "Bon Voyage" shave. On paper, a great idea. In reality, three words sum up my idea: STUPID, STUPID, STUPID! I forgot a couple minor details, my face still hasn't recovered from Frugal Friday's mutilation, and RazoRock soaps are neither slick nor protective. A few strokes into the Weckoning I realized what a bad idea this was. While my Weck technique (wecknique?) had improved since my last (and first) Weckoning, my skin was yelling at me because the only thing that the lather was doing was showing me where the blade had been.

I finished the pass with one cut and a handful of weepers, but my face was so angry at me that I called an audible and did the second pass with the Game Changer/Wizamet combo.

On a positive note, I had more control over the blade than my first Weckoning shave, including how to use the first third of the blade for detailed shaving instead of trying to use the middle of the blade for everything. I was even successful using my left (non-dominant) hand in shaving the left side of my face because my right hand kept on blocking my eyes. A month-long practice with a quality soap may be what I need to develop my wecknique. Sounds like a task for AA!

TL;DR - The relevancy between each item I used in today's shave is that it was physically produced in a different country and none of the countries used are the country I reside at. Here's the breakdown:

Item	Country
AdWorried	Philippines
Trafalger Brush	UK
Sovereig Knot	China
Coconut Bowl	Indonesia
Weck Razor	USA
Kismet Blade	Germany
Mudder Focker Soap	Italy
WestMan After Shave	Portugal
Allure Sport Fragrance	France
Game Changer Razor	Canada
Wisamet Blade	Russia

Country Count: 11 (including AdWorried), 10 (hardware/software only, 8 (excluding DQ'd 2nd razor/blade)

Real Talk: The choice of today's soap was totally coincidental and not a wordplay on recent events.

On that note, I cannot express enough how much I appreciate the time, effort and in many cases, money the Djudges, Emeritus Djudges, Organizers, Side-Contest Managers and Sponsors have given to us to make these Lather Games possible. To my fellow contestants, thank you for educating me, entertaining me, and with your game play helping me step up my game in order to keep up.

A final note to those who feel that the judges/organizers/side-contest managers/fellow contestants did you wrong. It is time for some self-reflection while looking into a mirror. That face staring at you is the singular person responsible for your actions. Instead of blaming everyone else when things aren't perfect, talk less and listen more, because that simple action (plus a little patience) would have resulted in a positive outcome. If you are unwilling to hold yourself accountable and/or to embrace this sub's culture, no one is forcing you to be here. I could say more, but I recognize that I'm a grumpy old man and anything more that I say would probably offend someone, so I'll take my own advice and stop talking... except for:

Philippine Fun Fact: "Ingat at paalam" is an informal Filipino expression for "Take care and goodbye".

It's been an extremely enjoyable ride. Ingat at paalam.