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

June 1, 2024 – Bonjour, Lather Games!

• Brush: Z Feidu - Barber Brush #HORSEASS #MISTURA #TOLL
• Razor: GEM Junior #FLIPTOP #RUSTYBUTTRUSTY
• Blade: GEM Blade (1)
• Lather: AA Shaving - Wapiti
• Post Shave: 345 - 345 – Rocky Mountain Tree Line splash
• Fragrance: Goodfellow & Co - Cedarwood & Geranium Cologne
• The Lather: There are good decisions and there are bad decisions, and then there are the decisions made that are so bad they make you question your sanity. Well today I am questioning mine. It began with the idea that I would use a new to me soap with a new to me brush. Except not only was the brush brand new, but it was of a hair type I had never tried (horse) and is large enough to mop my floor with its splay. The soap itself was, I think, rather forgiving considering I should have used a bucket to lather with this brush. Admittedly the lather ended up evening out pretty well so while there was a bit of a struggle, it was only a mild disaster.
• The Shave: Now I have never tried a GEM razor before so when u/OnionMiasma put this little GEM Junior up for PIF some months back I was pretty excited but knew enough to save it for Lather Games. It took me a minute to make sure I had the blade loaded in correctly (first flip top). So, after lathering with my face with the floppy horse brush, I put steel to whiskers as delicately as I could. From the very first stroke I knew I would regret this shave. I thought I was prepared for an aggressive razor, but I was not prepared for this innocent named monster. I tried every angle I could think of with the faintest of pressure, but alas I paid for this shave with flesh. Oddly enough it left little red streaks in perfect lines spaced just far enough that I can’t blame them on my dog. I will likely try again with this razor, but I think I’ll hold off until it’s a day with soap and brush I’m familiar with.
• Aftershave/Frag: I decided to pair todays shave with a splash of 345 – Rocky Mountain Tree Line aftershave and some Goodfellow & Co – Cedarwood & Geranium Cologne. This choice was made for 2 simple reasons. I have never used either of these 2 product lines (Todays Theme) and they carried a similar scent idea of a woody forest. Overall, I was very happy with the scent combination between my software today and would happily combine these again.
• Theme/Challenge: Today’s theme/challenge is using all new brands/razor types and everything I used today was new to me in brand and/or razor type (GEM).
• Acknowledgements: Special thanks to u/OnionMiasma for the smush of Waipiti, the GEM Junior, and the GEM Blade. Thank you to u/2SaintsDude for the splash and frag decants.

June 2, 2024 – Ahoy, Lather Games!

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm #COMPOSITE #SHD
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite #CNC
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (1)
• Lather: The Holy Black - Galleon
• Post Shave: HAGS – Megalodon Splash
• Fragrance: HAGS – Megalodon Rollerball EDP
• Music: Lionel Richie – Easy (Like Sunday Morning)
• The Lather: Compared to yesterday, today was a breeze. The Holy Black base is easy to whip up a nice lather and the scent on this is really phenomenal.
• The Shave: This being one of my go to setups the shave was just like the music implied, easy.
• Aftershave/Frag: Today’s theme was nautical in theme or branding so I decided to mix things up and instead of using all one scent add in some Megalodon. If you haven’t seen The Meg or otherwise don’t know what the hell a megalodon is, megalodon’s are giant sharks that went extinct 2.5 million years ago. Just the kind of thing sailors on a galleon feared, but never really encountered.
• Theme: As far as hitting the branding of nautical, it’s hard to being named and scented like a boat. The original release included a treasure hunt with a Piece of Eight, but alas I was only able to get the secret stash release.
• Challenge: In honor of u/Priusaurus I decided I would try to do a Lather Games day as close to one of his as I could. Before I could start, however, I needed to get a better idea of what a Priusaurus was like if I was going to nail the character acting. So I decided to consult AI to help give me a visual of what a Priusarus shaving might look like so I could get more into character. I imagine the early days he may have looked something like this, holding a razor belonging to his father. Now a days he’s probably looking more adult though and who knows, maybe the future he will be a little different. With the character visualized I picked a day, Day 2 of LG 2023 obviously, and set to work. It began with me smuggling in a box of Fruit Loops into the house undetected (my wife is into nutrition). In the morning I poured myself a cup and went to work recreating his SotD picture as accurately as I could (we only have white dishes) while still staying within the day’s theme. I had to work quickly and quietly lest my boys or wife wake up and discover my shenanigans. Let me suffice to say i was not successful in that endeavor and when she woke up and came down I did not get the same LG support #CagedPeacock. After surviving the wife’s wrath I retreated to the bathroom, put on the Lionel Richie, and removed some whiskers.

AI Prius, recreated SOTD photo

June 3, 2024 – Where’s the Beef

• Brush: Semogue - 2000
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (2)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. – AG1889
• Post Shave: The Holy Black - Galleon Splash
• Fragrance: The Holy Black – Galleon EDT
• The Lather: I really don’t know why I haven’t bought any Chicago Grooming Co. soaps. Not only did this soap lather up easily, it has a fantastic scent. The only downside was the slight onion scent my brush picked up from rubbing against all the onions during my photo.
• The Shave: Pretty straightforward and smooth shave today. Just managed to nick myself a little under the nose so regardless of the challenge I needed to use the alum block today. It took care of the bleeding quickly as always.
• Aftershave/Frag: Today’s theme didn’t really make a difference when it came to choosing aftershave and frag. Do any aftershaves/frags even have beef? So I decided to link my post shave by scent instead. To my nose I can really catch the leathery notes from both AG1889 and Galleon. They actually complement each other reasonably well with their warm leathery scents.
• Theme: Chicago Grooming Co. website claims AG1889 is made in the Darkwing soap base which lists Duck Fat as an ingredient, shoulda named it Darkwing Duck though. Guessing they didn’t want to take on Disney though.
• Challenge: Today I used my Omega Alum stick, and I wish it had been Osma. I mean I got the onions all together for my picture, I used a soap smush from u/OnionMiasma, and I even ended up with a slight onion miasma due to the comingling of my shave gear with the onions. Alas I could not come any closer to the perfect OnionMiOsma shave and the shame is heavy. I will try to be better prepared next year.
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/OnionMiasma for providing the soap for today’s shave.

June 4, 2024 – K.I.S.S.

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite #CNC
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (3)
• Lather: Eleven Shaving – Organic Sweet Orange
• Post Shave: Castle and Forbes – Lime Essential Oil Aftershave Balm
• Fragrance: Goodfellow & Co – Cypress & Grapefruit
• The Lather: Eleven soap is completely new to me so it took me about 100,000 Years to get my lather perfected. No real complaints about lather or scent as Any Way You Slice It, it smelled just like oranges.
• The Shave: I’ll be honest, I got a little excited about KISS day figuring it would be Easy as It Seems. So I got all lathered up and ready for a Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell shave. Unfortunately I was Under the Gun and had to get to work so I had to speed up the process more than I would like.
• Aftershave/Frag: I decided to keep it simple and link my post shave in an Outta This World citrus theme using as few of none citrus notes as I could.
• Theme: Eleven Shaving website claims Only You, organic sweet orange oil, as the scent note.
• Challenge: As if I needed another challenge other than My Way of writing in KISS songs for every sentence and shaving as Star Child (see where i got all lathered up if you missed it)? Well when I found out HAGS was discontinuing their Donkey Milk Base I thought All Hell's Breakin' Loose and I already miss it the most. I’ll be damn sad when my tub of Darkside runs out, but until then I’ll Love Her All I Can. Thankfully u/mammothben makes my favorite base, tusk, and is always ready to Gimme More whenever I place an order.
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/OnionMiasma for providing the soap and u/2SaintsDude the frag for today’s shave as I was fallen on Hard Times trying to gather everything up.

June 5, 2024 – Canned Shave Goop

• Brush: Lefty
• Razor: Gillette - Fusion
• Blade: Gillette - ProGlide
• Lather: Dollar Shave Club – Shave Butter
• Post Shave: Brut – Classic After Shave
• Fragrance: Brut – Classic Cologne
• The Lather: Dollar Shave Club is full of all sorts of bad ideas. Whoever thought a translucent gel would be an appealing shave lubricant should be taken out back. It felt, smelled, and looked like I rubbed KY all over my face. Honestly, I swear even that would have been better, I guess most people just get used to it. After rubbing enough with my left hand I was almost able to form something reminiscent of tiny bubbles.
• The Shave: There is a reason I stopped using these 5 bladed pieces of crap. At first I told myself and more importantly my wife it was to save money. Really it because they give such an awful shave. It probably didn’t help I shaved with my left hand. That talentless lump of flesh is as uncoordinated as a baby giraffe. Since it was reverse day I also decided to up the ante by shaving XTG first (I never shave ATG) and then WTG because why the hell wouldn’t I when I have a zero cushion lather.
• Aftershave/Frag: Sticking with today’s theme of mass-produced locally available garbage, I used Brut. Target, Walmart, or CVS take your pic and you’ll find it near me.
• Theme: Well Dollar Shave Club’s Shave Butter doesn’t come in a can, but it is available locally and definitely feels like goop. In fact everything used today can be found at a local store, including a left hand but that costs extra.
• Challenge: Reverse my lather routine, of course. I started by face lathering (I bowl lather normally) with my non-dominant hand (left). I used a reverse pattern shaving (XTG to WTG) and used the opposite hand to shave as well.
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/2SaintsDude for the splash and frag for today’s shave, I hope to never have to use them again.

June 6, 2024 – Thirsty Thursday

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (4)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Margaritas in the Arctic
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Smash
• Fragrance: First Line Shave – Room 237
• The Lather: Stirling soap needs no introduction and quite frankly I think most of us know what a great soap base it is. It lathered up beautifully and with minimal effort as one would expect, and yes it does smell like a margarita.
• The Shave: The shave was smooth and efficient. The cooling effect isn’t as pronounced as some other soaps might be, but you can definitely feel it.
• Theme and Aftershave/Frag: . Well apparently I’m the alcoholic of the group as when I read Thirsty Thursday and smells like a beverage I only thought of college days and drinking too much every Thursday night. So I decided to create todays theme around a night out on the town in college. Margaritas in the Arctic kicks us off with a Mexican food dinner (a must for us Southern Californians before drinking) and a blended margarita never fails to help cool off the heat. Next up is a nice mixed drink, Smash. Like every college student I knew the mixed drinks were the effective way to go when there is only one goal in mind and little funding to get there. Eventually the bars close and its time for the after party, or straight liquor back at the apartment. Room 237 accomplishes this with the scent of 20-year aged Single Malt which is almost what Jack Daniels smells like after you’ve been drinking all night. This wonderfully alcoholic trifecta probably made me smell a lot like the homeless guy u/Priusaurus shaved next to last Saturday.
• Challenge: Well since I share the bathroom with my wife getting ready in the morning making a video is really out for me. She’s barely hanging in there after I painted my face like a Star Child a few days ago. So alas you are going to have to read about my new favorite WetTubing star Silky Smooth. Why is he better than u/VisceralWatch you might ask? We could start with the name, I mean whose WetTuber name lets you know right up front that he’s getting BBS? The answer is clearly Silk Silkety Smooth. Then there’s the hair, Its like watching Fabio shave with his “sexy fresh hair.” Truth be told the most important aspect of the shave is the secret ingredient, Astroglide, that makes the shave “XXX rated silked out.” All in all I find his videos quite informative. I'm sorry Visceral, you just really need to step up your game and get to this level.
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/2SaintsDude for the sample of Margaritas in the arctic and the 237 frag sample.

June 7, 2024 – Vetiver You Want

• Brush: Semogue 2000 #OLDWORLD
• Razor: Merkur – 34C
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Martin de Candre - Vetyver
• Post Shave: Giorgio Armani – Emporio Armani He aftershave balm
• Fragrance: Giorgio Armani – Emporio Armani He EDT
• The Lather: Martin de Candre’s base is quite different than I expected. It is a much more solid base that scooped out more like a chunk then a scoop. It flattened out relatively well in my bowl though and lathered up surprisingly easier than I would have expected given its consistency. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of vetiver, and I couldn’t get past the idea of shaving with grass clippings.
• The Shave: It was one pass against the grain, FML. I knew the struggle would be real today so I used my mildest razor for the job and hoped it wouldn’t be too much of a blood bath. I probably erred on the gentler side on my angle of attack and subsequently got a patchy, half assed look after one pass. Thankfully I have to wear a mask at work so I could at least hide my shame.
• Aftershave/Frag: I decided to pair the Vetyver with Emporio Armani He to increase my vetiverness. Until I smelled the 2 side by side I never would have noticed the vetiver note in He. It doesn’t come across as strongly as the grassy soap, but I can definitely pick up on the vetiver and it blended beautifully with soap so I felt less like I rubbed my face in the grass.
• Theme: It’s named Vetyver, enough said.
• Challenge: One pass against the grain to give me the most painful and crappy shave I could ask for. I’m just thankful the judges don’t try and combine this with New All The Things.

June 8, 2024 – Small Business Saturday… but in June.

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (5)
• Lather: Maggard Razors – Tobacco and Leather
• Post Shave: Ariana and Evans – Vanille de Tabac splash
• Fragrance: Wholly Kaw – Timmerman Red Label EDP
• The Lather: Maggard Razors makes a good soap. There are bases that I like more, but at $18 a tub it’s hard to beat. It lathers up easy and the scent is pretty good but not very complex.
• The Shave: The shave was smooth and easy and I got to take all the passes in their normal order. My face really appreciated it.
• Aftershave/Frag: I decided to link my post shave product to the shave via tobacco. Both Vanille de Tabac and Timmerman Red Label have strong tobacco notes and their supporting note of vanilla blend well with the leathery tobacco scent of the soap. The Timmerman also helps to tap down some of the sweetness that comes through from the Vanille
• Theme: Yep, Maggard Razors very own brand used today.
• Challenge: Let me start off my braggard post with a picture of my lather buddy for life (or at least until he doesn't want to be around dad). He’s always down to shave with dad and while Everett is currently taking his top scent position, he approved of todays scent. My rescue pup, however, is never impressed by my shaving scents, but remains a pretty awesome dog. As far as giant Maggards orders go, I cant say that I have any. Don’t get me wrong I have a special place in my heart for Maggards as that’s where I ordered my first samples, and full tub. I just usually try to order straight from the artisan. That said, my biggest retail purchase from a non-artisan/manufacturer was my last order from the shave supply. I picked up the 2 new trifectas from HAGS (Maggards doesn’t carry HAGS) and admittedly spent a pretty penny.
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/2SaintsDude for the soap sample and frag for today’s shave.

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

• Brush: Z Feidu - Barber Brush
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (6)
• Lather: Talent Soap Factory – Daddy Long Legs
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Seville aftershave balm
• Fragrance: Noble Otter - Barrbarr EDP
• The Lather: Second time using the monster horse brush and I think it went a little bit better, but with a name like barber brush I really didn’t have a choice. The scent on Daddy Long Legs is quite unlike any other barbershop I’ve smelled. It is significantly less bright and without the citrus notes of many other barbershop scents and goes for a far more subtle scent that, in my opinion, matches much more to what a barbershop actually smells like. The soap base lathered up pretty well and I really can’t complain about the process.
• The Shave: I was in a bit of a rush this morning to I ended up nicking myself a bit. So I just threw a little salt on the wound (Alum) and finished up my routine.
• Aftershave/Frag: Since it’s barbershop day I decided to go for the non-dickhole barbershop trifecta. Seville added some citrus and bright notes, while Barrbarr brought in more woody notes. Individually each is barbershop scent is good, but collectively I’m constantly in an olfactory confusion. One second I’m fresh and citrus, then all of the sudden I’m dark and spicy. It’s bipolar shaving at its finest. Apparently this is how AI sums it up.
• Theme: Daddy Long Legs bills itself as a 1920’s barbershop scent.
• Challenge: I took the quiz and did better than I could have ever asked for. It definitely wasn't because I knew the scent notes though. It was more about how many soaps from the vendors could I remember.
• Acknowledgements: Thank you u/OnionMiasma for the soap and u/2SaintsDude for the frag for today’s shave.

June 10, 2024 – Happy Together

• Brush: Semogue 2000
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (7)
• Lather: Declaration Grooming – Cerberus Fougere
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Cerberus Fougere
• Fragrance: Chatillon Lux – Yuzu Rose Patchouli
• The Lather: Like all Declaration Grooming soaps, Cerberus Fougere lathers quickly and easily. The scent is dark, woody, and herbaceous.
• The Shave: My neck is still a bit angered from the one pass shave the other day so today’s shave was a bit slower. The soap definitely provides all the right cushion for an enjoyable shave though.
• Challenge: I know, the challenge explanation before the aftershave and frag, how scandalous. For today’s song I chose Tekilla by Cerberus (Spanish version). I know it sounds like I took the easy route from the bands name matching with the soap name, but while that did factor in its not entirely what made me pick this song. When traveling down the rabbit hole searching for the perfect song I had a few criteria I was looking for (aside from a name connection to the soap). Is it unique? I didn’t want to pick a song that everyone knew or multiple people used, but rather share something I found on a musical adventure. Does it fit the theme? Today’s theme of collaboration meant I needed to have more than just that one group. Tekilla fuses the sounds of metal laden guitar with the horns of mariachi and is an interesting collaboration that I had never personally heard. My final consideration was how it would relate to the dark idea of Cerberus as the guardian of the underworld and the shaves dark resinous notes. To this end I felt like the video connected the aspect of the dead quite well and the sound was sufficiently dark, but it had some brighter sounds from the horns. I knew I would need to resolve the scent connection in my post shave.
• Aftershave/Frag: I knew I needed to match the soap with it’s corresponding aftershave to enhance and strengthen the dark complexity of scent going on with the shave, or it would get overwhelmed. That just left me with the bright mariachi notes to bring into today’s scent, enter Yuzu Rose Patchouli (YRP). YRP’s citrusy yuzu not brought that pop of bright freshness like a horn blaring through guitars. The woody notes let the frag blend a little into the herbaceous and dark woody notes of Cerberus without deadening the resinous nature. To say I was pleased with this pairing would be an understatement. As if the song link wasn’t enough both the aftershave and the frag were part of collaboration sets (DG/NO/HoM and DG/Chatillon Lux)
• Theme: Cerberus Fougere is the well-known collaboration between 3 artisans (DG/NO/HoM).

June 11, 2024 – April Showers Bring May Flowers

• Brush: Green Shave Boar Brush #RUNT #SMOLL #HOLLOW
• Razor: Simply Smooth – Triple Blade #RAINBOW
• Blade: 3 attached blades from hell
• Lather: Noble Otter - Rawr
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Rawr aftershave balm
• Fragrance: Noble Otter – Rawr EDP
• The Lather: Lets just say this little piggy is pretty damn awful. Breaking in a new boar brush is always bad, but between the pig smell, all the hairs that fell out into the lather, and the fact that the knot is so damn tiny, this was not my best lather. This brush could easily be in a My First Shaving Set for kids. Aside from the brush, Rawr is a fantastic scent and otherwise lathers up well.
• The Shave: Well if you’re going to have a crap sandwich, you might as well make it a double. I found this gem of a razor at a local Big Lots and it cost me a whopping $1.50 for 4 of them. I can only guess that they were so cheap because they didn’t take the effort to fully sharpen the 3 blades. Maybe they just figured that one of the 3 blades might get lucky and cut. To say this was a bad shave would be an understatement.
• Aftershave/Frag: Rawr on Rawr on Rawr anyone? With Spring and color coordination day I couldn’t help but run the trifecta.
• Theme: Rawr practically screams spring in your ear, but if that’s not enough it has dandelions as a scent note.
• Challenge: I went with simplicity in this case and color coordinated the picture/shave with green.

June 12, 2024 – CREAM

• Brush: Semogue 2000
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (1)
• Lather: Castle Forbes – Lavender Essential Oil Shaving Cream
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Lavender Splash
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann – Lavender Interrupted EDP
• Song: Wu-Tang Clan – C.R.E.A.M.

I’m not going to lie all I can think of today is Wu-Tang, however, in the interest of not getting DQ’d for offensive language or imagery I will refrain from an entirely Wu-Tang related write up.

• The Lather: Castle Forbes is by far my favorite shaving cream base. It lathers up easily and all of their scents are clean and easily identifiable. The lavender essential oil that I used today brings that beautiful calming scent and helps to provide a relaxing shave experience.
• The Shave: The shave was smooth and easy, not much else to say here.
• Aftershave/Frag: What goes well with Lavender? How about more lavender? I stacked the Barrister and Mann Lavender splash to increase that calming feel, but decided to push the scent profile to a little more masculine with the lavender interrupted.
• Theme: Castle and Forbes shaving cream was used for today’s lather.
• Challenge: My den is a bit of a mess right now with Lather Games in full swing, but here it is in all its glory.

June 13, 2024 – Dupelgänger

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (2)
• Lather: 345 Soap Co. - Expedition
• Post Shave: Stirling – Executive Man Splash
• Fragrance: 345 Soap Co. - Expedition EDP
• The Lather: Today was my first time trying out a 345 soap. While the scent was good, I found my lather came out lacking. I may have added to much water, and that’s my fault, but the lather just turned out thin and unimpressive. I will have to try again at some point to see if it was just an off day.
• The Shave: The thin lather didn’t make for the best shave, but it wasn’t the worst shave I’ve had this month.
• Aftershave/Frag: Since this is dupe day I went with an aftershave and frag that both are dupes (Creed’s Aventus and Ralph Lauren’s Safari). Aside from that there are a few crossover scent notes (bergamot, lemon, jasmine, and oakmoss) that allow the scents to blend together quite well.
• Theme: 345 Expedition is a dupe of Ralph Lauren – Safari, so sayeth the Thirsty Badger.
• Challenge: So I was a little torn on this challenge. Do I recreate the label as is, or make a new one. I tried to get a late night verification as to what the challenge actually was and u/jeffm54321 was kind enough to tell me it meant replicate. So here is my crayon rendition of Expedition’s label. Since I had already begun a new label I might as well share it. This label was meant to connect both the executive man and the expedition titles. I wasn’t quite happy with it though. I wanted to really capture the majesty and thrill of a real expedition through jungle and into a cave. I thought about how might a great designer such as u/raymoonie design this label. I therefore give you Expedition NSFW. Just in case you were wondering where you might find such an expedition, it can apparently be found in China’s Danxiashan Mountains as this is actually a real place (or so the internet says).
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/2saintsdude for the splash and frag samples and u/raymoonie for the inspiration.

June 14, 2024 – Frigid Friday

• Brush: Z Feidu - Barber Brush
• Razor: Merkur - 34C #ZAMAK #STAINLESSLESS
• Blade: Treet – Black Beauty (?)
• Lather: Spearhead Shaving – Seaforth! Sea Ice Lime
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving – Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime
• Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving – Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime EDT
• The Lather: I’m no stranger to Spearhead’s products, but this was the first time trying the synthetically mentholated version. The scent was exactly the same as the unmentholated Sea Spice Lime version, as was the lather produced.
• The Shave: I found the cooling effect to be a nice touch to the fragrance, but ideally would have had a little more of a freezing feel. The shave was otherwise nice, and I find the Treet Black Beauty I found in my blade stash to give a relatively smooth shave.
• Aftershave/Frag: I couldn’t pass up a full Sea Ice/Spice Lime day, especially since I’m using the Sea Spice Lime bath soap right now making it a superfecta.
• Theme: Sea Ice Lime includes a synthetic menthol for a gradually increasing cooling effect.
• Challenge: I thought this would be easier than it was, but surprisingly the round Merkur head is hard to balance a giant brush on (see SOTD Picture).
• Acknowledgements: Thank you u/2SaintsDude for the soap for today’s shave.

6/15/24 - Near Death Experience * Brush: Semogue 2000 * Razor: Merkur - 34C #ZAMAC * Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (1) * Lather: Truefitt & Hill - 1805 * Post Shave: Taylor of Old Bond St. - Eton College splash * Fragrance: Hugo Boss - Hugo EDT

• The Lather: Considering this is the death of this cream and there wasn’t much left it was quite easy to make a nice watery lather. Photographing the liquidity of the lather, however, seemed a little more difficult so here is it spread on my hand.

• The Shave: Aside from the constant dripping of lather from my face and brush, the shave was ok. It wasn’t as well cushioned as it should have been, but that’s was to be expected.

• Aftershave/Frag: Since this is near death day I opted to use my aftershave and frag that were also closest to death. The scent mismatch is slightly nauseating, but hopefully I’ll go nose blind to it soon enough.

• Theme: Today I don’t weep for the inevitable end of the tub, I mourn its passing. Its watery death was not a fitting end to the countless number of shaves it gave me, but such are the Lather Games.

• Challenge: Normally I like a nice thick Dairy Queen invertible lather. Today’s lather was definitely not like that.

June 16, 2024 – Father’s Day

• Brush: Edwin Jagger Classic Best Badger #WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINGBADGERS
• Razor: Gillette RFB 44
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (1)
• Lather: Gillette - Island Breeze Shave Gel
• Post Shave: Kenneth Cole – Black Aftershave Gel
• Fragrance: Yves Saint Laurent – L’Homme EDT
• The Lather: Not much to say about the lather here considering it’s a shave gel and I leg lathered it on. It’s as standard a canned goo shave gel as it gets.
• The Shave: Well this is where the fun really begins. Last year I took berry day quite literally and shaved from the berries up. This year I decided I’d just go berries down like a sane person. So I got myself I nice picture of my quite hairy legs before I started and just did it a little at a time. Unfortunately long leg hair really does a number on a razor and it was stop and go the whole way so I could unclog. I was rather surprised at how hard it is to shave behind the knee, but alas I prevailed in the goal.
• Aftershave/Frag: Since it’s father’s day I went with an aftershave brand and frag brand that were both created before I was born (1962 and 1982 respectively). The scents were fine, but the amount of aftershave my legs took made the Kenneth Cole a little overpowering.
• Theme: Gillette was definitely founded long before I was born.
• Challenge: Well this apparently is where we separated the men from the boys. Not only did I have to shave my legs, and yes I went all the way up (PROOF), but I also had to explain to my father why I was doing it. You see, I always try to see my father on father’s day. It may be a long drive to get there, but the older I get the more I realize what little time I have left with him. That meant I was staying at his house for the weekend, and I had to try and make shaving my legs make sense to a man who worked in oil and gas his whole life. I’m not gonna lie, if I wasn’t married with children it would have been even worse.
• Acknowledgements: Thank you u/2SaintsDude for the frag for today’s shave.
• Rant: Having seen so few people actually complete the days challenge is pretty weak. I expected to see some people not do it, but not in droves. Honestly, it’s a little disheartening to know that it’s very likely the winner of the games (possibly all top 10) won’t even have attempted one of the challenges. I’m a firm believer that every challenge should count enough to make a difference. Now I’ll get off this soap box lest everyone notice my shaved legs.

Player calls out fellow players who are not bringing their A games.

June 17, 2024 – Don’t Have a Cow, Man!

• Brush: Semogue 2000
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (3)
• Lather: Catie's Bubbles – Barnegat Bay
• Post Shave: HAGS – Isla Muerta splash
• Fragrance: Goodfellow and Co. – Spiced Ginger and Rum
• The Lather: Today’s lather really wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be. I didn’t have much issue getting plenty of soap to stick on my shaved knee, and like Catie’s Bubbles is apt to do it lathered up rather easily. The scent itself is a pleasant bay rum, but admittedly I’m not the biggest bay rum guy.
• The Shave: I tried to transfer the lather directly to my face using my knee, but apparently I’m just not that flexible. My wife got quite the kick out of watching me attempt to rub my knee on my face. In the end I had to use my brush to transfer the lather to my face so I could have a decent shave.
• Aftershave/Frag: Todays scent theme was bay rum so Isla Muerta was up for my aftershave. If you haven’t smelled it, Isla Muerta is a bay rum scent with a little added citrus not that makes it a little brighter. I followed that up with Goodfellow’s Spiced Ginger and Rum to stay within the Spicy rum wheelhouse.
• Theme: Catie’s Bubbles promises no cows harmed, or any other animal for that matter.
• Challenge: I formed my lather on my freshly shaved knee, see pictures above. At first I thought this may have been a useless challenge, but then I realized this gives the judges a way to see if anyone tried to cheat the leg shave day and reuse old leg shave pictures from last year's games. Well played judges.
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/2saintsdude for all of today’s shave samples.

June 18, 2024 – RIP in Pieces

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (4)
• Lather: Australian Private Reserve - Carnivale
• Post Shave: HAGS – The Awakening
• Fragrance: HAGS – The Awakening rollerball EDP

Before I begin today’s write up I wanted to show everyone my latest blade sampler. Which blade should I use first?

• The Lather: Today’s lather was on point, of course, since I was using the best base that was ever on the market. APR is really easy to lather and makes a luxurious lather that is creamy and slick. I’ve tried all the other bases out there and this is by far the best base there is.
• The Shave: Today’s shave was absolutely perfect. Using the perfect APR lather I used a Blackbird Lite loaded with a Personna Lab Blue. This is the by far the best razor/blade combo on the market and combined with the APR the shave was glorious. On a side note, can anyone give me some advise on what I’m doing wrong when I shave my legs? I seem to be having a really bad reaction on the back of my thighs. I tried shaving my legs for the first time on Sunday and I can't seem to get it any better. I'm really worried about not being to shave my legs for the judges again.
• Aftershave/Frag: I have a really good friend that is really into alt rock and is obsessed with The Awakening. One of the songs I’ve heard more times than I care to count is Carnival. So in honor of The Awakening – Carnival, I used The Awakening with my Carnivale sample. Interestingly enough The Awakening’s peach notes went really well with the fruit notes in Carnivale and I would definitely try it again.
• Theme: APR is unfortunately no more.
• Challenge: I tried to nail all the most common themes from Wicked Edge (Blade Sampler, My Setup Is the Best, and help with my shave). Seriously though, anyone got any good ideas to help with back of the thigh razor burn? Sitting has become painful.
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/2saintsdude for the soap sample.

June 19, 2024 – Juneteenth

• Brush: Semogue 2000
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (5)
• Lather: Wholly Kaw - Rebelle
• Post Shave: Wholly Kaw - Rebelle splash
• Fragrance: Wholly Kaw – Rebelle EDP

I'll be brief today as all of my energy for the day went into the challenge.

• The Lather: Today was not my first use of Rebelle, so I already knew just how fantastic this soap lathers and smells. To put it simply, it’s like jamming your face in a brand new leather couch.
• The Shave: Fantastic lather in a great scent, now that’s a recipe for a flawless shave. No cuts, just a clean shave.
• Aftershave/Frag: Rebelle dickhole anyone? Ok that doesn’t sound right, but I did use the trifecta to complete today’s shave.
• Theme: Wholly Kaw is made in Princeton Junction, NJ. For all you history lovers, New Jersey contributed over 88,000 troops to the Union’s war effort.
• Challenge: Meme day you say. Why can’t every day be meme day? Well today I made that happen. Behold my Lather Games 2024 Meme Calendar. That’s right, a meme for every day of the month, and just like those desktop calendars with inspirational quotes, some day’s memes are better than others.
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/2saintsdude for today’s splash and frag samples.

User name fantastic meme calendar

June 21, 2024 – Sunny Days

• Brush: Hanes Black Sock
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (5)
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Dammusi
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Dammusi splash

• Fragrance: 345 – Den of Thieves EDP

• The Story: Today being the outdoors and sunny day that it was I decided to have a hike in my backyard. Now my backyard isn’t very big, but it does have a nice spot with fresh water and only one wall. I had my razor, soap, aftershave, and EDT with me but stupid me I forgot my bowl and brush. If there’s one thing lather games has taught me, its that you can lather with and on damn near anything.

• The Lather: Thankfully I always wear shoes and socks when I go hiking and since we all know how well a sock lathers from last year I figured I might as well see how well a shoe works for a bowl. So I slathered on plenty of soap and lathered up that Dammusi. As you can see the lather really never turned out great, but I couldn’t let that stop me.
• The Shave: Using the worst lather so far this year I scrubbed my face with my shoe lather coated sock and began my shave. Personally I don’t think the scent of dirt and asphalt from the shoe really lends itself to a nice shave, and the weak lather really didn’t make for a good shave. Now I smell like the bottom of a shoe on vacation, awesome.
• Aftershave/Frag: Dammusi splash needs no explanation, and the Den of Thieves was mixed in to enhance the citrusy scents and try and drown out the smell of shoe.
• Theme: Dammusi prominently displays both citrus and aquatic notes.
• Challenge: In honor of u/Old_Hiker I took only the necessary gear for the shave and went into the backyard for a shave in the open air. Also, Work Sucks. The End.
• Acknowledgements: Thank you u/2SaintsDude for the frag for today’s shave.

June 21, 2024 – Fougère Friday

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (7)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – Fougere Angelique
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Fougere Angelique Splash
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann – Fougere Angelique EDP

No Problems with the lather made today
Opulent, slick, and cushiony I’d say
Such is what I expect from Barrister and Mann
Clean shaven was the goal of my plan
Razor took the hair right away

Unfortunately a few nicks did bleed
But Allum did stop it, I concede
Everyone expects a scent dickhole
Not really something I can control
Nothing but Fougere Angelique me indeed

Don’t try to DQ Fougere Angelique
Even if my creativity of soap choice is weak
Every other fougere oppresses my nose
Gratuitous fern scents I oppose
Educate if I’m wrong so to speak

Eternal thanks to u/2saintsdude for the splash and frag samples.

!June 22, 2024 – Spooky Season!<

• Brush: Semogue 2000
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (8)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts – Autumn Ash
• Post Shave: HAGS – Ritual splash
• Fragrance: HAGS – Ritual rollerball EDP
• Song: Ice Nine Kills – It is The End (music starts at 4:35)
• The Lather: Southern Witchcrafts makes a fantastic lathering soap. I had no issues whipping up a fantastic lather, but unfortunately something in the base just doesn’t agree with my nose. I have no idea what it is, but it gets my allergies going every time.
• The Shave: No complaints with todays shave. Smooth, simple, and quick.
• Aftershave/Frag: HAGS claims Ritual to have a “dark, spicy, sweet, and smokey” scent that blends perfectly with the “spicy, dirty, smokey, sweet” scent of Autumn Ash. The scent notes may be different, but they accomplish about the same goal. Aside from scent Ritual’s label just fits the spooky bill way too well with its Baphomet image and the connection between its image and (Southern) Witchcraft.
• Theme: Autumn Ash is about as autumn a scent as it gets.
• Challenge: Carve a pumpkin, in June. That was about as impossible feat as there could be, so I opted for a watermelon instead. Unlike pumpkins, watermelons are not hollow and are full of juicy red flesh. I opted for the less traditional rind carving with a small cutout of red to fit today’s theme. Judges if you have no desire to learn how to do this, just skip to the end and see what I did.
• So how does one carve a specific design into a watermelon. Well the first step is of course watermelon selection. A darker watermelon will lend itself better as the contrasting white and/or red inside will be much easier for visualization. Next draw your design on the outside of the watermelon and go along the line poking holes at regular intervals into the watermelon. I used a wooden skewer for this step. With the holes all placed rub a small amount of flour on the outside of the watermelon so that it is much easier to see your design. Next take your cutting utensil (shavette in this case) and connect you dots cutting about 3 mm (1/8 in) into the watermelon. Once you connected the dots begin cutting out the desired section. Personally, I found taking the blade out to be easier as the tough watermelon clogs up the shavette. Eventually you will end up with a completed design.
• Now that you know how, allow me to introduce my design for the day. If the song didn’t give it away, maybe my cutout will. For my carving I opted to go with my favorite horror movie character, Pennywise. I loved the original way back when it came out even though it scared the crap out of me. Personally I think the original is better, but the new one lends itself to a scarier carving so I used that image. Here is a short clip showing all 3 carvings on the same pumpkin, or if you prefer just photos see them here.

June 23, 2024 – Sweet Sunday

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (1)
• Lather: Abbate Y La Mantia - Crumiro
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Voices
• Fragrance: The Holy Black – Almond Biscotti EDT
• The Lather: This was my first time trying Abbate Y La Mantia and I had such high hopes. The soap smelled just like cookies, but unlike how sweet the smell was the lather was abysmal. I used a large portion of the sample I have and still it was like soap Houdini. I added more water, but that just amounted to a runny lather. I’ll be honest, I got more out of my sock lather the other day.
• The Shave: Shaving via iPad camera doesn’t exactly lend itself to a good shave. Top that off with a thin runny lather and you’ve got a recipe for cuts. Alum stick to the rescue.
• Aftershave/Frag: Since today is all about sweet gourmand scents I topped off the shave with some HoM Voices for that iconic Southeast Asian mango sticky rice scent. Personally, it’s one of my favorite desserts. After that I used a little Almond Biscotti for that extra little sweetness I didn't need. The sweet on sweet was way overkill, and if ever there was a diabetes scent, my combo today totally nailed it.
• Theme: Crumiro is based on the Italian biscuit (cookie) Krumiri, and is scented like a fresh baked cookie.
• Challenge: Todays challenge was to shave in the kitchen. I did indeed set up in the kitchen next to my sink for my shave. I learned my lesson last year when I tried to use my wife’s compact only to see everyone else shaving in the 21st via iPads. While shaving I did opt to up my game and try to bake my own Krumiri.
• Nailed It: I decided to try and bake Krumiri for 2 reasons. I wanted to know if the soap scent was accurate, and I also wanted to see what it might taste like. I know fellow competitors have tasted there soap, but I have heard soap is a bad reflection of actual taste. So I went online and found an Italian magazines recipe to make these little guys. I started by making the dough before I shaved. It has to rest for 30 min in the fridge so I quickly tossed the dishes in the sink and knocked out my shave. After resting the dough gets piped onto a cookie sheet (I didn’t have a serrated tip) followed by another trip back to the fridge for 10 min. Finally, I was able to put it in the oven and get it cooking. To say I failed at making Krumiri is a bit of an understatement. I did however get to the bottom of the initial question and yes, the scent is accurate, and this recipe tasted a lot like sweet cornbread. As if a crappy shave and baking failure wasn't enough, my mother-in-law is visiting and witnessed the whole thing. I will now get to hear about this for many years to come.

User bakes crumiro cookies to accompany AYLM Crumiro shave

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

• Brush: Semogue 2000
• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (2)
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps – Remote Learning
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps – Remote Learning splash
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps – Remote Learning EDP
• The Lather: Summer Break Soaps produces a fantastic lather. It’s easy to produce that picture perfect creamy lather in record time even with a soap from 2021. The scent, however, is a mixed bag for me. It takes me back to childhood and touring the Frito Lay plant as it smells identical to fresh chips. Unfortunately, for an Old Spice dupe, I think it really misses the mark.
• The Shave: The nostalgia of smelling chips hot off the line combined with an awesome lather made todays shave a breeze.
• Aftershave/Frag: Mountain Dew as an aftershave. Well I never liked Mountain Dew, but here I am smelling like it after a nice shave. The Pièce de resistance of today’s shave had to be the Remote Learning EDP. I mean who doesn’t want to smell of cheese on top of Mountain Dew. I feel and smell like I just left a 90’s LAN party.
• Theme: I have in my possession the most PIF’d tub in existence. It came into the sub when u/rocketk455 first PIF’d this tub 3 years ago to u/iampermabanned as part of an April Fools PIF. It then was PIF’d to u/TheRealSheikYerbouti when he had decided to be rid of it. The next PIF went to u/chronnoisseur42O who likewise PIF’d it to u/2SaintsDude via Lather Cat. 2SaintsDude in his excitement also bought a set at that same time from the recent release for god knows what reason. As he and I are good friends, he thought it would be good idea to give me a set since I didn’t have one. He was also kind enough to pass along the frag that he got with his purchased set. Long story short, this trifecta was a ~~curse~~ gift bestowed on me by a fellow lather games contestant (2SaintsDude).
• Challenge: All things considered I would really like to see a Spearhead Shaving sub exclusive soap. I have smelled almost all of the Spearhead offerings, and have yet to find one that isn’t good. Moreover, u/Ironbeard_SYS engages with the sub and generally seems like a good guy. Who better to score our next fix from.
• Acknowledgment: Thank you 2SaintsDude for the chance to smell like Doritos and Mountain Dew today.

OP has the most PIF'ed tub in existence.

June 25, 2024 – Christmas in July, but in June

• Brush: Semogue 2000

• Razor: Blackland - Blackbird Lite

• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (3)

• Lather: Macduff’s Soap Company – Christmas Tree

• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Tis the Season splash

• Fragrance: Duke Cannon – Sawtooth EDP

Allow me to tell you the story of today’s shave in a way properly fitting a hat shave. From the man who gave you cat in the hat, I give you the misguided hat shave via Dr Suess, or at least how he might done it.

Shaving with a hat.

Now who’s crazy idea was that?

A hat shave I’ve never tried.

Now I must in front of my bride.

Today Christmas Tree is up to bat,

But using the hat should be clarified.

This bucket hat seems way to flat.

It almost appears to have died.

Maybe it just needs a pat.

“You’re doing it wrong” my wife cried.

“The hat’s not for your feet.”

But judges think feet pics are éclat.

Well perhaps I use a hat as a bowl.

This red one is perfect for the role.

The soap goes in the bottom, so I’m told.

The scent of trees is rather bold.

A good lather is the goal.

Look right there, its begun to unfold.

“You’re still wrong” my wife did cajole

She’s quite the expert in my household.

She placed my head inside a new hats hole.

A hat on my head, well that is old.

What challenge could that possibly be?

Which judge has decided to troll.

I lathered up with the hat on my head.

I began to wish I was still in bed.

A little bird decided to help me shave.

A smooth dehairing that little bird gave.

Now that I’m done the hair is shed,

Tis the Season I do crave.

It fits the theme, or so I’ve read.

One thing left I must be brave.

Lets first let us rewind time instead.

The Sawtooth that I could not save

From cutting down the Christmas Tree today

But it’s Christmas, so I used it and forgave.

June 26, 2024 – Wildcard Wednesday

• Brush: Left Hand
• Razor: About Body – Bikini Shavers
• Blade: See razor
• Lather: Slippery Stuff – Personal Lubricant Gel
• Post Shave: Happy Nuts – Comfort Cream
• Fragrance: Summer’s Eve – Island Splash Douche

Last year for Wildcard Wednesday I missed the memo and used a soap. The scrub shame from u/Enndeegee was great, but I vowed to do better. I decided to keep things within the boundaries of for human use as my wife is already asking me when this thing ends, and a hospital trip might end in divorce. That limited me a little bit, but I put together a plan to attempt to redeem myself. Now u/Priusaurus used KY last year in his classy romantic coitus shave, but what about us average people. You know the kind that have to look up what those words even mean. Well allow me to introduce to a different kind of shave, a shave that includes what goes on behind the scenes.

• The Lather: For today’s shave I went straight to business with a little bit of Slippery Stuff Personal Lubricant Shaving Gel. Bowl lathering this stuff was pretty much impossible so I had to scrap that idea. With any chance of a brush foreplay over I moved straight to a quick spread by hand. Now when I bought this “personal lubricant” I had the idea that maybe it would be a slick gel, but it’s a lot more slimy than slick.
• The Shave: Shaving my face with a women’s pube razor, not my finest moment. As if that doesn’t sum up the shave, the lube acting very similar to how it felt rubbing it on my face. This was a zero cushion shave with near constant clogging with lube. It doesn’t help that this razor is tiny so it took forever. Thankfully the Slippery Stuff is long lasting so it didn’t dry up. Eventually I got through some semblance of a shave and with minimal cutting. Here is a quick shot of some of the action.
• Aftershave/Frag: So now that I’ve done the ~~dirty~~ shave its time for a little self care because lets face it, this isn’t a classy shave and sometimes it doesn’t end well. I started with a search for a suitable lotion for the job. When I was talking with u/2SaintsDude about needing a product he was more than happy to help me out and give me his to use. Yes, the Happy Nuts Comfort Cream is used. Against my better judgment and with the encouragement of 2SaintsDude I rubbed the lotion on my skin. Thankfully he wasn’t here to watch me or it might have gotten awkward. Now that I had a proper aftershave lotion to powder I needed a suitable fragrance. In the interest of equality I wanted to represent both sexes here and well we all know what fragranced self care the other sex might use to smell a little better down there. That’s right I went straight to the douche. The fragrance on this stuff was quite strong and I immediately regretted this decision to pour it in my hand and put it on my face, but I cant stop now, Enndeegee is always watching.
• Theme: Pretty sure no one else subjected themselves to an unforgettable genital themed shave. I used a gel to shave, a lotion for aftershave, and a fragranced product as my frag. Did I do it right this time Enndeegee?
• Challenge: Brush cleaning is really the least of my concerns right now as I sit here smelling like a literal douche, but I know my brush is going to need a thorough scrubbing after today. So how do I do it. If it wasn’t already clear I’m a simple man. I hand lather some dish soap with the brush, rinsing and repeating a few times. I then leave it to dry for a few days to ensure it’s both clean and ready for the next shave.

Personal lube has entered the ~~chat~~ shave

June 27, 2024 – Information Overload

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm
• Razor: Merkur – 34C
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (4)
• Lather: Zingari Man – The Gent
• Post Shave: Zingari Man – The Gent splash
• Fragrance: Zingari Man – The Gent EDP
• The Lather: Since this is leftorium challenge day the lathering was far weaker than I would have liked. My left hand not very nimble and made a rather watery thin lather in the bowl. Taking the brush to my face helped significantly to improve the lather though.
• The Shave: Just like lathering, my left hand is not destined for giving a good shave. Its handywork was marginal at best and left me with more than a few weepers. After 3 passes though I managed to have a reasonably passable shave.
• Aftershave/Frag: I went the easy route with my aftershave and frag today and just used the rest of the matching trifecta of The Gent. Each was applied using, of course, my left hand.
• Challenge: Todays challenge was to shave with our non dominant hand. As I am right handed that meant using my left to shave. While I don’t have a video of my face showing the shave, I do have a shave video of sorts. Please note my right hand is clearly holding the bowl at all times in the video and acts as nothing more than that, making the shave truly one handed.
• Theme: Todays theme being information overload requires a soap with at least 10 scent notes. Zingari’s page lists 15 scent notes (Eucalyptus, grapefruit peels, lime, neroli, Musk, woods, hay, jasmine, citrus, coumarin, herbs, musk, woods, amber, rose) in the description, but admittedly musk and woods are listed twice and brings it down to 13 different notes.
• Information Overload: Since this is information overload and leftortium day combined I thought I would take a stab at enlightening everyone on left handedness and its intricacies. I performed my own deep dive into peer reviewed literature to find these 10 fascinating ~~scents~~ tidbits about left handedness.
• Left handedness is found in 5% to 25.9% of individuals with men being more common than women (1.23 – 1).
• The prevalence of left handedness varies by culture and region.
• Handedness probably begins to develop in utero as fetuses suck one thumb more often and it is partly hereditary.
• Left Handedness is significantly more common in persons born in the spring or early summer and is perhaps due to altered Vit D metabolism due to the lack of sunlight during the winter months.
• Birth stresses in utero causing cerebral hypoxia of the fetus are suggested to also cause left handedness.
• Left handedness is associated with cognitive processing being more bilateral which also may account for the left-handers to more likely have an IQ score above 131.
• Proficient musicians are more commonly left handed, partially due to left-handers being better at using both hands.
• Left handedness is unusually more common in high performance athletes. This is more so in one-on-one sports with some of advantage possibly coming from striking from the left side.
• Left-handers, unfortunately, are drastically underrepresented in the oldest age groups, and suggests a decreased longevity.
• Non right-handers are at greater risk accidents in machines they use, likely due to button placement.

For those interested in more information I used the following Journal Sources and they were a fascinating read.

• Handedness and birth stress
• Understanding Left-Handedness
• Left-handedness: A marker for decreased survival fitness
• Sex differences in left-handedness: A meta-analysis of 144 studies

10 minute video. Water runs down the drain the entire time. Also no words. And no view of the shave - just the bowl, rinsing, and the water running down the drain. For TEN MINUTES. This was unbearable even at 2x speed.

10 minute video. Water runs down the drain the entire time. Also no words. And no view of the shave - just the bowl, rinsing, and the water running down the drain. For TEN MINUTES. This was unbearable even at 2x speed.

June 28, 2024 – Frugal Friday

• Brush: Green Boar Brush
• Razor: Schick Injector
• Blade: Schick Injector Blade
• Lather: Red House Farm – Prairie Dog
• Post Shave: Thayer’s - Original
• Fragrance: Duke Cannon – Old Glory solid cologne.

Yesterday I deeply upset another member, u/putneycj, with my frivolous water usage. I want to apologize and make it up to him in the most frugal way possible. Today I used precisely 1 cup of water for the entirety of my shave from brush soak to final pass.

• The Lather: Since this is frugal Friday I wanted to make sure I used only what I needed and what was the cheapest item of that variety in my den. To that end I started by soaking my tiny little green boar brush (given to me by u/2SaintsDude) in 1 cup of warm water. You can currently find what I believe is this brush (there is no branding) on Walmart for a whopping $0.79. While this was happening, I measured out 1 g of soap into my cheapest “shaving bowl.” I went straight from the soaking and right to lathering so as to conserve the precious little water I allotted myself. This soap lathers beautifully though even with the worlds cheapest brush.
• The Shave: After looking at current pricing, I determined the Schick injector to be my cheapest razor in my den and equipped it with its cheapest blade. I shaved using only the original brush soaking water and used that same water to rinse after I finished.
• Aftershave/Frag: My cheapest aftershave by ounce is definitely Thayer’s Original. Not only is the bottle massive by comparison it costs only $8. My cheapest Frag has to be Duke Cannon’s Old Glory Solid cologne. Its cheap and seems to last forever.
• Theme/Challenge: I used the cheapest of everything in my collection. Bowl, brush, razor, blade, aftershave, and frag. Please see the cost breakdown and analysis for how much I saved.
• Cost Per Item:
• Soap: I used 1 g of soap and at $.1058 per gram that is $.11
• Aftershave: To determine my actual aftershave usage I decided to go by weight and weighed the bottle pre and post shave as well as weighing a 5 mL sample of the aftershave to get a proper conversion (13 g / 5 mL). Using that I found that I used 2 g (.76 mL) of aftershave at $.032 per mL or $.02.
• Frag: I tried using weight to determine my frag usage, but the difference in weight was immeasurable on my cheap scale. As best as I can determine it was less than .5g and I will split the difference between that and 0 with an estimated usage of .25g. This makes my Frag ($13.33 per ounce) for the day cost $0.12.
• Brush: At $0.79 and likely to get no more than 100 awful shaves, I estimate about $0.01
• Razor: Schick Injector razors can currently be found for 29.99 on Murphy and McNeil. I will give it a 10 year usage estimate and make its cost per daily shave $0.01.
• Blade: Having never used an injector blade to its maximum I have to estimate the lifespan for me to be approximately 30 shaves. At about $0.68 per blade that brings the days blade cost to $0.02.
• Bowl: The bowl set me back $10 but due to the fact it is stainless steal and unlikely to ever need be replaced the cost calculation per shave is effectively $0.
• Water: I used 1 cup at $2.93 per 748 gallons for a grand total of $0.00024. More importantly I hope putneycj is appeased with this water ~~frugality~~ conservation.
• Cost Analysis: The up front cost for the items used for today is approximately $142.79 with a large portion of it being the purchase of blades in bulk. By purchasing it in that way, however, the total cost for todays shave comes down to a measly $0.29 or . 1 cartridge easy costs 10 times that price and that doesn’t account for the canned goop, aftershave, and frag that would be used with it. I am quite happy to be saving so much money with my shave today and with my current stock I should be able to have this cheap of a shave for the next 20 years. Obviously I plan to live longer than that so I will continue to stock up and keep the savings going longer.
• Acknowledgement: This tub of Red House Farm – Prairie Dog was won in a PIF put on by u/grindermonk

I have video proof, but since I can’t have my voice or face in the video for work reasons I’ve deleted the link. I never expected judges to watch my whole videos and only look to see that I did what I said and give a contrast to todays frugal shave. Sorry whoever judged yesterday’s, and just so you know the water gets reused on agriculture so it is not wasted.

User gets very precise on measuring the cost of this shave, down to the water he used.

June 29, 2024 – Sandalwood Saturday

• Brush: Chisel and Hound – Desert Ranger 26mm
• Razor: Blackland – Blackbird Lite
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue (6)
• Lather: Captains Choice - Sandalwood
• Post Shave: Captains Choice - Sandalwood splash
• Fragrance: Duke Cannon - Huron EDP
• The Lather: To say this soap was hard would be an understatement. It literally cracked apart as I tried to smash it down into my bowl. I give the soap a little water to try and hydrate it for a min before building my lather, but in the end the lather was pretty bad. As far as the scent, not a fan. I like scents with sandalwood in them, but I just cant get into it as a single scent note soap.
• The Shave: As the old adage goes, crap in crap out. In case your not familiar with how that saying applies, bad lather made for a bad shave. Thankfully no major cuts, but not a smooth shave in any way.
• Aftershave/Frag: I used the matching aftershave to double down on the straight sandalwood scent before applying Huron over the top. Huron’s 3 labeled scent notes include aquatic, vetiver, and you guessed it sandalwood.
• Theme: Todays theme is Sandalwood and with the soap being named Sandalwood, I think no more needs be said.
• Challenge: While I think there is still quite a possibility of movement in the pack these are my picks for the winners
• Overall: I think u/Priusaurus will come out on top again, with u/hugbckt, u/MrTangerinesky falling just slightly shy of the crown. I've seen a number of his posts but I have to say Day 1 just really set the tone for another good year for him.
• FOF: I haven’t followed this one as closely, but ~~Cupcake, Destroyer of Worlds~~ u/hugbckt is probably the best pick I have for this one. Who would have guessed a man who made himself into a cupcake would be so good at explaining scent notes.
• Photo: I just really liked the photo u/chronnoisseur42O took on the 11th that purple really popped. I know there were a number of other good shots taken, but that one just keeps coming back to me so he has my vote.
• Friend of the Sub: Since judges are actually eligible for this one I think u/OnionMiasma will probably lock down the most helpful. He was quick to answer questions and sent a ton of smushes out to those of us with holes in our calendars.
• Acknowledgement: Thank you u/2saintsdude for today’s soap and splash samples.

June 30, 2024 – Bon Voyage, Lather Games!

• Brush: Semogue – 2000 (Portugal)
• Razor: Merkur – 34C (Germany)
• Blade: Gillette – Silver Blue (Russia)
• Lather: The Handmade Soap Company – Basil, Lime & Sweet Neroli (Ireland)
• Post Shave: Tallow + Steel – Cognac (Canada)
• Fragrance: HAGS – Barberwood roll on EDP (Greece)
• Bowl: Chantal (China)
• Water: Fiji – Natural Artesian Water (Fiji)
• Me: USA

Now that all thats established, heres a short rundown.

• The Lather: This soap is easily the hardest in my den, but boy does it later up with a little water. No real complaints with the soap though as it smells pretty good too. My bowl eft a little to be desired in the amount it could hold though. Perhaps it helped that I used Fiji bottled water to add to the lather, or not. I don’t plan to test any theories on this one.
• The Shave: Simple smooth shave with nothing special.
• Aftershave/Frag: I followed the shave up with a little Cognac after shave and some Barberwood. They are a terrible matchup, but they do all fit the theme of being from a country other than my own.
• Theme/Challenge: Today’s theme and challenge are using things from other countries than your own. To that end, each part of my shave came from a different country and no part came from my home country USA.
• Analytics: Since today left little for antics to fit the bill I decided I would do some analytics. I do not have an army of bots to scrape that data so I did it the old fashioned way to come up with some charts for everyone to be able to see. Since I have to have this posted before the day is up I pulled all the data in up until u/sandmanct1 (54 SOTDs). Also please note if the shaver did not indicate a country of origin, I did not go searching it out. I also did not combine United Kingdom, England, and Scotland into one location. Without further ado here’s what I found, with charts…
• Shaver Origin: This was rather unsurprising as most of us knew most of the shavers competing originate in the USA (80%).
• Lather: Lather was surprising to me in the number of different countries chosen. I expected a more complete European dominance.
• Hardware: Hardware is the one place China and Russia begin to shine (19 uses each), but still cannot overtake the Italian brush usage (21).
• Hardware & Software: Combing both hardware and software usage we see a huge Italian dominance of 42 uses with Canada a distant second at 28 uses.
• Acknowledgment: Thank you to the judges for another interesting year of the games. I can’t imagine how much work must go on to keep them running, but it is appreciated.