LG SOTD 01Jun2024
- Brush: Stirling G&W - 24mm two band (tuxedo) synthetic
- Razor: Karve - CB SB-C (Copper) #RUSTYBUTTRUSTY
- Blade: Wizamet - Super Iridium (4)
- Lather: Tabac - New Formulation
- Bowl: CaYuen - Dark Nebula, large
- Post Shave: Afta by Mennen - Aftershave Lotion, Original
Hello, beautiful people! Welcome to the first shave of the 2024 Lather Games, an exhibition competition where the love of shaving meets excessive consumption. Today's theme is "Bonjour Lather Games" and involves shaving with a brand of lather never tried before. There are hundreds of soap brands out there I haven't tried and I'm choosing to pop my Tabac cherry - not sure what that says about me.
Today's razor is one of my "three horsemen", the Karve Christopher Bradley made of solid copper. There is some minor "new to you" going on here - using a new SB-C baseplate that arrived just two days ago. I bought it with a D-plate and it's amazing to shave with, but it's also at the aggressiveness limit for my face. It was a once a week only razor so hoping the C-plate will tame it down enough that I have the option of using it multiple days.
This razor is also my #RUSTYBUTTRUSTY entry. This is what it looked like shortly after I got it, and here it is today.
The brush is Stirling's Synthetic Two Band knot in their Green & White handle. It's the most basic looking brush in my chosen seven. It remains in the daily rotation because the knot is both very good but also unique among the many synthetic knots I've used. Stirling can call it a two band synth if they want, but it's a tuxedo knot. The fibers don't feel like Yaqui's tuxedo fibers that are used widely - Not sure where they sourced the fibers, but I really enjoy the uniqueness of the knot.
Alright, onto the Tabac. I've seen many "Tabac Tuesdays" come and go and didn't know what I was missing out on until today... I cut a small piece off the puck and pressed into the CaYuen logo and got to working. Worked up easily, about what I expected from a hard soap like this. Took more water than I thought it would. Makes a decent lather, not as creamy as I would like but good enough for me. It's not that slick, but sufficient and had no issues shaving. Where it was a dud was zero residual slickness - reapplied lather far more than usual. Post shave feel is surprisingly good for how the shave was - expected my skin to feel dry but it's alright - not so great I'm going to skip shave balm today, but not bad. The fragrance was a bit herbal/medicinal off the puck but not unpleasant. It kept that same smell throughout the shave. Not very strong and soon faded. I was expecting something much more from descriptions, but it's a basic mass produced old-timey men's cosmetic scent, have had much worse from Stirling and BaM.
Conclusion: You all can keep your Tabac Tuesdays. Maybe the tallow version was different, but I can't imagine why I would choose this over so many other soaps - it's mid for fragrance and proctectiveness/slickness, ok on post-shave, and bottom of the barrel for residual slickness. Other than being cheap and old, it's not doing anything particularly well.
As for the C-plate, I'll have to wait for tomorrow to tell for sure, but this was as good a shave and face isn't quite so "fresh" looking as when using the D-plate. Fingers crossed.
Enjoy your weekend, enjoy your shaves, and good luck in the Lather Games