June 5, 2024 – Subpar but not horrible
- Brush: The Hands of the Tsar
- Razor: Bic Sensative #rainbow
- Blade: whatever comes in a bic
- Lather: Cremo – Original
- Post Shave: Nivea – Sensitive Post Shave Balm
- Fragrance: Ralph Lauren – Polo Blue
Goop. It’s what we all wanted to leave behind, yet here we are using it for internet fame. I opted for Cremo, which was surprisingly hard to find at Target as they transition to selling Harry’s, DSC, and other advertising heavy products that pay for shelf space. (Indeed, they no longer sell Proraso at my Target to make room for the big Harry’s display). This Nivea balm, also at Target. And did you know you can buy Polo Blue at Target! (Through their partnership with Ulta). This is an entirely Target shave, a Target Trifecta! It’s not exactly a #fof legend here, but Polo Blue is reliable. And easily available. It’s a safe scent. It’s office friendly. The aquatic plays well of what little Cremo citrus is in my memory (and oddly well with the medicinal smell of the Nivea). I don’t get any “wow” factor off it, but I’m sure it’s generally pleasing. And honestly your den needs some scents like that because you can’t be niche 100% of the time. (Disclaimer: This is some sample my wife got in an Ulta or Sephora order).
Ok but truth time: you can’t get everything at Target. I couldn’t find Yellow Bics, they only had off brand. So, I went to Target’s poorer cousin Walmart. Walmart also sells Cremo and Nivea, (but no Polo Blue!). These Bics remind me of my teenage years, because Dad taught me to shave with this exact razor model and dial soap. Yes, we lathered with Dial soap. It was miserable. Just horrible. Took me 20 years to figure out life was wrong. (I broke with him and went for electric shavers not long into my shaving career. I haven’t used a Bic in probably 20+ years.) But you know what, put a pin in that, we’ll come back to it on Father’s Day. The shave was, surprisingly, not bad. Not great, but not awful.
For #photocontest, Cremo doesn’t require a brush, so my hands gotta be in the photo, and so here’s a picture framing my eyes. Picture was taken by my daughter (after several tries that were all blurry.)
Speaking of lathering, today’s challenge was interesting. I hit it since I normally bowl lather (about 80% of the time) and what you do with Cremo counts as face “lathering” (no bowls here!) But, in the spirit of the challenge I decided to flip when I lather! I always shower before I shave, so today I’ll reverse that and shave before I shower. I know some people do that; I don’t get it but in this case I’m glad I did because the Cremo left a film that was hard to get off. Shower helped. Instructions say if you don’t shower first rub warm water on your face for 30 seconds. While I do that, I’m going to contemplate how to up my game because u/priusaurus and others are bringing it.