June 7, 2024
- Brush: Terrafirma Soapery – 28mm G5C #COMPOSITE #PREMIUMPLASTIC #FRANKENBRUSH
- Razor: Gillette – Blue Tip SuperSpeed
- Blade: Wilkinson Sword
- Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps – Vetiver Soap
- Post Shave: Tallow & Steel – Rainforest Splash
- Fragrance: Guerlain – Vetiver EdT
First things first, thanks u/Tetriside for the smush
I gotta be honest here, I didn’t have any wacky shavanigans planned to celebrate Vetiver Day. If I had to describe Vetiver in one word: Earthy, I guess? I don’t really know. This isn’t really a scent I’d typically go for. But the beauty of the Lather Games is trying new things (check), interacting with the community (double-check), and have entertaining posts (shit!). Okay. Gotta think. Gotta think of something… ANYTHING. I google “Vetiver” and it’s a grass… What the hell is entertaining about grass? I briefly consider creating a shaving brush out of blades of grass, but I only have one smush of this soap and I’m not confident enough that would work. I don’t want to burn the one smush of anything Vetiver I have on something that could ruin the smoosh, DQ me, and tank my chances of a repeat. What else could I do? I cut my grass. And it IS getting a little too tall… Could I shave while cutting my grass?
In the words of Kevin Garnett: ANYTHING IS POSSIBBBBBBLLLLEEEEEEEEE!!!
Gather up my shave stuff and head outside to shave and mow my lawn. Multitasking at its finest! Is this a stupid idea? Undoubtedly, but I’ve also had worse. And do I feel the need to go above and beyond and do stupid shit for the Lather Games?? Also, a resounding yes!!
So, here I am shaving while mowing the lawn for Vetiver Day.
From a logistical point of view those silly lawnmower safety switches make shaving and mowing a little difficult. I opted to bowl load, and hooked the Stirling Travel bowl to a carabiner clip, attached to my belt loop so I could lather one handed. The interesting thing about mowing the lawn while shaving and only doing an against the grain pass is you only get one take. If I were to do this again, I’d alter the camera placement a little bit and maybe speed up the video in post production, but all and all, I think I nailed it.
The scent of vetiver was perfect for a nice outdoor shave. Lathering with it gave me a sense of one-ness with the earth (which was immediately counteracted by the gasoline fumes from my lawnmower.) The scent of the soap was actually deeper than I initially expected. I used T&S Rainforest for the splash, which has Vetiver one of the top notes. I thought I was smelling Vetiver pretty prominently, but others could say it’s mostly Frankinsence and Fir. Whatever. It’s all naturey things. Then for the finishing #FOF touches, I used Vetiver by Guerlain, which is very obviously Vetiverific! This isn’t the scent profile I typically go for, but it was nice for a change. All in all, it great to be outside, shave outside, and smell like the outside while doing outside things!
Challenge Against the grain for just one pass. Done and done. Actually, worked out well for multitasking to only have to do one pass. I did choose the mild Blue Tip Super Speed for today’s shave (for obvious reasons), but it wasn’t bad.
Soap Theme Justification: Ummmm… Ya know. It’s in the name.
Relevant Post Shave & Fragrance: Vetiver is ever-present in the splash and the frag is called Vetiver… So… Yeah…