2024-06-07 - I Want Vetiver
- Lather: Saponifico Varesino - Desert Vetiver
- Post Shave: Saponifico Varesino - Desert Vetiver
- Fragrance: Saponifico Varesino - Desert Vetiver
- Razor: Wolfman Razors - Guerrilla (2023)
- Brush: Yaqi Metal Timberwolf
Unifying Theme: Hat Trick
Vetiver You Want:
Ah, vetiver. What are you and how do we pronounce you? /ˈvɛtɪvəɹ/, surely.
I have the impression, though probably unsubstantiated,
that /vɛˈtaɪvəɹ/ or /vɛˈtivəɹ/ aren't uncommon.
Or perhaps you could opt to be more faithful to the original French,
with /vɛtiˈve/, although that's straight-up ludicrous because vetiver is
an English word in its own right, even if it is a borrowed one.
It reminds me of a time when someone tried to insist that the plural of ninja
should be ninja because Japanese doesn't have grammatical plural.
Like, that's great, dumbass, but ninja is also an English word, and guess
which language actually does have grammatical plural?
But I digress.
GeoFatBoy Special:
Alright, so a single against-the-grain pass.
~~Vetiver~~ Whatever, an initial ATG pass doesn't bother me.
I'm honestly a little surprised that so many of you are so bothered,
but I can't speak for you. Obviously. I don't have your skin! Yet.
I would like to take this moment to address the razor,
which surely helped for an annoyance-free ATG pass.
This beautiful razor was a contribution from Wolfman Razors in support of
our 2023 Lather Games, and I was the lucky recipient. There was a little bit of
a debacle because I originally asked for a larger gap than worked for me.
I'd like to also call out u/Priusaurus, who was encouraging while I sorted it out.
Wolfman was more than happy to swap out the razor head, and it has been my
daily razor since.
#FOF
I haven't used Desert Vetiver much since I got it,
partly because I have so much other soap I need to use up, and partly because
it has—in my mind—a kind of "special occasion" vibe to it.
Maybe because it's not what you'd call "cheap," but both the lather and scent are nothing short of luxurious.
I originally didn't get a whole lot of vetiver out of it—am I an idiot?
No (well...), but I had a few raw-er vetiver scents serving as a baseline
(e.g. Varen, Hallows, Dirtyver), whereas Desert Vetiver is more complex.
While Dirtyver revels in being unadulterated, in-your-face vetiver
(not that there's anything wrong with that),
Desert Vetiver wraps it up in a way that is appropriate to respectable society
(that sounds more denigrating to vetiver than I intended).
There's a heart of vetiver that intermingles with amber,
surrounded by a cushion of subtle florals and pepper.
Lavender is clearly there, but I hesitate to mention it because I don't want
to bring attention to it; it doesn't even bring attention to itself.
I like this, because I'm pretty fed up with lavender,
but I appreciate this.
On a related but separate topic, I'm just going to willfully disregard
the likelihood that it was a joke, and am instead just looking forward
to the licorice/anise + vetiver scent that u/c_bubbles is cooking up
after u/tonality's recommendation.
#photocontest Cactus
I know what you're thinking:
"Hey, u/ginopono, why are you using a stylized depiction of that desert?
Couldn't you just, you know, go outside and take
a picture of the real thing?"
No.
No, I'm not going outside during the season that is literally called
"Don't Step into the Sun or You'll Die"!
Why do you think the picture doesn't even have the sun?
There might be a day or two in January when it's safe, but for now,
I'm staying where the sun can't get to me.