LG SOTD 07Jun2024
- Brush: Anbbas Black Resin - 21mm synthetic badger #FAUXFUR
- Razor: Henson - AL13 Mild (Copper Colored) #STAINLESSLESS
- Blade: Treet - Falcon
- Lather: Ariana & Evans - Vetiver Magnifique
- Bowl: Captain’s Choice - Copper, standard
- Post Shave: Stirling - Shave Balm, Unscented
Happy Friday, beautiful people! Welcome to the seventh shave of the 2024 Lather Games. Today's theme is “Vetiver you Want?” where we shave with a lather focused on vetiver.
Vetiver is a strange note - it isn’t much of a fragrance itself, how it’s perceived is down to what it’s paired with. Blend one way and you’ve got the organic smell wafting off a field of growing wheat after a gentle rain… blend another and you have a 50 gallon drum of fermenting, sweaty socks from the local high school athletic department.
Today trying a sample from Maggard of Ariana & Evans - Vetiver Magnifique. Off the puck it smells of vetiver over wood, which upon looking up the description makes sense - this is the marketing verbiage, “Our Vetiver is green & woody, with some pepper notes, before giving way to vetiver, tobacco and tonka bean. A fresh woody accord for a fragrance with authentic elegance.” Hoping that translates to, “does not smell of nasty socks” 🙂
The brush was my first shave brush and I did pretty good for something off Amazon. It’s a simple black resin handle set with a 21mm synthetic badger knot making it a qualifying #FAUXFUR. The fibers from wherever they were sourced could still hold their own against more recent types. It found its way to the box of misfit shave gear because the handle is very simple and the knot is smaller than I came to prefer. It’s a little brush that can with an owner that buys too much stuff 😅
The razor was chosen based on the daily challenge of shaving against the grain, one pass. Yesterday was my first use of the Lady Gillette (same razor head as a Super Speed) and first impressions were just ok. In addition to some throat nicks, just a more irritating shave than hoped, so going against the grain - something I almost never do - calls for the mildest razor I have. That would either be the Bison or the AL13 Mild, and already used the Bison this week so AL13 Mild it is. Using a carbon steel blade from Treet in it for the #STAINLESSLESS hardware hunt.
Onto the shave report - alas, this vetiver scent fell closer to the sock side of the line for me. It would come on almost like a sandalwood, then there was some of the pepper, blending to make an almost smoky note right before: GYM SOCKS!!! I will be throwing this sample straight in the strategic reserve box in case this theme returns.
The single ATG pass was fine except on my chin and the jaw line near the chin. This is a tricky zone even with the grain and I would have preferred to go back over it the right way but there is a whole 0.2 points on the line so I’ll live with the “stubble”.
Enjoy your Friday people! We have nearly reached the weekend 🎉🥳