LG SOTD 08Jun2024
- Brush: Maggard W&B - 24mm G&W (SilkSmoke) synthetic
- Razor: Henson - AL13 Aggressive (Metallic Gray)
- Blade: Rapira - Platinum Lux (1)
- Lather: Maggard Razors - Limes & Bergamot
- Bowl: Captain’s Choice - Copper, standard
- Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Aftershave Balm, Lavender
Happy Saturday, beautiful people! Welcome to the eighth shave of the 2024 Lather Games. Today's theme is “Small Business Saturday” where we pay tribute to a major enabler of the hobby, Maggard Razors, by using Maggard’s own soaps. I am expanding upon the minimum theme requirements and everything used today was purchased from Maggard Razors.
Like many of the participants here, I long ago abandoned any notion of saving money through wetshaving. I've run the numbers. Compared to when I shaved like "Canned Shave Goop" day, it would take four decades to break even assuming it were somehow possible to stop buying anything. Of course, while I could conceivably stop buying hardware, my software will run out long before the 2060s. I guess profligate shaver for life it is lol.
My descent into becoming a disgusting shave junkie began slowly. December 2020 I started lurking and researching. March 2021 ordered first razor. April 2021 ordered first soap and brush. June 2021 is when it went off the rails. I participated in my first Lather Games. I moved beyond Amazon and placed orders with West Coast Shaving, Razor Blades Club, The Razor Company, and Maggard Razors, a.k.a. wetshaving enablers.
* West Coast Shaving: 2 orders, average value $41.
* Razor Blades Club: 10 orders, average value $36
* The Razor Company: 11 orders, average value $34
But the biggest dealer of general shave goods has been Maggard Razors. I am up to eighteen (18) orders, about one every two months, with an average dollar value of $59. The largest single order with Maggard was in August 2022. On that order, I purchased the Maggard brush I’m using today, two tubs of soap, and ten soap samples - total price was about $81. Not that big or stupid, but that’s how they get me, one uber convenient moderate sized order at a time.
The oldest piece of gear used today is the copper Capn’s Choice bowl, originally ordered October 2021. This is a great bowl. Used it happily for two years when I upgraded to the CaYuen, which gets most of my attention now.
Next would be the Rapira Plat Lux blades, ordered those May 2022.
I originally ordered the soap as a sample along with the White & Blue Maggard brush in August 2022. Later upgraded to a tub in February 2023.
Maggard’s Limes & Bergamot is my favorite citrus scent - bright and clean with none of the dullness of some citrus scents and none of cloying cologne-adjacent notes of others. Just shove your face in freshly halved fruit olfactory goodness.
The brush, though, was not long for standard rotation. The SilkSmoke knot turned out both too floppy and set too high for my preferences.
Picked up the Henson AL13 Aggressive in Oct 2022. They only make one batch of AL13 Aggressive a year and only sell them through retailers. Spotted it was back in stock at Maggard and threw in a half dozen samples while at it as you do.
Last and youngest is the aftershave balm. Ordered in Feb 2024 after u/BostonPhotoTourist shocked me when he announced that Lavender (except as a bath bar 🤔) was being discontinued. Headed online to get a reserve tub and decided to try BaM’s aftershave balm while at it (and buy a razor handle and a couple of samples since I was there 😅).
In short, Maggard does a good job of keeping a large and varied selection of shave goods available, just waiting to help me scratch an itch, and ships quickly. Like any good dealer 😉
Onto the shave. Happy to be shaving like a normal person today. The Henson +++ is not the best example of what makes a Henson a Henson (the small nick under my nose speaks to that 😬) - it is treated like the proverbial redheaded stepchild by Henson Shaving for solid reasons but it’s still a better shaver than many razors I’ve used. I would place the Henson +++ head just below my Karve CB with a D-plate on aggression/efficiency.
The nick under the nose was only down side, otherwise a pleasing shave followed by BaM’s balm in Lavender - and my chin is clean shaven unlike yesterday 😃
Enjoy your weekend!