LG SOTD 10Jun2024
- Brush: Yaqi Deep Stones - 24mm brown (cashmere) synthetic
- Razor: Henson - AL13 Medium (Black)
- Blade: Clifton - Classic (2)
- Blade: Muster - Shaver (2)
- Lather: Declaration Grooming - Cerberus (collaboration with House of Mammoth and Noble Otter)
- Bowl: CaYuen - Dark Nebula, large
- Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Shave Balm, Embrace
Hello, beautiful people! I hope this Monday isn’t too big of a shock to the system. Welcome to the tenth shave of the 2024 Lather Games. Today's theme is “Happy Together” where we shave with a lather brought to us through the efforts of two or more artisans.
I am shaving with Cerberus from Declaration Grooming in collaboration with House of Mammoth and Noble Otter. This is via smoosh from, again, u/schontzm, and, again, my thanks. In hindsight, I probably should have grabbed a tub of this for the label art alone but I passed because Milksteak - Tusk or Noble Otter base and I’d have bought this blind, no question, but they released it in Milksteak, and I cannot make myself like Milksteak even though I seem to keep trying 😅
Using my Yaqui Deep Stones brush set with what seems to be a 24mm knot made from a denser arrangement of cashmere fibers dyed brown. Visually, I thought it goes with the music challenge. After the shave, it will go back to the bin, I don’t care for cashmere fibers. Too little spunk.
Razor is my first Henson Medium in the V1 AL13 version. Shaves functionally identical to Ti22 variant, probably some inconsequential differences from the weight, but I’ve moved back forth without noticing a difference. Like the brush, figured it visually went with the music challenge.
——
As soon as I saw the challenge, there was but one choice for me. Today is about how bringing multiple artists together can create something that they would not have made on their own. Thursday, 23May2024, one of the greatest music and video collaborations in history took place: BABYMETAL & Electric Callboy - RATATATA. BABYMETAL has had some great collabs, but they have been on a home run streak since Metalli with Tom Morello. The latest, RATATATA, is fun made audio, and the video complements it perfectly. I’ve watched the video, um, multiple times, I’ve watched reactions of the video, I’ve watched Electric Callboy react to reactions, I’ve listened to it driving down the road, at work, at home, and today we’ll try it shaving.
Like Ben from HoM lending his fragrance crafting expertise, DG’s unique base, and Noble Otter’s art style to make their ideas for a shave trifecta into the best it could, each musical act brings their own strengths to the song. The driving electronic beat is all EC, but when Su’s vocals come in, bam, it’s BABYMETAL in the house. Then we get harmonizing between Su and Nico. Then we get complementary harsh vocals between Momo and Kevin. There are hooks, ear worms, fun choruses. It’s just fantastic.
I can’t wait to hear it performed when I see BABYMETAL again this November, but for now I’m going to put it on the Echo Dot while I shave.
——
Shave Report - the choice of song was a perfect start to a Monday, it’s a song that improves my mood every time I hear it. Nice to revisit the AL13 and re-confirm it is as good as the Ti22 - this is one of the reasons I love Henson - they aren’t skimping on features on their lower end.
After the shave I’m feeling better about skipping Cerberus - Milksteak or not, which made for a very messy smoosh, this fragrance would not work for me. There is a smoke adjacent note I think of as “burnt umber”, like someone toasted some seed pods from potpourri. That note would stop me from ever enjoying the rest, certainly stopped me from being able to say much of anything else about this anticipated shave. I remember there being some background fragrance that was pleasant enough immediately before burnt seed pods appeared and blew the fragrance aside.
FYI: Length of complete shave routine this morning was just over two RATATATAs 😄
Enjoy your week, may it pass quickly
——
Judges may ignore everything beyond, or not. The judges make the calls.
——
Tournament of Blades Fight 419, Round 2. Clifton - Classic (Bangladesh) vs Muster - Shaver (Turkey)
Round 2 continued what I saw in R1. Double no-fault shaves from the blades, preference to the Muster - feedback and glide a bit smoother.
Winner of Round 2 and Fight 419: Muster - Shaver (Turkey)