July 6, 2023 – Alive with Olfaction
- Brush: AP Shave Co. Cashmere
- Razor: Gillette Superspeed
- Blade: Gillette Nacet (4)
- Lather: House of Mammoth – Alive
- Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Alive
- Fragrance: House of Mammoth – Alive
Today is a good day. Shave was somewhat lessoned by the fact that the cashmere knot does not work great in my hands yet but there are no bad shaves with Alive. I went all in on olfactive overload, literally bathing myself in it with the Alive bath bar.
This theme dictates my choices top to bottom so for #fof I’m going to note Alive was my first dickhole set that grew to become my second trifecta.
As I’ve noted before, I went from Stirling sampler to 4 horsemen, which will make one a bit gun-shy about new stuff. I had a used tub of hygge I bought when u/MammothBen posted about his pending Black Friday clearance. Get a free beanie! How could I resist?
I looked over the things in the sale, and was sorta cautious. I saw Alive and went “hmm sounds like a fairly safe bet.” TTS estimated a 3 for me, but I also knew it was always a bit low on guesses. (Almond Creme 2.6?!)
Up until now I had 0 matching balms, following u/Itchypooter’s dickhole theory, I had a bunch of generally complimentary to stuff I owned balms but nothing matching. But this was on sale, so I went in. I distinctly remember thinking even at half off blind buying a trifecta was madness, especially since at that point my entire frag collection was a 25ml bottle of YSL l’homme gifted to me 5 years prior.
I passed on the frag and would not realize my mistake for some time.
When it arrived, I found the smell pleasant, but didn’t get around to using it.
I finally did, and I was sitting at my desk later, frustrated by some paperwork I was tired of and I put my hands to my face and suddenly I smelled it. A scent that said “hey, pick yourself up, you’re alive and that’s a damned good start.”
I used it several more times and realized I needed that whiff of smell through the day wanted and EdP. But by then they were all gone. I stalked the ‘zaar but most of them came in lots and I didn’t want extra stuff.
Then a fateful email came, Alive was coming back. I snagged a bottle the morning it launched and haven’t looked back.
Alive and Hygge while being totally different categories of scents, share themes of comfort. But while Hygge surrounds you, protecting you from the outside world, Alive draws you back into it. It reminds you, sure life sucks sometimes, but you’re alive and that’s a damned good start. I come back to it whenever I need this uplifting reminder (which lately is quite a bit.) When this tub gone, I hope Ben’s still selling it so I can buy more.
So, a thank you to u/Mammothben for creating this and so many other scents that have brought me enjoyment or renewed energy these last few months (and for years to come).
OK, emotional time over, after probably getting a negative point for being too wordy. It’s #photocontest time. Went for the “Pets” theme. Also, you’ll see my stacking challenge completed here. This was a fun challenge and when I was talking with my daughter (Preview of hobbies tomorrow, we do photography together so she’s helping on all these) we agreed that stacking in front of the only pet we own was appropriate. Took forever to get that fish in frame, but we did it. The items are not leaning on the aquarium I promise (the brush fell once, luckily it was a seconds brush so I think the scratch was already there.) Also #ROTY