SOTD by u/hugbckt

June 18, 2024 – LG Day 18 – RIP in Peace in Pieces

• Brush: Chisel & Hound v23 Fanchurian
• Razor: Gillette Gold Ball-End Tech
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (1)
• Lather: Arsenal Grooming – Beach Goer
• Post Shave: Tiki Bar Soaps – Volcano
• Fragrance: Kerosene – Fields of Rubus

“When you’re playing the Lather Games and you’re playing all out, you end up with about half the days where your shave is just not at all enjoyable, and really pretty terrible.” — u/OnionMiasma

Ain’t that the truth.

Today was a good shave, though – it’s nice to have writing challenges interspersed to break up the physical challenges which are slowly destroying my scalp. Everything I used today is either RIP or RIP-adjacent. Arsenal Grooming Co is dead by all accounts. No Instagram posts since late 2023. Nothing seemingly sold by them in several years. Their website is 403 Forbidden (which I only got to after two distinct efforts on my computer’s part to keep me safe from malware). No official closing announcement – just mysteriously went out of business and sparked various folks to simply wonder what happened. Similarly, Tiki Bar Soap went out of business without announcement, but back in 2017, according to Boomer & Blade. Volcano is one of my favorite summer splashes, and I was happy to grab the old “tester” bottle from the Maggard Meet PIF table as backup stock. Kerosene isn’t going anywhere, but Fields of Rubus has been discontinued. Silver Blue blades are either discontinued or temporarily out of production, but who knows if this is a legitimate concern – it’s certainly not the first time B&B has been worried about this. Chisel & Hound has moved onto the v24 knot, so my v23 is officially discontinued, and I don’t think Gillette makes Ball-End Techs anymore, unless they’ve decided to discontinue cartridge razors because they got tired of making money.

In honor of the heat wave hitting Northern New England and elsewhere, my shave is aggressively beach/tropical-inspired. Beach Goer, on account of its age, is starting to lose its luster. The pear note is the most interesting part of it, bringing the tropical fruit notes beyond the typical sunscreen scent I would expect of a soap like this. I’m also picking up some floral notes, but anything else has either faded, is well-masked, or can be attributed to “nose is sus.” Volcano, on the other hand, is a powerhouse despite its age. Before the alcohol smell wears off, I get immediate flashbacks to poorly balanced “cocktails” my college roommate would make, typically consisting of orange juice, pineapple juice, and too much vodka. Once that settles down, it continues to be a citrus bomb which settles into a fruity, green, whimsical accord; it really is perfect for the beach and hence is a great match with this soap. Fields of Rubus: raspberry, patchouli, tobacco, woods. Better than it has any right to be. It adds a layer of complexity to today’s fragrances, and keeps it from being juice juice juice all day long. #FOF

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Instructions on how to make an r/wicked_edge post:

1. Write an overly vague and somewhat clickbait-y title.
2. Write an SOTD post with somehow way too much detail and yet saying nothing meaningful at all.
3. Take a bathroom sink photo.
4. Make sure you leave a review that’s way too complimentary of a lackluster soap.
5. State everything as fact; no YMMV here.

Instructions on how to make an r/wetshaving post:

1. Pretty much same as above but do it in a comment.
2. Make sure your soap brand/artisan is one of the sub favorites.
3. PAA is on the do not buy list.

Instructions on how to make u/SaintBandicoot miserable:

1. Blood.
2. Don’t offer free soap.

Instructions on how to make u/hugbckt miserable:

1. Insist on spelling “paid” as “payed.”
2. Ask if you should buy a $400 brush but refuse to listen when everybody says no.