June 19, 2024
- Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts - Gold/Blue/Black - 26mm Mags SHD Badger
- Razor: Blackland – Era – Plate 4OC
- Blade: Wilkinson Sword
- Lather: Wholly Kaw - King of Bourbon Soap
- Post Shave: Stubble Buster – Evocative Splash
- Fragrance: Joop – Joop! EdT
Finally! A new lather games theme that doesn’t start with the sentence “Shave with a soap that prominently features XYZ scent note…” It's about time! A lot of the daily themes can get worn out year after year after year after year. Redoing the same themes and challenges can get a bit tired, so I'm grateful the organizers included this theme since (1) Juneteenth is an important day in US History and its recognition is long past due (2) it's something new to post about instead of another description of sandalwood (3) the distinction of US geography adds in a different/strategic element to building your Lather Games calendar.
If anyone out there has objections to the inclusion of Juneteenth because it's "political", I'd love for you to explain how celebrating the freeing of slaves in the United States is political. Recognizing, and learning from, US History is important for everyone.
Shitposting about Juneteenth doesn't seem right, so I’ll take a moment to explain why Juneteenth exists: Picture this: It's 1865, and the Civil War has ended. President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had declared slaves in Confederate states free two years earlier, but Texas, being Texas, ignored the memo. So, for those still enslaved in the Lone Star State, life hadn't changed much. Enter Major General Gordon Granger, who rolled into Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, and dropped the freedom bombshell with General Order No. 3. This marked the true end of slavery in the United States. I think that is a BFD, and should be recognized and celebrated.
For my #FOF, the scent of King of Bourbon is mostly vanilla to my nose. It’s not too sweet, as there is also Ginger, Tobacco, and some earthy Cypriol and Vetiver to balance the scent. It’s very nice. For my splash, I stuck with the vanilla theme with Evocative, which is a dupe of Joop. The scent profile was a perfect complement to King of Bourbon, adding layers of complexity with hints of spicy herbs, sweet cinnamon, and vanilla. And of course, it made sense that I used the real deal for today’s fragrance. I’ve always enjoyed Joop. It’s sweet vanilla, cinnamon, and a hint of tonka bean. For me, it’s an absolutely delicious spicy vanilla bomb. Sure, at this point, it’s dated. But it was literally the first fragrance I ever bought in my life, when I was in high school, so spraying this on immediately takes my memories back to the carefree days of the 1990s. I just need to frost my tips and I’m good to go!
Challenge: Memes! I fully recognized I peaked in Meme Day posts in 2023, and no, I don’t have a soap to get released today. Instead, I decided to do what other competitors may be too afraid to do. I’m memeing each one of our Lather Games judges. That’s right. Every judge gets a meme!
u/Djundjila gets a meme!
u/DoctorRotor gets a meme!
u/FrankieIVFingers gets a meme!
u/J33pGuy13 gets a meme!
u/OnionMiasma gets two memes to represent his 2nd place finish last year!
u/PutneyCJ gets a meme!
u/RedMosquitoMM gets a meme!
u/ShavinginCT gets a meme!
u/VisceralWatch gets a meme!
u/wallygator88 gets a meme!
Please don’t DQ me.
Soap Theme Justification: Wholly Kaw is made in New Jersey, which is a Northern State.
Relevant Post Shave & Fragrance: Vanilla all around