u/sgrdddy's SOTDs for challenge 'Lather Games 2024'

• Prep: Splash of Cool Water
• Razor: Fine Accoutrements - Worlds Finest
• Blade: Gillette - 365 Stainless (7)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - **Boonana
• Brush: Elite Razor - Manchurian Bulb - Stoya 26mm (1 uses)
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps - History 101

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Gear Pic :: Video

䷀ General Notes

Today's Lather Games theme is Haloween/that season/spicy soaps, and I thought Boonana was a good fit. Love the scent.

Had to join the lather games if I possibly could, if even in a small way. Moving/selling house/divorce stuff is keeping me insanely busy these days.

Also wanted to honor the recent Juneteenth holiday by using an AS with old Abe Lincoln's pic on it, History 101. Glad to celebrate a day when finally all Americans were free.

And remembering Matt /u/120inna55 today, as I take an old brush of his for its inaugural spin in my den. A wonderful piece.

䷀ Razor and Blade Notes

^(Fine Accoutrements - Worlds Finest ::: Gillette - 365 ‹7 uses›)

The 365 blade continues to impress in this Fine razor too. Easily shaved multiple days' growth and was comfy as well.

Razor and Blade Performance/Comfort Rating: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)

䷀ Soap Notes

^(Southern Witchcrafts - Boonana)

Them: "This no ordinary banana scent – it is a complex and rich blend of dark and spicy accords that are perfect for autumn. Boonana elegantly combines fresh banana with florals, bourbon, and musk to elevate the humble fruit into something mysterious and wicked."

Notes: Banana, bourbon, tobacco, lily, neroli, patchouli, vanilla, musk, pumpkin, cashmeran

Me: On first use, I noticed the banana in three phases, and in each one it was never novelty or overdone. It was always in conjunction and harmonious accord with the other notes, such as vanilla and amber and hint of warm wood. There were others in the blend at play of course, but they were more well-blended and hard to identify.

In the first phase it was smelling it from the dry tub. It was a light note of banana that one might easily not get if you're not looking for it. It just plays so well to the other notes available.

In the second phase, the early part of the lather, it did start to have a more taffy banana style to it. But the other scents kept it from being novelty with their warmth and well-roundedness. this phase is where more of the scent came out in the other notes, and it was very interesting. While my first use was a blind evaluation, as I read the notes now, I can easily place the bourbon, tobacco, vanilla, musk, pumpkin, and cashmeran in my nose's recall of the scent. All existing in a wonderful blend.

In the third phase, near the end of the shave, the banana was pretty much gone, leaving that excellent supportive cast. Warm, amber, and vanilla were the notes/words that kept popping into my mind. The others are there in a great blend that were just too hard to pick out blindly.

The all these notes just play so well together. I'm afraid the funny name might make unknowing folks not take this scent nearly as serious as it is. It's very sophisticated. I could wear it all year, but today when I tried it, it was super cold outside, and boy did this one fit the bill. What a great autumn/winter scent especially.

SW knocks another one out of the park. This is creative, unique, and so intelligently put together. It's interesting to watch the banana come and go as the shave progresses. It feels all comfy and warm, but the musk and tobacco type notes keep it from being too much of a toy and give it strength and maturity. What a treat, /u/phteven_j and /u/kenzykat

Lather... 60 swirls to load and that was just fine.

Slurry went really well and was mature by the third pass. I already knew SW's base was SL compatible anyway.

Very slick and luxurious.

Hydration: Perfect (for me)

• 20 sec load with a Soaking brush
• = 3 passes of lather

䷀ Brush Notes

^(Elite Razor - Manchurian Bulb Stoya 26mm ‹1 uses›)

This is going to be a great brush to enjoy for many years. It's the kind of manchurian I like, where the tips are luxurious, and it has medium backbone to keep those tips on your face, but still keep an easy to splay nature.

It worked great with the slurry lather method, and I think is going to be awesome with any shaving technique.

This was my first use of this one, since I just bought it from the consignment sale for Matt's wife. So sorry to lose /u/120inna55.

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During the Shave Feel:
  Cheeks: Felt blade but comfortable
  Neck: Felt blade but comfortable
After the Shave Closeness:
  Cheeks: Near BBS - About as close as I'll ever get
  Neck: Near BBS - About as close as I'll ever get

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Shavers Map - here it is and also in the sub's sidebar.

Ending of Blades Ledger - entry form and the data spreadsheet

• Prep: Splash of Cool Water
• Razor: Wolfman - WR2 SB .85 Brushed
• Blade: Gillette - 7 o'clock (Black) Super Platinum (16)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann Omnibus - Smoking Bishop
• Brush: Semogue - Pharos C3 Pure Black Horse (1 uses)
• Post Shave: Generic - Witch Hazel Solution

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Lather Games: Day: 25

Gear Pic :: Video

䷀ General Notes

Lather Games Day 25 is a Christmas or winter scent. So I used Smoking Bishop, which I love.

I also ended up doing the daily challenge, since I always shave with a hat.

䷀ Razor and Blade Notes

^(Wolfman - WR2 SB .85 Brushed ::: Gillette - 7 o'clock - Blk ‹16 uses›)

Felt the edge today, but was in control and comfortable. Easy hair removal and good feels.

Razor and Blade Performance/Comfort Rating: 4 out of 5 (Very Good)

䷀ Soap Notes

^(Barrister and Mann Omnibus - Smoking Bishop)

Them: "A Christmas Carol creates a particular image: cobbled London streets, swollen with carts and men in top hats and street urchins, all milling and shouting and running in the cold December air. You can practically feel the chill, see the clouds of steam as the crowds breathe, and hear the din of a thousand lives all playing out in the same space. It's a vivid, intensely nostalgic picture, one almost irrevocably associated with its author. ~ The story makes particular reference to a Victorian mulled wine known as 'Smoking Bishop,' so named because it's served heated to steaming, but not boiling, and drunk from warmed bowls or glasses (before you ask, we have no idea where the bishop part comes in). It's one of our favorite holiday punches here at Barrister and Mann"

"The soap version is a smooth, warm blend of wine, orange, grapefruit, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pipe tobacco that conjures images of sipping a stiff drink near a roaring hearth, the air redolent with the scents and sounds of food and drink and good company. Effortlessly charming and good-natured"

Me: I enjoyed it. I picked up on a little vanilla, and some spices, which I assume are the cinnamon and nutmeg. They were well-blended and not so spicy that I didn't like it.

I didn't pick up on any tobacco or wine notes in the fairly blind first impression, so those notes are not strong. But I did notice something like anise or oud, or in that family, that may have been the blend of those two. It grounded the whole thing and kept it interesting and from being just a flavor focused, monotone scent. I liked it.

But on my second shave with this soap, I did pick up the wine around the 3rd pass. A note has to gradually open up, it seems.

Scent Strength: 6/10, nicely present during shaving.

Lather... I think 60 swirls, by the end, on the soap.

Was a fine slurry, but the smaller knot didn't give you the mature lather at the end.

3 passes just fine and very slick.

Hydration: Perfect (for me)

Bowl: No Bowl

䷀ Brush Notes

^(Semogue - Pharos C3 Pure Black Horse ‹1 uses›)

Not as scratchy and scrubby as the zenith 50/50, so I did like that better. But not as nice as the Zenith Extra Soft, by far.

A small knot, so i did have to add a bit more soap and water for the third pass. But was fine with the Slurry method.

Face not tender after shave, unlike it was with the 50/50.

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During the Shave Feel:
  Cheeks: Felt blade but comfortable
  Neck: Felt blade but comfortable
After the Shave Closeness:
  Cheeks: Near BBS - About as close as I'll ever get
  Neck: Cut flush to where I just see the tips (above average for me)

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Shavers Map - here it is and also in the sub's sidebar.

Ending of Blades Ledger - entry form and the data spreadsheet