June 26, 2024 - Wildcard Wednesday
- Brush: AP Shave Co - Purple Ivory 26mm G5A SHD
- Razor: Aylsworth Apex
- Blade: Gillette Nacet
- Lather: Eleven Shaving - Lime and Basil
- Post Shave: EG380 - CL+T Aftershave
- Fragrance: EG380 - CL+T EdC #FOF
Today’s Theme:
Hopefully I’m the first to use this soap today. This is a super exclusive set of aftershave shave and EdC. You’ll have a really difficult time finding the CL+T. I had to go poking around to find where my wife hid it. But at last, there in a dark crevice of the fridge it was just peeking out a bit, and I found the CL+T.
Today’s Challenge:
Clean your brushes? But why clean something that is dirtied by soap? I haven’t really noticed a significant buildup of soap scum or other gunk in my brushes. I try to get them super clean after each shave. When I clean out the lather bowl. I first squeeze as much soap out as I can. Not wringing the knot, but just st getting the bulk out. I rinse the brush in clean water in the bowl, then squeeze that out. Then repeat until clear water comes out. Then I shake out the brush and stand it up on the counter. I usually rotate through 4 or 5 brushes so it gets a good chance to dry out. I think when I notice some buildup in a brush, I’ll try baby shampoo.
Fragrance:
I had two soaps I wanted to use with this aftershave and fragrance I concocted. It should be safe to drink, but maybe not drive after. It is a nice refreshing blend of cucumber, lemon, and thyme. The base for both is vodka. I added about a teaspoon of dried French thyme, zest of a large lemon, and about half a cucumber sliced to 8oz. of vodka. It macerated in the refrigerator for about a week. By that time, the liquid turned a bright yellow. I strained it out through coffee filters twice. I filled one bottle with about 3oz of the mixture and the rest into another bottle which almost filled it. For the short pour I added a mixture of water and aloe powder. I had a little too much powder for the liquid, so I filtered that out after the excess powder settled. The fragrance actually turned out better than I expected. I can distinguish the lemon, cucumber and thyme scents well. It a bright note of lemon, thyme is a favorite herb of mine, and the cucumber gives it a cool freshness. I only have two soaps I thought about using with this: Ethos Chill or Eleven Lime and Basil. Well Eleven gives me sponsor points. The soap scent is an immediate hit of the lime. The basil comes out more as a middle or base note. It smells good enough to eat, but I think I’ll pass. It was fun to come up with my own product, but I won’t be keeping it as I think it might go off before I could use it all. I considered having it as a cocktail after, but I’m going to go to the office this morning. They kind of frown upon arriving at work tipsy.