June 28, 2024 Frugral Friday
- Brush: Omega 10049 #HOLLOW #OLDWORLD #TOLL
- Razor: Schick Injector N1
- Blade: Schick Injector (16)
- Lather: William's - Mug Soap
- Post Shave: Aqua Velva - Ice Blue
- Fragrance: Eau Studio - Defiance
Challenge: Let’s see how much money wetshaving has saved me!
- The Schick Injector N1 was $2 in 1980. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $7.62 in 2024 dollars.
- I only have Schick blades for the injector. So, these are the cheapest at ~$1.22 per blade.
- The Omega 10049 sells for $10.
- Williams Mug Soap sold for $1.25 for 50 g (1.75 oz), which works out to 2.5 cents per grams. My next cheapest was Arko shave stick at 4 cents per gram.
- Aqua Velva Ice Blue sells for $4.98 at Walmart for 7 oz, making it ~71 cents per ounce.
- Eau Studio is a Lidl store brand of fragrances. I paid $5 for this bottle, which is ~$1.97 per fl.oz.
- Grand total = $30.07
This is my same setup from last year. I haven’t bought anything cheaper. We're getting to the point in the Lather Games where I'm forgetting what hardware I've used for tags. I don't know why I'm freaking out. I think I maxed out on hardware points more than a week ago.
I don't think I'll ever be able to shave with, or look at, Williams Mug Soap without thinking of u/CosmoBarber’s epic GaryTha prank. It boggles my mind that this soap is still being flipped for as much as $20 a puck. Or, that anyone who likes wetshaving enough to participate in an online shaving community would freak out about it being discontinued. It’s not easy to lather. I had to work the soap for 2-3 minutes, adding water, until it finally lathered up. It was okay. I shaved. I didn’t cut myself. I can maybe smell a little bit of lavender. But, it’s basically unscented. This stuff is as "no frills” as it gets (got?). It was a frugal man’s soap. Sure, it was so cheap the only other option at the price point was canned goop. But, you know what? I shaved with Barbasol this month. It was easier to lather, more convenient, and provided similar performance. If you enjoy wetshaving enough to be reading this, buy better soap.
Aqua Velva contains astringent and fragrance, and nothing else; not even witch hazel. Oh, wait. There’s menthol. Why do all commercial shave products contain menthol? Is it cheaper to give the impression of relief with the cooling effect of menthol than using skin food ingredients? I mentioned it last year: there’s an Aqua Velva ad on the Williams Mug Soap box. Williams makes Aqua Velva, so it makes sense. The fragrance is a mishmash of leather, lavender, lemon, mint, and oakmoss. There’s no depth. It’s everything all at once and it doesn’t develop over time. It's a classic drug store fragrance, and a bare bones aftershave.
I had to check my previous posts to make sure I hadn’t already used Defiance. This is another Eau Studio frag from Lidl. I don’t know which fragrance this is meant to smell like. The top notes are aromatic, green like crushed leaves, and iris or jasmine. The base notes coming through at the moment are musky, woody, and amber. It’s lightly powdery and I smell a tinge of citrus. It’s sophisticated, and It got a compliment today.
#photocontest - money
#FOF