June 30, 2024
- Brush: Stirling Boar 24mm (Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó)
- Razor: Karve Overlander (Canada)
- Blade: Gillette Platinum (1) (Российская Федерация)
- Lather: Lothur - Dave (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
- Post Shave: Nivea - Sensitive Balm (Estados Unidos Mexicanos)
- Fragrance: Creed - Millésime Impérial (République française)
First of all, I live in the United States. All the items in my shave are not from my homeland.
The brush is the very first one I purchased. I have an email from Rod Stirling confirming it is in fact made in Jie-nah.
This Overlander was gifted to me by u/Engineered_Shave. He forced a patina on it, it looks really cool. I think I'm going to shine the head back up, leave the handle as-is and do a passaround. I equipped the razor with a Russian-made Platinum, which are my go-to blade until I run out of them in the mid 2030's.
The lather. Ick. This stuff is gross.
Post shave - this is one of the first posts I bought. I don't like it as well as the artisan balms, but it works fine. For the price I'll absolutely get Stirling unscented instead.
Frag - this French-made frag was a sample from Bloomingdales, I think. It's probably my favorite Creed scent, but it's just ok. I'd take many of the scents from artisans active here all day over this.
Relevant AS/Frag Notes: All are from places other than where I am from.
Thanks to most for a really great Lather Games.
And now, in the style of u/iamhonestlylying, my Top 5 people or groups I want to recognize for making this a great games
1.) The other judges, both the standard judges and the photo contest judges. I really enjoyed the camraderie as we did podcasts, chatted back and forth to discuss specific posts, and vented to each other.
2.) u/Enndeegee - while he is included in the bullet above, because he inadvertently became a photo contest judge due to my inability to effectively proofread, a special shout-out to him for all the effot he put in to engage people in the games. Yes, he will score very far down the list because as an actual player he's pretty.... how do the British say.... rubbish. But, we would all be poorer if you weren't here. I chose my soap today specifically to honor you. Do the thing you do.
3.) u/Djundjila - yeah, he's included above in the judging. But, I know it's been said before, but I'll say it again. There is absolutely no way the Games happen without his tireless effort and the portal he created. Yes, we ask for very small inconveniences of the players to make sure everything is picked up correctly, but as a result we were able to thoroughly read and score 2,161 posts for the games (excluding today) due to his magic portal. And - the players get to hold us accountable - I know that some feel the games are better off without this point, but they're absolutely less fair - almost every single appeal was legitimately a judge error, that happens when we're doing this as a side gig. I appreciated the transparancy as a player, and I really appreciate it as a judge.
4.) The top 20-30 players who put in the effort to follow our ridiculous rules day-in and day-out every day for the month. I had a great time reading your posts, and hope everyone really enjoyed themselves.
5.) u/ktturtlesue - for putting up with me talking about this for the last 4 months. I promise I'll stop talking about this and will actually shave with something you like tomorrow. Probably Ausflug.