July 9, 2023 - Death Before Decaf
- Brush: Everready 300 PBT #SMOLL #ANCIENT #WEDONTNEEDNOSTINKINGBADGERS
- Razor: Child’s Spatula Kamisori #Kamisori
- Blade: GEM PTFE (1)
- Lather: Noble Otter - Thè Noir et Vanille - Soap
- Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Cheshire - Splash
- Fragrance: Varvatos - Artisan Blu
- Music: Dave Matthews Band - Sweet
Daily Write-Up / Daily Challenge Notes:
I rolled out of bed today, embarrassingly late. Checked my phone, talked to Mrs. Miasma on the phone, who has MiniMiasma and SmallestMiasma with her at her parents, and then set into getting some things done around the house.
Before I knew it, it was 4:00 and I hadn’t showered, eaten, or shaved.
Remembering that today was “shave in the kitchen”, I grabbed my Soap, AS, Frag, an old Gillette Superspeed, and my current favorite brush.
I walk down the stairs, around the corner, and go through the living room to our kitchen, when out of the corner of my eye I see something interesting. MiniMiasma and SmallestMiasma have a play kitchen in our living room that would make a really perfect shaving space. Especially given that I’m home alone and don’t have to explain my decision-making process to… well, anyone.
So I set my items down and immediately I am hit with a bolt of inspiration. Last year, u/Impressive_Donut114 was able to fashion a razor out of a pair of chopsticks, and u/MrTangerineSky used a fork to shave. I bet this child’s spatula sitting here would make a perfect Kamisori handle.
I ran upstairs for a new GEM blade, and then slowly walked downstairs (we don’t run with razors, kids). I set aside my Gillette for another day, and got to work trying to make the Kamisori. First I tried holding the blade on to the spatula with a rubberband, but the blade kept cutting through rubber bands. Then I looked in the closet, and found some duct tape. I channeled my inner Red Green and quickly got the razor assembled.
You’ll note that one of MiniMiasma’s Barbies was sitting in the play kitchen. I considered using her luxurious blue locks for a brush, but figured that if any harm came to Mermea, I would be crushing a 5 year-old’s spirit. So, instead, I grabbed this old Everready brush (toy banana for scale), as it’s approximately the same age as the child’s tea set I’m using for my rinse and hydration water. That picture might be deceiving as to its size - but keep in mind the cracker is exactly the same size as a normal saltine.
I filled up the tea pot with some water, and began to soak the brush. If ANYTHING in this shave is child-sized, it’s this brush. My intent was to use it for the lather games, and then see if I could put a new knot in it. As it is today, it is laughably small.
I used a toy cracker to scrape out some of the soap, and then pressed it into the bottom of a toy saucepan to make my lather.
I lathered up what was a pretty decent lather, and started to paint it on my face. Since it was like painting with a model car brush, and I’m fat and have more than my fair share of neck, this part of the shave seemingly took forever. Once my lather was ready to go, I poured some water into the sink, and got ready to shave.
I very slowly used my makeshift kamisori to get a good one-pass shave. You’ll notice one little nick - that’s all I managed to cut myself during the shave (pre-shave is a different story - I am still bleeding on my finger where the GEM blade bit me during kamisori construction. Worth it.).
Finished product. I encourage everyone to use a makeshift kamisori at least once - you might be a better shaver for it.
Music today is from the band I've spent the last two nights watching. An epic show, if you've never seen them. Yeah, I get the "frat boy rock" image that they had in the 90s that turn a lot of potential fans off, but the reality is that these are seven super talented musicians who just have fun jamming with each other on stage for 3 hours. This song is about when he taught his young daughter how to swim, and the responsibility you have as a parent for your kids. I thought that paired well, since I was shaving in their kitchen.
The Shave
Fashioning a Kamisori out of a child’s toy and a GEM blade > Valet Autostrop.
Very low bar there, but it’s true. I got a decent-ish shave with the Kamisori, despite sitting on the floor in my living room using my phone as a mirror. I had a much more perfect shaving situation with the Valet (bathroom, running water, real mirror) and got much worse results.
I picked this brush up just for the Ancient hashtag - luckily it also knocks off the badgers and smoll hashtags as well. Provided that the djudges take no issue with my tags today, that’s 10 brush tags for me. Just working on the razors.
Having said all that - a shave with the Gillette and a normal brush would have been less dramatic and better.
Soap Theme Justification
* Thè Noir et Vanille - “Black Tea with Vanilla”. Also a lot of strawberry.
Post-Shave and Fragrance Relevance Notes
* Today’s scent theme is “cup of tea overlooking the ocean”. My goal for retirement is to be able to buy a home on the Maine oceanfront and move there when we are no longer working. For this shave, I tried to recreate what my mornings might smell like, with two versions of tea (TNeV and Cheshire, one of the GOAT scents), followed by a very blue, aquatic fragrance.