SOTD by u/RedMosquitoMM

LG23-11: Sunny Days

• Brush: Farvour Turn Craft 26mm TNS Half Gel Shoat
• Razor: Chiseled Face Titanium Legacy Razor
• Blade: Personna Lab Blue Super (51)
• Lather: Declaration Grooming / Chatillon Lux - Agua Fresca - Shaving Soap
• Post Shave: 345 Soap Co. - Watercolor Coastline - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Blackbird - Pipe Bomb Blue
• Passes: WTG, XTG
• Coffee: West Java. Cijapati, Garut - v: Typica. Tim Tim. Catimor - p: Triple picked. Washed.
• Music: Sébastien Tellier - My God is Blue
• LG Tags: #FOF

Today’s challenge asked for a color coordinated photo. Ask and ye shall receive. I bet you can guess what the color scheme is without too much deliberation, but I need to appeal to the judges. I admittedly read the special challenge as “color coordinate everything you use in your SOTD photo” and breezed past the bit about samples. However, I added in a perfectly color coordinated razor, which I figure is at least as cool as a color-matched fragrance bottle. Look kindly on my minor transgression and favorably on what I’ve presented in return.

Since I’m about to leave for a few days of work travel, I tried to be more concise than usual (perhaps another attempt to curry the judges’ favor) and briefly describe my wonderfully summery blue-citrus-aquatic shave. That didn’t work out.

I lathered up Agua Fresca, Shawn’s personalized spin on his earlier Nonaginta. The top of the fragrance is all juicy tropical fruit; yuzu and lime make up the citrus, with the tart-sweet aspects of strawberry, pineapple, and an apple-like musk echoing that bright, tangy combo. Agua Fresca is simultaneously an aquatic by way of the scent’s namesake beverage. There’s a bunch of 90s Calone—which I avoid in fragrances, but nevertheless enjoy in this particular soap—cucumber, and various scientifically-named materials that reinforce that watery quality. Billowy hedone makes it “feel like summer” and Shawn capped off Agua Fresca with a creamy base (musks, vetiver) that makes me think less of refreshing drinks and more of summer’s ice cream cones, floats, and waiting in long lines for that perfect frozen custard.

To finish my shave I splashed on a small amount of Watercolor Coastline and an even more judicious spray of a summery, blue fragrance. The coconut-floral aftershave scent is the most straightforward and candy-sweet of these three. Along with the usual trademarks of a suntan lotion and beach scent, there’s a nice creaminess to segue from Agua Fresca, though it’s both more floral (Birds of Paradise, lily) and much brighter.

The blue, blue, blue Blackbird fragrance is the wildest choice here and an interesting foil to my soap and aftershave, which explains my judicious application prior to today’s business meetings. Like the brand’s other Pipe Bomb scents, there’s a summery core of saltwater and metallic notes; they’re the only fragrances I’ve tried that compete with 福 (fú dào) to replicate the smell of fireworks lingering in the air. And if you like Zoologist Squid, you’ll enjoy how Pipe Bomb Blue utilizes frankincense. Combined with patchouli in the base, the frankincense supports a dramatic berry soda accord—violet washed happiness on the tongue, ice cold on a hot day. Deconstructed, these notes sound edgy and impossible to balance, but there’s a synergy to Pipe Bomb Blue. It’s the delirious last days of summer break condensed and bottled, buzzing, nostalgic, and singular.

[**LG23-11: Sunny Days**](https://i.imgur.com/gL7oMXM.jpg)

- **Brush:** Farvour Turn Craft 26mm TNS Half Gel Shoat
- **Razor:** Chiseled Face Titanium Legacy Razor
- **Blade:** Personna Lab Blue Super (51)
- **Lather:** Declaration Grooming / Chatillon Lux - Agua Fresca - Shaving Soap
- **Post Shave:** 345 Soap Co. - Watercolor Coastline - Aftershave
- **Fragrance:** Blackbird - Pipe Bomb Blue
- **Passes:** WTG, XTG
- **Coffee:** West Java. Cijapati, Garut - v: Typica. Tim Tim. Catimor - p: Triple picked. Washed.
- **Music:** Sébastien Tellier - *My God is Blue*
- **LG Tags:** `#FOF`

Today’s challenge asked for a color coordinated photo. Ask and [ye shall receive](https://i.imgur.com/gL7oMXM.jpg). I bet you can guess what the color scheme is without too much deliberation, but I need to appeal to the judges. I admittedly read the special challenge as “color coordinate everything you use in your SOTD photo” and breezed past the bit about samples. However, I added in a perfectly color coordinated razor, which I figure is at least as cool as a color-matched fragrance bottle. Look kindly on my minor transgression and favorably on what I’ve presented in return.

Since I’m about to leave for a few days of work travel, I tried to be more concise than usual (perhaps *another* attempt to curry the judges’ favor) and briefly describe my wonderfully summery blue-citrus-aquatic shave. That didn’t work out.

I lathered up Agua Fresca, Shawn’s personalized spin on his earlier Nonaginta. The top of the fragrance is all juicy tropical fruit; yuzu and lime make up the citrus, with the tart-sweet aspects of strawberry, pineapple, and an apple-like musk echoing that bright, tangy combo. Agua Fresca is simultaneously an aquatic by way of the scent’s namesake beverage. There’s a bunch of 90s Calone—which I avoid in fragrances, but nevertheless enjoy in this particular soap—cucumber, and various scientifically-named materials that reinforce that watery quality. Billowy hedone makes it “feel like summer” and Shawn capped off Agua Fresca with a creamy base (musks, vetiver) that makes me think less of refreshing drinks and more of summer’s ice cream cones, floats, and waiting in long lines for that perfect frozen custard.

To finish my shave I splashed on a small amount of Watercolor Coastline and an even more judicious spray of a summery, blue fragrance. The coconut-floral aftershave scent is the most straightforward and candy-sweet of these three. Along with the usual trademarks of a suntan lotion and beach scent, there’s a nice creaminess to segue from Agua Fresca, though it’s both more floral (Birds of Paradise, lily) and much brighter.

The blue, blue, ***blue*** Blackbird fragrance is the wildest choice here and an interesting foil to my soap and aftershave, which explains my judicious application prior to today’s business meetings. Like the brand’s other Pipe Bomb scents, there’s a summery core of saltwater and metallic notes; they’re the only fragrances I’ve tried that compete with 福 (fú dào) to replicate the smell of fireworks lingering in the air. And if you like Zoologist Squid, you’ll enjoy how Pipe Bomb Blue utilizes frankincense. Combined with patchouli in the base, the frankincense supports a dramatic berry soda accord—violet washed happiness on the tongue, ice cold on a hot day. Deconstructed, these notes sound edgy and impossible to balance, but there’s a synergy to Pipe Bomb Blue. It’s the delirious last days of summer break condensed and bottled, buzzing, nostalgic, and singular.