SOTD by u/ginopono

2023-07-16 Barbershop

• Brush: West Coast Shaving - Two Tone Synthetic
• Razor: Henson AL13 Medium #CNC
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - No. 11
• Post Shave: Floïd - The Genuine
• Fragrance: American Crew
• Blade: Feather (5)

Challenge Accepted: The word "meme" is not so narrowly defined as to refer only to image macros or whatever templates, and I don't think so lowly of the djudges to think they would assume as such.
A recently-surfaced meme that remains fairly persistent on reddit lately is that of AI-generated images of John Oliver. Now, I'm not about to shell out for a year's subscription to Midjourney or the like, so instead I managed to create these horrible atrocities. The AI models that produced these clearly know about prominent Oliverian features, such as his glasses, but they seem to have trouble with the idea of "safety razor", "DE razor", or permutations thereof, and the finger-like appendage in that first one is nothing short of horrifying.

#FOF
What is a barbershop?
The only answer I've been able to find to this question is: whatever the hell the scent-creator wants! No argument here. But it confuses the hell out of my sniffer.

My first impression of No. 11 is that it's very close to London Barbershop of Maggard, which I previously lauded as the cleanest scent in my nose's experience. It's similar enough that I have wondered if it is the same and just hits the nose differently due to the soap's base. I am led to dismiss this idea, though, because No. 11 is said to be based on a specific other barbershop scent, the notes of which differ quite a bit from that of the pre-blend. Shows how much my nose knows!

Meanwhile, I found Floïd The Genuine described as "a barbershop classic," and I'll take whoever's word for it. Maggard's description says it's "an explosion of spices with citrus [...] that will transport you to the aromas of traditional barbershops". You betcha, marketing person! I do agree that it is strong in the spice department, but its similarity to No. 11 ends at the "barbershop" association.

Meanwhile again, this American Crew stuff is something that I was given a long time ago in an, "I don't want this; you have it!" kind of way. It as long enough ago that all I can find in regard to its scent thereof is that it's "a clean and subtle scent that combines spicy and citrusy notes." You got it, pardner. Based on that, I can say with moderate confidence that the fragrance shares the spicy and citrusy aspects of the barbershop aftershave, and the clean-ness of the lather.

Relevant Post-shave and Fragrance: The lather and aftershave are both ostensibly barbershoppy, and the fragrance shares the clean/citrus/spicy accords of each.
Not to mention the fragrance is vaguely-defined, much in the spirit of "barbershop".

#photocontest
Photo: Games
I don't think I've ever stepped foot in a veritable barbershop, so all I really have to go on is in media-depictions. I haven't seen the Barbershop movies, though. I did see an episode of iZombie that featured a barbershop, and it had a whole theme around gambling. I think I might indeed associate gambling with the general depiciton of that kind of barbershop, so here we are: Gaming.

[**2023-07-16 Barbershop**](https://i.imgur.com/toTX8dT.jpg)

* **Brush:** West Coast Shaving - Two Tone Synthetic
* **Razor:** Henson AL13 Medium #CNC
* **Lather:** Chicago Grooming Co. - No. 11
* **Post Shave:** Floïd - The Genuine
* **Fragrance:** American Crew
* **Blade:** Feather (5)

**Challenge Accepted:**
The word "meme" is not so narrowly defined as to refer only to image macros or
whatever templates, and I don't think so lowly of the djudges to think they
would assume as such.
A recently-surfaced meme that remains fairly persistent on reddit lately is
that of AI-generated images of John Oliver. Now, I'm not about to shell out for
a year's subscription to Midjourney or the like, so instead I managed to create
[these](https://i.imgur.com/LyDK7bf.png)
[horrible](https://i.imgur.com/DCoUzCd.jpg)
[atrocities](https://i.imgur.com/vbvda0w.jpg). The AI models that produced
these clearly know about prominent Oliverian features, such as his glasses, but
they seem to have trouble with the idea of "safety razor", "DE razor", or
permutations thereof, and the finger-like appendage in that first one is
nothing short of horrifying.

#FOF
What is a barbershop?
The only answer I've been able to find to this question is: whatever the hell
the scent-creator wants! No argument here. But it confuses the hell out of my
sniffer.

My first impression of No. 11 is that it's very close to London Barbershop of
Maggard, which I previously lauded as the cleanest scent in my nose's
experience.
It's similar enough that I have wondered if it is the [same](
https://www.crafters-choice.com/products/barber-shoppe-eo-fo-blend.aspx) and
just hits the nose differently due to the soap's base. I am led to dismiss this
idea, though, because No. 11 is said to be based on a
[specific other barbershop scent](https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Maison-Martin-Margiela/At-The-Barber-s-30262.html),
the notes of which differ quite a bit from that of the pre-blend.
Shows how much my nose knows!

Meanwhile, I found Floïd The Genuine described as "a barbershop classic,"
and I'll take whoever's word for it. Maggard's description says it's
"an explosion of spices with citrus [...] that will transport you to the aromas
of traditional barbershops". You betcha, marketing person! I do agree that it
is strong in the spice department, but its similarity to No. 11 ends at the
"barbershop" association.

Meanwhile again, this American Crew stuff is something that I was given a long
time ago in an, "I don't want this; you have it!" kind of way.
It as long enough ago that all I can find in regard to its scent thereof is
that it's "a clean and subtle scent that
combines spicy and citrusy notes." You got it, pardner. Based on that, I can
say with moderate confidence that the fragrance shares the spicy and citrusy
aspects of the barbershop aftershave, and the clean-ness of the lather.

**Relevant Post-shave and Fragrance:** The lather and aftershave are both
ostensibly barbershoppy, and the fragrance shares the clean/citrus/spicy
accords of each.
Not to mention the fragrance is vaguely-defined, much in the spirit of
"barbershop".

#photocontest
**Photo:** Games
I don't think I've ever stepped foot in a veritable barbershop, so all I really
have to go on is in media-depictions. I haven't seen the Barbershop movies,
though. I did see an episode of iZombie that featured a barbershop, and it had
a whole theme around gambling. I think I might indeed associate gambling with
the general depiciton of that kind of barbershop, so here we are: Gaming.