July 5, 2023 – Canned Shave Goop
- Brush: Four fingers and an opposable thumb
- Razor: Assured For Men Men’s System Razor #RAINBOW
- Blade: Assured For Men 3 Blade Cartridge (1)
- Lather: Barbasol – Soothing Aloe
- Post Shave: Brut – Classic
- Fragrance: Eau Studio – Noble Pour Homme
~~/u/Mammothben’s custom fragrance survey.~~ Challenge: I love coffee. I make a cup with beans from my local roaster almost every day. If I ever decide to take up fragrance making as a hobby, I’d want to craft something that incorporates coffee. If any woolly fragrancer happens to read this looking for ideas for an individualized fragrance, please don’t make this verbatim; unless it sounds good, in which case you should make it and give me credit 🤪 . My fragrance notes might look something like this:
Top notes: coffee, black cherry, almond
Middle notes: tobacco, tonka bean, cade oil
Base notes: sandalwood, rose, patchouli
I tried to listen to the Canadian pharmacy's intercom music playlist during my shave, but couldn't get the link to open in the Spotify app on my phone 🫤 .
I stopped by my local Dollar Tree yesterday and bought the Barbasol and cartridge razor. It feels wasteful. But, it’s the Lather Games and I want points. My expectations for this stuff is very low. So, how bad is it?
I read the directions on the Barbasol can. It simply says to shake the can and hold it upright. I wet my face, sprayed some soap into my off hand and went to work. The soap is unsurprisingly very dry. It exploded in volume as soon as it escapes from the can. I used my main hand to drip some water into my lather hand and worked it into the soap on my face. I did this a few times in an attempt to hydrate the lather. The soap smells of aerosol, and a powdery soapy scent. I don’t smell any aloe.
This razor is completely useless. It struggled to remove the Barbasol, let alone cut hair. It required a lot of pressure to get the blades to do anything. Even for the price, I didn’t think it would suck this bad. I guess I could’ve looked for a safety razor, but I wanted that #RAINBOW tag. After one pass, I grabbed my Schick injector to get a more accurate impression of the lather.
Even shaving WTG using the injector there was visible stubble in the lather on the razor. This confirms that the cartridge razor didn’t do much, if anything. No matter what I did, the lather was dry. It was possible to shave with it. I wouldn’t do any buffing using this soap as there’s zero secondary slickness. Post-shave feel is nonexistent. The aloe is a lie. It is convenient. But, there are brushless creams that are just as quick and provide better slickness.
This bottle of Brut was purchased at Kroger. I quite like this fragrance. It’s classic without feeling too cheap. It smells fresh. It’s aromatic. There’s a spicyness but it isn’t too heavy. It’s hard to put a name to the spice. It’s not peppery, or cinnamon… I’m looking through the list of spicy notes on fragrantica and nothing really fits… maybe bay leaf? It has a dry woodyness to it. It smells like oak. There’s a bit of grapefruit. Okay, time to look at the fragrantica entry. There’s a lot of notes I wouldn’t have guessed and few that seem obvious now that I’m looking at them: anise, basil, and lavender. This is one of those fragrances where stuff blends together.
Last time I was in my nearest Lidl I picked up bottles of their Eau Studio brand Noble Pour Homme and Defiance Pour Homme at half price. I assume they are dupes, but I can’t find any information on which fragrances they are dupes of. Today, I’ll be using Noble. It’s a citrusy musky fragrance. I get a big mandarin note bringing an energetic feel. There’s a strong note that I think is oud. I’m definitely getting musk. I also smell sandalwood. I feel like I’m missing something. There’s maybe a note of vetiver, sage, or pink pepper (something spicy). It smells pretty good. The original would be a good date night fragrance, but you could get away with this in an office setting, too. The performance is shite. It's only a skin scent within an hour.
#FOF