June 1, 2024 - Bonjour, Lather Games!
- Brush: Bundubeard Sekelbos Hoss #HORSESASS
- Razor: Weck Hair Shaper #WECKONISTA
- Blade: Kismet (1)
- Lather: Soap Commander - Optimism
- Post Shave: Floid - The Genuine
- Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch
Challenge: I used a new to me soap, blade format, brush, and aftershave.
This was a long day. I spent 10 hours working a sound gig with no internet after getting up extra early to shave before I left. I wrote up most of this offline in docs.
Thanks to /u/Priusaurus for the smoosh. This is my first time using Soap Commander. Optimism is difficult to nail down. It smells a bit like green tea with a touch of bergamot. It also smells a bit like menthol. I was expecting more fruit. There's not much here. I'm having trouble picking up enough soap. It's drying out on my face and feels thin. I'm not impressed with this lather. I'm not feeling optimistic about Soap Commander after this shave. Coming back to this ~14 hours later: smelling my soap bowl, I can see how this is supposed to be pear. The fragrance comes off artificial in a Starburst kind of way.
This is also my first time shaving with a hair shaper. Thanks to /u/jwoods23 for the Kismet. I initially bought this Weck for Austere August. However, I wanted to do Rawhoggin and picked a soap that was easy to lather, but wasn't the best for slickness. I didn't want to do a full month of hair shaper shaves with that soap. So, I chickened out and never used it. This isn't my style of razor. I've tried using a straight razor once or twice, and have used a Kamisori shavette less than a dozen times. The Weck wasn't great, but wasn't terrible, either. My cheeks were easy. My neck was a bit more difficult. Shaving my chin was a challenge. My gotee was impossible. I couldn't get the razor to glide on my skin. When using “no pressure” the razor got stuck. With a bit of pressure it shaves well. But, I feel like I'm doing something wrong.
This is my first time using this new Bundubeard brush. The handle is beautiful and comfortable. The knot is a little scratchy. Backbone is low to mid; a bit more then my silver tip. I tend to mash knots a bit when face lathering. This is definitely more of a “just the tips” kind of brush. Flow-through is good. The knot gelled and stuck together splayed out after a bit of face lathering. This is the first brush I would say truly has a funky smell.
Floid aftershave is also new to me. It's hard to get a read on the fragrance. It dissipated very quickly. It's your standard barbershop fair. It dried quickly and had a touch of cooling. It doesn't feel like there's much in the way of skin-food. I'd classify this as a traditional mass-produced aftershave. Following up: Now that I'm home and can spray a bit on a Kleenex this is your standard powdery, musky, barbershop with the addition of menthol.
I picked Black Watch to match the plum and bergamot notes of optimism. This is a fragrance I like to wear casually. It's a leather heavy fragrance that works best in colder months. Warm spice blend seamlessly with the leather, while sweet plum keeps it from being too heavy. After an hour and a half I'm getting lots of leather and can still smell the plum. Three and a half hours after application it's mostly leather. There's some sweetness, but it's not differently distinctly plum at this point. Black Watch is a refined fragrance that's dressed down. I don't need to be wearing a dress shirt for it to appropriate. But, the shirt needs to have a few buttons.
#photocontest Animal (not alive). The monkey is not alive. I checked.
#FOF