SOTD by u/hugbckt

June 19, 2024 – LG Day 19 – Juneteenth

• Brush: Shave Forge 24mm Horse Hair x Muninn Woodworks Handle #HORSESASS
• Razor: Chiseled Face Legacy Aluminum
• Blade: Gillette Nacet
• Lather: Summer Break Soaps – Valedictorian
• Post Shave: Summer Break Soaps – Valedictorian
• Fragrance: Summer Break Soaps – Valedictorian

u/Priusaurus wrote an excellent summary of Juneteenth – check it out – so I don’t want to be redundant. Reflecting on my shave, however, caused me to think about the main accord of Valedictorian: tobacco. Tobacco use in America is inherently linked to slavery and the slave trade. Colonizers brought slaves into the original Colonies often for the express purpose of farming tobacco, and by the inception of the US as a country, tobacco and slavery were completely intertwined, and slavery was seen as a necessity to maintain American economic growth, with tobacco as a major American commodity. The most common tobacco product today, cigarettes, didn’t become popular until after the outlaw of slavery in the US, but even with the shift away from loose/pipe tobacco, the roots of slavery were still deeply connected to tobacco farming. Sharecroppers, usually poor African-Americans, continued to be the core source of labor on plantations. So, today, as I use a soap made in Nebraska (which, as a territory, was certifiably pro-Union), I find myself thinking about all the ways that this country’s history of slavery continues to show up in our day-to-day lives. Juneteenth is important, and we should have been giving it real attention long ago.

Valedictorian is up there among the tobacco scents for me. I love tobacco scents so much that I might resurrect the u/chefkoolaid review series one day. It’s clearly tobacco forward, but neither dry like Tobacconist nor rich like the Tobacco Vanilla dupes. The accord supporting the tobacco is complex but wearable, very difficult for me to discern notes other than “smooth.” The citrus quality is a standout, keeping it away from vanilla world, but it’s not uniquely fruity in the way Dr. Jon’s Black Label is. Chefkoolaid described it as a “complete departure” from the grungy, funky tobacco that he (and I) love about this category, and calls Valedictorian a “sophisticated suave and clean space in the tobacco spectrum.” I quote him because I couldn’t agree more and don’t want to bother rephrasing or plagiarizing. Worth the trifecta today, particularly with the theme connection described above. #FOF

MEMES MEMES MEMES

Album link

RIP u/pridetwo

the calendar grind

frigid friday regrets

what are jeffm/alg doing

u/rocketk455 profiting off our degeneracy

u/Priusaurus ruining my life

j33p’s favorite day

throwback to last year u/tsrblke

sharing is caring, right u/OnionMiasma?

**[June 19, 2024 – LG Day 19 – Juneteenth](https://i.imgur.com/6MzN6Ie.jpg)**

* **Brush:** Shave Forge 24mm Horse Hair x Muninn Woodworks Handle #HORSESASS
* **Razor:** Chiseled Face Legacy Aluminum
* **Blade:** Gillette Nacet
* **Lather:** Summer Break Soaps – Valedictorian
* **Post Shave:** Summer Break Soaps – Valedictorian
* **Fragrance:** Summer Break Soaps – Valedictorian

u/Priusaurus wrote an excellent summary of Juneteenth – [check it out](https://www.reddit.com/r/Wetshaving/comments/1djbzxt/comment/l9atbds/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) – so I don’t want to be redundant. Reflecting on my shave, however, caused me to think about the main accord of Valedictorian: **tobacco.** Tobacco use in America is inherently linked to slavery and the slave trade. Colonizers brought slaves into the original Colonies often [for the express purpose of farming tobacco](https://doi.org/10.3098%2Fah.2007.81.3.309), and by the inception of the US as a country, tobacco and slavery were [completely intertwined, and slavery was seen as a necessity to maintain American economic growth, with tobacco as a major American commodity.](https://www.tobaccofarmlifemuseum.org/post/tobacco-in-america-establishing-our-nation-s-roots-tobacco-defines-the-new-republic) The most common tobacco product today, cigarettes, [didn’t become popular until after the outlaw of slavery in the US](http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/tobacco/history/), but even with the shift away from loose/pipe tobacco, the roots of slavery were still deeply connected to tobacco farming. [Sharecroppers, usually poor African-Americans, continued to be the core source of labor on plantations.](https://laborrights.org/blog/201505/slavery-debt-bondage-big-tobacco%E2%80%99s-addiction-cheap-labor-labor) So, today, as I use a soap made in Nebraska (which, as a territory, was certifiably [pro-Union](https://history.nebraska.gov/publications_section/the-civil-war-and-nebraska-1861/)), I find myself thinking about all the ways that this country’s history of slavery continues to show up in our day-to-day lives. Juneteenth is important, and we should have been giving it real attention long ago.

Valedictorian is up there among the tobacco scents for me. I love tobacco scents so much that I might resurrect the u/chefkoolaid review series one day. It’s clearly tobacco forward, but neither dry like Tobacconist nor rich like the Tobacco Vanilla dupes. The accord supporting the tobacco is complex but wearable, very difficult for me to discern notes other than “smooth.” The citrus quality is a standout, keeping it away from vanilla world, but it’s not uniquely fruity in the way Dr. Jon’s Black Label is. Chefkoolaid described it as a “complete departure” from the grungy, funky tobacco that he (and I) love about this category, and calls Valedictorian a “sophisticated suave and clean space in the tobacco spectrum.” I quote him because I couldn’t agree more and don’t want to bother rephrasing or plagiarizing. Worth the trifecta today, particularly with the theme connection described above. #FOF

**MEMES MEMES MEMES**

[Album link](https://imgur.com/a/80fiWCg)

[RIP u/pridetwo](https://i.imgur.com/mad02DO.jpeg)

[the calendar grind](https://i.imgur.com/GdxklW2.jpeg)

[frigid friday regrets](https://i.imgur.com/0pOdqNB.jpeg)

[what are jeffm/alg doing](https://i.imgur.com/snf4loL.jpeg)

[u/rocketk455 profiting off our degeneracy](https://i.imgur.com/qDRFKQz.jpeg)

[u/Priusaurus ruining my life](https://i.imgur.com/DLj0QS8.jpeg)

[j33p’s favorite day](https://i.imgur.com/unarpRG.jpeg)

[throwback to last year u/tsrblke](https://i.imgur.com/LJzweQz.jpeg)

[sharing is caring, right u/OnionMiasma?](https://i.imgur.com/1IuL0mI.jpeg)