SOTD by u/MrTangerinesky

DAY 25 LATHER GAMES! CHRISTMAS IS AWESOME!

• Prep: Water
• Brush: HLS synthethic 24mm
• Razor: Leaf razor
• Blade: Feather
• Lather: MacDuff's Soap Company - Christmas Cabin
• Post Shave: MacDuff's Soap Company - Christmas Cabin
• Fragrance: Afnan - Supremacy Incense

Many people have overdone the dress up in Santa costume and have Christmas shave. For me I can't really get in the spirit unless it's that the time of the year, especially when it's 90F in my apartment.

I will share with you a bit of my culture, how my family celebrates it, and what a traditional Christmas for us who are Eastern Orthodox is. Note, this is not how every Christian family here celebrated Christmas, there are slight variations to what I will share, so keep that in mind, but I will try to stick to the basics. Now, Christmas is a very sacred Holiday, together with Easter they are the two big ones for the whole year. While in most parts of the Western world, Christmas has taken the form of kindness, exchanging gifts and joyfulness, here it is much more spiritual. To be exact it is a family holiday where family gathers and really has an intimate celebration of the Holiday. I must specify, by family I mean close family, father, mother, kids, grandparents, and that's it. No uncles, cousins etc.

On Christmas Eve the whole family gathers for a dinner which commemorates the fasting period that started on the 15h of November. Which means that the dinner is entirely vegan, no meat and no dairy products. The number of trays must be either 7 or 9, to celebrate either the days of the week or the time that a pregnancy lasts. Before the dinner starts prayers must be said to thank God for his gracefulness. After prayers are done, the eldest of the family takes this thing(honestly I have no idea how it's called in English) puts some incense(usually frankincense), lights it up so it smokes and goes around the house to chase the evil spirits away.

One of the dishes that is a constant is Sarmi(plural, singular is Sarma), which consists of stuffed vine leaves, usually stuffed with rice and spices. When it is not during a religious fasting, Sarmi are traditionally made with rice and minced meat inside the vine leaves. Bean soup is also a very traditional dish for Christmas. Another important part of the dinner is the Pitka(a big round loaf of bread), which is baked on the same day and some families put a coin inside before putting it in the oven(a bit on this later). A similar principal to carving a turkey on Thanksgiving, the bread is broken into pieces by hand by the eldest of the family and serves each person a piece. It is said that whomever gets the coin from the Pitka will have a very prosperous next year! Pitka is usually dipped in savory and some enjoy it on it's own, some enjoy it with Sarmi, it depends on the person.

I'm going to leave you with a pagan tradition that has become(or was) a staple of Bulgarian culture. It is more common now in villages rather than big cities. The tradition in question is called Koleduvane or in English carolers. Here's a picture. On the morning of the 25th your house is visited by carolers. They roam from midnight on Christmas Eve until sunrise, but not later, because it is believed that their power is lost in the light. Christmas caroling is a ritual with pagan roots that was performed with pleasure by young men in more recent times.

The main task of carolers is to drive away the evil spirits that are believed to be present on December 25 and 12 days after. That is why the carolers sing with their whole throats, they hit the ground with their staffs and stomp the ground with their mocassins - to drive away the evil forces. The caroling is done only by men and boys who choose their leader in advance, also called king or stanenik.

Daily Challenge

Here's a video for y'all!

Now, had I been more prepared in the hat department I probably could have made something more interesting, I have some winter hats, but they're back in my hometown. This hat is my go-to Winter/Autumn/Spring(if it's still cold or raining) hat.

I didn't really know what to do with the hat, but then it hit me, like it usually does. Why not lather in the hat? Then I went a step further, since it's a Peaky Blinders type of hat, why not put a razor blade in it and try to shave with the hat?

Welp, that didn't really happen, I mean I tried, but the blade was flexing so much, that there was a huge chance of me just ripping a chunk of my face off. So I just put the hat back onto my head with lather in it. Also... Leaf is an awful shaver for me, for daily growth, I've experienced it before with this razor, and this shave, just confirmed it. For 3+ days it's fine, but for daily shaves it just sucks...

The challenge was a fresh one and if it continues to exist I think many shenanigans could be had with this challenge.

Daily Lather Themes: 25/30

• Daily Challenges: 23/30
• Hardware Scavenger Hunt: 20/20
• Hardware Vendor Points: 2/2
• Software Vendor Points: 14/16
• Software Vendor Bonus Point: 0/1
• 30 Different Soap Brands Point: 25/30
• 30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point: 25/30
• 30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point: 25/30
• 30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point: 25/30

[**DAY 25 LATHER GAMES! CHRISTMAS IS AWESOME!**](https://i.imgur.com/1jUjczx.jpg)

* **Prep:** Water
* **Brush:** HLS synthethic 24mm
* **Razor:** Leaf razor
* **Blade:** Feather
* **Lather:** MacDuff's Soap Company - Christmas Cabin
* **Post Shave:** MacDuff's Soap Company - Christmas Cabin
* **Fragrance:** Afnan - Supremacy Incense

Many people have overdone the dress up in Santa costume and have Christmas shave. For me I can't really get in the spirit unless it's that the time of the year, especially when it's 90F in my apartment.

I will share with you a bit of my culture, how my family celebrates it, and what a traditional Christmas for us who are Eastern Orthodox is. Note, this is not how every Christian family here celebrated Christmas, there are slight variations to what I will share, so keep that in mind, but I will try to stick to the basics. Now, Christmas is a very sacred Holiday, together with Easter they are the two big ones for the whole year. While in most parts of the Western world, Christmas has taken the form of kindness, exchanging gifts and joyfulness, here it is much more spiritual. To be exact it is a family holiday where family gathers and really has an intimate celebration of the Holiday. I must specify, by family I mean close family, father, mother, kids, grandparents, and that's it. No uncles, cousins etc.

On Christmas Eve the whole family gathers for a dinner which commemorates the fasting period that started on the 15h of November. Which means that the dinner is entirely vegan, no meat and no dairy products. The number of trays must be either 7 or 9, to celebrate either the days of the week or the time that a pregnancy lasts. Before the dinner starts prayers must be said to thank God for his gracefulness. After prayers are done, the eldest of the family takes [this](https://i.imgur.com/0mObtqP.jpeg) thing(honestly I have no idea how it's called in English) puts some incense(usually frankincense), lights it up so it smokes and goes around the house to chase the evil spirits away.

One of the dishes that is a constant is Sarmi(plural, singular is Sarma), which consists of stuffed vine leaves, usually stuffed with rice and spices. When it is not during a religious fasting, Sarmi are traditionally made with rice and minced meat inside the vine leaves. Bean soup is also a very traditional dish for Christmas. Another important part of the dinner is the Pitka(a big round loaf of bread), which is baked on the same day and some families put a coin inside before putting it in the oven(a bit on this later). A similar principal to carving a turkey on Thanksgiving, the bread is broken into pieces by hand by the eldest of the family and serves each person a piece. It is said that whomever gets the coin from the Pitka will have a very prosperous next year! Pitka is usually dipped in savory and some enjoy it on it's own, some enjoy it with Sarmi, it depends on the person.

I'm going to leave you with a pagan tradition that has become(or was) a staple of Bulgarian culture. It is more common now in villages rather than big cities. The tradition in question is called Koleduvane or in English carolers. [Here's a picture](https://i.imgur.com/Kwu4dOZ.jpeg). On the morning of the 25th your house is visited by carolers. They roam from midnight on Christmas Eve until sunrise, but not later, because it is believed that their power is lost in the light. Christmas caroling is a ritual with pagan roots that was performed with pleasure by young men in more recent times.

The main task of carolers is to drive away the evil spirits that are believed to be present on December 25 and 12 days after. That is why the carolers sing with their whole throats, they hit the ground with their staffs and stomp the ground with their mocassins - to drive away the evil forces. The caroling is done only by men and boys who choose their leader in advance, also called king or stanenik.

**Daily Challenge**

Here's a [video](https://youtu.be/OWY8gCRVHtQ) for y'all!

Now, had I been more prepared in the hat department I probably could have made something more interesting, I have some winter hats, but they're back in my hometown. This hat is my go-to Winter/Autumn/Spring(if it's still cold or raining) hat.

I didn't really know what to do with the hat, but then it hit me, like it usually does. Why not lather in the hat? Then I went a step further, since it's a Peaky Blinders type of hat, why not put a razor blade in it and try to shave with the hat?

Welp, that didn't really happen, I mean I tried, but the blade was flexing so much, that there was a huge chance of me just ripping a chunk of [my face off](https://i.imgur.com/hhnNNGd.jpeg). So I just put the hat back onto my head with lather in it. Also... Leaf is an awful shaver for me, for daily growth, I've experienced it before with this razor, and this shave, just confirmed it. For 3+ days it's fine, but for daily shaves it just sucks...

The challenge was a fresh one and if it continues to exist I think many shenanigans could be had with this challenge.

**Daily Lather Themes:** 25/30

* **Daily Challenges:** 23/30
* **Hardware Scavenger Hunt:** 20/20
* **Hardware Vendor Points:** 2/2
* **Software Vendor Points:** 14/16
* **Software Vendor Bonus Point:** 0/1
* **30 Different Soap Brands Point:** 25/30
* **30 Different Soaps On Theme Bonus Point:** 25/30
* **30 Different Post-Shaves Bonus Point:** 25/30
* **30 Different Fragrances Bonus Point:** 25/30