SOTD by u/hugbckt

June 28, 2024 – LG Day 28 – $rugal $riday

• Brush: Stirling Synthetic Li’l Brudder
• Razor: BIC Sensitive Shaver
• Lather: Van der Hagen – Deluxe Shave Soap
• Post Shave: Aqua Velva – Musk
• Fragrance: Brut – Classic Splash On

First off, let me be perfectly clear. Bic Sensitive Shavers are not cartridge razors. They are single-edge disposables. Per Gillette, which we would assume knows what they’re talking about, “A cartridge razor is a razor where the head or cartridge can be detached from the handle so it can be discarded when it becomes worn; the razor handle can then be used with a new cartridge.” Hence, by definition, the Bic is canonically on theme.

Now, onto the “math.” Cheapest everything. Frugality can be defined a few ways, but Brittanica provides a definition that I think best fits how I grew up understanding the term.

frugal: “careful about spending money or using things when you do not need to.”

I was raised on calculating unit prices. My dad taught me to look at the lefthand, orange-highlighted number on price stickers, which was just as important, if not more, than the price itself. Bigger packages usually mean a less expensive per-unit (e.g. ounce, pound, item) price; however, this is not relevant if you will not be using the product enough to make buying the large package worth it. If you only have mayonnaisse once per month, don’t buy the half gallon jar of mayo. It will expire, nullifying your attempt at frugality. It’s worth noting that this is my current-day interpretation of what my dad emphasized so strongly; he had a much looser interpretation of expiration dates than me, and I’m pretty lax about them (much to my partner’s dismay).

• My Stirling Lil’ Brudder cost me nothing, as it was passed onto me by my father in law, but even that notwithstanding, it’s my cheapest brush. Coming in at $11.99, it’s a solid dollar and a quarter less than the runners-up.
• Bic disposables, particularly if you can get them on sale, are worth keeping around in my opinion. They live in my car, because if I get to work and notice that I missed a spot on the back of my head, I feel compelled to fix the issue or else be stuck thinking about it all day. At current MSRP, they’re $4.49 for a 12-pack, so about 37¢ a shaver; I almost certainly paid less.
• I picked up VdH Deluxe on a whim – because it was around two dollars and I thought, why not, Frugal Friday was going to come around. I never took it out of the plastic to smell it, though, and that was a mistake. If I had, I would have tossed it so I could use Proraso (which at $10 for 5.2oz is $1.92/ounce). It smells of old ladies, and in a way that makes me almost think Tabac is good. At the $2.19 I paid, it’s a whopping 88¢/ounce. At MSRP of $3.49, though, it’s still only $1.40/ounce, easily the cheapest soap in my den.
• I bought AV Musk after seeking somebody (probably u/USS-Spongebob) recommend it as a favorite despite being so cheap. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet, but at $3.17 for the bottle (and 91¢ an ounce), I’m sure I’ll hold onto it and give it another go when I’m craving the musk.
• Here is where I contradict myself. If frugality is all about avoiding unnecessary spending, then this fragrance was not in the spirit of the challenge. However, I simply don’t have cheap fragrances. The cheapest I owned was a Stirling EdT, which doesn’t feel super frugal at ~$27 a bottle (though I recognize this is very cheap compared to much of what I own, and absurdly cheap compared to some of the big designer frags). So I went on a mission to grab the cheapest mass-market yet popular fragrance that isn’t a body mist or body spray. Brut saves the day. At its current Walmart price of $5.48, it’s a meager 78¢ per ounce. Unheard of for a fragrance. Creed Aventus (for a standard 50ml bottle) is $214.70/ounce.

Notably, I didn’t actually start wetshaving to save money – it was all about finding a way to stop the razor bumps & burn that plagued me after shaving with the allegedly foolproof HeadBlade, or any other cart. Even then, I started with Proraso and a cheap, shitty Amazon brush and razor set that was likely tossed at some point. It did the job at the time, though, and I was happy enough with how Proraso smelled.

I now realize that frugality has its limits, though. This shave is powdery. Decidedly not my favorite scent profile. The soap was the worst part. Lots of rose and powder, full-on old lady perfume, nothing that I’m looking for in a wetshaving soap. It lathered and shaved surprisingly well for its laundry list of ingredients and concerningly low price, but this smell just ain’t it. AV Musk is, as one might expect, smells primarily of clean laundry with strong powdery notes, and a light floral touch. It’s not my typical cup of tea, but I can see that it’s a good representation of the genre. To finish out the day, Brut, which I’ve seen described as woodsy and a fougère, just reads as powdery to me. Maybe it’s because of the other scents on my skin, but it’s all I’m getting. The scent of alcohol is so strong off the bottle that I can’t smell it more to try to identify other notes, and my wrists/neck are, again, just powdery at this point. To answer the ultimate #FOF question, “How do your scent choices make you feel?”, the response is simple: powdery.

**[June 28, 2024 – LG Day 28 – $rugal $riday](https://i.imgur.com/k670TmA.jpg)**

* **Brush:** Stirling Synthetic [Li’l Brudder](https://www.stirlingsoap.com/collections/shave-brushes/products/synthetic-shave-brush-22mm-x-51mm-lil-brudder)
* **Razor:** BIC [Sensitive Shaver](https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/bic-men’s-disposable-razor,-sensitive/ID=prod1531-product)
* **Lather:** Van der Hagen – [Deluxe Shave Soap](https://vanderhagen.com/product/deluxe-shave-soap/)
* **Post Shave:** Aqua Velva – [Musk](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Velva-Musk-after-Shave-Cologne-3-5-Fluid-Ounce/10535841)
* **Fragrance:** Brut – [Classic Splash On](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Brut-Classic-Splash-On-Wood-Citrus-Scent-Cologne-for-Men-7-fl-oz/10317647)


First off, let me be perfectly clear. Bic Sensitive Shavers are **not** cartridge razors. They are single-edge disposables. Per [Gillette](https://www.gillette.co.uk/blog/shaving-science/safety-razor-vs-cartridge-razor/), which we would assume knows what they’re talking about, “A cartridge razor is a razor where the head or cartridge can be detached from the handle so it can be discarded when it becomes worn; the razor handle can then be used with a new cartridge.” Hence, by definition, the Bic is canonically on theme.

Now, onto the “math.” Cheapest everything. Frugality can be defined a few ways, but [Brittanica](https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/frugal) provides a definition that I think best fits how I grew up understanding the term.

>frugal: “careful about spending money or using things when you do not need to.”

I was raised on calculating unit prices. My dad taught me to look at the lefthand, orange-highlighted number on price stickers, which was just as important, if not more, than the price itself. Bigger packages usually mean a less expensive per-unit (e.g. ounce, pound, item) price; however, this is not relevant if you will not be using the product enough to make buying the large package worth it. If you only have mayonnaisse once per month, don’t buy the [half gallon jar of mayo](https://www.bjs.com/product/hellmanns-mayonnaise-64-oz/3000000000000170477). It will expire, nullifying your attempt at frugality. It’s worth noting that this is my current-day interpretation of what my dad emphasized so strongly; he had a *much* looser interpretation of expiration dates than me, and I’m pretty lax about them (much to my partner’s dismay).

* My Stirling Lil’ Brudder cost me nothing, as it was passed onto me by my father in law, but even that notwithstanding, it’s my cheapest brush. Coming in at $11.99, it’s a solid dollar and a quarter less than the runners-up.
* Bic disposables, particularly if you can get them on sale, are worth keeping around in my opinion. They live in my car, because if I get to work and notice that I missed a spot on the back of my head, I feel compelled to fix the issue or else be stuck thinking about it all day. At current MSRP, they’re $4.49 for a 12-pack, so about 37¢ a shaver; I almost certainly paid less.
* I picked up VdH Deluxe on a whim – because it was around two dollars and I thought, why not, Frugal Friday was going to come around. I never took it out of the plastic to smell it, though, and that was a mistake. If I had, I would have tossed it so I could use Proraso (which at $10 for 5.2oz is $1.92/ounce). It smells of old ladies, and in a way that makes me almost think Tabac is good. At the $2.19 I paid, it’s a whopping 88¢/ounce. At MSRP of $3.49, though, it’s still only $1.40/ounce, easily the cheapest soap in my den.
* I bought AV Musk after seeking somebody (probably u/USS-Spongebob) recommend it as a favorite despite being so cheap. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet, but at $3.17 for the bottle (and 91¢ an ounce), I’m sure I’ll hold onto it and give it another go when I’m craving the musk.
* Here is where I contradict myself. If frugality is all about avoiding unnecessary spending, then this fragrance was not in the spirit of the challenge. However, I simply don’t have cheap fragrances. The cheapest I owned was a Stirling EdT, which doesn’t feel super frugal at ~$27 a bottle (though I recognize this is very cheap compared to much of what I own, and absurdly cheap compared to some of the big designer frags). So I went on a mission to grab the cheapest mass-market yet popular fragrance that *isn’t* a body mist or body spray. Brut saves the day. At its current Walmart price of $5.48, it’s a meager 78¢ per ounce. **Unheard of** for a fragrance. Creed Aventus (for a standard 50ml bottle) is $214.70/ounce.

Notably, I didn’t actually start wetshaving to save money – it was all about finding a way to stop the razor bumps & burn that plagued me after shaving with the allegedly foolproof HeadBlade, or any other cart. Even then, I started with Proraso and a cheap, shitty Amazon brush and razor set that was likely tossed at some point. It did the job at the time, though, and I was happy enough with how Proraso smelled.

I now realize that frugality has its limits, though. This shave is **powdery.** Decidedly not my favorite scent profile. The soap was the worst part. Lots of rose and powder, full-on old lady perfume, nothing that I’m looking for in a wetshaving soap. It lathered and shaved surprisingly well for its laundry list of ingredients and concerningly low price, but this smell just ain’t it. AV Musk is, as one might expect, smells primarily of clean laundry with strong powdery notes, and a light floral touch. It’s not my typical cup of tea, but I can see that it’s a good representation of the genre. To finish out the day, Brut, which I’ve seen described as woodsy and a fougère, just reads as powdery to me. Maybe it’s because of the other scents on my skin, but it’s all I’m getting. The scent of alcohol is so strong off the bottle that I can’t smell it more to try to identify other notes, and my wrists/neck are, again, just powdery at this point. To answer the ultimate #FOF question, “How do your scent choices make you feel?”, the response is simple: powdery.