June 28, 2024 – 2024.06.28 SOTD: Lather Games Day 29 – Frugal Friday
- Brush: Diane D985 Shaving Brush
- Razor: Assured for Men Double Edge Safety Razor
- Blade: Assured for Men Double-Edge
- Lather: Arko – Shave Stick
- Post Shave: Xtra Care – Original Scent
- Fragrance: Yardley – Summer Breeze
Daily Theme: Frugal Friday
Theme justification: I'm not sure what the MSRP of Arko is, but at Maggard it sells for $2.99/75g. That works out to $0.04/g. This is by far the cheapest wetshaving soap I have in my den.
Relevant Post Shave & Frag: CHEAP! CHEAP! CHEAP!. To continue Frugal Friday, my aftershave and frag were purchased at Dollar Tree and are the cheapest AS and frag I own. The Xtra Care Original Scent Aftershave and Yardley Summer Breeze Body Mist (note that the bottle calls it a perfume. See the bold words in the instructions).
Scavenger Hunt ~~Justification~~: COMPLETED
Razor facts: N/A
Brush facts: N/A
Daily/Special Challenge: Frugal Friday
Everything in today's shave is the cheapest I have in my den. Will it make for a good shave? Let's find out!
Items:
Razor & Blades: Assured for Men from the Dollar Tree.. I couldn't find a retail price for my Gem Jr. 1912, which I believe is the razor that I have that retailed for the least amount of money when new. However, I did find this ad for a MMOC with a coupon for $0.25 from 1935. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $5.73. This razor beats out everything.
Since the blades are included with the razor as a bundle, I feel like I'm being generous when I value them at $0.25/tuck - $0.05/blade. On Razor Blade Club, there are no blades that hit that price point (regardless of quantity). So that makes them easily the cheapest blades I own.
Soap: I already discussed this above, but Arko is the cheapest soap I have on a price/gram basis.
Aftershave: Xtra Care Original Scent was purchased at Dollar Tree (link above). 4 oz for $1.25 comes to $0.3125/oz of AS. This Gillette Aftershave Gel is the closest I have to it, but it comes out to $1.03/oz.
Fragrance: Yardley Summer Breeze (same pic as the razor). A perfume that is $1.25/2oz, or $0.625/oz. I mean, nothing comes close in terms of standard frags. The Brut cologne I purchased for canned goop day is close, but it still comes in above at $0.783/oz.
Brush: Diane D985 Shaving Brush I originally purchased this for #FauxFur, as the description list "faux badger hair" twice, but I ended up buying a Pure Bliss knot. Still comes in handy, though, because at $4.39 it is by far the cheapest brush I own. CamelCamelCamel has the average even lower, at $3.01, so I got played! Just like "badger" brush I used earlier in the games from Amazon (that clearly stated it was badger), I do not believe this is synthetic. Feels like a terrible boar brush.
Bowl: I cannot use my CaYuen bowl today, sadly. So I grabbed the cheapest bowl I own. This Ikea bowl fits the bill. These things come in a 6 pack for $1.99. That comes out to $0.33/bowl. A lot cheaper than my CaYuen.
Fragrance description
Arko - I've heard Arko described to me before as the smell of a urinal cake. I don't think that is quite right, but it's close. It's a pleasant citrus smell that does remind me of some sort of cleaner. I don't mind it.
Xtra Care Original Scent - I really cannot place this one, but it's not good. It's quite powdery, which is not a favorite note of mine, with some other note that I can't identify. Regardless, it's not great.
Yardley Summer Breeze - This stuff smells like sweet potpourri. Sickeningly sweet. It's not great, especially mixed with powder note of the aftershave. Just not good at all.
Now onto the shave!
Thanks to /u/jwoods23 for the Arko smush. This is my first experience with Arko. I can see why it's popular. Decent stuff at a very cheap price. Produced an okay lather that could've been a lot better with a different brush. Just look how much it's shedding in just that pic!
The razor left a lot to be desired. Can't expect much for $1.25, though (especially when it comes with blades). The blades came completely unmarked. Thankfully they weren't too bad.
The shave itself went fine. Lather could've been better. I hated that brush so much. It shed constantly to where the razor looked like it was growing its own beard. It also felt exactly like the "badger" brush I used earlier in the games with my Doritos lather. Let that be a lesson to everyone: don't buy extremely cheap brushes from Amazon that look like crap, because they are crap.
Totals:
- Razor Hashtags: 10/10
- Brush Hashtags: 10/10
- Hardware Sponsor Points: 2/2
- Software Sponsor Points: 16/16
- Number of Lather Brands: 28/30
- Number of Lather Scents: 28/30
- Number of Post Shaves: 28/30
- Number of Frags: 28/30
Contest Hashtags:
#FOF
#ROTY