LG SOTD 28Jun2024
- Brush: Yaqi Ash Wood - 20mm tuxedo synthetic
- Razor: Gillette - 109 Super Adjustable (1970)
- Blade: Personna - Lab Blue (3)
- Lather: Arko - Shave Soap in Bowl
- Bowl: SLSON - Pet Travel Bowl
- Post Shave: Afta by Mennen - Aftershave Lotion, Original
Welcome to the twenty-eighth shave of the 2024 Lather Games. Today’s theme is Frugal Friday where the goal is to shave with our cheapest lather, and I’m going for the added special challenge of shaving with cheapest everything.
For reasons that I would be hard pressed to explain logically, I have made a hobby out of shaving. And like every hobby, it is not a money maker or even saver. Like most of us in the games, I have spent enough on wetshaving to make cartridge shaving look practically free in comparison. Today shines a light on our degeneracy.
——
For today’s shave have put together the most inexpensive set of soft and hardware in my collection:
- ARKO - Shaving Soap Puck in Bowl $5
This was a curiosity buy last spring that I am finally trying today. Based upon the full price paid, ARKO weighs in at $1.58/ounce, making it the cheapest soap in the den. Next closest was the Palmolive Classic Shaving Cream at $1.89/ounce.
- Gillette - 109 Super Adjustable ~$40
I realize that a $40 vintage razor may not be that cheap relative to the possibilities out there, but it is the cheapest razor in my den. I'm not sure what the original MSRP would translate into in 2024 dollars, but since the cheapest modern market razor is a $70 Henson, it's probably the cheapest no matter how you look at it.
The bowl is very similar to what a lot of people call the Stirling travel bowl, but unlike the slow feeder bowl that Stirling sells, this does not have the nubbins; it's just a collapsible bowl with a barely raised silhouette of dog. On those occasions I've not been able to bring a proper bowl when traveling, this has been my go to. The material has enough texture/friction by itself to work just fine without the difficult to control over threshing of the nubbins. Paid $6 for a two pack (used the other as an actual travel bowl for my dogs - perfect for giving water on the go) making this a $3 lather bowl from some RNG named Amazon reseller, SLSON.
- Yaqi Ash Wood - 20mm tuxedo synthetic $5.60
Impulse buy on AliExpress while picking up another brush figuring it would work somewhere in the Lather Games and here we are, cheapest brush in the den it is.
- Afta - Aftershave Lotion, Original $5 give or take
I have no idea what this stuff is supposed to cost - if you can find it on the shelves at Wal-Mart, they want $3, there are online sellers that want $9 for a bottle. I've always managed to find it online in multipacks for about $5 per 3 oz bottle. Whatever the case, it's about the same cost as the Aqua Velva I used for drugstore day and far cheaper than any of the artisan aftershave balms.
- Nothing at all for fragrance $0
I hope that the fact I never use fragrances doesn't count against me for the special challenge and I'm going to use this opportunity to voice a beef I have with the scoring for the Lather Games: After on-theme lathers and judge points, the highest contribution to your lather games score is stand alone fragrances. Not daily or special challenges, not your vast hardware collection, no, it's something that has absolutely nothing to do with wetshaving beyond cross marketing.
I am not 100% neurotypical and can be overstimulated by some scents - if a soap wants a one way trip to the PIF pile all it needs is some non S-tier note detectable too long after I shave. Many are the times I posted a neutral or even softly positive first impression about a new soap in the SOTD only to come back later in the day and remove it from the den permanently because some part of it kept coming back. Wetshaving opened up the world of fragrance for me because it's ephemeral and temporary. I experience the burst of scents, and then they go away. There are very few scents I would even contemplate wearing as a stand alone fragrance, certainly not enough to compete against someone that routinely buys the trifecta. That is all.
——
That's a complete wet shaving kit for under $60, less than I paid for the Henson Medium that signaled my descent into depravity. But it doesn’t make me feel better as I would NEVER use this kit outside of the games. It’s my definition of penny wise and pound foolish.
Arko was not as bad as some describe it, certainly preferable to Stirling’s Electric Sheep scent wise, and performance was acceptable. But saving the small amount of money on this is hardly worth using it over the literal thousands of more pleasant alternatives. Let’s also keep in mind that I purchased this “cheap and money saving soap” while sitting on a few years worth of soap.
The brush was also functional but when for $10-$15 more could buy a nice Yaqi or DS Cosmetic, there is no reason to buy this other than stunt purposes.
Similar for the razor. A $70 Henson or $80 Karve will blow this and every other cheap razor out of the water - and if you don’t keep buying razors is effectively free compared to cartridge razors. I detest the tendency to regard something like a Henson as “expensive” when it steers people to “save” a few dollars on zamak garbage. You save money on razors by buying a good quality razor from the start and never reading these subs and related forums again. No such thing as a beginner razor, and cheap razors are just cheap.
The bowl is decent and for $3 is certainly cheap, but I’ll take my CaYuen and pay the extra. Cheapest bowl I would use on the regular is the standard copper Captain’s Choice. This is good for overnight travel and that’s it.
The only thing I shaved with today that I will use regularly is the Afta, everything else was about experiencing inferior products to understand and reinforce why the cheapest shave kit I would use comes in at more than double today’s stunt kit.
Enjoy your Friday, the weekend awaits!