June 2nd, 2025: New to You

• Brush: AP Shave Co. - Gelousy (A3) 28mm Badger $SHD
• Razor: Rolls $STAINLESSLESS $FOREVERSAFETY
• Lather: Taconic Shave - Tequila Lime - Soap
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Northern Elixir - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Chanel - ALLURE HOMME - EdT

$discord

Everything in this shave is new to me.

Razor: The Rolls razor, on loan from u/Tetriside. I was more than a little apprehensive about using this after everything I've heard about these razors. I stropped the hell out of the blade before the shave and honestly had pretty great results. Three passes, very smooth everywhere except right under my chin. I doubt I'd shave with this again, but I can't really complain.

Brush: My first use of a Gelousy knot, sold to me for less than it should've been by u/jwoods23. What a guy! The knot is set pretty high and was floppy and soft. Fortunately, I like that!

Post/Fragrance: Northern Elixir was part of a lot I bought on the Discord last month. Nice scent, but I think I might be getting over cooling agents in soaps and splashes. It just doesn't do much for me. ALLURE HOMME (you have to type it in all caps or the Chanel Police will get you) is alright. Honestly feels like it's in the mall frag category, but I enjoy it well enough. It was a sample thrown in with another Chanel decant I bought many months ago.

$FOF -- starting fresh and zesty with the tequila lime soap, moving to the cooling, herbal complexity of the aftershave, then finishing with the more sophisticated, warm spiciness of the cologne. This was a surprisingly nice combination of scents that progressed much better than expected.

$ROTY $SELFCARE

June 2, 2025

• Brush: Wild West Brushworks Blue Space 26mm Cashmere
• Razor: River Razors 6/8 3/4 Hollow
• Lather: Hendrix Classics & Co - Badass - Soap
• Post Shave: Unilever - Brut - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Thayers - Cucumber - Toner

2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

I have not used any product by Hendrix Classics & Co before. I found this soap sample in my box o' samples while wondering if I would need to skip today's challenge.

IMO, Badass is not. Here's how HC&C describes it:

Badass is an awesome, masculine scent. Citrus notes provide an excellent contrast to the depth of oakmoss and white cedarwood.

That's the scent description that I could find. I found the scent strength to be mild and definitely masculine, in that, I'm a man and could smell no scent other than my own. Since I shaved after I took a shower, the lather smelled like me after a shower. From the sample jar, I could pick up hints of the oakmoss with the tiniest bit of citrus, but only because the description says it is there. I found the lather to be nice; a little more high volume that I prefer for straight razor shaving, but definitely a workable lather.

So Badass is a pass for me.

I have used every razor on the challenge list for today and I have shaved with a couple of knives in the past also. So, the best I can offer in the "New All Things" category is, admittedly, pretty lame. I have been trying to find an edge that works well with this razor's particular geometry. Saturday, I put a coticule/Black Arkansas edge on it and used that yesterday. Last night I took the razor back to the Black Arkansas stone to add more refinement on that stone; essentially creating an edge texture that is more Arkansas and less Belgium.

So, it is a razor edge that I have never used before. Yeah, I know, tenuous at best, but more importantly (for me), I think I have found a great match in comfort and keenness for this razor. Today's shave was closer than yesterday's and as comfortable as yesterday's.

02.06.2025

• Brush: AP Shave Co. Snakeskin w/ 26 mm Silksmoke Flattop/Fan hybrid
• Razor: Leaf Thorn
• Blade: Perma-Sharp half DE
• Lather: Chiseled Face - Ghost Town Barber
• Post-Shave: Lavera Men sensitive ASB

-> again a single pass both on the dome and around the goatee, plus a bit of buffing/contouring for the beard.

Safety razors are totally superior for my skin and for getting crisp beard lines. At least in comparison to cartridges, I am not experienced with open blades except AC shavettes. GTB is one of my feel-good scents, it cheers me up. Much needed in the current hot phase of the exam period.

So Day 1 is behind me, I think it was enough to pass at least, but I don't expect anything better than a 3/C. I know it'd be very theoretical before, but this was a lot of dry theory... I gave it my all tho and that's what matters. I kinda look forward to tomorrow which should be more on the practical side, even though I anticipate something about children/pregnancy which really isn't my strong suit (I work with old folks in a nursing home). Nevertheless, I am eager to get it done! Let's go!

June 2nd, 2025

• Brush: Wolf Whiskers - "Gianmaria" w/Maggard 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: Koraat 15/16 Full Hollow - Sub Exclusive 'Moarteen' (11)
• Lather: Noble Otter - Batters Up - Soap
• Post Shave: Chatillon Lux - Weinstrasse - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Dove - Men+Care Ultra-Hydra - Cream

Batters Up is a work of art.

Good shave with the Moarteen. My fine motor skills were slightly lacking and I got a small reminder that all blades are sharp.

June 2nd, 2025: New To You

• Brush: Omega - 10077 Boar $HOLLOW
• Razor: Schick - Injector x 6" generic locking pliers $INJECTOR
• Blade: Schick Yellow
• Lather: D.R. Harris & Co - Arlington - Soap
• Post Shave: Mäurer & Wirtz - Tabac - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Catie's Bubbles - V - EdP

Daily Theme Justification: I have never used D.R. Harris & Co lather products until today.

Daily Theme: Today's smush was graciously provided by our LG absent friend u/KerblimeySkal. D.R. Harris & Co products have never spoken to me. However, when I did get this sample in the mail, I was pleasantly surprised by the scent: sweet, fresh, fruity, at least to my sus nose. However, I loaded a ton of this soap into a bowl and fucked with the lather for north of 10 minutes and could never get it where I wanted. It worked, but it wasn't a good lather by any means. Surely a full puck would be better.

Daily Challenge: I am a dumbass. I bought this nice Schick Injector for a nominal price off the bazaar a few weeks ago and figured I had better save my first shave with it for today. I even drove 20 miles out of the way to a local drug store to pick up some yellow Schick blades. I was trying to load the blade into the moment I got it in the mail and ended up cutting my thumb. I put the damn razor away until last night. I was pressing on the safety bar WAY too hard and ended up bending it a little bit and then there was play and wobble in the baseplate. Resident Encyclopedia u/KerblimeySkal showed me a link on how to fix it. So I took the handle off and realized I was in more than I bargained for. I had a fleeting moment of clarity and acknowledged my lack of experience with injectors and decided to leave it alone. I still had to use the razor, so I took some small locking pliers and made a nice impromptu handle (see main SOTD link for picture). I actually got a great shave even though it was heavy and long. Note to self: DON'T FUCK WITH STUFF RIGHT BEFORE YOU NEED TO USE IT.

New To You: Day 2 of Lather Games

• Brush: Chisel and Hound Azurite with 26 mm Maggard Tuxedo knot $COMPOSITE $FRANKENBRUSH
• Razor: Böker - Dönges Expert Fire Folder $STR8SNOB $RAINBOW
• ~~Razor:~~ ~~Unknown Brand - Glass stove top scraper~~ $~~PLASTIC~~
• ~~Blade:~~ ~~Derby Extra Stainless Steel (blue)~~
• Lather: 345 Soap Co. Chapter 2
• Post Shave: Imaginary Authors – Telegrama
• Fragrance: Creed – Silver Mountain Water

Theme justification: I've never ever used 345 Soap Co's soaps. The post and frag are relevant in that they represent the same fresh cleanliness (in the case of Telegrama even explicitly: "fresh linens" are a note in Telegrama, and "a freshness like clean laundry" in Chapter 2.

Challenge justification: I've tried all the razor types on the list, so the seasoned-veteran clause applies to me. Last year, I managed to weasel my way around the list with a shitty dovette, but this year I finally ran out of razor types. This being an emergency, using an emergency first responder rescue tool seemed like the obvious choice. I'm very comfortable honing razors, but as u/gcgallant says every once in a while, razors are trivial to hone because the spine acts as a built-in bevel angle guide. I've never sharpened a knife free-hand, and just looking at the tool, it was immediately clear that I would have to set a completely new bevel, since this tool has a super blunt angle, so I made sure to also have a backup solution in case I can't manage a good enough edge. The argument for the backup solution is that this scraper was sold (in German) as a "Schaber", which is cognate with the English word "shaver". Fits like the fist on the eye, right? (another German thing)

It just took me two hours setting the bevel on a 1000 grit water stone yesterday evening, and another one and a half hours on 3k to 10k to get it to cut arm hair. Easy peasy. I couldn't find a comfortable way to hold the blade for north-to-south passes, but who needs those anyway. So all ATG I went, and you know what, it was both better and worse than I expected. First of all, it shaves, but it took me what felt like four or five ATG passes worth of awkward micro strokes to get somewhere approaching a close shave. I was very pleased with myself for not spilling any blood, but then the aftershave splash made me wince and yelp. Oh well.

Now that I'm writing this up sitting in my train to work, I can feel a patch I missed during my multiple cleanup passes and I know it'll bother me all day. But on the upside, I didn't need to use that glass scraper, so I know what I can use next year for this challenge.

I was too concentrated on the pointy Böker (pointy toes seem to be a trademark of Böker razors) to really pay attention to the 345 soap scent, but I did put a lot of effort into getting a wet and slick lather going, and it performed well enough.