June 5th, 2025: I Want To Be The Very Zest

• Brush: AP Shave Co. - Silksmoke Synthetic
• Razor: GEM - Micromatic Clog-Pruf
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (5)
• Lather: Maggard Razors - Limes & Bergamot - Soap
• Post Shave: Fine - Italian Citrus - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Acqua di Parma - Blue Mediterraneo - Fico di Amalfi - EdT

$discord

Theme justification: Limes, bergamot, Italian citrus, and the delicate citrus + fig of AdP Fico di Amalfi. Citrus shines throughout. $FOF

Daily challenge: I think I saw one or two folks with the same idea, but my proposed theme is "Drought Day" ("Water Shortage Wednesday?" "Soy Boy Saturday?") -- make your lather with anything but water.

This evening, to conserve water, I made my lather with 365 Brands soy milk instead of water. As a coastal elite in California, I'm obligated to shop at Whole Foods while also complaining about how Amazon is ruining America. To complain about DOGE while also driving a Tesla. Virtues, signals, and all that jazz.

Soy milk made an alright, but thick, lather. I've never had my Clog-Pruf clog up with hair and soap before. I guess they weren't thinking of us Soy Boys when they designed this razor, smh my head.

Today I got out for an early run before work and managed to keep an easy pace throughout. Historically, it's difficult for me to run slowly, even though I know it's good for my recovery and for building endurance. The legs just want to go fast. I'm glad I did, because the rest of the day was very busy and exhausting. $SELFCARE

$ROTY

June 5, 2025

• Brush: Wald Stratos Haunter 29mm A1
• Razor: Böker 14er 8/8" Full Hollow
• Lather: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Roman Spice - Soap
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Roman Spice - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Thayers - Cucumber - Toner
• Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Roman Spice - Eau de Toilette
• Talc: Yardley Classic
   
  2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

Second luxury shave to complete my daily challenge. I stayed on theme with Roman Spice. It leads with a grapefruit note. I also stayed with the Sponsor Spotlight. Very enjoyable shave.

June 5, 2025

• Brush: Simpsons Chubby 2 Jade 27mm HMW $OLDWORLD
• Razor: Koraat 14 "Moarteen" 15/16" Full Hollow $STR8SNOB
• Lather: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime - Soap
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Sea Spice Lime - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Thayers - Coconut - Toner

2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

It is hard to beat Sea Spice Lime. Such a refreshing citrus scent.

A challenge that you could consider for next year's games is to shave twice a day. In the past,I have joined @djundjila in BBS November where we shave twice per day, and I look forward to it again this year. Mostly, I do it to allow me to use more of my soap/splash and razor inventory within a shorter period of time, however, it does force me to pay more attention to good shaving technique.

Later today, I'll have my second shave. I'll keep it on theme, but if this were added to LG, I don't think that should be a requirement.

05.06.2025

• Brush: AP Shave Co. Snakeskin w/ 26 mm Silksmoke Flattop/Fan hybrid
• Razor: RazoRock Hawk V2 w/ Cyber handle
• Blade: KAI Captain Protouch MG
• Lather: Noble Otter - Neon Sun
• Post-Shave: Lavera Men sensitive skin ASB
• Fragrance: Bentley for Men Intense EdP

-> 1 pass on both head and face plus a few touch-ups. A very comfortable shave. I've done this shave way earlier, but just now found the time to post.

Neon Sun is one of my comfort scents. I don't know if anyone else of you has some, but there are certain soaps and certain smells that just make me feel better instantly. It's slightly powdery and barbershop-like with a hint of citrus and a masculine fragrance. It's not overbearing, but it doesn't need to be. A true evergreen scent and it's actually like something that could've been used in the late 80s like the tub art suggests. Coupled with a new guarded AC blade in the Hawk, it was a very nice and smooth shave despite only taking a single pass!

So I'm done with my written exams since yesterday. Day 2 was a teenager in a psychiatric clinic suffering from bullying and neurodermatitis. Day 3 was an old women in a wheelchair who had a stroke and multiple other medical problems that required attention. But I must say, for each day I have the feeling that I have indeed passed. I wrote something down for every single question and gave it my all. Now it's just one practical exam in July and the oral exam at the end of August that's between me and my RN degree!

I also picked up my new car today, together with my dad. It's an Opel Mokka B in black with some red details. Beautiful design and a joy to drive, just need to get used to such a modern car. I might post some pictures and more details in tomorrow's FTF thread!

June 5th, 2025: ORANGE

• Brush: Wolf Whiskers - "Gianmaria" w/Maggard 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: Union Razor Cutlery 5/8 Full Hollow (3)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Promises - Soap
• Post Shave: RazoRock - Puros - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Dove - Men+Care Ultra-Hydra - Cream

$discord

@gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social recommended I hit this razor with my 10k, so I did that 3 shaves ago. The slight tuggyness is gone and although I'm still too new to have real preferences, this razor is more enjoyable to me now. My technique is still improving which helps, too. I've also started stropping more (from 20+40 linen/leather to around 20+50-70 depending on how I'm feeling).

Theme justification: The first scent note in Promises is Orange. The orange is prominent, with 'everything else' acting as a supporting role (including snowmobile exhaust).

June 5th, 2025: I Want To Be The Very Zest

• Brush: Chisel & Hound - Rob's Finest Synthetic $WOODEN
• Razor: Yates Precision Manufacturing - Merica $CNC
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Lather: Mike's Natural Soaps - Orange, Cedarwood, & Black Pepper - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive - Aftershave

Daily Theme Justification: Although there are three scent notes for OCBP, orange is the dominant note and the others hardly perceptible to me. The only way I could slightly detect them was putting an orange peel side by side, and noticed the soap had some slightly darker. Most people who have used this soap would probably agree.

Daily Theme: I have a few soaps that are primarily citrus, but I love the simplicity of this one and how it matched with Alive. Alive is not a scent I reach for often, but the apple and laundry musk notes really make this nice bridging with OCBP of fresh, bright, clean citrus that really does make you feel alive and grateful.

Daily Challenge: My new challenge, or at the very least an evolution of tomorrow's challenge, is Shave with a View. While Take a Hike invites many of us to actually get out and hike, the criteria of having a wall nearby totally defeats the purpose of the challenge. It invites us to do the bare minimum of going out on our deck or porch, instead of going somewhere novel. Shave with a View is different in the sense that you actually go outside into nature away from any people and off of your property, rented, owned, or leased property, no funny business. *I think that part of the challenge requires an SOTD pic where the shaving gear included, but an afterthought to the composition. I am lucky enough to have driven past this lake today for work and planned this out. It was a quick one pass shave, but I was far more nervous to do this than I thought. I did the Take a Hike challenge last year on my deck and I felt like a coward. Shave with a View actually felt like a challenge and I feel like if this is adopted, the challenge points should be rewarded distinctly from shaving on you porch. Here is the aftermath of a quick shave. Notice the bug that couldn't resist the allure of Mike's Natural Soaps. I finished this just in time because as I was walking back I ran into a group of 10 people and that would have been awkward to see some nerd shaving on a big ass rock at 11 AM on a workday. I would have jumped headfirst into the water at that point.

I Want To Be The Very Zest: Day 5 of Lather Games

• Brush: Boti - Sunrise
• Razor: Koraat Sparschweinchen (7/8", "Sheffield-style" full hollow, carbon steel)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co – Black Pepper Lime
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Firefighter
• Fragrance: Acqua di Parma – Blu Mediterraneo Arancia di Capri

Theme justification: Black Pepper Lime is very lime forward. With grapefruit (Firefighter) and orange (Arancia di Capri) playing the main roles in the post and frag, the orange brush, and the orange razor, this entire shave is coloured like or smells like citrus.

It felt really good to have a normal shave, no new-to-me contraption, no leftorium, no lather shenans, just a straight-up good shave.

Today's challenge suggestion: There be dragons

The wetshaving rabbit hole runs wide and deep. Which parts have you wanted to explore but have held back for some reason? What would you need to take the leap?

I'll start. Natural stones. People swear by them, and they are pricey. Could they possibly be worth the investment in time and money? I don't know, but I'm super curious. I have a solid progression of synthetic stones with grits ranging from 1k to 12k, and I get great-feeling edges from them, so I should be a happy camper, right? But then I keep following the discussions on the #straights channel on discord where experienced straight razor users and honemeisters swear that synthetic edges are harsher, that they get less splash feedback after shaving with a jnat edge, etc. You get the picture, I'm a victim of FOMO. I haven't made the jump yet because frankly, the sheer number of options, the lingo, and the cost in the natural stone space scare me off, especially since I don't even know whether I'm missing out on anything.

What's my solution? Well, a couple months ago, Böker had a huge discount on the Böker Abalone razor where you could order one for about CHF 100. I have one of those and it's one of my favourite razors. I contacted u/Whosgotthepudding and hatched a plan. I will send him two Böker Abalones, two completely identical razors, save for a mark on the tail, and he'll put a jnat edge on one, and a synth edge on the other. I won't know which is which, but he will. I'll get to find out whether I can feel and/or appreciate the difference in how they feel, and might very possibly be forced to explore one more side tunnel of the rabbit hole. It's a real test for my patience, because Böker is running late one month and counting with my order.