June 14, 2025

• Brush: Wald Stratos Goldvein 29mm A1 Fan
• Razor: Iwasaki 13/16" Full Hollow Square Point Tamahagane
• Lather: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Soap
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Thayers - Coconut - Toner
• Fragrance: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Black Watch - Eau de Toilette
• Talc: Yardley Gold

2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

I have a few more shaves in this tub of Black Watch, but it is nearing its end. Wonderful shave, though, pairing the Black Watch trifecta with this Iwasaki razor.

Shaving video

Near Death Experience: Day 14 of Lather Games

• Brush: Rubberset 400-3 with a 26 mm unbleached Zenith boar knot at 56 mm loft $Hollow $AtomicAge $DoorKnob
• Razor: Koraat – r/Wetshaving exclusive Moarteen (15/16", full hollow, carbon steel) #Str8Snob
• Lather: Noble Otter – RAWR
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company Seaforth! - Heather
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann – 42

Theme justification: Last year, I used an almost dead tub of Mickey Lee Soapworks Kraken on near death day. Already in 2021, on .rip day, I used... an almost dead tub of Mickey Lee Soapworks Kraken. It's become pretty clear that I'm using this last remainder of Kraken veeeery sparingly, and while this is clearly my closest-to-empty tub, it's clearly not closest to being finished. Rawr on the other hands is a tub I've been using pretty consistently over the last 4 years and it has the best chance of being my next kill, so I think this has to be the right choice for today. Heather is Rawr's less playful and more classy cousin.

June 14th, 2025: Ring of death

• Brush: Semogue - 1800 Boar
• Razor: Joseph Rogers & Sons Near Wedge (7)
• Lather: Abbate y La Mantia - Garibaldi - Soap
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Petrichor - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Dove - Men+Care Ultra-Hydra - Cream

Theme justification: This tub has a giant ring of death. None of my other tubs are this close to being finished.

Before this shave I smushed it all around to make a flat loading surface. This may have been the best lather I've ever gotten with this soap -- but it still isn't my style. It's sort of a thick wet drippy hair-conditioner type lather. A little bit of slickness, but it seems to put post-shave ahead of all else. I prefer soaps where slickness is the top goal.

June 14th, 2025: Near Death Experience

• Brush: Pepto Bimsol Handle w/ Boti HMW Silk Badger $SILVERTIP $TOLL
• Razor: Weck Sextoblade - Med Prep $WECKONISTA
• Blade: Fromm - Hair Shaper
• Lather: Chicago Grooming - Irving Park
• Post Shave: Equate - 91% Isopropyl Alcohol
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - Unscented Sego Balm
• Fragrance: Noble Otter - Barrbarr - EdP

Hardware Scavenger Hunt: Just to appease the judges, here is a picture of my brush with the loft sitting precisely at 60mm.

Daily Theme: At first I thought I was going to have a difficult time deciphering which tub I was gonna use because I had been offloading some stuff I wasn't using as much, so must of my tubs have fairly few shaves out of them. Thankfully, I sent out a load of smushes of this Irving Park tub, and I would estimate there's probably one ounce left.

Daily Challenge: With it being World Blood Donor Day, I felt nauseous so of course I decided to down a whole bottle of Pepto Bismol pills. As I was staring blankly at the bottle questioning what I had I done, I figured this would actually make a good handle. I stuck one of my loose knots in, set it with silicone, and BOOM, new brush!! Keeping in theme with blood donating, I made sure to use my Med Prep Weck to ensure complete sterility. I hadn't used any open blade for a hot minute now and I anticipated on this being a blood bath. However, it turned out to be an extremely smooth shave and only had ONE teeny tiny little weeper, but there was BLOOD! You can never be too careful though. I made sure to follow up my shave with some isopropyl alcohol and did not bother with a silly splash. Being clean with wounds is of utmost importance and it felt surprisingly nice. I had to finish off with something super sweet like Barrbarr to bring my sugars back up and on the mend!

June 14th, 2025: Near Death Experience

• Brush: Zenith/Stirling - 510SE-XL 31mm Boar
• Razor: Koraat - Moarteen (square point, 15/16", full hollow, r/wetshaving exclusive) (9)
• Lather: Chiseled Face - Ghost Town Barber - Soap
• Post Shave: Chiseled Face - Ghost Town Barber - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Montblanc - Individuel - EdT

$discord

GTB is my lowest tub.

Also my lowest splash, though Deep Blue Sea is really close.

Individuel works surprisingly well with GTB. I think it’s the cedar from GTB blending nicely with the orange blossom and musk.

Took it easy today and helped my wife and friends clean up after our party last night. We then got breakfast sandwiches and had an impromptu sunny brunch picnic in the park by our building. It was a lovely start to the weekend, and some great $selfcare.

$ROTY $FOF