Share your shave of the day!
If you’re playing the Lather Games on the other website, today’s theme is:
Frigid Friday
"Product must contain a cooling agent in its published ingredient list (e.g. menthol, menthyl methyl lactate, synthetic cooling agents).
Caveat: Adding an after-market cooling agent to a non-cooling product will not satisfy this theme."
Traveling for a wedding today, so i am using my travel kit.
Pre-shave: i am using a lavender oil from Maggard razor co. I absolutely love Maggards pre-shave oils,and the lavender has a lovely scent. I have been trying other pre-shaves, but i keep going back to Maggard’s store brand.
Brush: I am using a small synthetic brush that came with my starter kit from Bevel. I don’t much care for the brush as i find it too scratchy, but it is small, light, and I don’t care about it so it is perfect for a travel kit.
Razor: I’m using my parker shavette. I have been using it weekly for the past year. It has been fun learning how to use a shavette, and once i save up enough i plan on buying a proper straight razor. I forgot my alum block at home, but luckily I only had a tiny knick on my chin, so I didn’t need it.
Blade: Persona safety razor blade snapped in half. The persona blades i have are terrible and are sketchy when used in a shavette, but i am gonna use them all before i buy new blades. The quality control is atrocious with the blades having edge issues. This blade wasn’t too bad, but i will never buy persona blades again.
Lather: i am using blue proraso from the tube. I like to use the blue every couple days in the winter because my skin dries out easily, and the vitamin E in it does wonders for my face.
Aftershave: i am using Ogalla bay rum with witch hazel and
sandalwoodlimes and peppercorn. I typically use my Ogalla aftershave twice a week, as the witch hazel keeps my face looking 10 years younger. I have it today because the small plastic container is perfect for travel.It’s always a shame when vendor kits have scratchy garbage brushes. There are so many inexpensive synthetic options available, so it’s not like they’re saving much money. If they want people to keep using the brush and buying their lather product, then give us a decent brush!
I like the stand and the razor is atill my daily driver, but the brush really put me off from synthetic brushes. I have a badger brish that is way too big that i have been wanting to swap, but haven’t even looked at synthetic replacements. But i might consider one if you say they are usually pretty good.
I love synthetic brushes, but it comes down to personal preference. One thing everyone agrees on, though, is that there are a ton of crappy brushes out there, so buyer beware. That goes for all types of brushes – synthetic, badger, boar, etc.
The Maggard branded synthetic is inexpensive, and I actually prefer it to some more expensive ones I’ve tried. Any of the tan colored ones shown here are what I like. The black/white ones have a bit more backbone, but they’re also good.
If you don’t like big brushes, I’d start with a 24mm. 22mm is too small for me, and 26 starts to feel big. 24mm is a sweet spot for a lot of folks.
AP Shave Co. has a bunch of synthetic knots to pick from (and he’ll put them in a handle for you). I’m not an expert on his offerings, but I do know that the Synbad (another one of my favorites) and the Cashmere are supposed to be nice and soft. The G5 style are stiffer with more “scrub”. Andrew loves to be asked about his knots, so send him an email with any questions.
Frigid Stacking Friday
- Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 51 mm Manchurian badger)
- Razor: Fatip - Lo Storto - Testa Dentata
- Blade: Mühle
- Lather: Noble Otter – Orbit
- Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Terror
- Fragrance: Mäurer und Wirtz – Tabac Man Gravity
We’ve arrived in Rome for a Friend’s Wedding yesterday evening. The temperatures are already brutally hot so it’s excellent timing for Frigid Friday.
Theme justification: Orbit has a healthy dose of the synthetic cooling agent W23.
Relevant post and frag: Terror has the same cooling agent, and Tabac Gravity is so close to Orbit in scent and marketing that I wonder whether M&R took “inspiration” from it. both have cool blue space-themed packaging and both are cool rose scents with fresh metallic notes.
I chose Italian hardware for this trip to blend in with the locals, with my trusty Lo Storto which simply cannot give a bad shave, and my brand new beautiful butterscotch badger. It’s both my first Zenith badger and my first Manchurian badger knot. The brush has a scrubby loft with a good backbone and a bit of scritch. My initial impression of this lovely brush is great, let’s see how it breaks in.
Challenge: Our friends are getting married in a bougie hotel that hands out Acqua di Parma products as their toiletry amenities. When I saw it, I knew that I had to incorporate them into the stack. In my eagerness, I overlooked half of them, so have an additional AdP mini stack.
On a side note, when I flipped through my stack pictures, I noticed a fun detail: in the background of the picture that ended up getting the nod, there is what I believe to be the first documented evidence of a free Roman Spice in its natural habitat. What a find!
Wow, bougie indeed!
June 14, 2024
- Brush: AP Shave Co Summer 28mm G5C #PREMIUMPLASTIC
- Razor: Gillette Super Adjustable 109 (Black Beauty) Gold O-4 (setting: 7)
- Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock SharpEdge (Yellow) (1)
- Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Margaritas in the Arctic - Soap
- Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Margaritas in the Arctic - Aftershave
- Post Shave: Thayers - Lavender - Toner
- Fragrance: Elysian Soap Shop - Olympus - Eau de Parfum
- Talc: Pinaud Clubman Finest Powder
Last year, I looked forward to Frigid Day as a way to use MiTA. This gave me a chance to prepare a mouthwatering (to me) Margarita and drink it after making the SOTD photo the night before the shave. [OK, I may have had more than one.]
But this year, I have to chase some silly point and stack the items I used in my shave today. You did mean focus-stack, right?!
😉
Narrow aperture?
Fairly wide aperture. It was carefully chosen so that when the soap label is in sharp focus, the white background behind it falls out of focus. That depth of field then required a stack of 5 images (5 depth of fields) to allow for sharp focus from the front of the image to the soap label.
Ah, so it’s photoshopped! DQ!
DQ!
I’ve done the stacking thing before. It was more fun for me to do a bit of Photoshop flex :)
I updated the imgur link to show all of the images.
June 14, 2024
- Brush: AP Shave Co. - 24mm Synbad Fan
- Razor: Blackland Era - Level 3 SB
- Blade: Bolzano Superinox (German) (5)
- Lather: Black Ship Grooming - Shiver Me Timbers - Soap
- Post Shave: Chatillon Lux - Weinstrasse - Aftershave
- Fragrance: Barrister & Mann - Lavender, Interrupted - EdP
#CNC
For the CNC tag, CNC means “computer numerical control”, so even thought this razor is 3D printed instead of machined, CNC is used. The computer controls the up/down/left/right, and voila.
Shiver me Timbers has menthol. I hate menthol, but this was actually a nice amount and relatively pleasant.
