u/MudAccording's SOTDs for challenge 'test Lather Games 2024'

May 29, 2024

• Brush: Alpha Outlaw 28mm G5 knot
• Razor: Rex Konsul Slant Adjustable
• Blade: Gillette - 7 o' clock green [1]
• Lather: Ethos Lavender Supreme (F base)
• Post Shave: Ethos Lisse Collection Lavender Supreme Skin Food Lotion
• Post Shave: CB Melange à Lavande AS splash

After a few weeks with lightweight aluminum razors, I felt like trying again a heavyweight like the Konsul. 3-pass shave on a 2-days growth. I used settings 3-3-1, where the second pass was still at 3 instead of my usual 2 because I had forgotten that I was using an adjustable, and was still having a perfectly fine performance.

First time trying the 7 o' clock on the Konsul, the combo worked very satisfactorily.

Also, my first shave with Ethos F base: I hydrated it as much as possible, getting a perfect glide. Nice simple Lavender scent. Postshave feeling is good, but I'd say a notch below the Murphy and MacNeil Kodiak base I had used on my previous shave, two days ago (I was traveling and did not post a SOTD).

I used both the pairing Skin Food Lotion and, after a few minutes, Catie's Bubbles Melange à Lavande AS splash just because I wanted a boost of a more complex lavender scent, as well as a bit more of an alcohol kick.

Have a great Wednesday!

May 30, 2024 - no theme relevance

• Brush: Alpha Outlaw 28mm G5 knot
• Razor: Henson AL-13
• Blade: RK Stainless [4]
• Lather: Murphy and MacNeil Pisgah - AON base (sample)
• Post Shave: Chicago Grooming Armonia Aftershave Skin Food

First time lathering with Murphy and MacNeil AON base, and with the Pisgah scent.

Soap is great and easy to lather, I managed to do a 3-pass shave with no issues.

Scent is nice but to my nose it feels surprisingly "meager" compared to the number of listed notes - it's the first time this happens to me with a "busy" Black Mountain frag, so I suspect I may be anosmic to part of its notes (I also wonder if my brain gets somewhat confused by the Iso E Super component).

CG Armonia splash paired seamlessly, quickly becoming the dominant fragrance: any remaining note from Pisgah, if still perceivable, managed to converge into Armonia's flow, without any dissonance.

May 31, 2024 - I made a lot of mistakes

• Brush: Vintage Bristle, brand unknown
• Razor: Henson AL-13
• Blade: RK Stainless [5]
• Lather: Murphy and MacNeil BDLM3 - AON base (sample)
• Post Shave: Seaforth Heather Aftershave Toner
• Post Shave: Dr Jon's 8th Dimension AS splash
• Post Shave: Saponificio Varesino Pro Victis

At the eve of a big marathon, athletes tend to stick to very strict routines, partly to reduce variables that may go wrong, partly for sheer superstition.

Today is the eve of the Lather Games marathon. But I don't have an athlete's discipline. I am just a naive enthusiast who decided he couldn't wait to test the vintage boar brush he had just unearthed in his father's den.

Gentle bristle exfoliation my a$$! You could probably peel a potato with these bristles! Now I understand why my father switched from brush and soap wetshaving to canned foam: while on many levels he still seems to have been raised by Spartans who forced him to withstand all kinds of discomfort, I do understand why he jumped on the foam train as soon as he could, so to pursue a less punishing shaving experience!

Also, the revived brush shed five hairs during the FL, forcing me to double-check every time if there was any left before I made my razor passes - I mean, those adamantium hairs would've probably cut the Henson's aluminum as if it was made of warm butter.

About today's software and scents:

• as I feared, BDLM3 is not for me, at least not right now: while I found the scent off the puck to be very intriguing, during the shave I progressively became annoyed with the mint/rum accord.

• I then rushed to find an AS that could start from a shared "green" ground, and then lead me on a more comfortable post-shave olfactory journey. My first choice, Heather, felt trying to use a watercolor to cover a drawing you weren't happy with: nice, but too transparent. I waited a few minutes, then got impatient and frantically browsed again thru my AS, looking for a bolder option.
  My hand passed next to B+M War, and a fleeting self-punishing thought went through my sorry brain. Then my survival instinct kicked in and I grabbed Dr Jon's 8th Dimension, which I hadn't been using for almost a year: it didn't really have much in common with the previous layers, but provided some of the "reset" effect I needed.
  I no longer smell like an idiot who just splashed mojito on his face.
  Now I smell like an overconfident 1980s smartass who does not care to smell like he had too much mojito. The AS menthol provided additional confidence, as my skin is now desensitized, and so is any self-conscious doubt.

Even if I still don't feel it, I saw in the mirror that I have a big red bump on my neck, close to my Adam's apple. I treated it with a bit of Pro Victis, the aptly named recovery cream from SV. Right after the shave I felt beaten, but the post-shave sequence restored some hope that I may not be vanquished (yet).