BourbonInExile

July 4, 2023 – Spring Somethingorother

• Brush: Declaration Grooming B3 Theodore “Unicorn Ivory”
• Razor: American Safety Razor Co. – Gillette Old Type clone
• Blade: 7am Hi Platinum Durablade (4)
• Lather: Chiseled Face – Summer Storm
• Post Shave: Chiseled Face – Summer Storm

Got up this morning and went outside to run in the 77-degree, 92% humidity swamp that is central Florida before sunrise in July. 8x400m intervals at 5k pace. I was sweating like a pregnant nun.

Came inside and basically collapsed in a cold shower.

Today’s theme is April Showers and it’s the first time this month I feel like I’m going to have to defend my soap choice. I reached for Chiseled Face’s Summer Storm. Yeah, the tub says “Summer” but today’s theme includes petrichor, which Summer Storm fits perfectly. Come at me, bro.

I under-loaded and got a thin lather, but the ASRC knock-off of the Gillette Old Type is an efficient beast and made short work of my noggin stubble. This is one of those razors I only keep around to use during the Lather Games. The rest of the year, I’m honestly a bit afraid to touch it.

July 3, 2023 – Just Another Mammoth Almonday

• Brush: Cool Dog “Granada” ebonite with 28mm silvertip SHD
• Razor: Feather Popular
• Blade: 7am Hi Platinum Durablade (3)
• Lather: House of Mammoth – Almond Leather
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth – Almond Leather

Company is closed today but I still dragged my ass out of bed at a stupidly early hour to run 4 miles before the sun came up and it started getting “too hot”. It was still 77 degrees with 88% humidity so it felt like 82. Some days I frakkin’ hate living in the swamp.

Took a cold shower with Glacial Lemon Chill bath soap to cool down and then had a lovely single-pass shave with Mammoth’s Almond Leather. I could have done a second pass, but if I shave too efficiently, I’m eventually going to hit a day where I just have nothing to shave and this is not the month for that.

Also, fuck u/spez

July 2, 2023 – Now Cows Harmed

• Brush: Zenith 508A XL Boar (B35)
• Razor: Ever Ready 1912
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (1)
• Lather: Argasol – Shave Soap
• Post Shave: Epsilon – Blue Mediterranean

According to the Google translation of the packaging, this soap contains coconut oil, water, olive oil, glycerin, and argan oil with all oils organically farmed. The website boasts (via Google translation) that “its fine foam will make shaving a real moment of pleasure.”

This soap does make a very fine foam in the sense that it is thin and very bubbly. Perhaps this is actually a dried out brick of bubble bath instead of proper shave soap. The fact that I managed to get any kind of decent shave should be credited to the 1912 razor and brand new GEM PTFE blade.

July 1, 2023 – Bonjour long run day

• Brush: Declaration Grooming B9A+ Jefferson “Summer’s Gone”
• Razor: Gillette Post-War Fat Handle Tech
• Blade: 7am Hi Platinum Durablade (2)
• Lather: Murphy and McNeil – Trinity
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Executive Man
• Fragrance: Creed – Aventus

A few years ago, I was prepping for Lather Games and I bought a couple of Murphy & McNeil samples for “New To You” day. And then I never used them. They’ve just been sitting in my sample drawer for years staring at me. Well, “New To You” day is back (with some fancier labeling) and I’ve now officially tried M&M for the very first time.

Prep this morning was a 10-mile run followed by a dip in the pool to cool off and further cooling off in a cold shower with Stirling Glacial Lemon Chill bath soap. Then I scooped what I thought was a fair portion of Trinity into my scuttle and began lathering up. I think I may have under-scooped because I didn’t manage to get quite as much lather as I was expecting. Anyway, I got just enough (with a bit of brush squeezins) to manage 2 passes with the post-war Tech an 7am blade. Got a really good, close shave.

I didn’t look up the scent notes on Trinity before shaving, but if it’s not an Aventus dupe, I’ll eat my left running shoe. I picked my Executive Man balm and a bit of actual Aventus to finish up the shave. I may be sitting in this chair all day waiting for my legs to stop aching, but I’ll smell like a pineapple god while I do so.

June 29, 2023 – Back to Bama

• Brush: Declaration Grooming B3 Theodore “Unicorn Ivory”
• Razor: Gillette Post-War Fat Handle Tech
• Blade: 7am Hi Platinum Durablade (1)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – Le Grand Chypre
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Le Grand Chypre

The 11-year old has been at Space Camp this week. Graduation/check-out is tomorrow, which means I get to spend today traveling up there to pick her up. And since my company has declared Monday an impromptu holiday, that means I woke up this morning on day 1 of a 6 day weekend. Nice.

Decided I wanted to smell extra fancy today, so I broke out Le Grand Chypre for my head shave. I also decided I didn’t want to have to think too hard about my shave, so I reached for my post-war Tech. Whipped up a nice lather and shaved my dome largely on autopilot.

This was my first experience with a 7am Hi Platinum Durablade. I picked them up from Maggard’s a while back just for shiggles. Not a bad blade on the first shave. But I don’t know if any blade has ever really disappointed me in the post-war Tech (aside from a Shark). I’ll give it a try in another razor later in the weekend.

Sure seems like it.

June 19, 2023 – Juneteenth

• Brush: Dogclaration B16 28mm “Red, White & Black & Blue”
• Razor: Ever Ready Micromatic Clog-Pruf
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (1)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – Bay Rum
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann – Bay Rum

No work today, so I slept in an extra half hour before rolling out of bed to get in my run before the heat of the day set in. 75 degrees and 94% humidity made for a swampy 4 miles, but I did see 5 bunny rabbits.

Had a cool shower to get myself back down to a reasonable temperature and then lathered up the BaM Bay Rum. Had a nice, spicy, 2-pass shave with the Clog-Pruf and a brand new GEM PTFE blade. Not quite BBS, but certainly smooth enough for the amount of social interaction I expect today.

Once I hit the post button, I intend to sit down with my soldering station and engage in a bit of #MakeShitMonday. I need to patch up the battery connector on my 2022 BSides Orlando badge and then I’m going to try to assemble the DC DarkNet badge from DEF CON 27 which a hacker buddy sent me.

Have an awesome day, folks. And remember, fuck u/spez.

June 13, 2023 – Tempo Tuesday

• Brush: Declaration Grooming B11 Jefferson “Lake Pelham Watson” one-off
• Razor: Gillette Slim
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Super Stainless (Green)
• Lather: Storybook Soapworks – Fresca Intensa
• Post Shave: Australian Private Reserve – Fresca Intensa

On my running calendar, Tuesdays are workout days. Today, that meant a 40-minute tempo run in the pre-dawn swampiness of central Florida summer. I saw 5 bunnies on the first lap around the neighborhood. On the second lap, I saw 5 bunnies and an armadillo.

Cooled off in the shower and had an excellent shave with Fresca Intensa. The Storybook Soapworks soap just exploded into a rich, well-hydrated lather with minimal effort. I dialed the slim down to 5 and did 2 quick passes to get a shave that’s plenty good enough for my day full of Zoom meetings.

Doing my SOTDs on wetshavingdatabase.com and then copy-pasting them into Lemmy isn’t half bad. Certainly no worse than copy-pasting them into Reddit. Fuck Spez.

June 12, 2023

• Brush: Hucklaration B3
• Razor: Gillette Slim
• Blade: 7 O’Clock – Super Stainless (Green) (1)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. – Glacial, Citron
• Post Shave: The Holy Black – Tangerine Creeper

Spent last week on a Caribbean cruise with the family. Started off my first morning back with a 4 mile run around the neighborhood. Not a fan of the swampy conditions, but that’s what I get for living in Florida. Had a nice cool shower with Stirling Glacial Lemon bath soap to cool off followed by a nice cool noggin scrape with Glacial Citron and the Gillette Slim. Finished it all off with some Tangerine Creeper to keep things chilly.

Fuck Spez.