Monday SOTD Thread, April 14th, 2025 (#671)

Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts w/ Maggard Synth 28mm
Razor: Blackland Vector titanium
Blade: Schick Proline
Lather: Storybook Soapworks x Australian Private Reserve - Carnivale
Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Passiflora
Fragrance: Zoologist - Camel
Day 14 of APRil and I finally ran out of different APR scents. Camel is really good
- 14 is an impressive number of APR scents! You've joined like two years ago, right?
  
  Why am I asking when the DjSIA knows?
  
  Aye sir, January 2023 was when i really got started

Monday, April 14, 2025
Brush: Summer Break Soaps "Elyria" - TurnNShave v9 Tip 28mm badger
Razor: GEM - Micromatic Flying Wing
Blade: Personna - GEM PTFE (11)
Lather: Chiseled Face - Ghost Town Barber
Post Shave: Chiseled Face - Ghost Town Barber Aftershave splash
Post Shave: Stirling - Glacial Unscented Aftershave balm
Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Ubrique EdP
I get a good lather from the CF base as long as I remember to come in with a pretty dry brush. Otherwise, it tends to puff up on me pretty quickly.
A nice shave and another notch toward killing this tub of GTB. It's going to be a while yet.
🍳 Created with Neovim & sotd.nvim 🍳

Apr 14, 2025 - Mammoth Monday: Finalist
Brush: Declaration Grooming Magic Hour 28mm B8 Badger Knot
Razor: Aylsworth Razors Drakkant Ti
Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (Green) [8]
Lather: House of Mammoth - You & I (Will Die) - Soap
Post Shave: House of Mammoth - You & I (Will Die) - Splash
Congrats to u/mammothben for this scent being announced as a Finalist in the 2025 Art & Olfaction Awards. Absolutely deserved.

April 14, 2025
Brush: AP Shave Co Pure Bliss
Razor: Merkur 34c
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
Lather Fanzine Saponifications - Testing… Testing…
Post Shave: Seaforth! - Black Watch
Done with the Black Watch sample. I’m happy to have tried it, but it’s not for me. The sweetness (plum?) is just a little too much for me. I’ve got Roman Spice left of my sampler and I’ve been looking forward to that one the most. Oh, and even after washing this brush with some dish soap, it still had some lingering War funk. Got to keep using it to get it cleaned out…hopefully.
- Soap bros
  
  My sample puck is lasting a lot longer than I thought it would. I have still probably a week left of mine to use.

Mon 14 Apr 2025
Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 51 mm Manchurian badger)
Razor: Delolme – Le Thiernois №14 Acier Spécial pour Coiffeur (8/8", hollow ground, round tip, carbon steel)
Lather: Catie's Bubbles – Reflection
Post Shave: Chatillon Lux – Weinstrasse
This is the first shave with this chonky French FBU after an edge refresh, and it was wonderfully smooth.
The Weinstrasse-Reflection combo works great, I'll definitely repeat it.
- Reflection++
  
  so ++
- Your collection of “14”s is now very impressive! I admit, I’m still looking for an Iberia, and a Palmera. Hard to find, and trés cher.
  
  Yeah, I'm not ready to drop that kind of money on a 14 right now, but I can see that one day, I'll see a pretty Iberia or Palmera on the bay and will cave 😅
  Oh, and this is an interesting one, because it's my only round tip 14, and I've only ever seen those in 3rd or 4th gen Filis.

April 14, 2025
Brush: Wolf Whiskers – "Gianmaria" w/Maggard 26mm Synthetic
Razor: Gold Dollar Straight Razor – Red (1)
Lather: Fanzine Saponifications – Test… Test… 123 – Soap
Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Varen - Aftershave
Post Shave: Goodfellow & Co. - Face Lotion - Kelp & Sea Mineral
First straight razor shave in the books. About 2 years ago I tried one shave with a $.50 half-DE shavette -- this was better.
Weepers, sure... but I didn't have to get out the styptic pencil, and not as many as I thought I'd get.
My deficiencies as a sharpener/honer were on full display, but the razor did cut hair, and as the shave went on my technique improved, and things got easier. I'm going to watch @gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social's video on how to sharpen a straight razor again, now that I have stuff to play with (I think he has a dedicated how-to video, but don't take my word for it). I only have an Atoma 600 and a Naniwa 10k at this point, so I'm sure I would benefit from something like a 6000 or 8000.
So the good news is I'm not totally turned off from straight razor shaving, and I might actually enjoy the challenge! Woohoo!
- I have a “fundamentals” video that is way too long, and there’s this “Sharpening Kit” video (also too long).
  Congrats on stepping down the straight razor rabbit hole! This is a practice, but you will make it pretty far up the learning curve in the first 30 shaves, and very comfortable after 100 shaves.
  I started with a Gold Dollar many years ago. I managed to drop it and break it during the ‘22 Lather Games. Best thing I ever did. The steel is awful and the razors are clumsy.
  I’m going to send you my $12 Union razor. This razor is well sorted, has a very comfortable synthetic edge, and will require very little maintenance if you make and use a loaded denim strop.
  
  Yup, I already watched the fundamentals video today and it reinforced some things and answered some other things (mainly about burr removal). I'll check out the other video, too.
  Maybe the loaded strop video will answer this question, but do people typically put any treatment on their leather stops, or just use them as is?
  Thanks for the Union! I haven't heard of that brand, but I see on Amazon they are still only $13 or $14.

April 14, 2025
Brush: Grizzly Bay Shire 26mm V18 Fanchurian
Razor: Silver Orchid - 6/8 - Full Hollow - Round Point
Lather: House of Mammoth - Shire 2 - Soap
Aftershave: House of Mammoth - Shire 2 - Splash
Talc: Yardley Gold
 
3 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
This was a test shave for this Silver Orchid razor that I honed earlier today. Great little razor, and a great shave. I have not used Shire in quite a while because I consider it more of a summer scent. I really enjoyed revisiting it.
video

Mon 14 Apr 2025