July 1st, 2025
using a left over smush I had in my bowl from LG, thanks u/snoo-ting
Daily Theme: I have to give a shout to out u/brokenjaw622 for giving me some C Bubs soap to try out. I will not lie, I did not understand V at first. Here is a picture of the samples and my favorites in descending order from left to right. Obviously, since then this list has changed a lot since I have used most of them. I am almost certain that most of the heavy vetiver scents turned me off because they reminded me a little bit of maple nut candies. I have finally broken that mental connection and can finally enjoy Haitian Vetiver the way u/C_Bubbles intended. Some of my favorite scents end up being ones I dislike at first because they challenge my expectations and preferences in fragrances. V really opened up my nose and mind to what fragrances can be and anybody who have really gotten familiar with V know it is arguably thee best scent from a wetshaving artisan. It is one of those scents that is very complex, but it is not mud and I notice new scent notes every time I use it. This morning I kept smelling the sweet fennel. I also had a preconception of fragrances that have a lot of scent notes are a little pretentious, but V taught me that complex fragrances with a ton of scent notes can be approachable and appreciated despite how much is going on. Bubs really knows how to blend a fragrance and I really believe this would be my desert island fragrance
Daily Challenge: I used my V aftershave splash and fragrance today in addition to the soap. Please read above. As far as hardware goes, I have to say this handle from u/Priusaurus is my favorite of the four I own from him. I love the shape because it is rather simple and the grooves on the bottom add some tasteful texture to the handle. I remember when Prius stated that he was experimenting with handles and that there was one out in the wild. I hit him up and asked when they were gonna be available. He was very cool about letting me know that he was still working on getting a first batch curated and that he was still learning (this is substantiated by a lack of beard). I've since then purchased a handful of them and I am always happy to support somebody who is really involved in the community as a hobbyist as well. I got connected to Trotter Handcrafts and he gave me an incredible deal on this T1 knot and it is one of my favorite SHD badger knots. The Legacy razor has easily become my favorite razor because it reminds me a lot of a Gillette Tech, but much higher quality and slightly more aggressive. It gives me a close and easy shave every single time I use it and I have nicked myself with it maybe once. GSB's just because it is super sharp, smooth, and I never get duds.
To whoever wins the Games overall and the various side quests, I really appreciate everybody who participates, either as a competitor, djudge, or sponsor. There is hands down no other community I have ever seen or even heard of that is as cool as the people who participate in this forum. Whether you're new or old, people get into this hobby to save money (laughable) and almost always end up staying because of the sense of community, belonging, and engagement with other hobbyists and even artisans. People lose thrill, and they still end up participating and having conversations just because the people here are so awesome. While Lather Games can end up being exhausting throughout the month, the Games are something that is really unique and special, and something I am happy to be apart of for the second time. This competition is extremely silly, but that is the beauty of it. People organize, djudge, and participate because it brings people together for smiles, laughs, and even tears. There is not one other internet group that I would identify with other than you weirdos. Here is to LG 2025 in the books!
$discord
June 29th, 2025: A Toast to the Lather Games
Daily Theme Justification: Sunday brunch is inspired by a Mimosa, a drink combination of orange juice and champagne.
Daily Theme: Sunday Brunch is one of those scents that is probably considered to be a gourmand, but a gourmand I can actually like. There's no cake, candy, or other desserts that I typically associate with gourmands. Nothing to report other than this is a really great scent and soap. 322 as a relevant post shave because I am under the impression that the black currant is supposed to represent a very faint wine note. Sunday Brunch = booze, and 322 = booze (sort of). Edit: keep forgetting the damn smush providers, thank you u/brokenjaw622 for the smushes and opening me up to the u/C_Bubbles rabbit hole.
Daily Challenge: I have to be 100 emoji with you all. I have been very poor about keeping up with posts. For overall LG winner there are a few contenders that I could see any of them winning. Those are u/bmac92 u/hugbckt u/tsrblke in no particular order. For ROTY, I would think some contenders would be u/snoo-ting u/Lathered_Yeti u/josiguuh u/Low_Key1782 in no particular order. I was a rookie last year and it is fun to see and read what the first timers come up. I particularly liked u/snoo-ting posts because they are short and sweet and I always enjoyed reading his self care write ups. Some of them were simple reminders to myself that taking care of ourselves is a lot more simple than we think
My favorite post of all was u/bmac92 and his car wash shave. I was up ridicously late that night for WCW and watching himself blast his face with a foam cannon made me laugh my ass, but also slightly concerned for his well being. I really loved u/Priusaurus shitposting all month too despite not being a djudge. I felt like this LG had much less shenanigans then last year, but a lot more people brought consistently good write ups that made for really good content.
June 28th, 2025: It's Alive!
Daily Theme: My shave for today was slightly uninspired, but thought this would be funny to do. I combined all of the The Four Horsemen soaps from Barrister and Mann: War, Death, Famine, and Plague. It smelled about as good as it could considering all of them are pretty non-approachable. FWIW, I got more of a reaction out of the Miss with Stag than I did with my brew. I thought it was gonna be a lot more nasty than it was, but it was all just mud and the shave was great. EDIT: totally forgot to mention thanks to u/whosgotthepudding for hooking me up with the Four Horsemen, you da man!
Daily Challenge: I got a 10/12 (83%) for today's challenge. I really thought I could get all of them, but I got stumbled up on two of them. That was a fun challenge.
June 27th, 2025: Frigid Friday
Daily Theme Justification: While menthol is not explicitly stated in the ingredient list of this particular tub, the label says "MENTHOLATED". If that is still not satisfactory, LOOK AT THE SOAP FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, also the brush after a swipe or two. Yes, that is pure menthol crystals awaiting to be lathered.
Daily Theme: It has been hot as balls out for pretty much every region in the US this last week or two, so Frigid Friday was needed. I opted for some high quality bottled Hy-Vee Spring Water that had been in the fridge all day, but chilled in the freezer for about 30 minutes prior to shaving. However, it has been really hot. So why not add some ice to the equation for a full ice water shave. I poured the water directly into the ice, and something unexpectedly pleasant occurred, the water turned into slush immediately after pouring. Perfect! I really need to cool down after this hot week. Just as a safe measure, I squirted two pumps of Permafrost into my ice water.
To get my shave started, I rinsed my face and got it nice, cold, and wet, before applying a mix of Proraso Pre Shave and some Permafrost. Wow! This is really cool and refreshing. I rubbed that in for about a minute and let it sit before building my lather. Since I needed serious cooling I opted to pre-chill my razor before the shave and between passes. I swirled and swirled before I was met with a pretty meh lather, but alas Permafrost is here. I added two additional pumps of it to my brush before hitting my face to lather. Holy shit, this is cold, but just what I needed.
I lather and perform my first pass, and then rinse with my ice water. Oh. My. God. This is for real cold, but it is what I asked for. I lather up for a second pass and by this point, time, space, and any sense of self has diminished and I have merged metaphysically with the cold. Eyes watering, can't think straight, where did I put the fucking razor? Oh yeah, I forgot it is hidden underneath the ice water. I rinse again with the ice water and do some touch up passes and at this point, I hit the singularity...
.....cold......
I rinse one last time and this shocked me back to life and I dried my face off. It was like I'd been waterboarded in the Arctic and resuscitated, reminding myself of what I'd just done to myself. "No, please let me perish, I cannot bear another second of this", I plead to myself. In a futile attempt to merge with the cold beyond this realm to escape, I applied Terror with more..fucking..Permafrost. "I am still here.. Please.. let me go." How about some Nivea Cooling Balm with more death sauce (Permafrost). At this point, I am shivering inches from death, awaiting for it to take me. However, I hear something. "Finish the Lather Games, there are only a few more days left". I remember that it is Frigid Friday and I needed to shave. Anyways, it has been hot as balls out for pretty much every region in the US this last week or two...
Daily Challenge: I used spring water bottled by Hy-Vee. Not sure what impact it had on my shave, but I used it. Please see my above post for proof and what this water did to me.
Has any of the euro guys received their Irving Park Smushes?
June 26th, 2025: The Spice is Right
Daily Theme Justification: "Le Piment de la Vie" or "The Spice of Life" is a very complexly fragranced shaving soap. It is sweet and spicy and earthy and just all around amazing. -Le Piment de la Vie
Daily Theme: Thank you today for our friend u/snoo-ting providing the smush. CB lather is great as usual and as a new scent to me, I thought this was a great scent. To me there was a touch of familiarity to it that I can't quite identify. The sweetness mixed in with the spiciness is blended very well and it was very enjoyable to use. I would consider getting a full tub, but I need to finish this smush before I decide that because it is huge. As a relevant post shave, I went for Sea Spice Lime to take the spice in a different direction with with more aquatic and green qualities. Two different takes on spice that have cemented their place in wetshaving!
Daily Challenge: I've been on a Grateful Dead kick lately and I actually listened to this song a few times over this morning. It is Brown-Eyed Women live at Barton Hall at Cornell University. It has has the perfect mix of complex, yet relaxing and energetic, reminiscent of Le Piment de la Vie, balanced perfectly. It really is just a great performance all around.
June 25th, 2025: Christmas in June
Daily Theme: Thank you to u/Gaidin23 for this soap today. It was an entirely full sample of Desairology, and folks, this was given to me after SW closed up shop. I'd been interested in this scent when I got first into wetshaving and barbershop scents shortly after, but never followed through with picking it up. I am glad to have tried a sample of it because while it is an interesting take on a barbershop, I don't know if a full tub would have my name on it. It has the usual SW flair on it and I smell something dark and animalic in it, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I pair Tabac as a relevant post shave because it too has an animalic funk, but is balanced out by the soapy like Stank we all know and love.
Daily Challenge: Honestly, this might not be too out there, but Glace Herbe in the Premium Base would honestly be really cool. The Haitian Vetiver has the perfect blend of being simple, yet fairly complex as a standalone scent. Grassy, earthy, tinge of smokiness, and sweetness mixed in menthol would be a soap that I could use year around with no complaints at all. Another one would be CF Trade Winds in Prem base and hoping it would not give me frag burn because that is one of my favorite scents ever.
June 24th, 2025: All About That Base
Daily Theme Justification: "Our luxury shaving soap with no added fragrance or essential oils for those with sensitivities or so there is a blank canvas to build your own scent for the day." - Le Nude ad copy
Daily Theme: This was my first time (at least to my memory) using an unscented soap. At first I really thought unscented soaps were a waste of time. After hearing people that still want to shave if they're sick, can't use fragrances due to medical issues, or just wanting to wear a fragrance with no other scent interaction, I finally understood the point behind it. Not much to speak of on this shave other than the Lux base is a great affordable base and finishing it with Sego Unscented makes this my first truly unscented shave. I could see myself using this soap more just to take breaks from others, or to really focus on splash or fragrance scent.
Daily Challenge: I really don't think I have been around long enough to have seen bases come and gone and get really familiar with them. However, I would think I have to say the tallow Tabac base is surely missed. I know it is possible to get great lathers from the new vegan formula, but from my limited experience, the tallow puck did lather much easier and the quality was excellent. Thankfully, I have a barely touched puck that I can reminisce with. As for current favorite bases, it is hands down Catie's Bubbles Premium Base. It is incredibly easy to work with and it a privilege to use it when I do. It is the base that I own the most tubs of.
June 23rd, 2025: Information Overload
Daily Theme Justification: Wholly Kaw Twice as Spice - Notes: Orange, Cinnamon, Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Lemon, Carnation, Cedar, Ambergris, Clove, Jasmine, Frankincense, Nag Champa, Clary Sage, which is 13 total.
Daily Theme: I got this soap from u/Cowzilla3 about a year and half ago through a Spice Off PIF. I have try and salvage an Old Spice shave since I went nautically themed on "Where Did All the Rum Go?" day. Everybody here is far too relaxed for having been put a list, we should all be panicking. (Cowzilla take me off, I am one of the good guys.) Anyway, a true nice and spicy software day. I haven't smelled this soap in quite a long time and it is much better than I remember. The downsides of having a noob nose.
Daily Challenge: Instead of going for true aggressiveness (like a Blackbird OC) in a one pass shave, I opted for mild and efficient. The Merica fits that bill perfectly. A touch of blade feel, but not too much razor. It did just fine with one pass and fulfilled today's challenge perfectly.
June 22nd, 2025: It Takes Two
Daily Theme Justification: I will defer to C Bubs himself on his thoughts about Glace Herbe being a two note soap, which includes Haitian Vetiver and menthol.
Daily Theme: Originally I was going to use Fanzine Saponifications Bubblegum and Rose. However, it feels like a million degrees in the midwest and I had just got done with yard work. As soon as I got done shaving, I saw u/TheStallionPartThree tag me for the rap battle and I will address that momentarily. Glace Herbe cooled me down and gave me that nice earthy, grassy, and nutty smell of Haitian Vetiver. I really enjoyed this soap that I got from u/BrokenJaw622, now I need to find a set of it. V splash and frag to follow up to follow the Vetiver train. You have that nice Vetiver base with V with a lot of top end complexity that really captivates me. It is probably my favorite fragrance to date.
Daily Challenge: u/TheStallionPartThree mentioned me earlier and this'll be challenge entry and reply for a call out.
The man with a plan who cooks for Fanzine
He's down with the brown which we call Ween
Could've lathered up some bubblegum and Rose
Instead Glace Herbe left me all froze
The Stallion whips up the Candi
His releases are sure to be dandy
Whether its Part one, two, or three
He made sure the Roses are Free!
July 2nd, 2025
Used Union today for a buddy shave with u/whosgotthepudding This is a seriously good barbershop scent. Still getting used to building the lather, but great shave today nonetheless.