Share your shave of the day!
Operation Valiant Varen Vanguard
- Brush: Zenith r/Wetshaving exclusive MOAR BOAR, failed kintsugi edition (31 mm × 57 mm bleached boar)
- Razor: EldrormR Industries - GEM Division: MM24
- Blade: Personna #GEM PTFE
- Lather: Stirling Soap Co. — Varen
- Aftershave: Stirling Soap Co. — Varen
It didn’t come as a surprise to me that I had a simply stellar shave today. The MM24 is my third-most used razor, Varen my second most used soap, and the broken MOAR BOAR my second most used brush (with its unbroken sibling catching up slowly) for a reason.
Aside from just being excellent, the gear occupies a soft spot in my heart:
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The MOAR BOAR was a wild little adventure to organise, and I couldn’t be more happy with how it turned out, how it was received by our sub, and how — in many ways — it symbolises the spirit of our sub: An idea pops up, it gets discussed in a subadjacent chat, and a group of volunteers forms and makes it happen. BOOM. It’s hard to overstate how fond I am of this let’s-do-it attitude that also brought us the Lather Games and most recently, this awesome #MMarch24 madness.
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u/EldrormR’s MM24 hits in the same vein. He had this idea, tried it, perfected it, and now he cranks out these unique and wonderful Frankenrazors that fill the SOTD pictures on the sub.
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Varen is an original scent by Stirling and the soap I used to break in this MOAR BOAR brush last year. Rod from Stirling was the one who helped us when we were in over our heads dealing with US import regulations during Project MOAR BOAR. I’m not sure how we’d have managed without him and stay roughly within budget. For that alone Stirling deserves winning this match (no knock on Talent, they got paired up with this juggernaut through no fault of their own), but they also produce some of my favourite software like Varen, Haverford, and Mountain Man.
March 9, 2024
- Brush: AP Shave Co. - 24mm Synbad Fan
- Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24
- Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (1)
- Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Lavender Sage - Soap
- Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Varen - Aftershave
- Post Shave: allMan - Refined - Balm
- Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. - Varen - EdT (#MMarch24)
I should have just done a full Varen trick, but Lavender Sage was pretty good!
Mar 9, 2024
- Brush: Trotter Handcrafts Souls 26mm Manchurian T1 Knot
- Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24 #MMarch24
- Blade: Personna GEM PTFE [9]
- Lather: Talent Soap Factory - Echo Beach - Soap (Vegan)
- Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Waves - Aftershave
I was surprised that Talent Soap Factory made it to the MM24 tournament, as small as they are, but I think that just goes to show the special creativity of their scents. TSF has a fantastic lineup of unique scents (doughnuts or grape soda), and sometimes odd scent notes (corn husks, radish, or spray paint). Even their more standard fragrances like Moon Shadow, Riviera, and Seven Stones are excellent. Talent Tuesdays have been my way to experience and enjoy their scents.
Rating: 4.5/5
I don’t have any TSF products, but what you said about their creativity makes me want some.
They are worth checking out over on Etsy
Yeah, I took a look. I’m not too into gourmand scents. Given that, and that you’ve given me great advice before, what would you suggest I try?
Many of their scents are gourmand or have gourmand aspects, but I would recommend the following scents that lean away from the gourmand:
- Toki: corn husk, citrus, apricot, rose, orchid, herbs, radish leaf, oak wood
- Save the Earth: Pepper, thyme, oakmoss, earth, ginseng, cedar, vetiver, vanilla, amber
- Moon Shadow: jasmine, tea, sandalwood
- Seven Stone: grapes, leaves, oak, jasmine, lily of the valley, red rose (Fall scent)
Of the scents mentioned, only Moon Shadow is currently available. I think they are trying to change everything over to the new Matilda base, so hopefully, they will rerelease some of these other scents soon. Of the ones on their site now, Wolf Mother (campfire and S’mores) and Daddy Long Legs (1920’s Barbershop) have been recommended to me. I’ll probably try those soon.
Thank you! I appreciate all the detail. I’ll look into it.
No problem
March 9, 2024
- Brush: Chisel & Hound Gulf Short 26mm V22 Fanchurian
- Razor: EldrormR Industries MM24
- Blade: Personna Gem PTFE (7)
- Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Mountain Man - Soap
- Toner: Thayers - Cucumber - Toner
- Aftershave: Stirling Soap Co. - Mountain Man - Aftershave
- Fragrance: Creed Silver Mountain Water
2 passes. Face lather. Good shave.
A very nice weekend shave.
#MMarch24
Mountain Man ++;
Yeah, Mountain Man and Bleu Man are goto dupes for me because I can finish with the real EdP. Did you ever buy SMW from Creed?
No, I’m still waffling over SMW😅
Yeah, that’s understandable. I’ve been enjoying a set of Floris samples I purchased a bit more than the Creed stuff. I think, though, that the Floris stodginess translates to nostalgia for me and might just seem outdated for someone else.
