If Cuero Oscuro is chosen for March, I could include a sample of it in your letter - in case you actually want to try that and not just look to avoid that soap 😂

A Meißner Tremonia soap that tried to go for Scotch whisky. Please refer to the reply I gave @PorkButtsNTaters666 ✌🏻

Meißner Tremonia - Strong’n’Scottish is the offender. They were probably going for the smoky, earthy notes of good Scotch - but to me, it only resembles the smell of smoked “Knackwurst” 😥

Cool stuff. I personally know the feeling of ordering something blind all too well; so far though, only a few duds. These here look and sound comfortable and not very risky at all 👍🏻

the gourmand nobody asked for 😅

Whiskey-labeled soaps who end up smelling like smoked sausages are on the same page 😓

09.01.2025 - Vor V before Midnight

• Brush: AP Shave Co. black & clear handle w/ 30 mm Tuxedo Fan knot
• Razor: RazoRock Cyber Medium
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux
• Lather: Wholly Kaw - Vor V
• Post-Shave: HAGS - Apocalypse aftershave balm

-> 1-pass head shave. Quick, but a good one.

I actually bothered to search for at least one brush. Figured I might as well re-decorate now that I have had to tidy things up everywhere: I am looking for a nice pegboard (you know, like the kind you see in workshops for hanging up tools in an organized manner) to give my brushes and razors a nice place in my tiny bathroom.

Anyways, Vor V is a soap I won together with two NO soaps in a PIF once. It’s still going strong. It was the first WK soap I ever used and it really convinced me that I need more. Of course it helped that it’s a dupe/hommage to TF Tuscan Leather, one of my all-time favs. This here is a bit heavier on the raspberry note, but actually that’s quite welcome. What started as a day with lots of rain ended with lots of snow. It will be a wet and muddy mess tomorrow, but at least I could use some warm scents.

Apocalypse is also rather fruity and fresh, much more of a summer vibe scent. But it still fits good enough with Vor V. Plus, HAGS makes good aftershave products - IMHO, these are even better than the soaps by them. Good skincare, no shitty ingredients, absorbs fast. What else could you wish for?

08.01.2025 - Exhausted SOTN

• Brush: none/hands
• Razor: Leaf Thorn
• Blade: snapped RPL
• Lather: GRN [GRÜN] - Hemp & Hops organic shaving cream
• Post-Shave: OAM - Witch Hazel & Cucumber toner; moisturizer

-> 2 pass head shave and 1 on cheek lines and neckline. OK overall, just not as slick and luxurious as I’m used to.

Why a brushless cream? The heating company & my landlords were here today for a long-ass repair session in my flat as well as the whole apartment complex. I had to get my precious brushes out of trouble and I didn’t bother fetching the box with them from my bedroom again. I’m really spent today. The repairs took place for over 7 hours (minus 2x 1-hour breaks for them where I tried my best to fill out my school documents digitally) and then I had to clean everything up in my flat. Thankfully, everything regarding the radiators works (for now). But I simply couldn’t be arsed to search for one of my brushes.

This here is a natural & organic shaving cream by a brand from german natural manufacturer cosmondial. I don’t know if it’s intended to be a brushless cream; at least that’s how I normally use it for body shaving. The scent is quite nice, after all it combined two known vices. However, the stuff tends to get sticky and doesn’t really exceed in terms of slickness nor protection. I usually don’t notice in the shower since I still use a cartridge razor there - which I intend to change once all cartridges are used up. Their moisturizers are quite good, but this shaving cream isn’t really worth bothering in comparison to Speick (my usual choice for body shaving).

But, alas - it was still good enough to shave my head in two passes and the light texture helped with shaping accurate beard contours. Ying and Yang - there’s always something positive to a negative. Or some other deep thought shit… I’m gonna rest now. Gladly, it’ll be warm while I do so…

This is indeed a big problem. I personally recommend getting an organic supplement by a company that subscribes to the GMP standard to minimise the chances of such occurrences but - there’s always a chance of malevolent interference.

No worries, I actually find it very beneficial to critically assess anything we ingest and not just go with “trust me, bro”. So far I only have my own anecdotal evidence. Sorry for info bombing you with so much text though!

I think this credible source link summarizes it pretty well. There’s a lot of possible positive outcomes associated with it, much research was rather shallow and inconsistent and more research is needed. There’s also a PubMed summary that sounds far more positive than this, but also explains that it probably won’t help with chronic pain. So the answer is as always: it depends.

I was honestly always skeptical about it. Last summer, when I was taking enough capsules to rival my very old residents at the nursing home, I decided to slim down my supplements to only stuff that’s good for me and is recommended by nutritionists. I cut out B-vitamin complexes as there are possibly links between B6, B12 and a quadruple increase in lung cancer risk for male smokers. I also cut out fish oil and substituted it with the way tamer hemp oil - my heart wasn’t really pleased with fish oil and the constant fish burps were awful. I also cut off L-Tyrosine, as the “effective” amount for ADHD and dopamine would be way higher in cost than I was willing to pay and the effects, if any at all, were just really minor.

Then I looked up what nutritionists and doctors say they take themselves. Apart from the always repeated Omega 3s in either animal or vegan sources, creatine and stuff like zinc, magnesium etc., turmeric/curcumin showed up quite a lot. One doc was the exception, who just said high quality local food and no supps at all, but judging by the salary he probably receives I reckon he can afford this 24/7/365. I actually began with a combination of organic curcumin, ginger powder and piperine and noticed no difference until the winter came: classmates as well as colleagues fell sick while I didn’t have any issues with being ill. And now, when some probably more contagious germ(s) got me, I just had about 3 to 4 days of actually being sick instead of the usual week to ten days.

Take my advice with a grain of salt - I am in no way a supplement or nutritional expert, but I am quite skeptical about most common used things but this convinced me. Of course, without a healthy active lifestyle and a balanced, varied diet no supp in the world can help you. They only enhance, they aren’t magic. As one old powerlifting book I used to read said very fittingly: “eating like shit but taking all the latest expensive supplements is like installing the most expensive and brightest lamps in an old, rundown cabin with leaky faucets, holes in the roof and mould on the walls. It sure looks pretty at night, but it doesn’t make any f##king sense!”. Thanks for listening to my TED talk 😅

Thanks, same to you! I can recommend Tumeric as a supplement - seems like sickness lasts shorter if you even catch it at all.

Congratulations! Hope your renovations will go according to plan and your child will be healthy and strong. 🍀

06.01.2025 - Herbal wellness SOTN

• Brush: RazoRock 400 Noir SE 24 mm
• Razor: RazoRock Cyber Medium
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux
• Lather: OAM - Oli del benessere
• Post-Shave: OAM sensitive skin toner; Alterra men natural ASB
• Fragrance: Bentley for Men Intense EdP

-> 2-pass head shave, 1 on the neck. Very comfortable!

Since my cold is thankfully almost gone, I was feeling like a wellness shave was a good idea. I rarely use this soap: it’s a soft Italian croap in a huge glass jar with an aluminium lid - definitely very eco-friendly, but it kinda feels like a bottomless pit despite its softness. Basically it’s a Stirling size amount of croap in the glass jar! Makes it very easy to load, but not so easy to store.

The name translates to “oils of wellbeing” or “wellness oils”. If anyone is familiar with the old Herbal Essences shampoos and shower gels, this would fit quite well in their lineup. Basically, the soap uses 4 natural plant oils with good glide to substitute the tallow. I feel like it’s definitely working; maybe not as good in skincare as my WK, ZM or B&M soaps, but still very solid. The sensitive skin toner has the matching scent and it actually works with lots of other soaps due to that - but today, it was a special treat since it intensified the scent a lot.

A fresh RPL again for the RR Cyber and the difference to the BIC is night and day. Not harsh at all, just very efficient. The search for a good non-russian blade shall continue once I’ve depleted my current stock. Any suggestions are highly welcome!

First day back in nursing school: it seems like this will also finish like my OT apprenticeship did in 2016 - after the exams are over, no contact to any former classmates anymore. The tensions are palpable, especially with the exams coming up this year. I’ll start preparing for them more thoroughly now - should help with my future career options.

Rambler is sweet but good IMHO. The fruity notes harmonise well with the tobacco flower (which is sweeter than cigar leaf tobacco). It’s a very good companion for the mild seasons of spring and autumn! I used to have the matching beard balm and it definitely got me compliments.

05.01.2025 - Menthol SOTN

• Brush: AP Shave Co. Snakeskin handle w/ 26 mm Silksmoke Flattop/Fan hybrid knot
• Razor: Leaf Thorn
• Blade: snapped Rapira Platinum Lux
• Lather: Abbate Y La Mantia - Blu Tobacco
• Post-Shave: OAM witch hazel & cucumber toner; Alterra men natural ASB

-> 2 passes on the head, 1 on the neck. Solid shave, but overhydrated the lather.

My cold is thankfully fading away, I think it’s safe to attend nursing school tomorrow. However, my nose is still a bit stuffed and I can only smell menthol from this soap. It’s thankfully not awfully cold which would be harsh in the current weather, but noticeable enough for me.

I seem to have forgotten how to use hard soaps - got the lather too wet and it was quite thin today. Very slick, but almost no protection. Thankfully, the Thorn doesn’t need much despite the menacing name.

I had a bit of a skin breakout today after accidentally using a peppermint shower gel on my face too - currently I look like during the worst parts of puberty, but thankfully it’s already healing due to the ointments I used. Kinda interesting, never had a problem with peppermint as an ingredient before - I suspect it’s the high amount of EO in the product. Still, I’m glad that nursing school starts again tomorrow. Now it’s the stressful time before our exams this year, but it provides a welcome break from the monotony of work. Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend!

Yeah, being sick sucks but at least it gave me a bit more free time 😅

Sounds like good plans! Interesting that your weather is good enough for a run - yesterday we had snow in the flatlands for the first time. Hope you’ll have success with the job applications!

My cold has worsened despite taking some measurements to improve my health again. The only positive outcome: originally I had two short late shifts planned this weekend (4 hours from 16:00 to 20:00) - thankfully, those were cancelled since a lot of our residents at the nursing home are sick too and my superiors didn’t want that we spread infections too much.

So I have a free weekend ahead of me before nursing school resumes on Monday. Apart from grocery shopping, I’ll spend it mostly inside. Gaming, preparing for school and the exams and putting together a new laundry collection system I got will be my tasks for this newly won free time. For the new year, I try to live more ecologically/eco-friendly and organise my belongings in a ADHD-friendly way. I actually read a few books to help with those issues atm and I feel like I should be on a good way. What do you folks have planned for the weekend?

Just wanted to let you know that my sample arrived here safely today. Thanks for getting it out so quickly in the holiday season! 👍🏻

Wholly Kaw - Cuero Oscuro

A masterful blend of leather, vetiver, cedarwood, tobacco, patchouli, oakmoss and coffee to top it off. Think of rawhide leather scent or boots.

This one’s dank, but a good one. For fans of Midnight Stag, Gearhead, Valley of Ashes and the like. We need some darkness to appreciate the light more. More info by the artisan themself under this link right here