October 3rd, 2026: SDS Day

• Brush: Wolf Whiskers - "Gianmaria" w/Maggard 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: Koraat 15/16 Full Hollow - Sub Exclusive 'Moarteen' (12)
• Lather: MÜHLE - Sandalwood - Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - Balm

I was going to skip today because I didn't think I had anything I've never used (and I'm playing day-by-day without any planning). But, I decided to poke around anyway, and low and behold my wife had bought me this Muhle shaving soap on a trip she took to Italy (despite me telling her not to buy me anything shave related). It was in an unassuming paperboard box, so it's no wonder it has just been sitting on a shelf.

As for the daily challenge, I feel like this was made for my Shaving Data System project. https://gitlab.com/walden_/shaving-data-system

Using the SDS to filter my shaves from the last year, here are some stats:

Total shaves including 10/3/2025 (but not including today): 367 Most used brush: Wolf Whiskers - "Gianmaria" w/Maggard 26mm Synthetic - used 26% of the time Most used type of razor - Straight Razor - used 40% of the time (with the Moarteen taking the lead in frequency of use) Most used soap - Fanzine Saponifications - Caravaggio - used 8% of the time (killed so I can't use it) Most used aftershave - Brut - used 10% of the time (killed so I can't use it)

My travel brush, a Stirling "2-band" Synthetic, was used 66 times which means I was away from home 66 nights. My most used DE was the RazoRock GOAT, used 14% of the time. My most used straight was the Koraat Moarteen, used 9% of the time. My most used DE blade was Personna Lab Blue, used 7% of the time. I used a 2nd post-shave product 69% of the time, with a vast majority being in the colder months. I spray a frag only 25% of the time.

October 3rd, 2026: New Year, New You

• Brush: Rad Dinosaur Creations "Nebulagance" - TurnNShave Quartermoon 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Open Comb (Gen. 1)
• Blade: Accuforge GEM Microcoat (32)
• Lather: Hearth and Altar - Shadows & Sandalwood - Soap
• Post Shave: Chatillon Lux - Santal Auster - Toner
• Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Ubrique - EdP

Theme justification - I ain't never used a Hearth and Altar soap.

Relevant Post Shave or Frag - I ain't never used Santal Auster either.

Daily challenge - I can answer this question precisely thanks to the power of SDS (thanks walden!).

First, surprisingly, I didn't shave exactly a year ago. Of the 401 shaves tracked in the last year, one of the only days I missed was 2025-10-03. It's not at all relevant to the challenge, but I thought it was a happy little coincidence.

I used this brush for 41 shaves in the last year, or ~10% of my total. RDC++;

The MMOC was used 39 times in the last year, ~10% of total uses. It just eked out the CF Legacy by 4 shaves this year. I used my AA blade today and it easily gave me great results. MMOC++; easily a desert island razor for me.

When it comes to learning how to use safety or straight razors, I genuinely think that change can be bad. You don't want to change many variables when you're just learning the basics. Don't try and learn to run before you learn to walk. Once you're comfortable, then it's time to play around! Try weird razors. Experiment with different non-GUTL lathering methods. Find the things that spark joy for you.

$FOF - This combination didn't go as expected.

I hadn't sniffed Shadows & Sandalwood before this morning's shave and, for whatever reason, I was expecting a more straightforward sandalwood scent. Don't get me wrong, sandalwood was front and center, but the florals in the fragrance brought a light, effervescent lift to the scent that surprised me.

I'd also only smelled Santal Auster from the bottle, where to my nose it has an almost medicinal quality similar to wormwood extract. But once I splashed the splash and let the fragrance settle the woodiness and oud really started to peek through.

Ubrique I'm pretty familiar with, with 22 uses since I bought the bottle. I have a hard time putting words to the scent. Rosewood, bergamot, and leather hit first, with a gradual dry down into a spicy sandalwood accord. It's easily the darkest sandalwood in this progression and a beautiful scent with which to end the shave.

Taken together, the three made for a sandalwood that kept going deeper as the shave went on. Bright and floral in the lather, woody and oud-tinged in the splash, and dark, spicy, and leathery by the time the fragrance settled in.

Oct. 3, 2026

• Brush: Zenith MOAR BOAR
• Razor: GEM Clog Pruf
• Blade: GEM PTFE (2)
• Lather: Razor Emporium - Nordic - Puck
• Post Shave: Whole Hog - Unscented - Aftershave
• Osma: Osma - Osma
• Scuttle: Georgetown Pottery - G20

I didn’t intend on shaving with this today. I actually picked up a pack of Vanderhagen from /u/coco_for_cocoapuffs a couple months ago when I placed an order from his store and I had this day in mind when I did that so I had that sitting in my den for the past couple months. I intended to use it today, but when I pulled the box out and opened it up, quite frankly, it smelled like shit, absolute dog shit. It was like fake strawberry or some shit like that. I was absolutely unable to deal with so I found this Razor Emporium soap that someone had PIFed me quite some time ago and then I instantly lost. I found this the other day when I was going through my stuff and fortunately that means I didn’t have to use the shitty smelling strawberry Vanderhagen crap that I had purchased. The problem is while this smelled a lot less offensive than the Vanderhagen, performance was about as good as Soap Commander, which is pretty much my bar for unacceptable soap. Not a great shave, not a great smell, but all of my hardware is my most used hardware of the past 12 months so that was fun.

October 3, 2026

• Brush: Semogue Owners Club Cherry Wood 24mm Boar
• Razor: WoolfBlades 7/8 Quarter Hollow Jörmungandr Damascus
• Lather: Shannon's Soaps - Woody's Victories - 2024 Mid-Ohio Meetup Exclusive - Soap
• Post Shave: Spearhead Shaving Company - Seaforth! Buckeye - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Thayers - Cucumber - Toner

2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.

Today I tried out a new soap brand, Shannon's Soaps, and returned to my most-used hardware of the past 12 months.

I found the Shannon's Soaps tallow base to be quite workable. Easy to lather and very good slickness. The scent of Woody's Victories was on the mild side, but seemed to me to be an amber scent while using it. I later determined that it is. I found the scent to be pleasant but not distinctive. Of course, this was my first use, so my opinion could change with more familiarity. This soap was a Mid-Ohio Meetup exclusive in 2024, and the splash, Seaforth! Buckeye was made to accompany it. The Spearhead splashes were great (imo), and this one did not disappoint. I don't know if the splash's fragrance profile is the same as the soap's, but it definitely complements it.

This WoolfBlades razor and the Semogue Owners Club brush were used for Austere August this year. I have so much "stuff" that using these in AA makes them my most-used hardware over the past 12 months.

Now, you're asking an older person to explain why change is bad. To us, this is inherently obvious. Change requires unlearning things we took a lifetime to learn, and that effort seems greater with each passing year. That's my explanation. But I don't actually embody it in my day to day life. On the contrary, I think that the challenge of change is, overall, very positive; especially for those locked into old habits. OK, 'nuff said.

Video

LG SOTD - 2026-10-03

• Prep: Chiseled Face Groomatorium - Pre-shave Gel
• Bowl: Captain's Choice - Obsidian Copper
• Brush: Zenith - 507U (Olivewood) Boar w/ 28mm Boar
• Razor: RazoRock - Superslant - L3++
• Blade: Feather - New Hi-Stainless (DE)
• Lather: Adopted Acres Soap Co. - Diverted Acres
• Post Shave: Adopted Acres Soap Co. - Diverted Acres Aftershave
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Glacial Unscented Balm
• Post Shave: Pinaud - Clubman Reserve Whiskey Woods Powder
• Tool: WSDB
• Platform: PieFed
• Tags: $discord

Theme: New Year, New You - This is my first time with Adopted Acres. This is the scent they put into the musk-off challenge on Fbook to compete against TCB APEX.

The soap base is pretty nice. It's very soft but not quite a cream. It took plenty of water. Next time, I'll go a bit heavier on soap. The scent is good to my nose - confirmed musky.

Scent notes: white musk, caress musk, "muscenone," cinnamon, sun-dried hay, castoreum, warm oud, gasoline, and ambered woods

Daily Challenge: New You, Same old you - I only have 64 shaves on my Stirling x Zenith 31mm brush, so I'm using the Zenith 507U (145 shaves). L3++ has 263 shaves on it. The Captains bowl is my only bowl. So, I changed my current setup for today's challenge. I don't like changing. Change sucks. Sheesh! What I do for points. :)

Today's entry was brought to you in part by the Shaving Data System by @walden.