October 13th, 2026: Blind Date

• Brush: Grizzly Bay - AP Shave Co. MiG 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: Yates Precision Manufacturing 921-M
• Blade: Wizamet Super Iridium (9)
• Lather: u/loudmusicboy - Blind Date - Soap
• Post Shave: Stetson - Cooling Moisture - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
• Fragrance: Stirling - Stirling Gentleman - EdT

Theme justification - u/loudmusicboy and I have a bit of a thing going on, it's no big deal.

He graciously sent me this smush for today's mail order blind date, and it gave me a great shave. The scent was in the direction of Hygge but with more white florals. Maybe some similarities with Shire, but without the dirt. There's also a very faint herbal quality, almost like rose stems.

The lather performed great! Excellent slickness and took as much water as I wanted to give it. I was leaning toward it being a HoM scent, but I can't find one that fits what I'm smelling.

Could this be Royal Bloom from Adopted Acres? I guess we'll see if my other half wants to fill me in.

Relevant Post Shave or Frag - Good old Stetson. Its citrus and sage blended nicely with the florals and herbs from the soap. An excellent pairing.

Daily challenge - August through October in New Mexico is green chile roasting season. All over the state, mostly in grocery store or big box parking lots, people set up propane-fired chile roasters. You can either bring your own bag of fresh chiles or usually buy a bag nearby.

I want to bottle the scent of being in Santa Fe during chile roasting season. The peppery and slightly spicy scent of roasting chiles on the air, with hints of juniper, pine, and sage. Maybe a subtle base of coffee or chocolate, a nod to the shorter days of the approaching winter.

Feels like it'd be hard to pull off well, but I'd wear the hell out of it.

$FOF - I have no idea what scent notes were really in this soap, but the floral, herbaceous, and lightly earthy notes blended beautifully with Stetson's sage, citrus, and cedar.

Stirling Gentleman -- with it's tobacco, vanilla, amber, and musk -- brought the progression to a classy, refined finish. Stirling Gentleman is one of the fragrances Robert Sterling made himself, and it's a lovely, rich tobacco scent. It's one of my wife's favorites around the holidays.

October 12th, 2026: A Case of the Mondays

• Brush: Chisel & Hound "Ultramarine" - Chisel & Hound Soot Sprite 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: Star Model 100
• Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (5)
• Lather: Stirling - Executive Man - Soap
• Post Shave: Saponificio Varesino - Cosmo - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
• Fragrance: Zingari Man - El Cantinero - EdP

Theme justification - I don't like Executive Man. It's too generic cologne for me, I just find it boring.

But, it's Stirling so the base is fantastic and I got an awesome shave.

Relevant Post Shave or Frag - Cosmo is relevant to the soap as a continuation of the aquatic vibe.

Daily challenge - https://www.reddit.com/...

$FOF - Executive Man has a nice initial hit of citrus (before turning into generic male cologne), which Cosmo picks up and extends nicely with it's citrus, vetiver, and other woods.

El Cantinero ended the shave with bright lime, grapefruit, and a hint of briny salinity. A lovely, refreshing shave in the end.

October 11th, 2026: Canned Shave Goop

• Brush: Hands
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Titanium
• Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (10)
• Lather: Barbasol - Original - Soap
• Post Shave: Mennen - Skin Bracer - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
• Fragrance: Stirling - Seine Reserve - EdT

Theme justification - This can of Barbasol was purchased local to me. My wife uses it to get stains out of clothing, and I guess I use it to shave during LG.

Relevant Post Shave or Frag - Skin Bracer was also purchased local to me. I was under the impression that Skin Bracer was being discontinued, but I keep seeing it in stores. Fine by me, I think it's an excellent splash for the price.

Daily challenge - No den tour from me this year.

$FOF - Not much interesting here. Two American shaving staples followed by a solid RG dupe. Nice, smooth, and restrained. The soap isn't my favorite to shave with, but the scent progression was great.

October 10th, 2026: Non-Citrus Fruit Day

• Brush: Rad Dinosaur Creations "Nebulagance" - TurnNShave Quartermoon 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Flying Wing
• Blade: Accuforge GEM Microcoat (11)
• Lather: Catie's Bubbles - DFTR - Soap
• Post Shave: Macduff's Soap Company - Chinook Sky - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
• Fragrance: Paul Sebastian - PS Cologne

Theme justification - DFTR is a fig scent. According to Bubble Daddy it’s boozy green fig over tobacco, woods, and musk, with no citrus anywhere in the notes. Fig is a fruit that is also not citrus.

Relevant Post Shave or Frag - Chinook Sky has earth, moss, cedar, and patchouli. DFTR’s fig is green but not sweet, so the splash picks up the green and the patchouli and carries them forward.

Daily challenge - See my SOTD picture for the daily challenge. My wife helped with the photo, she's too good to me.

$FOF - To my nose DFTR is green fig with tobacco and woods underneath. It’s an odd scent and I like it for that. There's a rich fig with booze underneath. A truly beautiful scent that I think is sorely underrated.

Chinook Sky brings a nice earthy/woodiness with some tonka to round it off. It keeps the green from the soap and drops the fig. Macduff’s describes it as "a momentary spring in the midst of winter", which seems about right to me.

PS I’ve only had for a few months. Sage and lavender up top, sandalwood, patchouli, myrrh, and vanilla underneath. It takes the patchouli from the shave and softens everything out. Very nice for an old drugstore cologne.

October 9th, 2026: Friday, I'm in Love

• Brush: Rad Dinosaur Creations "Trench Line" - Manchuridon Two Band 26mm Badger
• Razor: Chiseled Face Titanium Legacy Razor
• Blade: Kai (4)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Roam Two - Soap
• Post Shave: Noble Otter - Lonestar - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
• Fragrance: Chanel - Égoïste - EdT

Theme justification - Roam Two remains my favorite scent. It's another that reminds me of living in the New Mexico high desert. I love the juniper, grass, and leather that comes through. Usually I use the trifecta because I think each piece brings something special, but I'm trying to non-dickhole these games.

The rest of my setup includes some of my current favorites. The TI Legacy is my favorite DE razor, and this RDC custom + Manchuridon knot is just lovely. Wenge beehive, dark and sparkly ferrule, and a fantastic badger knot. No complaints.

Relevant Post Shave or Frag - Lonestar continues the Western theme, with Égoïste bringing the progression to a softer, classier place. "The sage in bloom is like perfume."

Daily challenge - I first picked my gear today based on which was my favorite. I then, this morning, realized this mean I needed to dry load a badger knot. Hmm.

I went at it for about a minute and was able to get a decent amount of soap onto the knot.

From there it was really just mashing the soap into my face like a shave stick. I got a good base layer of soap onto my face, added water to the brush, and the rest fell into place easily.

I was actually surprised by how great today's lather was once I got some water in the mix. Very nice. Wetter is undoubtedly better, but today was also pretty good!

$FOF - Roam Two and Lonestar both smell like New Mexico to me. Roam Two is leather, juniper, and tobacco with something green behind it. Lonestar is magnolia, sage, and dry grass with a bit of leather as well.

Égoïste doesn’t have anything to do with the desert. It’s warm, woody, a little spicy, and frankly just a sexy fragrance. It sits well on top of the other two without pretending to be part of the same picture.

October 8th, 2026: Throwback Thursday

• Brush: Omega - 10048 28mm Boar
• Razor: Merkur 34C
• Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (6)
• Lather: Chiseled Face - Summer Storm - Soap
• Post Shave: Catie's Bubbles - Black Bergamot - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Stirling - Stirling One - EdT

Theme justification - I started wetshaving at the end of 2023 with a Chiseled Face "Standard Shaving Kit." It came with a Baili BR171 razor (which I no longer own), a synth brush (which I no longer own), three tucks of blades (which I have no idea whether I still own), and a Ghost Town Barber set.

It blew me away how a relatively cheap setup like this could so significantly improve my shaves. It was off to the races shortly after that.

Appropriately, GTB was the first tub of soap I ever killed. The oldest order I could find in my email was also from Chiseled Face on May 11, 2024. It included a sample of Summer Storm, which eventually inspired me to buy the full trifecta. Hence this is my oldest soap.

RIP GTB. Gone but not forgotten.

I also used my oldest (to me) razor and brush to complement today's theme.

Relevant Post Shave or Frag - Summer Storm is citrus, wet earth, petrichor, and moss. Black Bergamot keeps the citrus and swaps the earth for vetiver, and Stirling One pushes the bergamot one more step into cedar and tobacco. All related by scent to my chosen soap.

Stirling One and Black Bergamot are also both currently unobtainium, which fits nicely with the Throwback Thursday theme.

Daily challenge - I just wanted a good shave after yesterday's cartridge razor fiasco, so I did not do the challenge today.

$FOF - Summer Storm is, to me, a summer rainstorm in the desert: orange and lemon up top, then cut grass, pine, and moist earth with some petrichor. In the lather it’s the earth, petrichor, and grass that come through most for me, with a bit of citrus lightly present on top.

Black Bergamot is simpler. Bergamot, black pepper, and Haitian vetiver. It picks up the citrus from the lather and swaps the wet earth for the drier, smokier vetiver.

Stirling One is a dupe of D&G The One: bergamot, coriander, and basil on top of cardamom, ginger, and neroli, drying into cedar, ambergris, and tobacco. The bergamot links it straight to the splash, and the cedar and tobacco pick up where the vetiver leaves off.

October 7th, 2026: Breast Cancer Awareness Observation

• Brush: Chisel & Hound "Spice Lily" - TurnNShave Tuxedo 26mm Synthetic
• Razor: Billie Yes, Periwinkle!
• Blade: Billie 5-blade cartridge
• Lather: Whole Hog Shaving - Thorn and Hummingbird - Soap
• Post Shave: DERMA E - Advanced Peptides & Flora-Collagen™ Moisturizer - Lotion
• Fragrance: Essenzialmente Laura - Tangerino - EdP

Theme justification - Publicly documented proof that Thorn and Hummingbird is on theme. Today also gave me a good excuse to shave with u/hugbckt's first scent, which was truly lovely. Though I didn't really get to enjoy the lather given other choices made today.

Relevant Post Shave or Frag - DERMA E, while careful not to explicitly call themselves a female brand, is clearly being marketed toward women.

For example, the branding uses a bright color palette with lots of pink. The banner at the bottom of the home page mentions the brand being featured in female-targeted magazines like "Elle" and "Oprah Daily." Last, the prominent customer testimonials are all from women.

Daily challenge - I shaved in our bedroom, on my wife's side of the bed. Shave setup. Here's the scene zoomed out to prove bedroom and include one of the bosses.

I took today's shave as an opportunity to celebrate my wife's approach to shaving. I still used a shave soap and the first brush she ever gifted me.

I also used the cartridge razor she has hanging in the shower to shave. This is one of those 5 blade razors with a strip of goop "360º of comfy aloe moisturizer" around the blade to help with glide.

It "helped" way too much. The "comfy aloe moisturizer" mixed with the shave soap on my face and became a stringy mess of goop. I couldn't even feel the blades against my skin. It took forever to wash off and left my face feeling slimy. I question whether the shave soap provided any help at all.

One pass, questionable results, no irritation. But it was a shave celebrating the most important person in my life, so that was pretty great.

I followed the shave with my wife's fancy facial lotion and a fragrance we purchased together on our honeymoon in Rome.

Fuck cancer.

$FOF - Thorn and Hummingbird has notes of Vetiver, Oakmoss, Amber, Jasmine, Rose, Carnation, Patchouli, Lavender, Citrus, and Musk. The Advanced Peptides & Flora-Collagen™ Moisturizer has a pleasantly mild lavender scent that plays nicely with the floral top notes in the soap.

Tangerino, with notes of lemon leaf and mandarin orange, pushes the combination into a light and airy space. This is my wife's fragrance, so I've never actually worn it before, and it's surprisingly nice on my skin. A bright Italian citrus that's very wearable. Unfortunately, as is common with cirtrus accords, it doesn't have great longevity.e

Is this how the world finds out that it’s finally the year of the Linux desktop?

It’s in London: https://www.theguardian.com/...

Welcome home Bonnie! ❤️

They don't allow for private repos, so it's a non-starter for companies unless they want to self-host.

April 5th, 2026

• Brush: Chisel & Hound "Waterlily" - Chisel & Hound v29 Fanchurian 26mm Badger
• Razor: Koraat Moarteen (15/16", full hollow, square point, r/wetshaving exclusive) (15)
• Lather: Barrister and Mann - Lime - Soap
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Lime - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
• Fragrance: Stirling - Arkadia - EdT

I made a makeshift strop out of some old denim and applied some chromium oxide paste to it. This morning I used it to touch up this edge, and I definitely noticed an improvement in the smoothness of the edge. The first pass very much felt like I was just wiping hair off my face.

Very close shave with a bit of irritation in the usual tricky spots.

March 31st, 2026

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps "Elyria" - TurnNShave v9 Tip 28mm Badger
• Razor: Gillette Ball-End Tech
• Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (2)
• Lather: Southern Witchcrafts - Tres Matres - Soap
• Post Shave: Southern Witchcrafts - Tres Matres - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
• Fragrance: Stirling - Varen - EdT

Comfortable three pass shave.

I really like the scent of Tres Matres, but the splash gives my face a bit of a tingle. I may need to move this one along...

May 7th, 2026

• Brush: Summer Break Soaps - Unbleached Zenith 28mm Boar
• Razor: Fatip Il Piccolo Storto
• Blade: Personna Platinum Chrome (2)
• Lather: D.R. Harris - Windsor - Soap
• Post Shave: Stetson - Cooling Moisture - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
• Fragrance: Chiseled Face - Ghost Town Barber - EdP

Stetson and GTB go really nicely together. A great shave on a cloudy California morning.

Almost to the weekend!

March 11th, 2026

• Brush: Chisel & Hound "Waterlily" - Chisel & Hound v29 Fanchurian 26mm Badger
• Razor: Chiseled Face Titanium Legacy Razor
• Blade: Personna GEM Platinum Diamond Glide (11)
• Lather: Chicago Grooming Co. - Caoba - Soap
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Barrister's Reserve Lavender - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Lavender, Interrupted - EdT