Post Shave: Stirling - Destination Unknown - Aftershave
Post Shave: Oleo & Co. - Facial Toner - Toner
Fragrance: Stirling - Destination Unknown - EdT
Today's challenge soap is The Holy Black - Jeckyll and Hyde (Mr. Hyde). Scent notes are: Vetiver, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Amber.
Stirling - Destination Unknown, a dupe of Versace Eros, matches 100% of these notes:
Italian lemon and mandarin, mint oil, candied apple, geranium flower, clary sage essence, amber, cedarwood, vetiver, patchouli, sandalwood, and vanilla.
This soap doesn't seem to be in WSDB yet I suppose because it's seasonal. I think they've released it more than once year so I hope they continue. It's very nice. It's sweet but well balanced. I recommend it.
Brush: Unbranded; badger? I reached out to the person who sold it to me and they aren't sure but they think it is badger.
Razor: Stirling de3p6s standard head
Blade: Gillette Silver Blue(1)
Lather: Farmcraft VT Cedar Shave Soap
Alum: Stirling Travel Size Alum
Toner: Stirling Unscented Witch Hazel & Aloe
Aftershave: Stirling Deton-8 Aftershave Splash
Serum: Ash Hopper Blueberry Serum
Balm: Stirling Deton-8 Aftershave Balm
Lotion: Humble Bee Botanicals "Calendulove" Face Cream
Fragrance: Stirling Deton-8 EdT
One of my best shaves so far, approaching DFS. First pass WTG. 2nd pass WTG on chin. 3rd pass XTG on chin and moustache. I changed a lot of things for today's shave which makes it hard to tell what made it so good. I think the blade was nice, but so was the shaving cream - nice cushion, sufficiently slick, mild but pleasant scent. Possibly the least feedback I have ever gotten from my alum!
I also changed up my preshave method a bit, trying something I saw on shavemyface.com. I showered as usual but this time after sudsing the preshave soap on my face I didn't rinse it straight off. Instead I got a washcloth damp with really dang hot water and held it on my face until it cooled down and then repeated 3x and then rinsing off fully before shaving. Maybe that helped more than my usual routine where I would just rinse it right off.
I think my technique is not anywhere close to perfect, so that is almost certainly part (or most) of the story here.
I really struggle to avoid tugging on my chin, so much that I find it almost impossible to do a smooth/fluid pass; the razor frequently catches. I think I am having a hard time keeping the angle correct as I navigate the quickly changing angles and that I have a bad habit of pressing the blade too hard. I feel like even when I am getting it to cut on my chin it is impossible to get a close shave, so then I do more passes which results in irritation. I have the same problem in my moustache area except the difficulty navigating contours isn't an issue there so idk why I can't get it close there.
I am also pretty inexperienced in making good lathers so that may be part of it as well. Overall though I feel that I have been making faster progress in this department, especially in the last week or two :)
Octidi 18 Pluviôse an 234 de la Révolution, jour d'If
Reporting on a morning shave. I'm headed for a former colleague's funeral, and settled on Arkadia for an event-appropriate scent.
Have a good day.
Shared via emacs & sotd.elCondolences on losing your colleague. I hope their memories bring some light to your day.
Thanks! It was very moving
February 6th, 2026
Today's challenge soap is The Holy Black - Jeckyll and Hyde (Mr. Hyde). Scent notes are: Vetiver, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Amber.
Stirling - Destination Unknown, a dupe of Versace Eros, matches 100% of these notes:
Road to victory:
February 6, 2026
This soap doesn't seem to be in WSDB yet I suppose because it's seasonal. I think they've released it more than once year so I hope they continue. It's very nice. It's sweet but well balanced. I recommend it.
Used the GEM Junior second day in a row.
At this rate, it will get senior very quick 🤔
I believe you are looking for ![email protected]
February 6th, 2026
Not the worst, but I did give myself a tad bit of irritation.
SOTD - 2026-02-06
One of my best shaves so far, approaching DFS. First pass WTG. 2nd pass WTG on chin. 3rd pass XTG on chin and moustache. I changed a lot of things for today's shave which makes it hard to tell what made it so good. I think the blade was nice, but so was the shaving cream - nice cushion, sufficiently slick, mild but pleasant scent. Possibly the least feedback I have ever gotten from my alum!
I also changed up my preshave method a bit, trying something I saw on shavemyface.com. I showered as usual but this time after sudsing the preshave soap on my face I didn't rinse it straight off. Instead I got a washcloth damp with really dang hot water and held it on my face until it cooled down and then repeated 3x and then rinsing off fully before shaving. Maybe that helped more than my usual routine where I would just rinse it right off.
Also my package from Stirling arrived:
At this point I don’t really do any pre shave. The most I’ll do is rub some of the extra lather from the tub on my face.
When I get irritation it’s usually because my lather or technique was off.
I think my technique is not anywhere close to perfect, so that is almost certainly part (or most) of the story here.
I really struggle to avoid tugging on my chin, so much that I find it almost impossible to do a smooth/fluid pass; the razor frequently catches. I think I am having a hard time keeping the angle correct as I navigate the quickly changing angles and that I have a bad habit of pressing the blade too hard. I feel like even when I am getting it to cut on my chin it is impossible to get a close shave, so then I do more passes which results in irritation. I have the same problem in my moustache area except the difficulty navigating contours isn't an issue there so idk why I can't get it close there.
I am also pretty inexperienced in making good lathers so that may be part of it as well. Overall though I feel that I have been making faster progress in this department, especially in the last week or two :)
The chin and jawline is typically my hardest area as well. Small strokes and skin stretching help me a lot when shaving there.
And again, good lather makes a huge difference. You want to basically use as much water as possible without breaking the lather.
SOTD - 2026-02-06
Kind of Fougère Friday with a bit of Spice.
Have a good one.
Gunpowder Spice sounds interesting! I have some Dr. Jon's Black River soap and EDT which is floral and gunpowder and I quite like it.
This is a pretty good dupe of classic Old Spice with that gunpowder note sitting right on top.
February 6th, 2026
Shave 14 of the brain bowl