First time using this new synth from Stirling. Soft tips and good backbone, this should serve well as my new travel brush.
February 18th, 2026: BVWSC - Tabac Edition
We’re using Tabac for this month’s installment of BVWSC. Always an excellent shave with the Stank Tank. I know the scent is often considered divisive, but everyone who doesn’t like it is just plain wrong. ;)
Fougere Angelique might be the next soap I try to kill. I think there’s about 20% of this tub left. It’s a great scent, but I need to make some room!
I continue to enjoy these Personna GEM DE blades. Very smooth shavers.
Crazy smooth shave this morning, the Siero base really is a good one.
Thanks! I traded some stuff with Eld for it. I love the way it looks, and it’s a fantastic shaver so far.
Absolutely excellent shave with the ERN this morning. I took enough time to really slow down and focus on my blade angle and skin stretching – one of the best straight shaves I’ve had so far.
Leviathan is a great scent for a rainy Sunday morning.
Best of luck to the remaining $ASS contestants! I’m Out is Out is Out. ✌️
Today’s challenge soap is Barrister and Mann - Arctique. I don’t have Arctique, but am happy to use Paganini’s Violin instead. It’s been too long since I’ve pulled this one out.
I’m pretty sure there’s no way for me to match tomorrow’s scent, so today my run ends. TBD whether I join TLC or just go back to killing some soaps. I’m leaning toward the latter.
This razor gave a comfortable two pass shave this morning, though the results were not as close as I’d prefer. I’m still learning how to best approach using this razor. The geometry feels quite different from my other, hollow ground razors. Almost like I need to come in at a steeper angle. More experimentation required!
Road to $ASS victory:
| Category | ∑ | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| Daily theme soap | 6 | 0 |
| Artisan | 32 | +4 |
| Scenter | 0 | 0 |
| Half of the scent notes | 8 | 0 |
| Airbudding the day | 1 | 0 |
| Cross posting | 14 | +1 |
| Snitching | 6 | 0 |
| Snitching incorrectly | 0 | 0 |
| Goody Two-Shoes | 14 | +1 |
| Total | 81 | +6 |
Folks on the piloteer forum and reddit (and AI for whatever that’s worth…) generally seem to think this sort of vehicle would be worth investing in since the transmission seems to be working well and it is pretty light on rust.
It very much depends on what “pretty light on rust” means. I’d hate to dump 5-7k into a car just to have it rust out in a couple of years.
My mechanic is absolutely willing to do the work but they haven’t really spoken forcefully one way or another if they think this maintenance is a good idea.
Most mechanics won’t give you a strong opinion one way or the other, in my experience, unless they really don’t think it’s worth doing the work.
My coworkers however have said if it was their car they would trade it in and get a newer used vehicle.
This is the American way for a lot of people.
I grew up driving old cars, and in general I think you come out ahead financially keeping a well-maintained car on the road instead of buying a new one. That said, there are very good reasons to buy a new car. Fuel efficiency, emissions reduction, and safety being the biggest ones in my opinion.
My wife and I are in a similar situation. Our 2003 Subaru Legacy needs all three catalytic converters and the entire exhaust manifold replaced. In a vacuum, I’d 100% drop the cash to keep this car on the road. We’ve maintained it well and I know exactly what’s been done to it.
However, we’re also trying to start a family soon and are starting to be more concerned with safety features. The industry has made a lot of progress in this area over the last 20+ years.
The challenge soap for today is House of Mammoth - Indonesian Leather. Another that I don’t have, but I can match the brand. It’s always a pleasure to shave with Santa Noir.
Bless a three day weekend.
Road to $ASS victory:
| Category | ∑ | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| Daily theme soap | 6 | 0 |
| Artisan | 28 | +4 |
| Scenter | 0 | 0 |
| Half of the scent notes | 8 | 0 |
| Airbudding the day | 1 | 0 |
| Cross posting | 13 | +1 |
| Snitching | 6 | 0 |
| Snitching incorrectly | 0 | 0 |
| Goody Two-Shoes | 13 | +1 |
| Total | 75 | +6 |
Today’s challenge soap is Ariana & Evans - Tertius. I don’t have Tertius, but I do have a sample of 60’s Cologne, their shave cream Brut dupe.
The 34C is my autopilot razor, this thing always gives me a close, comfortable shave with no irritation.
Road to $ASS victory:
| Category | ∑ | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| Daily theme soap | 6 | 0 |
| Artisan | 24 | +4 |
| Scenter | 0 | 0 |
| Half of the scent notes | 8 | 0 |
| Airbudding the day | 1 | 0 |
| Cross posting | 12 | +1 |
| Snitching | 6 | 0 |
| Snitching incorrectly | 0 | 0 |
| Goody Two-Shoes | 12 | +1 |
| Total | 69 (nice) | +6 |
Proraso Red++
Today’s challenge soap is House of Mammoth - Cookie. I don’t have Cookie, which sounds great, but I do have a couple tubs of House of Mammoth. This morning I picked Snippid.
It’s a nice camphorous and green scent that worked well with Cypress and Summer Storm. I can tell that the soap isn’t doing the fragrance any favors – this is one where I may consider buying the fragrance.
Road to $ASS victory:
| Category | ∑ | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| Daily theme soap | 6 | 0 |
| Artisan | 20 | +4 |
| Scenter | 0 | 0 |
| Half of the scent notes | 8 | 0 |
| Airbudding the day | 1 | 0 |
| Cross posting | 11 | +1 |
| Snitching | 6 | 0 |
| Snitching incorrectly | 0 | 0 |
| Goody Two-Shoes | 11 | +1 |
| Total | 63 | +6 |
This is my first time sending someone a razor that I’ve “restored”.
Seems like a significant milestone for anyone who hones razors! 👏
Today’s challenge soap is Hoffman’s Shave & Soap Co. - Winter Cascade. Scent notes are: Florals, Spice, Gardenia, Frankincense, Musk, Oakmoss.
I don’t have any soap from Hoffman’s, but I do have several soaps that match 50% scent notes. Stirling - Seine Reserve didn’t have any scent notes listed on Stirling’s website when they released it for Black Friday 2024, but they did note that it’s a dupe of Rive Gauche by Yves Saint Laurent. Taking the Fragrantica scent notes as guidance we have:
Top notes are Aldehydes, Green Notes, Honeysuckle, Bergamot, Peach and Lemon; middle notes are Rose, Iris, Ylang-Ylang, Lily-of-the-Valley, Geranium, Jasmine, Magnolia and Gardenia; base notes are Oakmoss, Tahitian Vetiver, Musk, Sandalwood, Amber and Tonka Bean.
3/6 gets me there, and lets me shave with a damn fine scent.
Road to $ASS victory:
| Category | ∑ | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| Daily theme soap | 6 | 0 |
| Artisan | 16 | 0 |
| Scenter | 0 | 0 |
| Half of the scent notes | 8 | +2 |
| Airbudding the day | 1 | 0 |
| Cross posting | 10 | +1 |
| Snitching | 6 | 0 |
| Snitching incorrectly | 0 | 0 |
| Goody Two-Shoes | 10 | +1 |
| Total | 57 | +4 |
Today’s challenge soap is Zingari Man - The Gatherer. I don’t have The Gatherer, but The Master will do nicely. It’s one of my favorite barbershop scents.
Road to $ASS victory:
| Category | ∑ | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| Daily theme soap | 6 | 0 |
| Artisan | 16 | +4 |
| Scenter | 0 | 0 |
| Half of the scent notes | 6 | 0 |
| Airbudding the day | 1 | 0 |
| Cross posting | 9 | +1 |
| Snitching | 6 | 0 |
| Snitching incorrectly | 0 | 0 |
| Goody Two-Shoes | 9 | +1 |
| Total | 53 | +6 |
Ramblin’ Man++
It’s one of my wife’s favorites, so it sees fairly regular use before date nights. :)
Today’s challenge soap is Catie’s Bubbles - Muguet. Scent notes: Lily of the Valley.
I don’t have Muguet, but have several soaps from Catie’s Bubbles. His premium base is one of my favorites. Usually when I shave with it, I wonder why I ever use anything else.
Road to $ASS victory:
| Category | ∑ | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| Daily theme soap | 6 | 0 |
| Artisan | 12 | +4 |
| Scenter | 0 | 0 |
| Half of the scent notes | 6 | 0 |
| Airbudding the day | 1 | 0 |
| Cross posting | 8 | +1 |
| Snitching | 6 | 0 |
| Snitching incorrectly | 0 | 0 |
| Goody Two-Shoes | 8 | +1 |
| Total | 47 | +6 |
Quick luxury shave after my run. I didn’t get as close this morning with the straight as I thought.
Sabre arrived today, I’m very glad to have one in my den. It’s a fantastic razor.
Today’s challenge soap is Stirling - Gin & Tonic on the Rocks. I don’t have this specific soap, but I have plenty of Stirling! They’re easily one of my favorite wetshaving brands.
Lampasas was part of the 2025 Black Friday release. It’s scented with Texas cedarwood oil, sweetgrass, sage, and mesquite smoke. An excellent scent if you like a bit of smoke and wood.
Road to victory:
| Category | ∑ | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| Daily theme soap | 6 | 0 |
| Artisan | 8 | +4 |
| Scenter | 0 | 0 |
| Half of the scent notes | 6 | 0 |
| Airbudding the day | 1 | 0 |
| Cross posting | 7 | +1 |
| Snitching | 6 | 0 |
| Snitching incorrectly | 0 | 0 |
| Goody Two-Shoes | 7 | +1 |
| Total | 41 | +6 |
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