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.