July 3, 2023
- Brush: Oumo Pandora – 28mm Badger #SHD
- Razor: GEM 1912 #TWINS
- Blade: GEM PTFE
- Lather: Moon Soaps – Amaretto Speciale Cream
- Post Shave: Talent Soap Factory – Fantasy Donut Splash
- Fragrance: Valentino – Born in Roma Yellow Dream
- Passes: WTG, ATG
- Coffee: Acoustic Java – Burundi Turihamwe
- Grinder: 1Zpresso JX-Pro Manual Coffee Grinder – Setting 28.
- Brewing Method: Hario V60 Pour-Over
- Additions to Coffee: 10mg Collagen
- Breakfast: Overnight Oats with Chia Seeds and Blueberries
- Daily Yoga Session: Yoga with Adriene – Full Body Flow
- Color of the Day: Green
- Music: Dean Martin - That's Amore
HAPPY ALMONDAY EVERYONE! Today, I get to use one of my absolute favorite soaps, so I’m so pumped about it. Moon Soaps Amaretto is the Gold Standard for Almond/Amaretto soaps. There is such a delicious sweetness to it as soon as you open the tub. The scent is so, so, so good. The smell of sweet almond is combined with dark cherries, and buttery biscotti. F’ing Yum! It’s like taking a delicious trip to Italy in shave form! I’m the self-proclaimed Gourmand King, and this soap is one of the best.
As a company, Moon Soaps is one of the best, too. I touched base with Melody and Zack for my 10 questions series, but for those that don’t know, Zack is a butcher and has everyone in his shop save the fats from the rib meat (and only the rib meat because that what he says produces the best soaps) to use to make soaps. On the label it says “From the Butcher to the Barber”. How badass is that?? Before I get to the interview, more on the shave: Great lather and great smells coming from the soap, which is actually more of a cream, because with Moon Soaps, they have several different soap bases, depending on the soap. Pretty much every soap they offer has its own unique recipe and consistency. The cream offered a luxorious slickness and softness and my skin felt so good after using it. Have I mentioned how much I love this soap?
For the post-shave, I continued my quest to #ridewithItchy every single day of the Lather Games. No matchy-matchy here! So, I kept things sweet, because I get my power from sweet scents, I used Talent Soap Factory’s Fantasy Donut to bring a little glazed donut scent to this Amaretto party. I wish the scent strength of the splash was just a notch stronger, because it’s good, but light.
And finally, for my #FOF fragrance, I stuck to sweet and I kept on the Italy theme and went with Valentino’s Born in Roma. It’s like a perfumy Gingerbread. So, we got Amaretto Soap, Donut Splash, and Gingerbread frag. Thank GOD I’m only smelling all this and not actually eating all this, because today’s shave has type 2 ‘betes written all over it. For an ordinary person, this would be a little much for a hot, humid July day, but I’m not an ordinary person, so I LOVE it.
My #photocontest entry is Space, because my wife’s engagement ring has a meteorite inlay in the band. Like her, it’s absolutely one of a kind and OUT OF THIS WORLD.
For the daily challenge, hats off to u/RedMosquitoMM. Last year was my first Lather Games and you showed me what a winner posts like and how a true winner conducts himself on the sub. You’re informative, helpful, and respectful to everyone. I can guarantee after I win this year, I will not be nearly as humble or gracious as you were last year. In honor of Red, I’ve included my passes, coffee, brewing method, breakfast, daily yoga session, music, and color of the day in the headline of my SOTD because I’m pretty sure that’s everything that he includes in his posts. In one big way, Red is similar to the artisans behind Moon Soaps, because in both cases, their attention to detail is top notch. Making Red a top-tier champion and making Moon Soaps a top-tier artisan.
The details that Zachary & Melody they put into every aspect of every soap is impressive. I don’t think there’s another soapmaker out there that does what they do – render the tallow in house, create the scents in house, design the labels in house, package and ship everything in house, and use a different soap base for pretty much every soap. Literally everything they do is in house. They have 9 different scents and don’t release new scents on a schedule. They wait to get it right each time. And in talking to them, they are some of the most pleasant people in the business. They stay in their lane and don’t mix it up on reddit, so I can’t tag them, but THANK YOU MELODY AND ZACK for playing along with my shenanigans and being so open about your business.
10 Questions with… Moon Soaps
1) One of the more interesting things I know about your company is that Zachary is a butcher and the tallow you use for your soaps comes from his work. What happens to the tallow that you folks can’t use?
Can’t use? That’s never happened. We are always struggling to find the time to render down more!
2) I’ve often thought that using tallow in soaps is actually more “green” because it ensures that there is less waste coming from the meat industry. Tallow, which would exist with or without soapmaking, would otherwise be thrown away. Now it is being used and not wasted. Is that a fair assessment to make?
Sort of. 20 years ago fat was an actual commodity that was boxed up and sold to meat markets to use for various applications. Now, all fat needs to be inspected by the feds if it is to be sold… a process that is too expensive and frustrating for the little money to be made from its sale. Most slaughter houses and packing plants just throw it out and let a tallow company dispose of it for them. In our case, my shop saves all the good rib fat for me as steaks are trimmed- a great way to keep quality control and its green.
3) Between the two of you, you do everything from rendering the tallow, to designing the scents, to designing the labels, packaging the product, sending everything out, and obviously making the soaps. All of these take a lot of skill to do on their own, yet you do them all! What is the most challenging part of running every aspect of your business in house?
Probably the most challenging this is juggling family life and the need to turn off the business mind and just be with the family. As an entrepreneur you’re always thinking about new things and trying to remain relevant. You’re correct, we do handle every aspect of our business ourselves. I think the hardest part for me is the photography, even though I took several semesters of photography classes in high school & college haha! We would love to work with other people to help grow and express our concept. Zack and I both have an art background so the creative aspect has always been the foundation of Moon Soaps.
4) You currently have 9 shaving soaps for sale. Which is each of yours’ favorites and which is your best seller?
(Melody) Probably, my personal favorite at this moment is our newest scent Bixby. Our fan favorite is Amaretto; a scent has been used for over ten years. We are still thrilled when we hear reviews from customers loving it! (Zachary) I’m pretty into Astoria right now. That one hasn’t left my countertop since its release.
(INTERVIEW CONTINUES IN THE REPLY)