3 Ring Circus by Matt Lawrence

Hi, I’m Matthew. Welcome to my channel! Today, it’s time for a shave. I’m going to quickly wet my face because it’s Sunday, and I have three days’ worth of growth that needs to come off.

Today’s shave soap is by Strike Gold Shave, a collaboration soap with Shave Dad called “Three Ring Circus.” I was lucky enough to grab the last one. I had a bit of a complication trying to place my order. Here’s what the soap looks like; you can tell it contains some vanilla. If I told you that I could smell raspberry, fig, vanilla, and caramel, I would be lying. To me, it really smells like cotton candy. Since this is a tallow-based soap, I am picking up some of the natural tallow scent, which is completely normal. This will lead to a scent that differs a bit from the actual splash due to the tallow ingredients.

Anyway, I have whipped up the soap in my Captain’s Choice copper bowl, and boy, I have it just the way I like it. It has a slight sheen and is probably a little drippy. We’ll see how it goes. Today, I’m using the Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Solar Flare. You may have noticed that I switched out the synthetic knot for a badger knot.

Next up is my razor, the Artifact Razor. I already have it loaded with the Gillette Yellow 7 O’Clock blade. I was about to say Gillette 7 O’Clock Yellow, but the Silver Blue just slipped my mind. Here’s the razor, and it’s going to make for a messy shave because it has these little pilot holes that absorb water.

Let’s get right to it! Speaking of getting right to it, every morning when I wake up, I usually get on YouTube at some point. I try to watch my friends’ channels if they have new videos to give them the love and support everyone wants. However, today I clicked on my subscriptions tab because I don’t always see everyone’s videos in my feed. I was looking for Fuzzy Shaves or Shaving with Fuzzy, and I couldn’t find it. I thought, “What’s going on here?”

So I scrolled over and still couldn’t find him. I even typed in the channel name, but there was no luck. I don’t know if something is going on, so if you watch Shaving with Fuzzy and know the deal, please comment below to let me know. Unless it’s something private, then don’t message me about it; I’m just curious. I reached out to a couple of my other friends and asked if they had heard from him or seen any updates. I just wanted to ensure he was okay. He’s not the kind of person to delete his channel out of frustration or anything. He’s a tough-skinned individual who can dish it out and take it, so I think something must be off with YouTube.

Now, let’s talk about the shave. There’s not a ton of residual slickness here, but there is some. It’s time to trim up the goatee. It’s crazy to think that this little tab that sticks out, or this little corner piece, can sometimes grab the hair. You’d think it would just bounce right off, but it manages to get right in there and give a little yank. That happens to me a lot with different razors, and I think it’s just the nature of the beast.

Sometimes I record my videos a day ahead because YouTube takes so long to upload. There are days when my video uploads in five minutes, and then there are days when it takes forever. It’s very inconsistent; I can’t figure out why that happens. But here I am, getting a little late start this morning.

As for the scent, my wife enjoys this scent, and I enjoy it too. It lingers for quite some time. When I first got it, I put some on the back of my hand because I was excited, and the next morning the scent was still there. It was pretty mild, but I was impressed that it lasted that long.

Did you guys happen to pick up this particular scent? Was it something you wanted? I know it’s a gourmand scent, and many people may hesitate to try those because they think they might not like them. I’d say this scent is actually very nice. If you’ve ever thought about it but don’t typically go for gourmand scents, this would be a great one to give a try. It’s not overpowering, and I think everyone would enjoy it. There’s definitely some nostalgia in that scent.

I’m going to clean up with some cold water, and I’ll be right back.

Here we go! It’s time for the aftershave splash. I recommend shaking this up very well. Before the shake, you’ll notice it’s clearer, but after shaking, it turns a milky color. I have to say, initially, it does have quite a bit of an alcohol scent to it, and I think it’s due to the ingredients. When you apply it or put it on the back of your hand, you’ll want to give it a little time before the scent settles. To me, it smells more like rubbing alcohol at first, but once that dissipates—after around 35 to 40 seconds—you’ll start picking up the cotton candy, and it comes alive.

Right now, I can still smell the alcohol, so I’m going to follow that up with some star jelly. I was making the lather earlier, and my dog, Doby, loves it. She thinks it’s a treat and had her big tongue flopping around, wanting some. I had to tell her, “Get away! It’s my shaving stuff!”

Well, I’ll put a little picture right here for you guys to see everything I used, or at least the main items that you might be concerned about. I’ll see you all for Wednesday’s shave. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

This content has been published with permission from the original author.