Family First: First Impressions of the Adopted Acres x Shave Dad Collab

Greetings, fellow wet shavers. John here, Cape Cod Wet Shaving. Today is May 6th, and this set releases in three days. May 9th, year of our Lord 2026. I was supposed to debut it on Shave Masters last night - Doug had sent this to Barry, Doug, and myself to use on the show. I wasn’t on the episode. It’d be pretty messed up to accept a free set and not at least make a video, so here we are. First time touching it. Very excited.

The Family First Set

This is the Family First collaboration between Shave Dad and Adopted Acres Soap Co. The label is gorgeous - sits under the lid, which is a nice touch. And the aftershave splash bottles are sick-looking. Very, very fancy.

The big story here is the base. Doug’s new formula. He calls it the EIEIO base, which is one of the best names for a soap base I have ever heard. He lives on a farm, so - chef’s kiss. The EIEIO base is a combination of Wagyu tallow, duck fat, lard, and castor oil.

For anyone familiar with Chicago Grooming, Vida uses duck fat in her base - it’s not new to the hobby. First Line Shave has also been working with Wagyu tallow, which comes from a specific type of cattle. But personally, my favorite of those four is the lard. Lard is a phenomenal animal derivative for a soap base, and it is vastly underrated. Lakewood Soap Company, rest in peace - a woman named Linda ran it, closed shop about a year ago - made one of my all-time favorites called Lard Lass. Fantastic soap. Anyway.

Doug debuted this base at the Maggard’s Meetup, and it goes live May 9th on the Adopted Acres Soap Co. Etsy. I don’t have a price point for you - I probably should have looked harder - but that’s where you’ll find it. The aftershave splash has also been revamped in this release with more skin food.

Scent Notes

Bergamot, orange peel, cardamom, lavender, sandalwood, amber, and musk.

Not a huge list, but this thing is very, very sweet. Orange-forward. The cardamom blending with the citrus is the move here. On paper, the lavender and sandalwood should bring some warmth underneath, with amber and musk rounding out the base. If that combination lands right, it could lean sweet and resinous without going full gourmand. Jerry and Doug did a great job on this one.

The Shave

Hardware today is my Cobb Hill Farm walnut and horsehair brush, and the Gem Micromatic. Haven’t used the Micromatic in a while, so I wanted to get back in the habit with it. Getting the angle right on that razor takes some reacquainting.

Lathering directly to the face today, skipping the bowl to save some time. The soap loaded up thirsty - needed to soak my face before the lather came together - but once it did, the slickness was crazy. Crazy. The Micromatic barely registered. That is the EIEIO base doing its work, and it made an impression on the first use.

Why This Name Hits Close to Home

Family First is an interesting name for this collab, and it means more to me than it might to someone just picking it up off the shelf.

I’ve canceled on Shave Masters episodes four, five, maybe six times. Barry has backed out once, maybe twice. I feel terrible every time, but it’s always for a real reason. My wife Jess is a chief - E-7 senior enlisted - in the Coast Guard. Chiefs don’t generally stand duty in the fleet, but circumstances warrant it, and when she does, I’ve got the kids. All five of them. My oldest can fend for himself. The next two are mostly self-sufficient. But I’ve still got the toddlers, still have to cook dinner, still have to run the house. I could technically try to do an episode in those conditions, but I won’t. Five kids at home, including toddlers, is not a recipe for a clean live stream.

Every time I send Doug and Barry the sorry text, they come back with “Family first, man.” Last night was a perfect case. Yesterday was my fourth-born’s third birthday.

Here’s why that birthday specifically means something. Jess and I almost got divorced in 2020. We had three kids at the time, and we were close. Money already to the lawyers, me actively looking for a place to live, talking about visitation. Two more court dates and it would have been official. That’s how close we were.

Praise God, it didn’t happen. A number of factors. Mostly me, honestly. I had a serious drinking problem, and I don’t drink anymore. I was never violent or abusive - I was a goofy drunk - but between the toll it takes on your body and what booze costs in Massachusetts, it was just bad all around. I was silly. Did stupid stuff, acted goofy, the whole thing.

When Jess got pregnant with my youngest, that’s when I knew we were solid. He’s my miracle baby. He is also, without question, the most difficult baby we have ever had out of five kids. Most temperamental. Most destructive. Reminds me of me.

As a newborn, getting him back to sleep meant walking and pacing around the house for thirty to forty-five minutes. The second I put him down, wide awake again. He didn’t just cry when he woke up - he screamed. Still does. He’d make Rob Halford jealous. Three to four wake-ups a night, every single one a full production. This went on for weeks and weeks.

Here’s the thing, though. I look back on that period with real gratitude. They say God won’t give you something you can’t handle. I believe that. Those sleepless weeks forced Jess and me to operate in complete solidarity. Life does not care when you’re tired. We still had three other kids who needed dinner and school and everything else. So we figured out how to share the load. One person sleeps two or three hours while the other covers everything, then you switch. No choice. That rebuilt something between us that needed rebuilding.

So yeah. Family first. That’s not a tagline. For Doug and Barry, it’s the line they give me every time I miss an episode. For me and my youngest, it’s everything.

I’ve got every single Shave Dad collab. This one belongs in the collection. Thanks for watching.