Blizzard Battles 2026 Round 2: Triple Dog Dare vs. CryoMajik

Howdy, and welcome back. Blizzard Battles 2026 Artisan Challenge, Round 2. I am so excited to get this going again.

But first, I owe Kenneth of Wits End Small Batch Goods a big apology. In the last Blizzard Battles, I left Wits End completely out of the spinning wheel randomizer and out of the opening credits. I kept a list on my phone tracking every artisan, when each soap shipped, when I received it. Kenneth’s entry was marked received. He was actually the second soap I got, right after Mama Bear’s. When I was cleaning up the list and removing artisans who had backed out, I accidentally deleted him. Then I copied and pasted everything else from that same list, so the mistake carried through everything. I’m sorry, Kenneth. Wits End is in the competition. You’ll see it on the wheel from here on out.

Closing Out Round 1

Before we spin for Round 2, let me close out the Round 1 scorecard.

One of you caught something in the comments: fragrance is worth two points now, not one. I’m so used to it being a single bonus point that I forgot I bumped it. The reason I bumped it is that scent is a real decision-maker in this challenge. Part of the brief for these artisans was to make it smell good. So Adopted Acres gets two points for fragrance over Mama Bear’s. Then y’all voted on the label art. Boy, did you vote. I counted 30 votes for Adopted Acres and 4 for Mama Bear’s. That point goes to Triple Dog Dare.

Final score: Adopted Acres 12, Mama Bear’s 4. Twelve is the maximum points you can earn in this competition. Adopted Acres ran the table.

Fresh scorecard. Let’s get into it.

Round 2: Who’s in the Blizzard Dome?

We’ve got 13 artisans now that Wits End is back in. I spin the wheel and it lands on Denton Majik first. Then, right after it, Adopted Acres comes up again. The randomizer doesn’t care about drama. It could be the last soap left standing, it could be Round 2. Today it’s Round 2. So we’ve got Adopted Acres Triple Dog Dare going back into the Blizzard Dome, this time against Denton Majik’s CryoMajik.

This is a genuinely interesting matchup. Both soaps are built around cold. That’s the whole point of this challenge. But they’re taking completely different roads to get there.

The Soaps

Triple Dog Dare’s note list, as I’m reading it off the label: pineapple, apple, citrus, marine air, juniper breeze, orange blossom, lily of the valley, jasmine, winter cashmere, cashmeran, sandalwood, tonka, moss, and musk. Big list. The cold in this one comes through the citrus and the marine notes. And I’ll say this on the record: I talked to Doug about this fragrance, and I told him it needs an EDP. A cooling EDP, with a synthetic coolness that carries through the day. Not something that punches you in the face. Just a nice, steady coolness. Comment below if you think Triple Dog Dare needs to come out in a cooling EDP, because I think it would be incredible.

CryoMajik takes a much more direct approach. From the label: eucalyptus, camphor, menthol, bright lemon, lavender, and geranium. Short list. Focused. Built around eucalyptus and menthol from the ground up. I’m already getting eucalyptus off the brush before I even start building lather.

For the loading bowls today, I’m using Barrister and Mann Sea Dog on the Triple Dog Dare side and Barrister and Mann Stars and Stripes on the CryoMajik side. And I’m trying something new this round. Instead of lathering one side, shaving it, then switching, I’m going to lather both sides at the same time and shave them pass by pass, side by actual side. I’ve wanted to try this for a while. If it falls apart on the second pass, we’ll go back to the old way.

The official Blizzard Battle brushes are courtesy of Alex. Thank you, my friend. For the razor, I’ve been reaching for the West Coast Shaving American Liberty a lot lately. Got it in recently and I can’t put it down.

Loading Up

I load Triple Dog Dare first, thirty seconds in the bowl. My eyes are already catching vapors before I’m done. Good sign, and also a warning. Then I load CryoMajik. This one picks up a lot of soap fast in the bowl, more than I expected. We’ll see how the lather builds out on the face.

Both soaps come together with no issues at all. No drama on either side. One point each for lather. Easy call.

It is HOT out today, by the way. High 90s. Got in my truck earlier and it was brutal. I could not wait to get home for this.

First Pass Coldness

Triple Dog Dare is at cryogen level. Vapors coming off the face from the first stroke, eyes watering, the whole thing. That’s a five out of five on the coldness scale.

CryoMajik brings it too. The feeling on my face is close enough that scoring this is genuinely hard. But the vapors didn’t hit as fast on this side. The onset was slower. And sitting with it, just paying attention to how both cheeks are responding, CryoMajik is just a little less. Barely. It’s a 4.9 on any honest scale. But a score is a score, and I can feel a discernible difference. Four points for CryoMajik.

I hate when they’re this close.

Second Pass

Getting the face wet again and both soaps are still doing their job. That cold water hitting the skin intensifies both of them. Still neck and neck on the face feel. By this point I’m measuring beyond just skin sensation. Triple Dog Dare is still giving me a runny nose, still catching the eye. I’m not getting that same crossover effect on the CryoMajik side.

Watch the full video to see how the second pass scores settle out and who walks away with the Round 2 win.

Thanks for watching. Find your peace in what and where you can.