Blizzard Battles 2026 Round 3: Wild Fox Arctic Fox vs Wit's End Berserker

Howdy, and welcome back. Blizzard Battles 2026 Artisan Challenge, round three. I’m having a lot of fun with this, and it sounds like y’all are too.

Round 2 Results and a New Rule

First, the final results from round two. Adopted Acres won the label art vote 15 to 7 over Denton Majik’s CryoMajik, for a total score of 12 to 5. Congratulations to Doug and Cara at Adopted Acres for taking the label vote once again.

I’ve also got a new rule going into effect. Every year, I play this by ear, and things change. If an artisan wins a round and they were just in the previous episode, they get a bye: they skip the next round, but they’re eligible again the following round. Keeps the same artisan from showing up back-to-back, keeps things interesting, spreads it out. I think it’s more fair.

The Round 3 Matchup

Alright. Time to spin the wheel. First artisan: Wild Fox Rituals, Arctic Fox. I am looking forward to that one. And going up against them: Wit’s End Small Batch Goods, Berserker.

Wow. This is going to be a great battle.

The Labels

Both labels are outstanding. Arctic Fox from Wild Fox Rituals is going on the blue side, my left side. Beautiful label. But Wit’s End always pulls out the stops. Kenneth’s Berserker has that beautiful embossed label, and I absolutely love the characters he puts on his labels. Both of these are top tier. You guys have a hard choice.

The Soaps and Scents

Both soaps are extremely soft, so I had to break out the Brousseau & Dov bowls again: the Sea Dog with Arctic Fox and the Stars and Stripes with Berserker. Blue brush loaded with Arctic Fox, red brush with Berserker. I’ve also got the Arctic Fox serum and the Berserker splash ready to go post-shave.

The fragrances on these two. Wild Fox Rituals’ Arctic Fox: top notes of eucalyptus, frozen pineapple, mint, and mineral air; heart of cool greenery, silver moss, and soft herbal accords; base of chilled woods and smooth aromatic musk. Kim describes it as “fresh, icy, clean, and quietly addictive.” It does smell incredible.

Wit’s End Berserker: juniper berry, ice pine, eucalyptus, star anise, and Siberian fir. Juniper berry. Love it. Siberian fir. Bring it on.

Quick note on availability. Arctic Fox has already been released. It was a limited release Kim put out a while back. Berserker is coming soon. I was talking with Kenneth just before I started and he told me he’s working on the splashes right now. Keep your eye out for Wit’s End Berserker.

For the razor I’m using the Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Sickness. One of my absolute top razors in the den. It’s getting quite a patina on it. Been thinking about polishing it, but I really love the regular copper look.

One more thing about this matchup: neither Kim nor Kenneth has had much menthol experience going in. Really curious how this one goes.

Lather

Both soaps lathered fantastic. Excellent job for a first menthol outing. Right off the bat with Arctic Fox, I’m getting this fresh clean laundry, clean cotton scent. I think that’s the mineral air. It doesn’t stay, but it’s a great opening. Menthol’s already kicking in. Kim did a good job on the lather.

Berserker on the other side is incredible too. The fragrance on Wit’s End is coming through strong. Honestly I’m going to have just as hard a time rating that one as you guys will on the label art. Both get the lather point. They are neck and neck already.

First Pass

About three days of growth going in. Noses already running. Nothing in the eyes yet. Both soaps delivered on lather. On menthol strength, one to five: Arctic Fox gets a three. Wit’s End Berserker gets a four. Three to four after the first pass. Very close battle.

Second Pass

This is hard. I hate when they’re close. Every time I bring the Arctic Fox lather up to my face I get that fresh clean linen scent again. I love that. The fragrance is coming through the menthol strong on this one, which is impressive for a heavily mentholated soap. Very impressive.

Berserker is right there too. The fragrance is coming through on that side as well, just not as strong through the menthol. My razor feels like a piece of ice. Anywhere the copper top cap is touching my face: frozen.

Second pass coldness, I’m giving to Arctic Fox. It’s crept up. Just a hair more. Honestly it might be in my head because they are that close. But I think Arctic Fox has the edge.

Final Pass

Woo. That is cold. The lather on both is outstanding. Kim, you’re killing it. Kenneth, Wit’s End lather is killing it too. For both of your first run out of the gate with a heavily mentholated soap, y’all nailed the performance. Y’all definitely nailed it.

I’m frozen. Eyes starting to go a little bit. The menthol is building. Both of these are very respectable mentholated soaps, and I’m looking forward to using them again. To all the artisans in this series: I can’t thank you enough. It’s been a blast working with every one of you. See you in round four.