Matti Lindholm's Ice Tears: A High-Menthol Shave at the Blizzard Games

Hey there, welcome back to Fred Shaves. Time for another shave, and we’re going with another super-mentholated one.

This shave’s soap got some love during the Blizzard Games over at Texan Shaves, and it’s Matti Lindholm’s Ice Tears. Matti’s based in Sweden, right across the border from Norway, so I finally got my hands on this one. Smells beautifully citrusy and mentholated.

I paired it with Matti’s own brush, and it just felt right-beautiful wood-turned handle, 24mm Maggard synthetic knot inside. Matti told me to load heavy and go easy on the water, because the high menthol content makes this soap sensitive to water. So that’s what I tried to do.

The ingredient list is minimalistic: soy wax, coconut oil, shea butter, essential oils, and menthol. The razor for this one is my Yaqi Final Cut in brass, loaded with a first-use Astra green ↗ Amazon blade. Setting three for the first pass. Before anything else, let’s wet the face and see if we can get this lather in shape.

Building the Lather

It’s mentholated. I could feel it starting to freeze my face before I even got the brush loaded. I love this handle, by the way. So enjoyable to hold, really ergonomic.

I went gradually into the water and loaded heavy, almost twice my normal load. It still didn’t pick up a ton on the knot. This is a hard soap. I’ve used Matti’s soaps before, just not this one, and the base is good. But the high menthol content changes how the lather behaves. It has a tendency to dissipate.

The knot on this brush is great. Menthol was already getting into my eyes at this point, and it’s strong. The lather was building, though I wasn’t sure it would hold. Barry over at Texan Shaves ran into trouble on his first pass with this soap; his lather broke down after he added too much water, so I was trying hard not to make the same mistake. Went carefully with each addition.

A little more water, one more small addition, and I stopped there. My face was freezing by now. On my personal menthol scale, one to ten, ten being brutal, this is a solid seven at least. The lather looked thick and good, but I didn’t dare add more given how fast it dissipates.

First Pass, Setting Three

This pass was super smooth, but it bites once you push the settings up. The soap is slick, and the razor’s nicely weighted (I don’t remember the exact number off the top of my head). The lather held up fine through the whole pass. No problems.

Second Pass, Setting Two

Dropped down to setting two. This soap wasn’t built for the Blizzard Games the way some of the others were, from what I understand from Barry, but it’s a genuinely cold one, and I wanted it in the lineup anyway. This razor has a little drag to it; might be the matte finish, but it’s still smooth. I always enjoy a shave with this one. Love the look of a brass razor too.

The lather started drying out a bit. I could tell because it wasn’t rinsing clear off the blade. So I painted in one more small addition to keep it workable.

Third Pass, Setting One

Final pass, against the grain, all the way down to setting one. This menthol is not for the faint of heart. Almost no wind feel on my face at this point. Caught an old scar of mine, which happens from time to time, so I’ll probably see a little blood here and there. Menthol’s really getting into my eyes now too. A couple of small weepers and some minor buildup. Nothing too bad.

Post-Shave

Cold water rinse, then the alum block. Nice to feel that tightness. Mostly picked up a few spots ahead and some weepers, nothing serious. I let the alum sit a bit, rinsed off, and came back for the post-shave splash.

For the splash, I went with Fine’s Snake Bite ↗ Amazon, just alcohol, menthol, and water. The alum took away the worst of the burn from that splash, but the menthol is still strong. After the video, I finished up with an aftershave balm in Tobacco Bay Leaf. Real nice, moisturizing stuff.

That was Matti Lindholm’s Ice Tears. It lives up to its name, that’s for sure.

Thanks for watching. Please subscribe to the channel, and until next time, take care.