Why is CanYouHandlebar wax named Primary and Secondary?

Our trip to Rwanda

Last month my wife and I visited Rwanda to spend time with our sponsored girl Agnes. We sponsor her through an organization called African New Life Ministries (ANLM). As many of you may know, Rwanda is still recovering from a horrific genocide that occurred over three months in 1994. While we were listening to "I saw the Sign" by Ace of Bass or "All I Wanna Do" by Cheryl Crow, a million were listening to radio broadcasts that galvanized a nation into killing their neighbors, spouses and "friends." That is the sad part, and is definitely part of the story, but that isn't the whole story.

The country is rebuilding and it is really incredible to see the hope and ingenuity. A country that used to be mostly either Hutus or Tutsis now has only Rwandans. A country that used to be a battlefield the size of Maryland is now becoming a country committed to getting rid of corruption and rebuilding their society. They could teach us a thing or two about forgiveness and hope.

One of the coolest things we saw was the thirst for education. The picture, above, is a picture of John Bosco, one of Rwanda's top students and attends an ANLM school and served as our translator when we met my wife's sponsored child. In the Rwandan school system, the primary school goes through grade six (Primary) and the next step is a secondary school that also goes through grade six (Secondary). So, Primary is tough, but Secondary is a little tougher. Get it?

Let's get really literal here: each can of CanyouHandlebar? moustache wax supports the great work of Africa New Life Ministries and their commitment to building up the next generation of Rwandans. We hope that that each time you pull out your tin to tame your whiskers you realize you are putting hope into a country and taming poverty and illiteracy. Thanks.

The mementos we collect

A clock, a leather case, a pipe and a wallet my dad made: mementos over the years that help me remember where I have been.

The importance of Mementos

I mentioned in my Manifesto that I have collected mementos over the years that help me remember where I have been. This post explains the mementos on my Facebook background photo. I hope that through this site we will get to know one another. I will start by sharing a little bit about me.

The pipe I inherited from my dad. It's a Meerschaum pipe of a Sikh in a turban. The clay from the Meerschaum is really special because over the years it pulls in the tobacco and presents it to the surface making the carving come alive with character. As the smoker holds the pipe the oils from his hand transfer and that adds to the effect. This means a lot to me because I am adding to the patina my father started.

Have you ever thought about how amazing mechanical clocks and watches are? With less metal than I carry on my key chain, these machines can tell us the position of the Earth around its axis within a couple seconds. In one of those seconds my wife said "I do." In another I saved a life. In one second my son was born; in another second my father passed (represented by the hands on the clock in the photo above). With the exception of this photo time never stands still. Seconds fall over like dominoes that started before us and will keep falling us after we move on.

The tooled leather wallet was made by my dad who was a really talented leather worker. He used to volunteer at 4H (kind of like Boy Scouts for kids that already live in the woods) teaching leather work and I still have his tools in my toolbox. All of this sits atop a leather iPad case inscribed by the owner of Saddleback Leather (where I work during the day). What he said means a lot to me and I will keep it long after my iPad becomes just an expensive digital picture frame.

Do you have mementos you keep around you to remind you of your successes, failures, friends, family or steps along your path?

Is colored wax necessary?

If my moustache is dark, shouldn't I use colored wax?

It makes sense at first blush that this should be so. In fact, I started with the assumption that a dark colored wax would be essential for my line at launch. Let me begin by clarifying that I am not saying that there is anything wrong with waxes on the market that have a color to them. In fact, prior to using my own wax, I used a popular colored wax that was a dark brown. When I first started mixing waxes in my kitchen and ruining our pots, pans and utensils we got for our wedding (sorry friends!) I was really hung up on how to get the right shade of brown. I was insistent on only using materials which:

Let me tell you, it isn't easy to meet those criteria. What surprised me, however, is that even more than being tough to accomplish, it isn't necessary or always desirable. Let me explain why this isn't just some sort of sour grapes grasping to turn a "bug" into a feature.

What I learned

After testing my waxes on my face, my dog and my son, I came to realize that:

Will you ever offer wax in other colors?

I may. That won't be a product design focus in the near term. Though the three points above are all true, none are deal-breakers for releasing a darker wax someday (maybe). For point one, though it may not be "necessary" some folks might prefer it--I will certainly take popular demand into account when planning future products. For point two, I trust each of you would buy a color that best fits your hair color (and even if you don't, again see point one, it won't matter too much even if you don't). Forpoint three, if you don't apply wax with a spatula or your dog's foot, you will generally be OK. Most if not all instances my color transfer to cloth were my fault (the dog wouldn't hold still).

If this is true, why are waxes commonly offered in "dark"?

My theory is that not many of us are chemists or do as much product testing as I did and it seems like common sense to buy a color that matches your handlebar moustache . Plus, colored waxes may look a little more manly when you admire them inside the can. Nothing wrong with that. Going back to the two part criteria listed above, I haven't found a way to achieve both of those criteria in a dark colored wax and until I find a way to do so I won't release a colored wax. It is worth noting that the oldest recipes for moustache wax I found in my extensive research called for no coloring agent. Sometimes the old ways are the best ways.