Mick Foley Blogs

For My Bearded Friends

As a bearded man for the past 35 years (I think the only three times I have shaved since 1985 have been as part of a ECW angle in 1995, a manicure Mr. McMahon gave Mankind in 1997, and a shave when I had knee surgery in 1999, so I could go on vacation without being as noticeable) I have tried many a beard product over the years. It’s no exaggeration to say I have tried dozens… and dozens of different products. Some of them I have enjoyed, and others are relegated to the trash bin after just a few doses. I guess I was always on a quest for what I thought was the perfect beard product. Over the course of the past 10 years, since I have been growing my beard out for extended periods of time –  up to a complete year, in order to portray a certain jolly elf in December – it has been particularly important to find quality products that can help keep my beard healthy and nourished.

A few months ago, I tried a sampler pack from Mythical Beards and was very impressed with the quality of their beard balms/butters/oils. I also enjoyed their mythical theme, so the different scents had a sense of fun and adventure to them. There was Dr. Jekyll (lavender, clementine) Kraken (vanilla and spices) Dracula (bergamot oak moss patchouli) Krampus (fir orange mint) and even Invisible Man with no scent at all. I enjoyed all the products immensely, and found the scents to be titillating, but not overpowering – as many of the products I had tried in the past have been. Without any prompting, or any secondary motive beyond sharing a photo of products I enjoyed, I tweeted out a photo of me with my fine new products. Almost immediately, I heard back from Mythical Beards owner Andrew Hennes, thanking me for my support. After a few back and forth messages, I asked Andrew if he’d considered a product featuring peppermint – and with that, the seed for a new bearded tag-team was born.

I met with Andrew, I was impressed with the top quality products he included in mythical beards – mango butter, shea butter, jojoba oil, avocado oil, castor oil, argon oil, beeswax and emu oil – and how each scent was hand-crafted in small batches to ensure the highest attention to quality and detail. Within days of our meeting, he had shipped me a first sample of the yet to be named collaborative scent. My feedback was simple: more peppermint! After three different samples, I shared my goal for our new scent with Andrew: “I want users to feel like they just got hit in the face with a peppermint patty!” A few days later, Andrew’s latest concoction arrived at my door…and within seconds of applying it to the Foley goatee, I knew we had a winner; the invigorating tingle of peppermint, with just a suggestion of french vanilla to smooth out the frosty adventure!

Now for the name: How in the world was I going to find a name for a peppermint scent that fit in with the mythical theme of Andrew’s products? While doing some brainstorming, I remembered that great claymation prospector, Yukon Cornelius, happening upon the world’s greatest peppermint mine in the Rankin/Bass classic “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”.  I recalled the fearless Cornelius tangling with the frightening creature of the north, “The Abominable Snow Man” and almost instantly made the connection with the legend of the Yeti – the giant apelike creature rumored to inhabit the Himalayan mountain range in Asia – from which The Abominable One was borrowed by western culture. What if this mythical creature was part Yeti, part Foley? BAM! Just like that, in the greatest cultural combination since chocolate joined peanut butter to create the fabled peanut butter cup, the FOLYETI name was born. After tinkering with the scent name, “Frosty Mint”, we decided to go bigger, better, badder – and arrived at Arctic Slam as the perfect point to punctuate the pile-driving power of peppermint. I think it sounds great!

Although I wish I’d had it when I had the epic Santa beard, I use FOLYETI Arctic Slam every single day on my far more moderate goatee. Every morning it’s the beard oil, to soften the beard, reduce inflammation and itch. I dab a little on my temples, the back of my neck, and any dry skin areas around my nose. It’s great for the skin, as well as the beard, and you can’t beat that peppermint tingle to help get your day going. Peppermint has also been known to stimulate new beard growth, especially when applied after a hot shower. I throw in a little balm or butter a little while before bedtime as an extreme leave in conditioner.  

I really love this product, and I’m happy to be part of this collaboration with MYTHICAL BEARDS.

I hope you will choose to be the recipient of an Arctic Slam from the mythical Folyeti.

Your beard will thank you!