Welcome to the Valley of Ashes.

The second r/wetshaving exclusive installment of the Gatsby theme is coming May 11th from Southern Witchcrafts. It will not resemble its predecessor, West Egg, to say the least. While West Egg is a exuberant celebration with effervescent bubbly, Valley of Ashes represents something altogether different. Optimism and conspicuous consumption were present in West Egg, but despair and hopelessness find a home in the Valley of Ashes.

F. Scott Fitzgerald described it as, “[A] fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.”

If you’re not wealthy enough to find yourself in either West Egg or East Egg, you may land here...huddled among the industrial factories spewing ash and generating wealth found in fancy places like the Eggs. Valley of Ashes provides the stage for a pivotal intersection in the novel. A simple gas station. A speeding car. A dead body. And seething revenge.

Southern Witchcrafts has crafted an excellent profile for this theme. The scent notes include coal, tar, bourbon, tobacco, bitter citrus, smoke, leather, motor oil, burning rubber, diesel, clove, birch tar, and bergamot.

The Valley of Ashes will be available on May 11 @ 12pm EST. Soap, aftershave, and EdP will be available in limited supplies. The label artwork is being done once again by u/La_Yerba_Mate.

Like with West Egg, a few limited edition brushes made by Dogwood Handcrafts will be awarded randomly to purchases of a full set. u/phteven_j has told me these will be hybrids.

As an FYI, I expect to provide updates on the DNP threads on Tuesday and Saturday here on r/wetshaving. Many thanks to the artisans at Southern Witchcrafts and Dogwood Handcrafts for their work on creating this project. I hope everyone enjoys it!