Ear to the ground:

“These brownies taste funny.
“That’s because there’s no pot in them.”
– Adding new meaning to the word “potluck” in Durango

Going on a mustache ride

Time to tame that squirrel growing above your top lip? Or maybe your handlebar is losing its grip? Just in time for Movember and the all-important holiday party grooming season, former Durango resident Jesse Lanci has introduced Bomber Mustache Wax and Beard Oil, a line of all-natural manscaping products.

Lanci, a river biologist by day and alchemist by night, started growing a stache – and the seeds for his company, Loma Wax Co. – three years ago.

“While it most certainly didn’t flourish overnight – and looked a little creepy along the way – it slowly but surely grew to the point of needing regular maintenance. I was on my way!” the Grand Junction resident writes on his website, www.lomawaxcompany.com. Begrudgingly, he followed his girlfriend into a local beauty supply store where the only option was “a tube of wax whose ingredients I couldn’t pronounce, whose contents glowed bright white against my brown stache and whose smell created one hell of a headache.”

Having identified his million dollar idea, Lanci set about concocting the perfect recipe. “I’m not going to lie, along the way I created some pretty bad wax, but I learned a lot as well,” he wrote. For example? “Lanolin is not your friend; unless you want to smell like a sheep’s ass.”

Eventually, he stumbled on the winning combo: vitamin E, shea butter, olive oil, jojoba oil and what he calls a “subtle, sophisticated” blend of essential oils

The wax comes in two strengths: Strong Hold (“whether you’re trying to curl your whiskers, paste down a pencil thin or straighten a Picasso”); and Light Hold (“for those troublesome spots.”)

Currently available only via word of mouth or from his website, Lanci is hoping to take the West Slope, and maybe even some of Utah, by storm. Earlier this month, he launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a “Mustache Wax and Beard Oil Road Trip” – surely the first, if not second or third, of its kind.

As of Tuesday, Lanci has made nearly $3,000 of his $3,500 goal, offering a variety of swag for donating. At the top of the gift list for a mere $1,000 is a signed and framed photo of Lanci in a three-piece suit, which, as of yet, remained unclaimed.

To check out Lanci’s Kickstarter page (or check out his sweet juggling skills) go to www.kickstarter.com/projects/403739266 /mustache-wax-and-beard-oil-road-trip