BEARDS: Marbeian Beard & Moustache Brush Travel Kit

As my quest for something of a Viking look continues my beard game is now up to levels where daily care is required to keep both the skin underneath moisturised but also the beard itself conditioned and looking tidy. Nobody wants to look as though they slept in a bush, even if they did. It wasn't until last year that I dipped my toe into the water of beard brushes. My Kent BRD2 brush however seems to have gone and done a disappearing act while waiting for me to regain my mane. I needed a new brush (I turn into a compulsive brusher once fully bearded) - step forward the Beard & Moustache Brush Travel Kit from Marbeian. 

I picked up this set of beard grooming goodness from Amazon for just under £15, so a real steal, particularly when you consider that you get two brushes and a comb within the kit. You can pick up the kits here.

So, they are reasonably priced, but is it just tat off Amazon? Well, no. 

I'd never heard of Marbeian before, so I did a little look around to see who they were and it turns out to be a family run venture from Spain stocking a range of hairbrushes and grooming tools. Their website here gives the lowdown on the products they have to offer for all your grooming needs. Their customer promise is:

'Our promise is a happy customer who gets only superior quality products. Marbeian products don’t have to be replaced often - some ever! We offer a lifetime guarantee on many products. Style and workmanship last time making Marbeian a sustainable choice. Please consider nature and reduce waste.'

All beard brushes from Marbeian are made using boar hair bristles and the beard brush here is a real corker - the bristles have the rigidity to plough through a thick beard but they also ease out tangles and knots like a hot knife through butter. Resembling more of a boot polish brush the wooden handle makes it perfect for use in either my left or right hand. 

 

If I had to pick up one flaw with the angled bristles on my Kent BRD2 brush it was that I could only use it with my right hand making brushing the left hand side of my face awkward. With the Marbeian brush I have no such problems. 

The smaller brush is also a star in it's own right - it makes 'tache shaping so much easier and means you don't have to get your hands messy with beard oil or balm when moulding into shape for the day.

Last up is the wooden 'tache comb - excellent at de-tangling the old tea strainer prior to trimming. 

All of the items in the kit are really well made, and with the cotton carry bag these are perfect for slotting into my travel bag when I'm off out and about around the country with work. I've had these brushes for just under six months and I get the feeling that as long as I don't leave them in a hotel somewhere they will still be working their boar bristle magic on my bearded face in many years to come.

When you look at the price and look at the goods it's a no-brainer to have this kit in your grooming arsenal.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

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BEARDS: OSMO Beard Complex

What do you call a beauty blogger with Osmo Beard Complex? Clean Shaven......bad dum tsh

Poor jokes aside, shortly after agreeing to try out loads of beard products I had an accident trimming my beard and the whole thing had to come off! That left me with a huge box full of products designed for the bearded bloke with not a hint of a whisker in sight. Fear not though, it's been fun seeing what works well, and at what stage of growing in the months I've been working on my beard strength.

This is what they say about Beard Complex over at the Osmo website here:

'An intense gentleman's conditioning oil designed to restore wayward beards, skin and hair to their manly prime. Infused with Argan Oil and rich in vitamins A & E.'

If you want to pick up a 100ml bottle of Beard Complex you can do for just £16.02 (weird price) here.

Application is a well, how can I put this - fiddly. This comes with a pipette rather than just allowing you to pour it out. While this should mean that you can get the right amount of oil out to the precise drop, the oil itself is much thicker than you would expect, which means squeezing the top of the pipette doesn't actually release it all and I find that I end up smearing it onto my palm. It was a messy process for a good few days until I mastered it.

The thickness doesn't detract from the ability of the oil to be absorbed - I'd expected this to sit on top of the hair, rubbing off onto my hairs as I stroked my beard throughout the day. I was wrong. Despite my beard receiving lots of loving care over the last few months I found that the oil was absorbed in just seconds with just a touch of slickness that allowed me to brush down the hair and style it from unkempt to groomed.

After just a few days of using the softness of my beard was more evident, and first thing in the morning the other half agrees that my beard feels and looks soft and smooth. Result.

Taking the applying bit to one side, I found this to be a cracking little product - at under £20 for a 100 ml and considering how little is needed this represents excellent value for money. I haven't tried it on my dry skin or hair, but when it comes to beard grooming this does have a really good softening effect on my beard, and when using it a night I no longer awaken with that dry, scratchy feeling. Cumulatively, after a week of using this at night my beard did feel more conditioned to the touch, smoother and the ends were less prickly. 

Now, as I first wrote this post I looked over at the product claims on the Osmo website - it claims that this product can help bring back colours that have faded in tattoos. Now I have one or two, and decided to try this out over a couple of days prior to posting to see what happened. I rubbed a tiny amount over my half sleeve and almost immediately the tattoo seemed darker. I put this down to the moisture from the oil, but after an hour it had dried, and yes, it was still a richer, darker grey. After showering and drying again it remained more vibrant in colour than before. After three days it has probably restored 60 per cent of the previous colour - much easier, cheaper and less painful than a re-colour from the ink artist.

Good stuff that won't break the bank. As for me, my current beard strength levels? Not country strong, internationally strong

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BEARDS: A beard-tastic giveaway

In what appears to be a stunning piece of Internet ordering or just down right ineptitude on my part I've received another Beard Mate - Beard Shaping Tool in the post. As I already have one, what better time to let a reader have a crack at winning the spare. Now this on its  own isn't going to set the world on fire, so to sweeten the deal and given that I loved my experience with the Menrock 'Awakening' For My Beardy Beloved box set I've bought one to give away. Whoop.....

So, up for grabs is:

A beard shaping tool & For My Beardy Beloved Box Set which includes:

• Sicilian Lime & Caffeine Beard Soap
• Sicilian Lime & Caffeine Beard Balm
• Sicilian Lime & Caffeine Moustache Wax
• A beard comb

You can read all about my thoughts on this nifty little device here. 

You can see what I thought to the 'awakening' beard soap which comes in this kit here.

This giveaway will be open for 28 days and I'll post it to wherever in the world the winner lives. So, what's stopping you having a crack at winning?

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BEARDS: The Beard Mate - Shaping Tool

Did you know that the average bloke has about 615 hairs per square centimetre, which can equate to around 25,000 hairs on the entire face. That's a lot of hairs to keep under control and when you throw into the mix that the average bloke will see his beard grow up to six inches every year it's obvious that grooming is essential if you want to avoid looking completely unkempt. I'm on month four of beard growing and after having my flowing facial foliage trimmed and shaped by the fantastic folk at Ted's Grooming Room on Charlotte Street a couple of weeks ago it's now time for me to have a crack at keeping my beard trimmed and shaped. Trying to shape free hand would be foolhardy, my hands shake far too much, so, to encourage me to keep the beard the missus bought me The Beard Mate Beard Shaping Tool from Amazon for £9.95.

The shaping tool is plastic, feels sturdy in the hand and is easy to keep hold of even with wet hands. The whole point of the shaping tool is that you place it to your face and then with a razor you follow the lines to obtain an even and symmetrical shave.

Being able to see where my beard had been shaped previously made the job a lot faster as I didn't have to decide where to start but I was more impressed with the ease with which razor swept around the template and left the beard on point.

My shaping efforts for the last twenty years has in 95% of cases resulted in me having to completely shave off my growth as I couldn't get the beard to look straight around my neck or even on my cheekbones. With The Beard Mate I've used it twice now and it's been great each time. 

If you want a fairly cheap way of grooming your growth without any hassle then you should really take a peek at this. I think I'd be lost without this now and look forward to many more months of using it before I finally opt for a good old full clean shave. At under £10, this should be a staple in the grooming kit of any bearded bloke who struggles to shape their facial foliage.

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BEARDS: Peppermint Beard Remedy by Alchemy

My facial hair has the tendency to itch and generally be annoying until it gets to about two inches in length. If you throw into the mix the fact that my beard is quite thick and acts as a barrier between my face and any moisturising products and personally I find that my face while looking beard strong looks a little bit well, rough. Beard oils have been a revelation and a casual glance at my posts over the past few months will show you an assortment of oils that have been great at taming my mane and with price tags to suit any budget. Today I'm going up the price range and looking at Peppermint Beard Remedy by Alchemy.

So, who are Alchemy? Well, they are hair oil specialists who don't test on animals and who detest parabens and all of the other nasty additives you find in a lot of products out there. So they normally specialise in products to help stimulate hair growth on the head but they have branched out and produced a this lovely beard oil that contains just essential oils - 100% natural.

This is what they say about the Peppermint Beard Remedy: 

'A fantastic minty fresh beard oil to stimulate growth and treat common beard concerns. An all natural remedy which can be used daily or as needed to improve the condition of your beard.'

My first impressions of this were holy cow, the peppermint is strong, very strong. It also blows the sinuses away it has such a refreshing and cool fragrance. The mint on first application does actually make my eyes tingle which is a weird sensation but not irritating thankfully as I could sit and sniff at this for hours on end. It's lovely.

The remedy blends peppermint essential oil, organic rosechip oil, organic Avocado oil, fractionated Coconut oil and Argan oil but you will only ever detect the minty freshness of this, even after drying down I can't detect any hint of coconut. 

The remedy is absorbed into the beard and skin really quickly - I find that five drops rubbed between my palms, smoothed onto the beard and then worked in with my fingertips is enough to cover my full beard. While it does add shine the beard doesn't look greasy which is something of a surprise to me considering the number of oils. 

I use this oil twice a week in the evening. The peppermint soothes my sinuses, my beard can be brushed into shape and the hair feels so incredibly soft and smooth from the moment it is applied to when I wake up in the morning. The Argan Oil is also working wonders on the condition of my skin around the beard. For bonus points I've also not experienced any irritation on the skin after using this.

If I had to identify one drawback it's that if I used this in the morning I would be unable to wear a fragrance as this would overpower anything that I put on. I like Peppermint but I refer a more subtle fragrance for wandering around the office. That said, as a night time remedy to keep my beard conditioned an feeling great I can't argue with the product. It does what it says it will do and yes, my beard does seem to be growing faster in the weeks since I started using this.

Strong conditioned beard - check
Smooth skin - check

Can't say fairer than that.

This isn't the cheapest beard oil around at £21 for a 40ml bottle but you can pick it up direct from their website here.

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GROOMING: Ted's Grooming Room - Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia

A casual look at the homepage of this here blog and you’ll see that there has been a bit of a beard obsession for the last month or so. Yes, the beard is now so grizzly and I’m so scared of cocking up the shaping of it that I asked the good folk at Ted’s Grooming Room if they would like to have a crack at my beard so that on-going maintenance would be easier for me. They of course jumped at the chance and so yesterday I ventured around the corner from my office and slipped into the barbers chair at Ted’s Grooming Room – Charlotte Street.

Usually when I venture into one of the Grooming Rooms I opt for The Full Ted, which comprises of a wash and cut, shave and eyebrow threading. With limited time, and a half-arsed attempt to grow my hair out again I opted for a beard trim and shape on my visit during lunch on Friday. This would set you back £22.50 and takes around thirty minutes. 

Drum roll please as the pictures speak much louder than any words that I could type!

Looking a state so you don’t have to!

So, this is what I looked like the morning of my visit:

 Well hello there!

The final result? Bearded awesomeness.

So, a quick compare and contrast and it’s obvious to even Stevie Wonder that Eren my nimble fingered barber performed a minor miracle. My beard is shaped and trimmed to perfection, it feels better, it looks better and it's now in a place where I can use my own trusty beard shaping tool and a razor to keep it under control.

As an aside, how cool is the lighting?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again about Ted’s Grooming Rooms – they offer a wide variety of treatments, they treat you like a king and their skilled barbers really do provide an exceptional standard of service. They know their craft and they attain perfection every time in my view. Throw in the Turkish massage and it's always an experience worth having.

Bravo, and thank you.

Ted's Grooming Room
20 Charlotte Street
Fitzrovia
W1T 2NA

Tel: 020 3 397 9966

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

You can read about previous visits to Ted’s Grooming Rooms and see the before and after shots to get a feel for the incredible work they do below:

St Paul’s

The Strand

Holborn

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Percy Nobleman Beard Grooming Giveaway

As I approach 1,000 Instagram followers not only am I amazed that I’ve managed to keep this blog going for so long without losing interest (I’m very much a here and now kind of person rather than planning) but that people actually read what I have to think on the various products, places and clothes I try out. As way of saying thank you, today I will be opening up a new giveaway competition that once again is available to all who visit my little corner of the Internet. In a few days I will draw the winner of the 100ml bottle of The Dreamer by Versace, but to keep you doing today I will be opening up the giveaway for June 2016 and this giveaway is for those who really like to see a well groomed beard and like to use good quality products to keep it clean, fresh and styled. Enter stage left Percy Nobleman and their exquisite range of all things beard care related.

So, what’s up for grabs? - I have one set of the Percy Nobleman Beard Grooming Kit (RRP £26.99) and a 75ml bottle of Percy Nobleman Face & Stubble Moisturiser (RRP £16.99).  

This is what the Percy Nobleman website says about the beard grooming kit here:

‘This kit is the perfect antidote for any gentleman commencing on their first bearded adventure. This pack holds the magic tonic (beard oil), the elixir of cleanliness (beard wash), wax to fend of wild beasts (or your moustache), and your trusted pocket comb. Each box contains 30ml of our best selling beard oil, 30ml of our beard wash, a 20ml tub of moustache wax and a pocket miniature moustache comb, which works great on shorter beards too!

So, if you're on the fence on which way to proceed with your beard grooming, take no risks and invest in this kit, which, if it's right for Percy, is right for you too! Revitalising and nourishing your beard doesn’t get easier than this!’

This is what they say about the face & stubble moisturiser over at the Percy Nobleman website here:

‘Prepare your skin and stubble for the day ahead with Percy Nobleman's fresh, nourishing and non-greasy Face & Stubble Moisturiser. A blend of the finest pure ingredients, our easily absorbed non-greasy lotion is a blend of light natural oils designed to moisturise and soften your skin and facial hair. Scented with Peppermint & Cucumber, this multi-purpose moisturiser is a first of it’s kind and has been specially designed to aid and moisturise both skin and stubble simultaneously helping you to feel fresh, invigorated and ready to face the day. Revitalising and nourishing your Face & Stubble doesn’t get easier than this!’

So go on, click on the Rafflecopter entries below and you could find this set and bottle winging its way to you.  Just for reference, this competition is open worldwide and you must be 16 or over to enter, unless you have parental permission because I will need your home address.  There are some mandatory entries which must be completed and failure to do so will disqualify your entry.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck.

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