Birchbox Limited Edition Box for Men

Birchbox have put together a limited edition box for men and it has been cleverly designed so that every item within the box can be used to form part of the morning routine and there is even a little card to put you through your paces, though waking up at 7am is never ever going to happen for a bloke as lazy as me, unless I don't go to bed!

Birchbox Man contains seven items in total and I haven't come across any of the brands inside, so I am even more looking forward to trying them out.  Inside my box is the following:

Anthony Logistics High Performance Anti-Wrinkle Glycolic Peptide Serum (4ml) - This peptide-powered formula from Anthony Logistics works instantly to plump the skin's surface and diminish lines and wrinkles. AHA's (or alpha hydroxy acids to all you skincare whizzes!) also work to lift and hydrate the skin, leaving it smooth and rejuvenated.

To use - Simply apply a few drops to cleansed skin, massaging across the face and down the neck area. For best results use day and night.

Gentlemen's Tonic Daily Moisturiser (50ml) - This moisture-packed tonic is said to be perfect for all skin types. Using a unique blend of ingredients, from mineral-rich seaweed and emollient Babassu oil to soothing birch and softening coco butter, work to boost hydration levels in a flash.

To use: Apply a small amount to the face and neck morning and night, being careful to avoid the eye area.

English Laundry Notting Hill Atomiser (5ml)- English Laundry is described as having an evolving which initially opens with fresh, citrusy notes of bergamot and lime, and settles into a woody mélange of cedarwood and amber (with a spicy hint of peppercorn).

Noble Isle Lightning Oak Hair & Body Wash (30ml) or Fireside Bath & Shower Gel (30ml) Celebrating all that's great about the British Isles, luxury bath and body brand Noble Isle draws from the Scottish Highlands, English Country Gardens, Welsh Valleys and Irish Coast to create a collection that's locally sourced and ultra desirable. Its bath and shower gels take you on a journey which with the Summer Rising fragrance visits Cornish hedgerows to evoke elderflower, gooseberry, orange blossom and cut grass while Lightning Oak looks to Hertford Heath with its smoky wood aroma, plus bergamot and crushed pepper.

Mazorin Face Scrub (150ml) - This scrub has been specifically designed with men’s needs in mind it lifts away impurities with a blend of bamboo and maracuia powder while white willow extract keeps grime at bay thanks to its antibacterial protection for a crystal clear complexion.

To Use: massage onto wet skin, avoid the eye area and then rinse with warm water.

Closed on Monday Deluxe Pomade (30ml) - Closed On Monday transforms the traditional grooming products for the modern times - as demonstrated perfectly by their Deluxe Pomade. Imbued with a sophisticated sandalwood and vetiver scent, its unique gel-pomade formula is lightweight yet will keep your style in place.

To use: Rub an ample amount between your hands until the pomade starts to soften then work through your hair from root to tip.

Richer Poorer Socks - In an eye-catching orange and grey colour, these socks are cotton and worth a cool £12, probably the most expensive pair of socks I own!

So there you have the very first Birchbox for Men Box.  I am really impressed by the contents, each sample is a good enough size that you can use it for a few weeks to gauge a well rounded opinion as to whether or not you would purchase the full sized product and it is a nice introduction to some new brands.  

I also think this would make a nice giftbox for Christmas for the man in your life, your brother, your dad or even a close male friend.  The box costs just £25 and you can find it HERE along with further information on each item within the box, or other items which are featured in other boxes.

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The Monday Montage

The last seven days have seen weird things happening with my blog - not only have I had the urge to write lots more but the traffic coming to my little corner of the Internet has gone wild.

My review of Dirty Burger from earlier in the month received over 1,500 page views in a day, Lush I Should Coco from March over 300 and my tattoo article over 200.  

So what has BKUK offered to people stumbling across my pages over the last week?

Tigi Bedhead Supercharge Duo Giveaway

After being open for a month on Saturday I drew the winner of the gift set. 

Congratulations again to John Wharff, owner of one of the coolest male beauty blogs around ‘Mr Wharff’.

Dirty Works Coconut Caress Body Scrub

Arty outside photographs were the order of the day again on Saturday when I likened Dirty Works Coconut Caress Body Scrub to sandpaper - it is a cheap and cheerful product that won’t break the bank but will strip away layers of dead or dying skin.

Structure Paste Flexible Adhesive

The surge in traffic aside, on Thursday I wrote up my thoughts on Structure Paste Flexible Adhesive. Personally I think this is one of the most bizarre posts I’ve ever done as I managed to fuse The Happy Mondays, glue sniffing and references to colleagues at work into what was originally an attempt at a serious review of a product I really was shocked by - for all the right reasons. 

Erasmic Lather Shave Cream and Brush

'Erasmic is orgasmic' was the punt I took when thinking of something funny to say but after my first experience of using a shaving brush instead of being lazy and using gel or foam resulted in some surprising results.

Coming up....

So what does the coming week hold? Well, I attended my first ever blogger event a few weeks ago with the lovely people from Ilumi to sample their new Chinese and Modern Asian range of gluten free meals. 

The night had so much to write about it has actually taken me days to write it up where I'm happy that I haven't missed too much out and where I think I do the products and evening justice.

In addition to this I’ve been trying StoneFish Clay by Fish Soho and trying to resist the temptation to eat Soap and Glory Sugar Crush.

I hope you have enjoyed one or two of my posts over the last week and feel the urge to return to check out my musings over the next seven days.

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Dirty Works Coconut Caress Body Scrub

Get the puns out the way early, that would be sensible advice had I not been writing about Dirty Works Coconut Caress Body Scrub - seriously, just drafting this resulted in lots of sounds reminiscent of an episode of Beavis & Butthead.

So, in the interests of moving on and getting these out of the way I will not be using phrases such as ‘Coconut Caress is Coco-nuts‘, ‘I’m a dirty boy’, ’getting down and dirty’ or ‘I’m a little scrubber’ from now on - promise.

To fully appreciate my experience you really need to know how I started using this - picture a man clinging to consciousness trying to get showered before work. Eyes haven’t fully opened and support being provided by both arms propping me up. 

I actually went to grab a different body wash but picked this up by accident. 

So, what do they say about it?

Clean up your act with this feel good scrub to leave you revived, recharged and ready to go!

Change your ways and buff yourself to innocence! With Walnut shell granules to help brush roughness away and Coconut Oil to condition and moisturise.

As soon as you step under the shower and squeeze the scrub out its like being smashed in the face with a bag of coconuts - wow, that coconut oil is strong! Really strong. It also requires far too much effort to squeeze it out as the scrub is really thick in texture.

I’m not normally a big fan of coconut but with this it is much sweeter on the nose. Yes, I can just sit here sniffing the tube. Sad, very sad but true.

Once I’d flexed my muscles and squeezed enough out it felt thick and gooey in my hand, no signs of any walnut shell granules. With Ted’s Grooming Room Step 01 Face Scrub I found that as soon as I put it on my hands I could feel the micro-beads. With Coconut Caress I had to rub this between my palms and as it spreads boy does the abrasion follow.

As I started to rub this over my body the walnut shell granules gently dug into my skin but in a way that you kind of knew that it was removing every inch of dead or dry skin from my torso. The scrub doesn’t lather but it is so smooth you can actually see the granules as they become more and more abrasive - too much pressure and you’ll find yourself losing hairs off your arms (I jest).

The granules don’t disintegrate like other products so until they are washed off you can continue to rub them over your torso which means you don’t need that much of this for a full upper torso wash and exfoliation.

After stepping out of the shower and drying, my skin did have a subtle glow to it and was extremely smooth to the touch. It was 100% clear to me on the day of using and still the day after that my skin had taken a pasting and had been treated to some TLC.

The coconut fragrance while strong when washing doesn’t stay that way. You can detect hints of the coconut oil for a few hours on the skin after using. Personally I don’t use this on my face as it does interfere with how my aftershave smells but for washing my torso - ’pits and body this is perfect. Not a hint of the dreaded BO after washing using this and with the lovely results I can’t help but recommend this to people who want a bloody good exfoliating body scrub.

Do I feel innocent after using this? Well no, but I also don’t feel like I’ve been robbed as 200 ml costs just a £1 if you shop around which represents exceptional value for money.

Do I feel revived and recharged? Well it certainly wakes you up, but recharged? That's just a claim too far. Even so, this has far too many positives to let the mindless marketing blurb stand in the way of top marks from me.

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One question that will nag away at me - why use walnut shell granules and why not coconut husk?

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