L'Occitane Gift Sets!

L'occitane men's aftershaves are products I highly rate. One of my favourites being Cedrat which has the lightness and fresh zing that comes with fragrances like CK One but dries down incredibly quick to deliver a masculine fragrance that retains it’s citrus vibe and is actually really lovely.

I am asked regularly by readers and friends what gift sets make good gifts and I try to stick to products that I have used and am a fan of and L'Occitane is always one I find myself referencing simply because they have an incredible men's gift selection. Whether you are looking for a fragrance, a duo set, a shaving kit or even a travel kit, you name it L'Occitane have it and for every kind of budget.

Right now there are two gift sets that I have my eye on (hopefully the wife reads this) and they are quite different within what it is they have to offer. The first is the Spicy Cade Collection which comes packaged in a signature box and includes a 100ml bottle of Cade EDT, Shower Gel and Aftershave Balm for just £64

The second option which is more budget friendly but incredible value for money is the Sparkling Cedrat Collection which includes this incredible brightly coloured travel bag alongside 4 products - Cedrat Shaving Gel, Aftershave, Shower Gel and a 100g bar of soap. Everything you need in one bag for those long weekends away, work trips and holidays.

Those are just two of the gift sets which have currently caught my eye and as we move on to the festive season, I have no doubt there will be many more!

If you haven't tried something from the L'Occitane range for men I highly recommend that you do.

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Bulldog Skincare For Men Gift Collection

A Bulldog is not just for Christmas…but it’s a great start. That's what the marketing blurb for the Bulldog Skincare for Men Christmas Gift Collection shouts out straight away, and after receiving two to try out, I'm inclined to agree, they're not just for Christmas but all year round. 

I'm a bit of a Bulldog Skincare freak, I love their moisturiser (still puzzled why I've never written about it) so when these two gift sets popped through the door (read wife walked to the sorting office to pick up) it really was like Christmas morning, and I still have a wry smile now, some weeks later.

So, award winning skincare brand Bulldog Skincare For Men has launched five new gift sets that will bring seasonal cheer. With a brilliant selection of their products available in each gift, and at what I would call massively affordable prices you can do a lot, and I do mean a lot worse when weighing up what to buy the bloke in your life this year.

Available from Boots, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, the range offers a choice of stocking fillers, secret Santa gifts and ‘proper presents’.

Man Up (£6, yes, just £6 from Boots)

Now this is by far and away a great little gift and would be perfect for Secret Santa - not too pricey, but actually not just a great grooming product, but the tin is also a money box with a nice opening in the lid.

This is what the marketing blurb says about this gift set:

'The Bulldog Man Up Sensitive Moisturiser Tin is a great man’s gift this Christmas. This set contains Bulldog Sensitive Moisturiser, which is specially formulated with 2 essential oils, green tea, green algae, konjac mannan and vitamin E to help rehydrate sensitive skin. These powerful ingredients can help revive and rehydrate the skin. Plus, this moisturiser absorbs quickly and won't leave your face and hands oily or greasy after use.'

I really do have affection for this moisturiser, it is brilliant when i shave regularly and it doesn't inflame my skin further, even if I shave in a rush and have razor burn. It smells wonderful to boot - fresh, clean with a bit of bite from the tea notes, this ticks all the right boxes.

It's absorbed into the face quickly, doesn't leave the face looking greasy and best of all, after I started using this, after a week my skin did feel softer, smoother and looked incredibly hydrated.

Pardon the pun, but this is the dog's b******s.....

‘The Kennel’ (£12) 

In a neat, and clean looking presentation box, and with a budget price tag this is the perfect alternative to the usual Lynx guff gift sets that get thrown around at this time of the year (in laws, family and friends take note, I despise Lynx gift sets). 

This is what they say about this gift set in the marketing blurb: 

'The Kennel contains a trio of Bulldog products; Original Face Wash, Original Face Scrub and Original Moisturiser bedded down in a fun presentation box. The recipient of this gift is guaranteed to love the superb skincare results of the products as well as the iconic bulldog ‘at one with nature’ on the box.'

Again, while I can't argue with the benefits that come from using the moisturiser, my personal favourite from this gift set has to be the face scrub. It smells lovely, not a hint of any chemical aroma and the scrub is really gentle and feels so natural as it grinds off the daily build up of free radicals (ooh, check me out, I do of course mean dirt and pollution).

Combining the face wash, scrub and moisturiser for the last five days and I seem to have developed a glow. Now that has nothing to do with me entering into the Christmas spirit early, and everything to do with these great products.

So, considering the price these gift sets represent excellent value for money. They are well presented, do what they say they will do, and do so with no fuss or drama. For this I am eternally grateful. Still not convinced? Well, I give up! 

Need a gift for your fella this Christmas? These would make great stocking fillers and you get to support a British business in the process. It's a win all around.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Finally, Hector wants to know why you haven't already gone off to pick up your own Bulldog Gift Set!

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The Body Shop for Men

If you haven’t already seen it, this year rather than endless gift guides I have decided to take a look purely at the range of male beauty and grooming gift sets available from a range of brands. There is a nice round up of ten that are available for all price ranges here, but now we are into December I’m going to look at even more (yes more) and focus on the beauties that I’ve had the pleasure of using.

Step forward two from gift sets from The Body Shop – the first being the Modern Gent’s Maca Root Shaving Kit and the second (and much needed, especially after my first Christmas party of the festive season last night) the Modern Gent’s Post Party Rescue Kit

First of all, if you were to pass this over I can guarantee smiles when it is unwrapped – both sets come in sturdy metal cases and really do ooze class. Personally this is the first time I’ve ventured near a product from The Body Shop range, in fact, I wouldn’t have been able to answer you if you had asked me three weeks ago if The Body Shop actually sold any male grooming products!

This is what they say about the gift sets over on The Body Shop website here:

Modern Gent's shaving kit (£25 here) - Who said men are hard to buy for? Give his skin the star treatment with this dapper collection of expert shaving care products, designed exclusively to care for male skin.

• Maca root Shaving Cream 200ml
• Razor Relief 100ml
• Shaving Brush

So, The shaving kit – the shaving brush is well made, has a solid wood handle and the bristles are actually quite soft and smooth. After using this to lather up my shaving cream (literally this morning) I can happily report that unlike others, it doesn’t shed it’s hair as soon a slight bit of pressure is applied. Happy days. The shaving cream is probably the only slightly disappointing thing, but not because it’s rubbish or should be denigrated in any way, it’s just very run of the mill – it actually reminds me very much of the Kent Shaving Soap that came with my Shave Club kit. It doesn’t set the world on fire, but it does the job, has a nice and clean fragrance and it doesn’t irritate my skin.

The razor relief cream is again, like the brush very good and does the trick. I made the fatal error of not packing my safety razor, so had to use a disposable (I should learn to just leave the stubble rather than put myself through the pain). Without a boring description, my face felt on fire and in the absence of any of the other fab soothing creams I use after shaving used this, and boy, it settled down the rash and burn in minutes. Relief, and it doesn’t smell that bad either. It reminds me of aftersun lotion, but then again, lots of stuff does. Massively inoffensive and it doesn’t interfere with cologne or aftershave applied almost immediately after the razor burn has subsided.

So, onto the Modern Gent's Post Party Rescue Kit. I have terrible trouble with the dark circles and bags under my eyes – throw into the mix large quantities of alcohol (it’s bad for your skin people) and a very late night (read crawled into bed at three a.m.) before having to rise again three hours later and you probably get the gist of how rough I looked. Rough, rough…..(I looked like a dog)…..

Modern Gent's Post Party Rescue Kit (£16 here)

Who said men are hard to buy Christmas presents for? Give his skin a refreshing winter treat with this Post Party Rescue Kit. Designed exclusively to care for male skin, this skincare gift contains Peruvian maca root to help protect and hydrate skin.

• For Men Maca Root Eye Rescue Serum 15ml
• For Men Maca Root Energetic Face Protector 100ml

Step aside Rogue Eye Serum (mainly because I packed an empty tube). The Eye Rescue Serum did reduce the size, shape and colour of the bags, in fact, it was surprising how tight the skin around my eyes became. All of this was done in a staggeringly quick time. Just fifteen minutes after applying and I was ready to face the world (read, step out of my room and gingerly make my way down to breakfast).

If I had to describe the feeling I would liken it to drying PVA glue on your skin – it goes tight, but also has a mildly bizarre sensation when doing so. So, bags reduced (not gone, but even plastic surgery would be a struggle for my bad boys) and the dark circles were much lighter. Even the crows’ feet were reduced and I couldn’t really see any of the fine lines (they are not fine, they are awful) without really pushing my face up to the mirror.

The Face Protector was well, not the hockey mask I expected, instead it was a remarkable, and massively hydrating cream with a lovely fresh aroma. Immediately absorbed into the skin it left no greasy residue, there was no shine on my forehead and I have to admit, I did look in the mirror and think “nice one”……just twenty minutes after looking in the mirror, muttering obscenities to myself and being genuinely shocked at how bad my skin looked, I actually checked for a pulse to ensure I hadn’t died overnight.

This is no rescue, after party kit, it’s a revelation. It’s coming with me as I tour the UK going to parties this Christmas season.

So, in a nutshell, for under £30 each (£16 for the post party kit) you get gift sets that are immaculately presented, packed full of quality products and best of all products that do the job they claim to do. As a beauty/male grooming blogger I would be pleased to unwrap these on Christmas Day, or actually just receive them as gifts.

I’m not sure what limits people put on Secret Santa nowadays (bah humbug) but at £16, the Post Party Kit would be an excellent choice.

Both come highly recommended from me.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

For the sake of openness and honesty, I was sent these gift sets to try, and try them I have over the last week. While they may be samples, my opinion here has not been swayed in the slightest. I can’t say I’d ever been drawn to anything from The Body Shop but actually these have made me take a step back and reassess my entire view of their brand and range of available products.

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Scaramouche & Fandango Gift Sets + GIVEAWAY

As Father’s Day gets ever closer once again, readers may be thinking “what the hell do I buy dad this year”. Well, if you are stuck for gift ideas let me help you out. Last year I wrote up a series of suggestions based upon different types of dads and the types of aftershave I would recommend. You can see my post from last year here (personally I think these choices stand the test of time).

This year however I have something that would suit any dad out there and for this I have to thank the lovely people at Scaramouche & Fandango who have launched a range of gift sets. You can see the full range here, but today I’m going to be talking about two of them, ‘Skin‘ and ‘Shower’. 

Not only are both of these gift sets affordable, but they are available here for delivery and would make a great gift.

So what do you get?

Scaramouche & Fandango Shower - £13.50

Within this twin pack you receive a 200ml bottle of the Sh (shampoo) and Bw (body wash). 

I first started using the Bw after receiving a sample in my Selfridges&Co male beauty box last year and it firmly converted to the Scaramouche & Fandango range, oozing quality, a great fragrance and the ability to banish body odour it really does knock the spots of the competition. It’s good stuff!

Sh is something I hadn’t used until this morning! While I use a certain brand to remove the gunk that builds up my hair after using styling products, I have been on the lookout for a shampoo to use on a day to day basis. The cleansing shampoo has a mix of Black Quinoa and Shea butter and my first impressions are hugely positive. My hair felt clean, it has a lovely subtle aroma and my hair doesn’t feel like straw after it dries (a problem I have had with most shampoos I’ve tried over the last six months).  

For £13.50 you really can’t grumble - the Sh and Bw are likely to last for well over a month, even when using on a daily basis. A little goes a long way and while it may appear that you are telling your dad he needs to improve his washing regime I personally think this is worth it. 

Scaramouche & Fandango Skin - £25 

This triple pack contains three products that will do the business for skin. You receive 100ml of Fs (face scrub), 100ml of Sc (shave cream) and 100ml of Hy (hydrator). 

I have already written about the Fs and Hy and you can see my full reviews by clicking on the abbreviations. Each were recommended when I wrote up my thoughts and nothing has changed since, I still love the results that they both produce. 

Sc was a new one on me and again, this morning I shaved using the cream and am impressed with the finish. No irritation, soothing in nature and a lovely fragrance to boot means that when I do write about this it gets the thumbs up.

All in all, three great products for just £25.

The gift sets come in rather lovely stylish black boxes and no matter what, every time I look at them I think of the introduction to Breaking Bad where the periodic table comes into focus. It’s a strange link from a rather strange bloke! 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Here is the best bit ladies and gentleman - Scaramouche & Fandango are giving you the chance to win one of the two gift sets above as part of a giveaway here at Beautykinguk. That's two winners who will each win one gift set each. The first name drawn will win the Shower set and the second person the Skin set.

To win, all you have to do to enter is fill out the Rafflecopter entries below where the fields are marked mandatory. There are also additional entries to be had and bonus entries for tweeting about the giveaway on a daily basis.

The giveaway is global this time and I will arrange for the winners to receive the gift sets in time for Father’s Day. 

If you are aged under 16 please obtain permission from your parent or guardian as I will require your home address to post the gift set to you if you win.  

With that in mind, what are you waiting for? Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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