HAIR: The Charming Man Refining Cream

Back to hair today, and it seems like an absolute age since I reviewed one of the many products that get slapped onto my head on a daily basis. Today I’m taking a look at The Charming Man Refining Cream, £12.99 for a 100ml tub.

A couple of observations before I start – one, I can’t use this without humming ‘Charmless Man’ by Blur, which is no reflection on the product, more a reflection on my own warped mind and secondly, my hair is horrifically long at the moment.

This is what they say about the cream over at the The Charming Man website:

‘Our refining cream consists of a soft, thick yet lightweight formula which is designed to be used on any type of hair. It’s based on a water soluble solution which makes it brilliantly pliable, giving you the freedom to re-work your hairstyle throughout the day.’ 

The proof of the pudding is in the sniffing, and as soon as the lid is off boom, you have hints of almond and cherry that only just detectable – heaven in a tub. These notes are ever so subtle so there is little danger of you attracting insects and the like due to an OTT fragrance within your hair.

When I first received this to try some three months or so ago my hair was significantly shorter, and as they direct, just a peanut sized amount was needed to cover my palms in the rich cream. Rubbing it between my palms I looked down (humming Blur – I hate Blur) and wondered how such a thick cream would be absorbed into my locks, it really does have a thick texture but fear not, you won’t end up with white streaks through your hair, that is unless like me you have stupid amounts of grey/white hair already.

So far it smells great and is a doddle to apply to the hair. The three most important things for me are the firmness of the hold, how long that hold lasts and how my hair feels to the touch, after all, I have an annoying habit now my hair is longer to flick and run my hands through it far more often than I should.

In terms of hold, the cream does add weight and texture to my hair which in turn keeps it nicely in style. As it is absorbed and dries it leaves a little bit of a shine to my hair but it’s far from greasy and for that I’m grateful – there is nothing worse than touching your hair and then finding that the residue has turned your hands into a human version of fly paper. Once dried the hold is firm but not crispy which means that if the style does get blown out by gale force winds it’s so, so easy to pop back into place.

Applying first thing in the morning I can play around my hair all day and some ten hours later the style is still looking top notch. Yeeeeessssssssssss.

With no hints of flakes on drying, the ease with which you can wash it out and the fact that after months of using this on and off I’m still nowhere nearly a fifth of the way down the tub this is great value for money. It does the job and it does it well. If I had to find a niggle, and it’s a minor niggle, now that I’m resembling Cousin IT from the Addams Family (see below) unless I straighten my hair I find that it does curl a touch at the ends. I wouldn’t expect a hair styling cream to hold that length of hair in place so I can’t and shouldn't be too judgemental.

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Me, before styling......

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GIVEAWAY: Get dad on point with The Legends London

Apparently Father's Day is on it's way - it's on the 18 June this year so over the coming weeks it's quite likely that you'll see one or two posts about products you can pick up for your dad without breaking the bank. What better place to start than with a giveaway thanks to those lovely folk for over at The Legends London.

Say hello to Darius! 

The Legends London is a barbershop in Holborn, London where Darius and his team of amazing barbers cut, snip and shave blokes to grooming perfection. I've been lucky enough to experience the dab hand of Darius and you can read what I thought of the experience here. Not only did they make me look sharp and on point they introduced me to their range of shaving and hair styling products.

So, apart from razor sharp shaves and epic haircuts, The Legends London have a variety of other products on offer to help shape and style your locks. Their Maximum Hold Hair Gel has hold on a par with concrete and their pomade is great for slicked back styles and adding shine. You can read my review of the Maximum Hold gel here and my thoughts on the pomade here.

 So, what's the point of this post? Well, I've got one of each product to give away just in time for Father's Day 2017. Up for grabs are:

1 x 220ml tub of Maximum Hold Hair Gel
1 x 120ml tub of Original Pomade
1 x book of alum matchsticks (they help stop the bleeding if you nick yourself shaving)

Each of these products come recommended by me. They would make a cracking male grooming gift for your dad or just a fella in your life who needs to get their hair sorted and under control. 

This giveaway will be open for three weeks but due to postal restrictions will only be open to people with a postal address in the United Kingdom. You must be over 18 to enter or have parental permission to enter if under as I'll need your address if you are the lucky winner.

Good luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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HAIR: Shaper Light Creamy Paste by Structure

With my hair at it's longest in about fifteen years and storms battering the country on an ever more frequent basis I've found that using just a hair spray or texturising gum hasn't had the desired hold on my hair when faced with stupidly strong gusts of wind. This means that I'm constantly hoding my hair down or resemble Cousin IT from the Addams Family. In the past, with short and spiky hair I've been a massive fan of hair styling products from Structure so when I was asked to try out Shaper Light Creamy Paste I naturally said yes and it jumped to the front of the testing queue.

A tub of Shaper will not break the bank, a chunky 100ml tub of the paste will set you back just £8.99 online. That's fairly reasonable I think for a hair styling product and given my positive experiences with the brand in the past I had high hopes that this could help keep my locks protected from the evil wind. 

This is what Structure say about Shaper over at their website here:

'A tad commitment shy? This light creamy paste adds texture, definition, natural finish and medium hold without sacrificing style flexibility. Changing your look during the day has never been this easy!'

Like all Structure products the paste has a clean, fresh fragrance. It actually reminds me of the smell of Dove soap! Don't ask me why but sniffing this reminds me of the smell of my aunts bathroom (it could be because she has massive jars full of Dove soap resting across the back of the bath).

Even with my hair now so long (the fringe comes down to my mouth) I only need to use a little of the paste when it comes to styling first thing in the morning. I apply it to damp hair and with a hold rating of 2/5 I didn't expect great things, just something. After applying the first time I let my hair dry naturally and the style was off my the time I got to work. Thankfully we have hairbrushes and I was able to easily re-style.

Every other application is followed by a good blast of the hairdryer to make sure it starts to 'set' before I leave the house. This tactic has resulted in better hold, a style that I want and it does add a touch of texture to my fine (thin, not fiiiiine) hair.

This kept my hair in place in gentle wind and in the absence of a gale it held in place for well over eight hours and as a bonus there were no hints of any residue or flakes in my hair even after I'd been fiddling around with it for hours. 

As my hair gets longer it does curl a little at the back - this paste keeps that well in check and for that I'm truly thankful. 

With a touch more hold this would leave me supremely confident in the hold ability come what the weather. It's got decent hold, would be great on shorter styles and does keep longer locks in check. With a reasonable purchase price thi does represent good value for money and it's one that will be used over and over again in this household.

RECOMMENDED

You can see my thoughts on other Structure hair styling products by following the links below:

Structure Transform Spray Clay
Structure Paste Flexible Adhesive

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HAIR: Sachajuan Stockholm Hair Wax

For months on end I’ve been pulling a tub of Sachajuan Stockholm Hair Wax out of my box of products to try and immediately thought it was  a face cream of Rachel’s that had fallen in by accident. This resulted in it being casually lobbed back in without another thought. What a fool I’ve been!

Having never heard of Sachajuan nor seen any advertising for the product. I had even less idea of when or where it came from so I had to go and take a look and see what it was I was about to slick into my hair! Thinking about it, it probably came via Rachel who regularly pimps me out when she goes off to PR events. Anyway, back to my research (read Googling). It costs £20 for a 250ml tub. When I first wrote this post I misquoted the price and as such have re-evaluated my thoughts. 

The next thing I discovered is that Sachajuan is a salon in Stockholm and there are actually loads of hair care products out there available for men and women. 

This is what they say about themselves in shouty text over at the Sachajuan website here:

‘THE SACHAJUAN SUCCESS STORY STARTED WITH THE OPENING  OF THE SACHAJUAN SALON IN 1997 IN STOCKHOLM BY SACHA MITIC AND JUAN ROSENLIND, TWO HIGHLY RECOGNISED HAIRDRESSERS WITH VAST EXPERIENCE OF HAIRSTYLING AND FASHION IN SWEDEN AND INTERNATIONALLY.

THE SACHAJUAN SALON SOON BECAME ONE OF SWEDEN’S HOTTEST HAIRDRESSING SPOTS AND THE CREATION OF THEIR OWN, EXCLUSIVE BRAND OF HAIRCARE PRODUCTS WAS A NATURAL STEP FORWARD IN THEIR SUCCESS STORY.

IN 2004 THE FIRST SACHAJUAN HAIRCARE PRODUCTS WERE INTRODUCED ON THE SWEDISH MARKET WITH IMMEDIATE ACCLAIM.’

OK, well after all that shouting I’ll be slightly calmer lol, but first things first, this has an aroma to die for, and I really do mean to die for. I’ve become a little bit obsessive about this and mind that I’ve started playing with my longer locks just because I like the fragrance it leaves on my fingers (although after a while, it does leave a bit of sticky residue on the fingers). It reminds me of a rather clean and clinical smell you usually find with most Nivea creams. Looking at the ingredients I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m actually addicted to the smell of Lanolin. 

The second surprise for me was the texture, although it’s a wax it has the look of hair paste or cream rather than wax but when you dip your fingers in it actually isn’t as thick as paste. Weird city people, I really did think that I was through the looking glass. The texture is actually a massive plus and makes application super simple when applying to wet or dry hair. My hair is now so bloody long that it has started to curl at the back. Using hair straighteners would be a solution, but a solution this bloke is going to go in for just yet (I can imagine the mocking of my mates, and well, I don’t have time in a morning with the faffing).

So, does this keep the mighty mullet in place? Yes, yes it does. As I’ve said, the application is so easy that it is just a case of spreading onto your palms and then while styling from the back massaging it into the hair from root to tip. A quick brush and boom, leave it to dry naturally or apply a low heat from a hairdryer. Leaving it to dry naturally usually takes about thirty minutes and either approach I’ve found leads to the same results.

This won’t leave your feeling greasy, it won’t look slick, in fact it provides a medium hold on long lengths of hair at the front and sides and at the rear it has kept my curls under control, continuing to do so for a good eight hours at a time. This level of hold is only really compromised by my constant fiddling with my hair! When I say medium hold, what I mean is that it will stay in place as you move around and while it might get blown out of style by a gust of wind it almost immediately falls back into place. That's much better than the solid and crispy hold that comes from a hair gel. 

Not a hint of residue in the hair from application, after eight hours or when waking in the morning, so no danger of those nasty white flakes on your dark top or woe betide under a UV light when on a night out. It actually represents good value for money when considering that 250ml costs £20 and will lasts for months. I’m confident in the level of hold and I like the way it leaves my hair looking and feeling. It’s good, and I’m glad the wife pimped me out to try this hair wax (thanks Mark and Karl). If anything, this has spurred me on to look at other products from the Sachajuan brand as if their other stuff is as good as this I really want to be trying it. 

It’s a hit in my book.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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The Legend’s London Original Pomade + Giveaway

It really doesn’t seem like that long since I ventured into Holborn to have my hair cut by the amazing Darius at The Legends. They say that time flies as you get older and boy it’s true. It was actually over two years ago! Wow. Not only did I get a new haircut and cutthroat razor shave, but I also got the chance to try their excellent Maximum Strength Hair Gel. With that in mind, when I was asked if I would like to try their new The Legend’s London Original Pomade how could I say no?

This is what they say about the product over at The Legend’s website:

‘Our pomade has a high hold, a medium shine finish and is water-soluble (we don’t believe in the crispy aftermath!) You’ll get a strong grip, so lots of flexibility no matter what style you choose. It’s great to have something that works around you, not the other way around. 

Pomade is one of those super simple but essential hair care items you need in your grooming drawer. Take a small amount of pomade and apply evenly through the hair with your fingers. (A little tip is to have your hair a little damp – just a little. Imagine that drying in the sun on the beach kind of vibe and you’re almost there!) It’s also great for restyling through out the day, which is something hair gel won’t let you do.’

A 120ml tub of the pomade is available direct from their website and costs just £13.

I confess that I didn’t read the instructions before slapping this into my hair, but thankfully I always apply my styling products to damp hair. It’s just so much easier. I took probably a little too much out but the first thing to strike me just how pliable it is. It’s softer than wax and melts really quickly when it comes into contact with warm skin.

Within seconds of taking from the tub it had become just runny enough to smooth through my now long hair. A quick brush back and then the application of a mild heat from the hairdryer and within five minutes I had perfectly styled hair.

The acid test for me with my styling products is hold, how it leaves hair looking, how my hair feels to the touch (I constantly mess with my fringe when my hair is longer) and how easy it is to wash out. On the hold front I can't really grumble - it kept my style in place for well over ten hours and even when blown slightly out of place (when stood by an open window on a train, so pretty forceful) my hair was so easy to manipulate back into style.

How does leave hair looking?

Well, there is no greasy shine, and after about three hours after styling it looks as though I’m not actually using any hair product at all. I prefer this look as my hair looks naturally lighter than it does when using a paste, cream or gel.

How does hair feel?

Don’t get me wrong, you can tell to the touch that you have something holding your hair in place but it doesn’t have the clammy texture that usually comes from using a pomade.

Can you get it out?

Yes, it’s actually surprising given the ten hours plus of great hold that this provides. It washes out with minimal effort, which in my book is a massive bonus. Nobody likes to be faffing around when already late for work!

TOP TIP: If you have a styling product that is a bitch to wash out, try applying your shampoo to dry hair and massaging it in before applying water.

Two years on and I’m still using the Maximum Hold gel, and if this lasts just half as long then it’s cracking value for money. It provides great hold, is a breeze to apply (if you leave your hair slightly damp as directed) and doesn’t leave that shine that looks as though you have dipped your head into cooking oil. It’s the bees knees.

RECOMMENDED

What’s even better is that those lovely, lovely people at The Legend’s have given me a tub of the pomade to give away to one lucky reader. Take a peek below and feel free to enter/share.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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