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.

RECOMMENDED

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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Toni&Guy Men Styling Fibre

I once had a totally horrific experience using a Toni&Guy product – it was called TX Wax and once I had applied it to my hair it took days and many, many different other products to try and shift it. It made hair styling impossible and drove me to the brink of actually shaving my head to get rid of it. So, with that in the back of my mind when the GQ Grooming Power Pack2016 dropped through the door and I saw that it contained a 75ml tub of Toni&Guy Men Styling Fibre it was popped into a box to be forgotten for a good few months until I ran out of Schwarzkopf Men 3D Molding Wax. 

This did come as part of a cracking beauty box. If you haven’t yet seen what else came with the GQ Power Pack 2016, you can do by clicking here (after reading this obviously). Personally the sheer number of products in the GQ box and the size of the samples surprised me. 

To buy this you have to part with just under £5 for a 75ml tub. So, what do Toni&Guy have to say about their product? Well this is what they use to flog the stuff over at their website:

'Creates casual, lived in texture with a matte finish. Loosen product between palms and work through dry hair for medium hold.'

For starters, this has the consistency of a paste rather than a cream or gel and is so easy to get out of the tub, onto palms and eventually into the hair. Personally I always apply this to damp hair, styling from the back to the front before drying into place. The fact that the paste is so pliable means that only a tiny bit of the product is needed to cover what I consider to now be a substantial amount of hair - my hair is now stupidly long! So, on point one, it's an absolute breeze to apply which immediately makes it better than the wax of theirs that I tried.  

Hold again can't be faulted. My hair style at the moment is swept across and back (see below) but as I have to stand on the tube to work, usually in front of the carriage door without any product my hair would be a tangled mess by the time I got to the office as it's blown all over the place. With just a small amount of paste it adds weight to my hair and holds it in place. It isn't a set like hold you get from a gel or hairspray but it keeps it where it should be for well over eight hours which in my book is pretty decent. What this won't do is keep your flowing locks in place during a gale - it holds, but if you want a hairstyle with the cranial protection of a crash helmet then this isn't for you. 

Before using the product

After using the product and with a strong breeze on my terrace - no hair movement

As my hair gets longer I do tend to fiddle with it far far more often than when I have the shorter messy spikes. Using certain products can leave hair looking greasy and even worse, leave a sticky residue on fingers. Surprisingly after drying my hair looks completely natural I think, it doesn't have a greasy shine and best of all, the residue that rubs off onto my hands throughout the day is minimal (win). Best of all though, after drying there are no flakes, nada, zero. No fear of looking like you have a horrific case of dandruff. 

Finally, can you wash it out easily? Well yes, it comes out with just a hint of shampoo and it doesn't seem to build up on my hair over time which has meant for the last few months I have been able to ditch my weekly use of de-gunking shampoo and my hair has never looked better.

With a staggering amount of confirmation bias* I've tried desperately to find some fault with this product due to my intense dislike of their wax but can't find a thing. It does what it says on the tin, a little goes a long way and it won't break the bank. Bugger! So, that said, you can do a lot worse than this stuff and if on the lookout for a new hair styling product or just fancy a change I can put my hand on my heart and recommend this.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

*Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favour, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, while giving disproportionately less consideration to alternative possibilities.

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