GO24-7 Texture Paste

For the last couple of months I've been wading my way through various hair styling products from Fish Soho completely forgetting that I received a 2oz tub of the GO 24-7 Texture Paste as part of the Selfridges&Co Male Beauty Box in June.

As my Fish products started to run dry just over a week ago I decided to give my hair a few days rest before starting to test this one. GO 24-7 is not a brand I'm loyal to, in fact I've never bought anything from them before. 

While the 2oz tub costs $15.95 on the GO 24-7 website what initially struck me was the fact that this sells for around the same price as my current favourite from Fish Soho - Stiffish.

The fragrance actually oozes floral tones, so much so that in an instant childhood flashback it reminded me of the smell of Shake 'n' Vac powder that my mum used to use before vacuuming around the house. It hits the nostrils with an artificial punch that while not offensive is nothing to write home about.

Personally I like to apply hair styling paste to damp hair as I find it much easier to style. In the interests of research I actually tried applying to damp and dry hair, the results of which were massively different. 

Once I had zoned back in after my childhood flashback I removed the plastic cover that protects the paste and rubbed my fingertips over the pale contents of the tub. It certainly doesn't have the texture of a paste, in fact it's more of a wax/paste hybrid. It's solid, but seems to become more pliable the warmer it gets. Without warming it slightly with your fingertips you will struggle to get enough out of the tub to do any styling at all.

When applying to damp hair it is a breeze to style and it dries fairly quickly into a solid hold, so much so that the spikes in my hair (currently two inches in length) remain upright, but have an almost matte look finish. I'm not a great fan of this look, mainly because I get ribbed for looking like Andy Coulson (the disgraced and currently incarcerated former Director of Communications of David Cameron) but I couldn't grumble about the initial hold. 

After the damp application the hold remained for around five hours, I could alter the style, the paste didn't rub off onto my fingers and there were no signs of the dreaded white flakes associated with hair styling products. 

So, the hold didn't last that long, and when you also factor in that I found it near on impossible to style my hair when it was applied to dry hair I just tossed this back into the basket of hair products to be used when my favourites run out.

GO 24-7 Texture Pasture competes on a price level with other brands, but it fails to live up to expectations in the most important category - it doesn't have the long lasting hold that I personally look for in a hair styling product. If you are looking for a paste you should take a look at Fish Soho, but if gel is more your thing then The Legends London have a maximum hold gel that gives far superior hold and is much easier to apply.

While I won't be rushing out to replace this one when it eventually runs out and it seems that I'm being overly harsh in fairness to he product it does have strong hold, just not for long enough.

NOT RECOMMENDED

You can buy the product here if you wish and there is a pretty decent hair styling tutorial video.

View Post

The Monday Montage

It’s Monday, and while I’ve had an epic writing session over the weekend I wanted to look back over the posts that have graced these pages over the last week before going into full blown aftershave and moisturiser mode.

As I’ve said before, and as you can see from the posts I’ve made over May and June I neglected the blog while off work really living up to the nickname of ’Sicknote’.

In something of a rare week, posts this week were a mix of things I really like and some products that I’ve been trying that to be blunt left me frustrated, angry and annoyed.  Seriously, this week some products had me venting my spleen (and then some)!

The Legends London Maximum Hold Hair Gel + Giveaway

The Legends wasn’t one that had me annoyed (frustrated yes that I couldn’t recreate a style isn’t their fault) in fact it has me fascinated in the fact that you can use one gel to achieve so many styles.

Not only is it a great hold gel, oh no, I have a giveaway of the stuff. You can enter my clicking here.

Commes des Garcons 2

Up next was Commes des Garcons 2, a unisex fragrance that costs the Earth and delivers as much as a Post Man on strike. This one really did rub me up the wrong way and I’m surprised I haven’t had a solicitor’s letter yet.

To view Stephen in full blown vent mode click here.

#BGOmeetup

In a stunning display of tardiness I posted up my thoughts on the #bgomeetup in King’s Cross. It was a great night; I met lots of lovely people but most of all I won a prize for the best selfie.

You have to click here to see the Lizard King in action with Verne Troyer.

Shockwaves Style Control Spray

The name of the product couldn’t be more misleading; it lacks the ability to control the shortest of styles. While it is cheap, it didn’t work for me and left my hands sticky and my hair looking a right state.

You can read more about the hairspray here.

Givenchy Pour Homme Blue Label

The last post of the week had me laughing - the bottle always reminds me of melting biros on Bunsen burners in science at school.

Is it aftershave heaven or hell? You have to click here to find out.

Coming up this week.........

• We have aftershave with Invictus by Paco Rabanne;
• A little bit of The Bluebeards Revenge moisturiser;
• Groomed hair and body wash.

Hope you have the time to take a peek at my latest posts. Is there anything you would like to see me review here?

View Post

The Legends London Maximum Hold Hair Gel + Giveaway

On 30 June I had an out of body experience - I visited The Legends barber shop in Holborn. If you haven’t seen how they knocked years off me with the best haircut ever (what the hell have you been doing?) you should as they also gave me a bag of goodies to give away. You can read about the out of body experience here. 

I have to confess I was cheeky and asked for a tub of The Legends London Maximum Hold Hair Gel for myself as I really liked the style my barber Darius had managed used it. 

In the shop Darius used just a tiny bit of the gel, explaining that it was unique in that you could achieve different styles depending on how, and how much you apply. It says that it is a no flaking formula (oh god, there really is nothing worse - especially in a black or dark blue suit) medium matte finish. 

The marketing blurb/instructions say:

‘Spike it up or slick it flat, get that wet look or keep it dry, Maximum hold hair gel gives maximum hold and frizz control without flaking for your every style.’

For my cut my hair had been dried and a little massaged into the shaft of the hair which resulted in a fantastic matte look.

The day after I tried applying to my hair while still damp which the blurb says should result in a wet look and guess what, it did, in fact the hold was solid once the gel had been absorbed and absorbed in my hair. Styling was a breeze with damp hair and while the gel does leave a sticky residue on the hands to wash off it has a reassuring crisp feel to the touch. 

When applied to damp hair I found myself checking throughout the day that it hadn’t flaked onto my suit jacket. I’m happy to report that there were no such signs all day. In fact, on examination the morning after applying there were still no flakes in my hair - result.

I really wanted to recreate the style that I had in the shop so applied to dry hair, styled and then dried it on a low setting so not to blow out the style. Styling wasn’t the easiest - I think more down to my ability rather than the product. After a few tries I managed to get close to the style I wanted and my hair had a great matte finish, in fact it looked and felt a little ‘fluffy’ as though it had more volume than usual rather than when I have sharp spikes.

The dry, matte style also didn’t result in any flakes being visible. It’s a big bug-bear of mine that most products do but this doesn’t.



Again, even when applied to dry hair it holds, and holds and holds. 24 hours after applying the style has remained rock solid and for a hair gel to can’t beat that. Even better, if you want to re-style while out and about you simply run a damp palm through your hair and hey presto you are ready to go again.

So, what can I say? This gel has a 1980’s retro feel to it. It looks great in neon pink and has that retro hair gel fragrance, an almost chemical aloe vera aroma that doesn‘t overpower aftershave.

At £8 for a 220ml tub of The Legends Maximum Hold Hair Gel this represents great value for money. Less than a pea sized amount is enough to style hair at about an inch in length which means that this will last month after month after month.

You can find stockists at their website here.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I have a 220ml tub of the gel, a smaller travel tub and some alum matchsticks to give away thanks to the lovely people at The Legends. To enter just click here and fill out the rafflecopter entries.

View Post