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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Primal Man Shave Club

UPDATE: September 2016 - it appears that Primal Man are no longer, which is a shame as I did like their service.

Primal Man Shave Club is about getting back to quality shaving - boom, that's pretty much their ethos and this is reflected in the boxes they post to their members. A monthly kit which arrives through your letterbox featuring a range of different products from soaps, aftershaves, razor blades and so on, essentially everything you need for a wet shave and an idea to make it less of a chore and something more fun with new products to test and try out.

Having been asked to give my views on the box, I was delighted at how well packaged everything came, from the outer box where there is no disguising what it is that is inside, to the positioning and well packed items.

Inside this box I have:

• The Razor - a premium Primal Man double edge razor. The razor has a specially grooved handle for maximum grip and provides a wonderfully smooth shaving experience. The Razor has been weighted to perfection and allows you to "let the razor do the work". For me this had an added nostalgia as I first used a safety razor like this to have my first ever shave some..........(gets out a calculator).......twenty five years ago........(holy Jesus I'm old)

• After shave Balm - Made by Institute Karite, a brand I have never come across it is described as being a moisturising balm to relieve and soothe the burning sensations of shaving

• The Brush - Made by Kent (whom are by appointment to Her Majesty The Queen) which is great quality, great for creating lather and designed ergonomically to making using it easy

• Supermax Super Stainless Blades - Helpfully included is a pack of blades that should last you for the entire month, depending on how often you shave

• Shaving Soap - Again made by Kent, this soap is Enriched with a fine fougere fragrance with pine, clove and lavender extracts, on a base of cedardwood, nutmeg, sandalwood, vanilla and musk

• Alum Matchsticks - From The Legends of London, these alum matchsticks are great antibacterial sticks for calming razor burn, closing pores and are really soothing when used

All of this costs just £24.95 per month, though a three month subscription costs £20.95 per month and so on.  A year long subscription is just £16.95 per month and like other subscription boxes it can be cancelled at any time. Free shipping to: England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They do ship internationally but then you are looking at paying £10.50 on top for shipping per box. 

Now, I have used the products in the box and they warrant individual reviews rather than me listing it all down here (so watch out for those), but even the razor was worth buying the box all on it's own. The retail value of the products far exceed what you'll pay (the razor - without any blades is about £45 to buy in the shops). 

My shaving experience was actually rather good - a little more concentration was needed as it does have the ability to slash your throat (and I did do some prep using a deep cleansing scrub after showering) but it was really close, in fact I can think of only one shave closer at that was carried out by the amazing Darius at The Legends in Holborn.

Minor irritation (more due to me applying too much pressure on the blade) did occur but the aftershave balm calmed this down brilliantly.

I never pass up the chance to have a play around with an old school shaving kit and I'm really quite teary (no really, honest) at the memories this brought back. This emotional connection combined with the excellent high quality products mean that I will happily be signing up for the Primal Man Shave Club on a longer term basis.

Dexter likes the box as well......

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


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Men-ü Shave Crème

After that horrific shaving experience (no, I’m not talking man-scaping gone wrong) with Clarins Men Rasage Ideal Smooth Shave a few weeks ago and at least 24 hours of an itchy, blotchy face and neck the opportunity to try Men-ü Shave Crème was very welcome. 

Me being me I launched the packaging (read threw the packaging in the direction of the bin) and was just about to dive straight in until I realised that this usually leads to much swearing, stamping of my feet and generally being a grumpy git when I have to accept that I should read the directions. I’m glad I took the time to read them, as I got the chance to use my shaving brush again - even though it‘s as good just rubbing between your palms and applying using your hands (it’s the little, inane things in life that make me smile the most).

Beardage pre shave.....quite long and thick hair.....

The brush is back....boom boom....

This is what Men-ü say about the shave crème over at their website:

‘Takes you to a whole new level of shaving. Includes tea tree oil (a natural antiseptic and antibacterial) that helps protect from spots and shaving rash. Packed with lubricants including silicone and moisturisers, and provides optimum slip without drying the skin. Less resistance, less irritation and less nicks mean a longer lasting blade! 

With a fresh mint & menthol fragrance, can be used with or without a shaving brush. 

Many foams and gels generate too aerated a lather. What is in contact with skin & beard matters, all else is wasted! With men-ü shave crème you see where you have shaved and the crème breaks down upon contact with water, so will not clog multi blade razors.’

As directed, I washed my face off, wet the brush and used two squirts from the pump dispenser. It covered about half of my face. Yes, I have a big face (the first person to say I look like a horse gets punched) but two squirts of the crème was just not enough. Based upon the recommended amount you should be able to get 165 shaves out of this 100ml tube of the shave crème. In my experience, I had to pump four squirts to get proper coverage of the beardage as you can see from the photograph.

Even despite this, 80 shaves from a 100ml tube costing £10.95 from Mankind here to me doesn’t seem that expensive, especially when you consider that the massive costs for blokes when shaving lies with the cost of blades (you should check out Razor Brite and their blade cleaning kits if you want your cartridges to last longer).

So, the lather, it’s immense, not too thick and it explodes from the crème as soon as any pressure is applied. Personally I prefer using a shaving brush to distribute this across my face, it’s far more even and helps once shaving starts as you can see the bits that have been done.

Using the shave crème again this morning to get a better feel for it I have to say it wasn’t as great as the first time I used it. That said however, it still had lots of things going for it. While the lather did clog the blades in my razor (this in fairness could have been due to the fact that my beard was quite thick) the fragrance, ease of shave and finish on my skin were exceptional. 

You can really smell the mint and tea tree, two of my favourite scents and like all things, if it smells good you are going to continually be drawn to it. While strong, the fragrances don’t linger on the skin once any excess lather has been washed from the face. Like all good grooming products, you don’t want it to be too strong, so that it alters the fragrance of any aftershave or cologne.

Post shave and no irritation.....bonus!

The marketing claims that it provides optimum slip are spot on. A fresh blade glides across the face and even with a thick beard being removed it seems to come off effortlessly. No snags, no swearing and what’s that, no bleeding - result.

After washing off the excess lather and drying my face I was impressed. As directed I used the Skin Refresher gel (again from Men-ü) and let it soak in. Wow, hours after shaving and my face feels baby soft, no signs of irritation and no blotches, not a dot. At this point and if I lacked self respect I would probably dance a little jig.

It’s cost effective, it smells great and it does exactly what it says on the tin. You can’t ask for much more than that. The fact that I hate shaving and fear the break outs afterwards means that a product like this is fantastic, and a very welcome addition to my ever growing collection of shave crème. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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Regal Gentleman - Taylor of Old Bond Street Coconut Luxury Shaving Cream

For the last couple of months my face has been rocking either stubble or a full blown beard. Not because I’m a trendy hipster, no, its because I hate shaving and am generally the most lazy person you will ever find….EVER (that‘s a guarantee folks).

When approached by any shaving people I always jump at the chance to try new things and regularly seek out new products to try. When Regal Gentlemen asked me to try a new product they were stocking I jumped at the chance to compare Erasmic with Taylor of Old Bond Street Coconut Luxury Shaving Cream. 

I hate shaving - it’s a pain, I slash my face and I get irritation after I’ve finished. I found solace in Erasmic Lather Shave Cream and loved using the old style shaving brush. In a previous post I mentioned that I had a weird flashback to my youth when I first used the brush, and being lazy (as mentioned above) I have copied this from a previous post (so sue me):

‘My late grandfather would always shave using one, normally at the kitchen sink so he could gain easy access to the rear garden (yard for my American readers - so thoughtful) to terrorise any passing squirrels with the nuts (and I don’t mean literally) to pass through.

I can see him now hunched over the sink in his trousers, white vest and shaving kit. It always seemed to take hours!’

This is only the second shaving cream product I have ever tried that involves using a brush and deciding yourself how thick you want the lather. 

I received a 150g tub of the Coconut Luxury Shaving Cream from Regal Gentlemen about five weeks ago when I had a five o'clock shadow, by the time I managed to open it I had whiskers like Captain Birdseye*. I struggled so much to get the lid off I would try three times a day, sit and ponder new approaches and tactics. In the end there were direct messages on Twitter to see if I was doing something wrong when trying to unscrew a lid. Two more weeks passed and I had a brainwave (can you still say that in a politically correct world?!?) I would use power tools…….

I’m joking, I used a knife to pry the lid up a bit and it opened a dream. Opening this tested my sanity and I know its probably all my own fault.

After the laps of my flat in joy and I’d finished high fiving all of my cats (even if they didn’t want to) I set to work. Removing the plastic protector for the cream I thought I had been sent a lemon. It wasn’t a cream but it looked fairly solid to me. It then dawned on me that it needed wetting.

All joking aside, as soon as the protector was removed my nostrils filled with a lovely, fresh coconut - it was so present yet subtle on the nose so evident but not overpowering. After wetting and dabbing the brush in the aroma only intensified, for the better. I’m not a fan of coconut - the body butter knocks me sick, and I only just got over my entire coconut hatred with Dirty Works Coconut Body Scrub.

I love the smell of this - there, boom, in six rather than 500 words.

This lathers up brilliantly - a wet brush dabbed and run around the rim of the tub once resulted in my massive face being covered in a lovely smelling thick, rich lather. Happy days as they say.

I left it for a few minutes to soak in as I hadn’t used anything to soften my beard and hacked away with the razor (after I had trimmed it down to the bone using a beard trimmer). The shave was smooth, the lather didn’t block the blades that much but the best was yet to come.

After I had finished shaving and washed my face off their was a noticeable coconut fragrance following me around for a good few hours. After an hour usually I have a rash or some burning - I had none, and in fact instead of a red rash I had silky soft skin to the touch.

Thinking the coconut smell would alter my aftershave I was surprised, it didn’t. It instantly faded away so thankfully no deep wood infused with coconut poisoning the people around me.

This does the job brilliantly, costs £8.95 for 150g and will last me probably six months if I have shave daily (which I won’t).

An amazing quality product that will give you value for money. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

*This is Captain Birdseye for those who haven't experienced their brand of 'fresh' fish....

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Erasmic Lather Shave Cream

Just look at the name of the product - so much fun with puns to be had but I’ll behave, Erasmic did after all send me my first ever shaving brush and a 75ml tune of their lather shave cream to try.

In the interests of trying to be fair and balanced, I won’t be finishing my review of Erasmic Lather Shave Cream with phrases such as “Erasmic is orgasmic” or “a shave so smooth it’s gotta be Erasmic”, no sir….I’ll behave (and repeat, “I will behave, I will behave“).

I’m 35 years in age and until late last week I’d never used a shaving brush or the associated lather cream. If anything I had a flashback to my youth.

My late grandfather would always shave using one, normally at the kitchen sink so he could gain easy access to the rear garden (yard for my American readers - so thoughtful) to terrorise any passing squirrels with the nuts (and I don’t mean literally) to pass through.

I can see him now hunched over the sink in his trousers, white vest and shaving kit. It always seemed to take hours!

Before this turns into a fun blown Stephen flashback I’ll go back to the product in hand.


 
Marketed as for a smooth, comfortable shave, the lather cream costs just £3 if you shop around and the products claims:

‘A superior quality shaving cream containing Chamomile and Glycerin to lubricate your skin, giving you a smoother, closer shave. Chamomile soothes your skin, for a close, comfortable shave. Glycerin moisturises your skin helping its natural renewal process.’

Armed with a healthy face of hair to rival a 50 year old Amish farmer I set off into the bathroom - in one hand the cream, the other a shaving brush (and without a clue how to use it properly for the best shave).

After washing my face I wet the brush and applied some of the shave cream. After rubbing it ever so gently on my face there was an explosion of lather and fragrance. While you can quickly pick up the hints of Chamomile the fragrance brought on another flashback!

The lather is so thick and rich it is untrue - wow, I had applied far too much to the brush and I’m talking less than the size of a 10 pence piece. I shaved and found the process a bit difficult - the lather was far too thick and combined with the bristles coming off my face my razor was constantly clogged. Shaving took 10 minutes longer than normal.

However, it was my own fault for being utterly clueless - so after the first round I decided to use what was left on the brush to cover my face again. It was much thinner and easier to shave with. So, lather is good, but in sparing amounts. Unlike gels this doesn’t disintegrate on your face if it’s wet - it has staying power.

Shaving the second time around was much easier - however I was left with a few blotchy marks for around an hour. They didn’t hurt and it wasn’t sore and after a while I didn’t notice then. In the morning they had gone completely and my face felt soft even though I hadn’t moisturised before bed.

I had a quite thick beard and while it was a pain at first, used sparingly this offers a nice shaving experience. Personally I’ll stick with something with Menthol in it as I like the cool sensation but if you are looking for a lather cream or fancy trying a new shaving experience then I would say go for it.

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