SKINCARE: Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream by Black Leopard

Hello 2019, and what a way to bring in the New Year and mark my return to my little blog by looking at a new range of skincare products for men from Black Leopard Skincare. With a range that includes moisturiser, aftershave, and face scrub, today I’ll be focusing on Black Leopard Eye Cream.

A 15ml tube of the cream will set you back A$29, that’s about £16 which for an eye cream if it works is in my view pretty good value for money. 

This is what they say about the eye cream over at their website here:

‘This anti-wrinkle cream developed using the most advanced anti-ageing technology is specifically designed for use on men’s skin. Reducing puffiness and dark circles. Increasing elasticity, locks in moisturiser and plumps the skin to reduce wrinkles. Be amazed by how good your skin looks by adding this one step to your nightly routine.’

But obviously, the crux of whether you should lay out your hard earned cash on this rests with whether it will actually banish those bags and help make your face look that bit smoother and less battle-worn (like my own). 

I received the full range as a PR sample back in October shortly after coming out of hospital when I frankly looked like I’d been dead for a month, buried and then dug up again. Not a good look. Wanting to feel better about myself this was the first product I reached for, and after a good eight weeks of using it in the evening I’ve discovered that yes, yes this really does have a positive effect. 

A tiny pea sized amount of the cream is all that’s needed – it has a great consistency that makes it easy to spread around the eyes and into the crevasses that I’ve cultivated over the years without leaving your fingers, hands and face feel greasy. Win! 

After a week of using the cream the skin tone and feel to the touch of the skin around my eyes had started to be transformed. By the end of week two the dark bags and circles were barely noticeable and the crows feet had visibly reduced. My skin was as they promised plumper and silky smooth.

I hate looking in the mirror and seeing a corpse looking back. Thankfully, by using this beauty of a product it’s no longer an issue for me. At £16 for a product that is still going strong I have to say it represents excellent value for money, provides outstanding results and will last for month after month.

Black Leopard knock the spots off the competition.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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SKINCARE: Peel & Polish by Pixi

Every now and again I'll play shower roulette, this involves me reaching onto the shelf, picking up a product without looking and then giving it a try. No, seriously, I do.....and that's how I came to try Peel & Polish by Pixi, a kind of peel and exfoliating potion the other half must use. 

I've never used anything by Pixi before that I can recall so I had no prior misconceptions or indeed any expectations for this to do anything to my elephant hide like skin. Needless to say, that after the first application I've now been using this twice a week on my face to banish dead skin - but at £26 for a 80ml tube does this really compare with other face washes, scrubs and general exfoliants out there? Read on folks, read on.

This is what they say about the product:

'This radiance revealing enzyme peel resurfaces for smoother, softer skin, and a healthy looking glow. Natural fruit enzymes loosen dead skins cells, lactic acid gently exfoliates, cellulose peels & sugar extracts polishes, lifting away dullness revealing brighter skin. Professional salon peel treatment without leaving home.'

After taking the lid off and giving this a good sniff I was pleasantly surprised to find that it has a rather gender neutral fragrance, not too light and flowery and equally, not too heavy on the nose - the orange, papaya and lemon extract provide a fresh and fruity aroma that can become rather addictive.

Whacking a healthy dose of the cream onto my hands I rubbed it gently into my dry face and neck. First up, the grains within the cream are really fine, noticeable, but this is a gentle exfoliation rather than a full-blown sandblast of the face. As advised, I left it on the skin for a couple of minutes and that is when the tingling started - and it was good. Like a really weird mild burning sensation that tingles rather than hurts you can almost feel the dirt and dead skin cells being removed. Top marks.

As the tingling starts I tend to rub the cream into my face a bit to provide an extra touch of exfoliation.

As the particles/grains are so fine they are washed off really easily, leaving results that can be summarised in one word - "wow". To see the colour of the water after using would make you wretch - it clearly does eliminate built up grime and dirt but best of all, my skin looks radiant after using and to the touch it's smoother than it's been in years. When I say years, I can hand on heart say at least a decade.

This is a lucky find for me and while I wouldn't have ever sought this out or bought it myself I can't honestly see this out of my skincare routine now. It's excellent and does exactly what it says it'll do.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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Grooming: Moose Head Jump Start Face Wash

"There's a moose loose aboot this hoose".......who remembers that advertising campaign from 1993? It was for Maynard's Wine Gums and if anything proved that the use of cocaine and other mind-altering substances were rife back then in the advertising world! I don't know why but every time I pick up Moose Head Jump Start Face Wash that song runs through my head - I'm freakin' weird. 

Moose Head Jump Start Face Wash is the latest male grooming product from Moosehead, an Australian grooming brand and along with the Moose Head Smoothly Does It Hydrating Moisturiser are now available in Primark stores nationwide for just £4 each, yes, £4.

I had heard of Moosehead and their range of hair styling products before, mainly after following images on Pinterest and seeing reviews from a range of Aussie grooming bloggers, all of whom were positively glowing of the results. Not surprising really, you don't become the best selling hair styling brand by pumping out crap. With my limited knowledge and high expectations I couldn't wait to give this face wash a go on the old visage.

This is what they say about Moose Head Jump Start Face Wash:

'Created with natural walnut scrubbing particles, the face wash works to remove dirt and impurities whilst softening the skin and beard. The scrub helps to loosen and remove dead skin cells creating the perfect pre-shave base.'

First of all, I can't comment on how this helps as a pre-shave base as I'm currently growing out my beard to Nordic levels, but on everything else, you can now expect my humble opinion.

When first using this I didn't know that it used walnut particles as the scrub element and as I squirted a liberal amount onto my palms I was genuinely perplexed as to what it was, I had expected darker particles and sticking my finger in and rubbing it around made me no wiser. It just doesn't feel abrasive enough while in the palms or being rubbed between the palms to remove dead skin I thought to myself.

Taking the above into account, I followed the directions to the letter and boy, this gets into a lather faster than a feminist Sheila at a man's right march. Sorry, I was channelling my inner 1980s Aussie male then....In all seriousness though it's like a lather bomb going off and the fragrance it releases has all of the manliness you would expect from our antipodean brothers.

Once lathered up and on the face the liquid gets thinner and thinner and thats when the walnut particles start to do their thang - and do their thang well they do. Too abrasive and it feels like you are using sandpaper, too little and you might as well be using soap and water, with Moose Hero the balance has been found, yes it does remove dirt and grime from my face, so much so that I get that 'yack' face when I look down and look at the colour of the water after rinsing my face off.

It did leave my beard feeling a touch softer and the same can be said the skin, particularly around my forehead and cheeks. There weren't massive life changing kinds of results but it was noticeable, and it bears out that if my beard feels softer its probably going to be easier to shave off, but as I've already said, my beard is going nowhere at the moment.

So, for a small investment of just £4 you have a face scrub here that delivers on what it says it will, which to me means that it has to be a stable, particularly for my travel bag. Representing great value for money this is a belter of a face scrub that puts a lot of its more expensive rivals to shame. Low price, great results and available on the high street.

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BATH: The Big Sleep Jelly Bomb

Sleep is not something that comes naturally to me, I am either awake for hours or I can sleep for days, there is no happy medium for little moi which means, I'm either copping ZZZZzzzzzz or wandering around like a zombie. In an effort to wind down before bed I have taken to using absolutely anything I can to try and get a good nights sleep.  This week was the turn of The Big Sleep Jelly Bomb from Lush.

The description reads:

'Slip into something more comfortable: your bath! When you're in need of some serious relaxation, grab this snoozy lullaby of lavender and tonka. Relax in the water, pop it in and soak under the skin softening jelly blanket.'

So everything I need to fall asleep is right there in this one product. Coloured Blue and Green (I am reliably informed as I am colourblind) this Jelly Bomb looks like your average sized bath bomb sold in Lush. Decorated with a 3D Moon which stands out in the middle, the scent of Lavender is well and truly evident - wow it's really strong.

A Jelly Bomb is slightly different to your average bath bomb.  Like a bath bomb, you chuck the whole into a bath of running water (usually like a hand grenade if you're like me) and watch it bob and fizz around in the water, often creating an explosion of colour. The difference with a Jelly Bomb is that as they fizz they also release a spectacular jelly which is made from sodium alginate which comes from a mineral-rich seaweed. 

As the Jelly Bomb dissolves into nothing and leaves behind the brightest deep blue bath I think I have ever had, the scent of Lavender and Chamomile also spreads nicely throughout the house.  In the bath those essential ingredients have mixed into the steam of the hot water and within minutes.

Personally my first thoughts were that the water seemed to leave my skin a touch greasy but it was actually the oils. These seemed to be absorbed and within 15 minutes of soaking my old bones boom - my eyes started to go and once they went there was no coming back. My eyelids felt as though someone had attached lead weights to them. This sensation become stronger and stronger as I bathed. After drying my skin felt soft and smooth and still does a good twelve hours after my bath. 

Did I sleep? Like a baby, and for that I'm truly grateful. Even better, it cost just £4.95!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

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BEAUTY: The Vintage Cosmetic Company Blemish Wand

Me, blemishes? Not a chance......(I wish).

The Blemish Wand from The Vintage Cosmetic Company is described as being the easy answer to a clear complexion and it works to unblock pores by safely extracting blemishes without marking or scarring.  Admittedly when this tool arrived I had no idea what to do with it, I know the wife has one, but I'd never used it, I just knew they helped to remove blackheads, something anyone who lives in London and travels on public transport will no doubt need.

The pink wand has a soft touch handle that can be held without slipping no matter how big or damp your hands are. The wand features both a small loop and a larger flat loop and they both have different uses depending upon your need.  The smaller loop has been designed so that can be used to extract blackheads whereas the larger flat loop is designed to be used to gently draw out whiteheads (nice). 

When it comes to using the wand there is thankfully a little guide on how best to use it because having run it down my nose without reading the instructions I swore blind it was nothing short of a torture tool and was never using it again! After first use I was reminded of my old English teacher from school who rocked a bottle of whisky before work - red nose! Oh dear! Fear not though, it was just me being far too eager. Anyone who spends more than a minute reading the instructions would be able to avoid my mishap!   

To use the wand you firstly need to ensure you have a hot towel or muslin cloth and you place that over your face for around a minute to open your pores. Personally I prefer to let my pores open up in a hot shower as I do prior to shaving. Then once you have finished use cold water or astringent to close up those pores - again, good old cold water works a treat for me.

Available in pink or rose gold for £7.50 this little beauty has banished the blackheads from my nose and after a couple of weeks of using this I'm really pleased with the effect it has had. My face looks much clearer and the fact that it's so easy to use means I don't have to expend that much time and energy. A couple of minutes a week and hey presto, bye bye blemishes.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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BEAUTY: Bio-Cellulose Glacial Snow Algae & Hyaluronic Acid Facial Beauty Mask

I'll confess, the The Timeless Truth Glacial Snow Algae & Hyaluronic Acid Bio Cellulose Mask (£7.90 from Timeless Truth) has been sat in my box to try for absolutely ages. It is the latest addition to their award-winning range of bio-cellulose sheet masks. It combines the innovative ingredient of Glacial Snow Algae with Hyaluronic Acid. 

Snow Algae is a very hardy plant found on the glaciers and compact snow in Switzerland. The extreme conditions that this ingredient endures gives it an amazing properties that can help actively help protect the youthfulness of the skin. This was muchly needed in my case after a few days in the sunshine. The light but creamy serum is absorbed quickly by the skin, thereby helping to plump out fine lines and wrinkles. Snow Algae extract simultaneously boosts collagen production and even helps to rebuild the structure of the network that is damaged.

INGREDIENTS:

• Snow Algae simultaneously boosts collagen production and even helps to rebuild the structure of the network that is damaged. It is both preventative and corrective in action.
• Hyaluronic Acid is non-toxic acid that serves as the most important space filling substance in the human body. It holds water in the skin to keep collagen hydrated and provides a youthful look. Hyaluronic Acid has moisturising capabilities on skin’s structure and is very important in controlling tissue hydration.

Despite being tucked away in a box for months when I peeled open the mask I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer amount of serum still there - I had visions of a dry sheet being peeled out. Being so damp made unwrapping and applying to my face an absolute breeze - no faffing. Once it was smoothed over my face it stayed without any messing around, no slips and when wearing it, it is incredibly refreshing and soothing. I could feel the moisture soaking into my skin an after about five minutes there was a slight tingle but not the expected facial freeze!

I left the mask on for the full 20 minutes. All the product had soaked into my forehead and I massaged the rest of the remaining product around my face. I did find that while wearing through I had to keep pressing it around my beard so that the serum soaked into the hair and face otherwise the mask just sat on top of my hair and that would have been a waste.

My skin felt tight yet incredible afterwards but a true test to a face mask is to wait until the next day. The morning after my face felt super smooth and the lines around my eyes seemed to have reduced in size, had had the trenches on my forehead from when I frown. 

Top marks from me, easy to apply, get feeling skin just after and for days afterwards. You can't grumble with that.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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Maskorea - Turn Back The Clock Sheet Mask

There used to be a line in the sand when it came to this here blog - I wouldn't do anything that would basically make me look like a nob (more of a nob). That line has been firmly swept away in 2017 and I'm glad of the change in my outlook, after all, I wouldn't have tried the Turn Back The Clock Sheet Mask by Maskorea had I not lightened up a bit. Not only am I trying new things I'm also going to follow instructions to the letter - so here goes, this is what happened when I tried my first sheet face mask.

The masks usually retail for £7.99 each and you can pick them up here. If you choose to buy in greater quantities the price really does come down, and picking up four a month costs just £12.99, that’s just £3.25 each. 

This is what they say about the mask over at the Maskorea website:

‘A unique 3-step product that includes a foaming pre-mask wash, a serum-infused cellulose face mask and a luxurious post-mask anti-ageing night cream to provide a total regime for ultimate results.

Simple to use, hygienic, and packaged in its own portable compact pouch to ensure that you use the perfect dose each time. No mess. No waste. Just 100% goodness.

• For ageing skin
• Magically smooths and firms skin’s appearance
• Instantly reduces fine lines
• Contains collagen extract’

After a very glittery bath (thanks Lush Frozen Bath Bomb) I started the first of the three steps.

Step one is a lovely foaming cleanser - at first I didn't think that there was enough of the cleanser to cover my massive face but my fears were completely unfounded and actually there was more than enough and boy did it foam up! It smells lovely, clean and rather fresh without leaving the face feeling like it's been blasted by an arctic wind. Excellent.

The trickiest part was unwrapping the sheet after using the cleanser - to say it's damp is an understatement. It's wetter than an otter's pocket. Personally I found this a touch fiddly but persevering it took only few minutes to get the mask onto my face and smoothed over the skin and my now healthier beard/stubble. At first due to how damp it was I struggled to keep it in place. Solution, have a nice lie down - sorted. I kept the mask on for thirty minutes of really weird sensations - it was cool on my skin and tingled a touch but thankfully no irritation. So, here goes, me looking like a complete twit...

Removing the mask I slapped the final anti-ageing night cream over the mask residue and carried on with the rest of the night. After an hour my face looked like it was coated in plastic - very strange, but it made me laugh so bonus points. The reaction of the missus was that my face looked brighter and I agreed after a lengthy session looking into the mirror examining every square foot of face (I've got a large face).

After three hours of the cream on my face it itched for about ten minutes. It was a very minor level of irritation and despite me being very highly strung I found it completely bearable and after all, it faded and stopped well before I tried to drift off to sleep. The picture below is after applying the cream as it dries into my face.

Final results? Well my face is indeed brighter, the fine lines around my eyes have gone and the skin on my cheeks and forehead feels more taut (stretched tightly and firm), smoother and the skin does have a better glow. Yes, it does seem to have knocked a few years off the appearance of my face - a very good thing! For this price it’s something I would use again and again. One last picture, and here it is after sleeping with the cream over the mask residue.

I'm really glad I decided to try this and it is the perfect antidote to having to drag my lazy ass out of bed and into work this morning! I’ve got radiant, smooth and hydrated skin - cheers Maskorea. What's even better is that the massive 'drinkers' pores around my nose seem to have shrunk to normal size. Yay, I don't have a complexion that resembles Slash from Guns N Roses at the height of his Jack Daniels phase.

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Clean shaving: How to prevent a shaving rash

Shaving is an activity that men must perform regularly throughout their lives, yet despite practising it so often, many of us continue to steer clear of a full clean shave through anticipation of a shaving rash (or just because our other halves hate the clean shaven look). The fear of shaving rashes is understandable — the sensation is unbearable, looks terrible, and is difficult to treat once the damage has been done. However, these rashes are entirely preventable.

Shaving rash is caused by excessive friction applied to your skin — it doesn’t help that this friction is facilitated by a razor blade. You must take steps to lubricate your skin to ease this friction. The rash can also be caused by dehydration of the skin after shaving. Your skin will lose natural oils during the shave, and you must replenish these oils to prevent irritation. Of course, learning proper shaving technique is perhaps the most important, and could make a huge difference to your skin and how your facial hair grows in future. Here are some tips for preventing shaving rash before, during, and after your shave.

Preparing to shave

You will experience the best shave if your facial hair is warm and wet. It is a great idea to take advantage of the steam from a bath or shower to prepare your face for shaving, as this will both soften your bristles and lubricate your skin. You could even try making your own facial steam bath, which is a much more effective and direct way to soften your hair and open the pores in your skin. Live Strong has a simple but informative guide on making your own steam bath — just be sure not to wet your face with cold water before shaving, as this will close your pores.

You should also think about exfoliating your skin before shaving. This will get rid of any dead skin cells that would otherwise make shaving more difficult and improve the chances of suffering from razor burn. Use a facial scrub that contains micro particles to comprehensively exfoliate your face, but take care not to scrub too hard as this could be harmful to your skin.

During shaving

It is also extremely important to apply a lubricant to your face to aid the glide of the shaver against your skin. The classic product to use is a shaving foam, but this isn’t ideal as it can often obscure your vision. You would be best served using a transparent gel or oil such as this no-foam shave cream from King of Shaves, so you can manoeuvre your razor with good visibility, even in the more difficult areas.

When shaving, use short, light strokes, making sure to shave in the direction of hair growth, not against it — shaving ‘against the grain’ is one of the most common causes of shaving rash. This short video from Manhood TV gives a great visual demonstration of good shaving practice.

After shaving

If you have suffered any cuts when shaving, it may be wise to use a small amount of rubbing alcohol to disinfect the cuts before applying any products to your face. When your face is clear of all hair and your skin is looking bare and supple, this is when you must think about re-hydration. You must replenish the oils and nutrients that were lost during shaving, and the most effective way to do this is by moisturising your skin.

Take care to choose that right moisturising product for your skin, however, as using the wrong formula could lead to greasy skin. This guide from the skincare experts at E45 contains some handy advice for identifying your skin type and choosing a cream based on that.

Shaving rash is an easily preventable ailment. Following these simple but effective tips will ensure that it is no longer a problem for you. 

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