These days when I talk about products I usually do more in depth reviews or as part of a feature or campaign, but I have to mention one of my favourite daily products which I use, VO5 Texturizing Gum. It’s actually sort of an accident that I even have this; I got it as part of a little set last Christmas from my ASOS Secret Santa, Debz.
Happy Men’s Grooming Day! (Yes, it’s a thing)
It’s 21st August 2015, and someone, somewhere has declared this day to be Men’s Grooming Day. Since this day is dedicated to all things male grooming related, I thought it would be the perfect time to write about my favourite products I use. Since I write a lot in the men’s grooming blog, I get to try out lots of new and exciting products for everything from skincare to hair products. It’s also no secret that I love aftershaves and scents, I have lost count of how many I now own. I do, however have a few absolute favourite products which I use all the time, if it’s not daily then it’s weekly or as often as it’s needed!
I use a big variation of hair products, I mean big! This probably comes from the fact I used to shave my hair really short since before I was a teen right up until 6 or 7 years ago, so I never grew up with hair product, and I’m still experimenting using different styles and types. At the moment my favourite when my hair is on the shorter side is SachaJuan Hair Wax. It’s a rich creamy wax, and works well into the hair, and smells nice. It’s expensive, so I tend to use it sparingly.
When my hair grows a bit longer, and I want to create a messier look then I will go for VO5 Extreme Gum. I will have a feature on this on the blog soon. It’s a very nice gum, and is really easy to use.
My shower regime is really simple, although sometimes it can grow and I can add a few other products into it. At the moment it’s very simple, only consisting of three products. Dove Men+Care is my favourite shower gel. It’s unscented, which is good for me because I usually want to wear a bottled fragrance and something you don’t want to have is a clash of scents. My go to shampoo for a number of years has been Head & Shoulders For Men. It has a decent scent and works well, and gets rid of any hair product build up which may exist. Lastly I have a face scrub, and I use Dermalogica Daily Clean Scrub. It’s expensive, but it is good, and although it states it’s a daily scrub, I don’t use it daily as I don’t think you need a scrub for daily use.
My favourite shaving products have probably remained the same for the longest time. When I was 16 I tried out an electric shaver and hated it, so had a couple of Gillette Blue Two’s and they were not great but not too bad. Not long after I upgraded to a Mach 3, and never looked back. I have tried and tested a few others down the line, but my favourite and the one I will use time and again is the Mach 3. As for shaving gel, I use King Of Shaves. I really like it, the product is cool and it’s easy to glide the razor through for a clean and close shave.
When I first started shaving I used aftershave, hence the name. I then realised I didn’t want to always smell like I was going on a night out, so tried out a couple of post shave balms. After about 10 years of switching and using various brands and types, my current favourite is again from the Dove Men+Care range, the Men+Care post shave balm. It has a mild clean scent and leaves the skin feeling nice.
If you read my blog you’ll know all about my men’s fragrance reviews, there’s a whole load of them on the blog, and they’re all genuine reviews of scents I own or have owned. I have a ridiculous amount, and have so many favourites, each one tells it’s own story and it depends on the occasion and my mood to pick out what I want to wear.
The two I have chosen are Floris Santal and Bvlgari MAN, both have a bit of history for me. My all time favourite is Gucci Envy For Men, however even though I still have some left, it’s now been discontinued. In my search for a replacement I came across Floris Santal, which is very similar, so I love it. Before finding it I fell in love with Bvlgari MAN, it’s an amazing scent, it’s elegant and sophisticated so works well for a night out or formal evening. It’s also quite light and fun, so it works in the daytime too. It’s one of my all time favourite scents.
You need to wear a deodorant, and once again I am going for a product from the Dove Men+Care range. It’s the Clean Comfort variation, and I really like it. I have spoken about scent clashing above, which is where this comes in. It has a very light clean scent, and doesn’t interfere with my main fragrance I wear.
What are your favourite products?
Happy Men’s Grooming Day! 🙂
I am a big fan of some of the Dove Men+Care products, I have featured a few on the blog before, and my favourites are from the clean comfort range including the post shave balm, body wash and deodorant.
Dove have a new range, the Hydrate+ range, and I have been putting a few of them through their paces.
Hugo Boss have added another scent to it’s BOSS Bottled line up, BOSS Bottled Oud which is brand new for 2015. As with tradition within the range, the bottle is the same design as the others, a cylindrical shape with the BOSS wording elegantly etched into the glass, with the branding Hugo Boss Bottled Oud.
Schwartzkopf Professional sent over some products from their 3D MEN care range, which includes hair and body shampoo, deep cleansing shampoo, molding wax and texture clay. The range has been completely engineered for men, and has three core principles for each of the products.
The hair and body shampoo is a dual purpose care product, and is designed for both hair and body, with a pH balance which works for both. The deep cleansing shampoo gives you totally clean hair in 15 seconds, and will cleanse away product build-up and traces of oil.
The core principles of the shampoo are hair, scalp and roots. With caffeine stimulants for roots, hydrating ingredients for the scalp and sclera protein to rebuild hair structure. Both shampoos have a really nice smell, and come in 250ml bottles which run at around £10.20 each.
The styling products include molding wax and texture clay. Both are soft compounds which are easy to work into the hair, and once again come with three core principles which are hold, texture and definition. The molding wax gives off a natural shine finish and is a slightly lighter cream.
The textured clay produces a matt finish, and has a stronger hold, creating dishevelled looks. Each pot is 100ml in size and comes in at around £10.20.
The complete Schwartzkopf Professional 3D MEN range is available from Schwartzkopf Professional partner salons.
Ferrari have released three different brand new fragrances this year, all being unisex style scents. They mark a brand new chapter for Ferrari in fragrances, and are called the Ferrari essence collection. This is Noble Fig, which is the green citrus type of the three.
As you may know, Bvlgari MAN is one of my favourite fragrances which I own. I just love it, and I have since I got it in 2011. Since then there has been MAN extreme, and their latest one is this, Bvlgari MAN In Black.
My latest fragrance is a new one. Balmain Homme by Pierre Balmain is a brand new fragrance, released very recently this year, 2015. As always let’s start off with the bottle.
No.7 are introducing their new Men Protect & Perfect Advance Serum which is said to be even more powerful than before, and can give you younger looking skin in just two weeks. It targets deep lines and wrinkles in this time, and within four weeks deeper lines, wrinkles and pores appear visibly reduced. The serum contains greater quantities of Matrixyl 3000 for powerful repair, and an antioxidant complex for powerful protection.
It’s available at Boots for £24.95.
I will be testing this for a couple of weeks to see what the results are, although I already have quite youthful skin for my age.
I love 90’s style, and Calvin Klein has been making a huge comeback with it’s 90’s retro stuff. I got the 90’s reissue T-Shirt which I love, and I thought I would get one of my first ever aftershaves, CK One.
Michael 84 is often named amongst the best mens fashion bloggers in the UK and the world.
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