A new month and a new series of totally unbiased, unsolicited and non-sponsored reviews of…well, new stuff I’ve tried. It’s a pretty simple premise really – nobody pays me to do these so all opinions are incredibly honest. Sometimes too honest.
This month brings with it some new men’s only skincare, some boozy deliciousness and a miracle drug…supposedly. If you haven’t read the other posts in the series, you can find them here.
Clinique For Men
I’ve had these Clinique for Men products sitting in my bathroom cupboard for a while now, but I kinda like to finish off something before starting something new. That way, I really get to see if it works or not. My Vichy Homme products from July’s post have eventually come to an end – I don’t really use them every day, but it’s great that they lasted that long.
The Clinique for Men’s range of products has been around for a while now. If memory serves me correctly, it was one of the first cosmetic lines formulated specifically for men…or I guess back then it was for metrosexuals. I do think the stigma attached to men using cosmetics is definitely over, the fact that you now get a beard cream is possible proof of that.
The Aloe Shave Gel works great, or should I say, it gets the job done. There’s nothing special about it but I can definitely feel the difference between a random drugstore shaving cream and a premium one like this. Apart from lasting much longer, it sticks to your face and doesn’t become a fluffy white mess.
The Skin Hydrator also doubles up as a beard conditioner. Unfortunately, as I seem to be follicly challenged in the beard department, I only experienced it as a face cream. It felt a little thick and greasy to me when I put it on but definitely didn’t leave my skin looking or feeling greasy.
The conclusion: The Clinique for Men products are definitely better than your drugstore alternatives, but they didn’t leave me thinking “Wow, this stuff is great”. When compared to the Vichy Homme products (and at the price) I definitely think the Vichy is a better choice.
Jack Daniels Honey
To be honest, this isn’t my first time drinking Jack Daniels Honey. In fact, I discovered it about 3 years ago at some or other event we attended. Being a big fan of Jack, I was interested to try this new variant. To be honest, it tastes nothing like Old No 7, I mean, not even a little. Is that a bad thing? No. Why? Because its still flippin delicious!!
Jack Daniels Honey is a mix of regular Old No 7 and a spiced honey liqueur, the result is a spicy, sweet and very smooth drink. If you’re gonna drink it neat, it’s gotta be ice cold (we keep ours in the freezer) even then you want to pour it over ice and let it dilute a little to break the sweetness. In a cocktail it adds that perfect sweet element and works amazingly with lime and ginger flavours – In fact, pour a shot or 2 of this stuff in a tumbler with ice, squeeze in some fresh lime and top up with strong ginger beer for a life-changing summer cocktail.
Elzaan and I have spent many a night sipping on the stuff over some deep and meaningful conversations. Our friend Jules has possibly had one of the best nights of her life drinking it with us (not that she can remember it) but swears she’ll never touch it again.
The conclusion: I love the stuff, but the downside is that you can never have just one. With summer approaching I definitely suggest picking some up and trying the cocktail mentioned above. It’s delicious, but make no mistake, all that sugar will give you a serious hangover.
‘It Really Works’ Hair Vitamins
So, here’s the deal. I don’t know if it’s age or stress, or possibly both but my once thick Mediterranean head of hair is now merely a whisper of what it once was. It’s a problem I never thought I would have, after all, Dad’s hair still looks great and my grandfather barely even went grey. Be that as it may. my hair seems to be getting thinner by the moment and I wanted to try do something about it.
I’ve been seeing a lot of Instagram ads and promos for ‘It Really Works Hair Vitamins‘ popping up on my feed for a while – I think they’re one of those companies who purely use social media for its marketing. It must be working as I eventually took the bait and decide to give it a try. They claim a 90-day money back guarantee so I figured I had nothing to lose because at R1 800 for a 3 month supply, it ain’t cheap!
The ordering process was a bit of a mess up as they have multiple online stores for different regions. They claim next day delivery in South Africa, but unknown to me at the time I ordered from the UK store and was facing a 3 week delivery. Not cool. Anyway, after kicking up a bit of a fuss they sorted it out and I got my 2 sets of 3-month supplies delivered to my door – one for me and one for Elzaan.
It’s basically just an extra strength formula of your regular hair vitamins, Biotin, Retinol, Iodine, Inositol, Selenium and lots of B vitamins. I started it about 3 weeks ago and really, I didn’t expect it to work. In fact, I don’t know if it’s working or not as it’s virtually impossible to measure your hair thickness and it’s probably too soon to tell. I can say however, that it kinda feels like maybe, maybe my hair is doing a little better. Maybe.
The Conclusion: Unfortunately with only 3 weeks in, it really is impossible to give a fair conclusion at this stage. I will, however, be giving updates until the 90 days is up to keep you posted…blog posted that is!! – Whhahahah!!! That’s hilarious!
That’s it for October. We’re off to the USA for a month in November so I’m hoping to do a “stuff I tried in ‘Merica’ when I get back. If there’s anything “ya’ll” think I should try just let me know!
Okay. Stay Fancy.
