Review: Menskin Shavestick

I was recently given the opportunity to review Menskin's shavestick.  It's pretty interesting since it isn't a traditional shave cream or balm and it literally looks just like a stick of deodorant! I wondered how well it would lather because it's a stick, but it ended up working great! 

I was sent 3 Shavesticks to review. Each has a distinct scent

How It Works
First, you wet your face, then you wet the shavestick.

Apply it to your face in smooth strokes. 

I found that if I went in all directions when I applied it, it lathered nicely and it gave a clean, smooth shave.  I would say that one of the best aspects of this product is the different scents it comes in. I was sent a very refreshing citron, ice (kind of minty), and my personal favorite--stealth. I didn't find that this irritated my skin at all.

While 2 of the shavesticks I received were white, Ice had an interesting marbled effect.

Over all I give this product 4 thumbs up if you are looking for something that would be perfect for taking with you to the gym or traveling since there is zero chance of mess since it comes as a solid with a screw-on cap. Obviously it's great for at-home use, too.  If you want to try something new, this is definitely worth giving a shot.

You can see the ingredients here. While these aren't completely natural, this isn't something you leave on your skin to absorb, so it's probably a great alternative for most.

Review: Votre Vu Wrap Him Up Gift Set

I was given the opportunity to review this holiday gift set recently--my first experience with Votre Vu products for men!

The package a little over a week ago and when I opened it I was instantly impressed with the packaging. I thought the stickers were a slick touch, making it look like it had traveled quite a bit.  Once I opened the box I was a little shocked at how much packaging there was. I did feel it was a bit wasteful since the box could have been half the size and still looked awesome. That aside, the packaging is well branded.

Votre Vu puts a lot of effort into the packaging of the Wrap Him Up Holiday Gift Set inside and out.

The gift pack comes with three products in it--Formule 1, Habitude, and Beau Baume.  Formule 1 is a men's 3-in-1 hair, face, and body wash. Habitude is a men's daily face crème with spf 15. Beau baume is an organic lube shave balm that doesn't require water.

Here you can see the first view into the box. The insert shows an image of all of the products included in this holiday gift set.

Here are the actual products--great branding. These have a much more masculine look than the products my wife has tried by Votre Vu.

I used the Formule 1 in the shower and I think it did a good job leaving my skin feeling clean and my hair wasn't left feeling greasy or weighed down. It didn't lather as well as most body/hair washes I have used in, but it did clean very well.  At first there really wasn't much of a scent, but once I started working it into a lather there was a very pleasant citrus smell.

The shave balm is amazing and I would definitely buy this in the future. I didn't use any water like it suggested and at first I was a little nervous because my skin is very sensitive, but after the first swipe of the razor I realized it was very effective and msooth.  There was zero pull and I had NO razor rash after, even though I should probably put a new blade on my razor.  It has the same nice citrus scent as the body wash. The only thing that I would say that is negative is that it was very hard to clean the razor out after I was done.  I had to use very hot water and the shower head to shoot through the blades. Over all this probably the best feeling shave I have had recently.


I have been using the habitude daily face crème for about five days now and I have to say I love the citrus scent of the product. It leaves your face feeling smooth and moisturized, and it really doesn't take much to cover your face. As far as facial creams go this would be in my top 5. Over all this is a great gift set to give or get this holiday season!

Bluebeards Revenge Shaving Cream Review

A couple weeks ago the folks at The Bluebeards Revenge reached out to me and asked if I wanted to review their shaving cream since they will be releasing products once again in the states some time in the near future.  I said yes of course, since I am always looking for new grooming products to try.  I received a package last week and I've used the products a few times since. 

What came in the box:  One jar of Luxury Shaving Cream and one of their Doubloon Bristle Shaving Brushes.Unfortunately, it seems as though the shaving cream leaked out a bit during shipping (you can see it in my shot of the shaving cream jar below), but aside from the bottom of the box and some excess around the outside of the lid, the damage wasn't too bad.

Doubloon Brush package.

My first impression of the shave cream was that I loved the packaging.  The reflective skull and cross bones on the shaving cream box looks cool and the cut-out skull and cross bones on the brush box was eye-catching as well.  After opening the shaving cream I noticed there isn't an overpower scent or aroma.  I used the brush with the cream when I shaved and it worked great.  The shaving cream lathered up very nicely and applied very smoothly. As I lathered it up there was a very pleasant aroma that seemed to be released as I used the brush.  As far as the actual shave, I would say as far as drag/pull factor it ranks in the top 5 shaves I have ever had.  It even provided great results after I had made 4 passes with the razor just to see if it would hold up to the extra pass even thought I was smoothly shaven after just three passes.  Once I finished washing my face off my skin was left feeling smooth and moisturized and even as I write this the next morning it still feels great.  I had ZERO razor rash after using the shaving cream and didn't need to use any type of bump down/razor rash cream.  This is a first for me even when using a brand new razor!  The price point on the cream is very reasonable as you will get 50 shaves out of one jar, so I think $16 is reasonable (rough estimate as the website is in the uk so everything is listed in pounds).

Top view of the brush.

My final thought on The Bluebeards Revenge Shaving Cream is that it is a win all around and these guys offer a great shaving cream that truly works!  I have to say, I really enjoy the packaging and I think the branding is spot on, too. I look forward to trying some of their other product some time in the future. 

Their website  http://www.bluebeards-revenge.co.uk/shop/home.php

Link for the shaving cream http://www.bluebeards-revenge.co.uk/shop/The-Bluebeards-Revenge-Luxury-Shaving-Cream-100ml.html
price -

£9.99 - USD $15.7797  

link for the brush  http://www.bluebeards-revenge.co.uk/shop/The-Bluebeards-Revenge-Doubloon-Bristle-Shaving-Brush.html
Price -

£6.99 - USD $11.0358

I found their packaging very funny!

Bonnie and Clyde 2011 Holiday Gift Giving Guide: Week 6

Hopefully you've started your holiday shopping, but if you're like most guys and either forgot or keep putting it off, better start soon! Here are some more ideas for those of you still looking for the right gifts to give this year...

Where to Buy
Japonesque Train Case (medium in black) - You can purchase this train case on a number of different sites, including this one HERE. If you'd prefer to purchase a train case from another company, google is your best friend. Just make sure you check out reviews before purchasing.

Kyoku for Men Skin Essentials Travel Kit - This effective skin travel kit for men can be purchased from Barneys HERE.

Birchbox Man Coming Soon!

If you have a woman in your life that subscribes to Birchbox, you may have experience a twingle or two of jealously every time she received a box filled with stuff she loved. Guys, we've finally got something of our own to look forward to every month! Birchbox recently blogged about their upcoming male-focused sample subscription service--Birchbox Man.

According to Birchbox's blog the first limited edition collection for men will launch some time this month. Filled with grooming samples from some of the most popular male-focused companies, Birchbox Man aims to make it easier for guys like you and me to try out new products without having to break the bank. You can sign up at Birchbox Man's site to be notified of upcoming announcements if you're interested. After my disappointing experience with His Black Box (see post HERE), I'm hoping that Birchbox (which is more established) will get it right from the start.

You can sign up for updates HERE.

Who else is curious to see what Birchbox Man has to offer us guys?

His Black Box Epic Fail

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. The freak snow storm caused some major havoc and we were without power for a bit, then we moved. So needless to say, I have been very busy around here.

Anyway, as of today I have had to place a stop payment on my his black box subscription payments through my bank.  I was billed for last month's Black Box (October) on the 24th and waited a few days to receive it in the mail.  However, after a week there was still nothing in my mail box.  I decided to send them a friendly email since there was confusion with my account in the beginning (resulting in having to hunt down my second month's box and have them fix my account after my card was billed, but my box was not sent out in a timely fashion).

Back to the current issue with His Black Box. I waited a few more days and still found nothing in the mail. I never even received an automated email response from the company in regards to the email I sent about my missing box.  I then asked my wife to email the company owner directly since she had communicated with him in the beginning when they originally sent me one to review.  She heard NOTHING from the owner or the company. She tried emailing the general customer service email a couple of days after that--nothing.

The long and the short of it all is that after trying to get a hold of anyone from the company for two and a half weeks I still have not gotten last months black box.  I have emailed them literally four or five time through their site and directly to the owner with no response. I have also called all the numbers they have listed including the number on the bill that was automatically paid on the 24th of October. I reluctantly contacted my bank and put a stop payment on all future His Black Box charges as there's no way to stop your account on their site, only "pause" it. Ironically, right after I went through the long drawn out process with my bank (who tried to contact the company through a conference call with me on the line and could not get a hold of anyone as well), my wife received an email from one of the owners asking what my account information was so that they could track my package. No apology, no explanation as to why 9 days into November I hadn't received anything. She responded to the email stating she had no tracking info as none was ever sent and that the account was still under the same email. Not sure what information he was looking for, he had emailed back and forth with my wife when he originally sent the first His Black Box for review, then again when I had issues with my account after subscribing. Again, I was charged, received no box, and received no communication at all in response to my many attempts to contact the company regarding my account.

Taking everything into consideration I've formed an unpleasant opinion of His Black Box, which I've been hesitant to do because the concept behind the boxes is so great. Nonetheless, I want to be honest with you about my experience. Here is my advice to every single person that subscribed to His Black Box. Cancel your account and make sure you put a stop payment on your account for future charges.  I am not sure if they're still working out the kinks or if their customer service is simply lacking, but in my opinion His Black Box had epically failed when it comes to my account and I doubt I will never use there services again.   

Bonnie and Clyde 2011 Holiday Gift Giving Guide: Week 5

The holidays are getting close, hopefully you're not waiting til the last minute to grab gifts. This week's gift suggestions are a bit more expensive than past weeks, but if you have someone important or special to buy for, these could be great options. My wife actually bought me the NOOKA watch shown below for our anniversary. I'll be doing a review on it soon, it's pretty cool!

Where to Buy
Phosphor Appear - You can purchase any of the Phosphor Appear watches on Phosphor's site HERE. 

Nooka Watch - Nooka watches can be purchased on their site (there's a million to choose from) HERE.

Holiday Countdowns

Sorry for the absence!

Sorry I haven't been able to post much lately. We got hit pretty hard with the flu the past couple weeks and we're just now recovering. I've got plenty more reviews coming up, so check back soon. Just wanted to let you know I'm still alive!

Bonnie and Clyde 2011 Holiday Gift Giving Guide: Week 4

This week's gift suggestions are great because you don't have to wrap them or spend time picking through products! How much easier does it get?

Where to Buy
Birchbox - You can gift a subscription through their site HERE. You can see reviews of some of my wife's past Birchboxes HERE.

Black Box - You can gift a subscription through their site HERE. You can see some of my reviews on my past Black Boxes HERE.

Holiday Countdown
63 days to Christmas
57 days to Hannukkah
64 days to Kwanzaa 

Review: Origins Skin Diver Body Wash

After a week of being sick and almost two weeks of dealing with sick kids I haven't done any reviews at all, so its definitely time to post one!   My wife scored me a few samples from origins about a week ago, but I haven't had time to look at them before now.  Tonight I figured I should check them out and try a few.

I tried the Origins Skin Diver body wash with the Origins facial scrub brush. The manager of the Origins store that spoke with my wife said that the Skin Diver body wash could also be used as a facial wash.

Origins Skin Diver Body Wash (used on face)

Men’s Face & Body Wash Product	Appeal of Scent	Ease of Use	Effectiveness	Skin Irritation	Overall Score
Origins Skin Diver Body Wash	3.5	5	5	0	4.5

On a scale of 1-5 (1 being poor performance, 5 being great). 0 means it did not do this at all.

 

I used the Origins facial brush (which I'll be reviewing in a later post) when I tried the Origins Skin Diver body wash. The body wash, made specifically for men by Origins, has active charcoal in it, which makes it a really cool jet-black color.  When applying it to my face it went on very smoothly. It felt like it cleaned my skin very well and didn't leave my face feeling dry or chalky after washing it off. There was some tingling on my skin when I first applied it and scrubbed my face, but it wasn't very uncomfortable and stopped quickly. Overall, I would say this is a good product and I look forward to trying more of Origins' products for men in the future.

Price
A 6.7 oz tube of Origins Skin Diver body wash for men sells for $19 retail.

Where to Buy
This can be purchased in any Origins store or on their website HERE.   

Bonnie and Clyde 2011 Holiday Gift Giving Guide: Week 3

This week's gift suggestions are great options. If a woman in your life owns more purses than you can count, a Concalma bag is a solid gift idea. And if you need to grab a gift for a gamer, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 is the way to go!

Where to Buy
Concalma clutches, bags, and totes can be purchased directly from the Concalma website HERE. You can read an overview on Concalma, what they're about and the good the company does, in a past post written by my wife HERE.


Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 can be pre-ordered now from several retailers including GameStop HERE. You can grab it for a friend and for yourself!

Holiday Countdown
70 days to Christmas
65 days to Hannukkah
71 days to Kwanzaa 

Review: Wahl All Star Combo Clipper/Trimmer

I've found over the years that it saves a lot of money to cut my hair and both my sons' hair at home. We had purchased as Oster hair clipper a few years ago, but in the last few months it had all but died. I also found that after the first few times I used it, it never cut any of our hair smoothly or evenly. It pulled, got caught, was choppy, etc. My son was heading to kindergarten this year and the day before school started, we realized we hadn't gotten his hair cut. Given the fact that our Oster had pretty much died, we were faced with a decision--pay $20 plus a tip for a little boy's hair cut or purchase a new pair of clippers. We chose to invest again in a pair of clippers.

After comparing models, looking at price points, comparing attachments, etc., we walked away with the
ahl All Star Combo Clipper/Trimmer. I chose this model and package because of the following reasons:

• The clipper was professional-quality according to the rep
• It's said to be a better quality model than the comparable Oster model
• It came with a good variety of attachments that I could actually use (not 1/16th of an inch or some other random length)
• A personal trimmer was included in this package and given the fact that I have a full beard, this is something I use regularly

Overall, I found these clippers easy to use on my hair and on both my son's hair as well. I have moderately curly, thick hair and both my sons have extremely thick hair. The personal trimmer is great and comes with a handful of attachments that make keeping my beard neat very easy. Both are easy to clean after use.

Men’s Clipper/Trimmer Model	Ease of Use	Evenness of Cut	Avoids Pulling/Catching Hair (while clipping)	Variety of Attachments	Overall Score (Highest Being 5)
Wahl All Star Combo Clipper/Trimmer	4.5	4	5	4	4.375
Oster Aztec	2.5	1	0.5	2	1.5

On a scale of 1-5 (1 being a little, 5 being a lot). 0 means it did not do this at all.

Price
This package retails for $79.99, although it's currently on sale for $69.99 at Sally Beauty Supplies.
 
Where to Buy 
This is currently on sale at Sally Beauty Supplies (my wife has a membership) as well as other grooming and beauty supply stores. There are a number of different models available in Wahl's online store: http://wahl-store.com/

Bonnie and Clyde 2011 Holiday Gift Giving Guide: Week 2

This week's gift suggestions are perfect for anyone that wants to give an impressive, multi-piece gift without having to think too hard. Either could be given to a significant other, family member, friend, etc.

Where to Buy
Zoya's Gems & Jewels collection can be purchased on their site in sets or individually HERE. 


Barc Power-Duo Gift Pack can be purchased as a gift set on the company's site HERE. You can see my review of the Bar Bump Down Lotion HERE. *If you want a chance to try out the Barc Bump Down Lotion and Shaving Cream yourself, enter my Guys-Only Holiday Giveaway for your chance to win both products plus others!*

Holiday Countdown:
76 days to Christmas
71 days to Hannukkah
77 days to Kwanzaa

RIP Steve Jobs

Apple released a statement today confirming that Steve Jobs has died. I'm sure many of you agree with me that while his struggle with cancer was no secret and we knew this day would come, it is still a very sad day.

If you were a young adult during the rise of Apple, you've grown up alongside the amazing evolution in technology that has taken place, especially where Apple is concerned.

Steve Jobs has accomplished so much and he will surely be missed.

You can read CNN's article on his life and passing HERE.

Battlefield 3 Beta Review

I signed up for the open beta review of battlefield 3 the day it came out on Xbox, which is running till 10/10/11. Go download it quickly if you haven't already1  So far I have logged about three hours of actual play time and have gone from a level one to a level four private, unlocking two new guns, one new scope and one sprinter perk.  My initial thoughts are that the colors were very vibrant and that the maps are enormous!  As far as game play, I personally had to move closer to the flat screen to be able to see what was happening (this might be different in the actual game since this is after all, just the beta).

Once I was able to figure out the controls on the remote it was a bit more enjoyable to play. I have not used any of the new vehicles since they don't seem to be available on the beta version, but I am looking forward to flying the helicopters and jets that you can see listed along with what looks like a tank.  I think they really might be onto something with the new technology (frostbite 2) that they are using to make the maps far bigger and capable of handling such advance graphic.

You can pre-order the game before it comes out on 10/25/1--here is the link http://www.battlefield.co/battlefield3. I do not have any screenshots at this time because you have to agree not to take images of your screen when you sign up for this beta version, but maybe once the game comes out I can get a few. I am definitely going to pre-order my copy ASAP. This game seems to be worth buying.

Guys-Only Holiday Giveaway

And the winner is ... Brian Weir! Congratulations!

To kick off my holiday gift giving guide, I wanted to hold a giveaway for men-only. If you have a wife or girlfriend, you might have heard them talk about holding or entering giveaways on blogs. The problem is, they're always for women. Don't we deserve some free stuff now and then? That's exactly what this is all about!

The Prize

As I mentioned above, this is a giveaway for men and everything in this giveaway is perfect for you or the guy in your life. Here's what this prize consists of:

• The Art of Shaving - 4 Elements Starter Kit ($25 retail) Check out my review HERE.
• Billy Jealousy - 2 oz Ruckus Hair Forming Cream ($16 retail)
• Barc - 3.4 oz Bump Down Lotion ($22 retail) Check out my review HERE.
• Barc - 6 oz Shave Cream ($22 retail)

Who can enter?
This giveaway is opened to US residents only (sorry international readers). While the products in this giveaway are for men, if you are a woman and would like to enter this giveaway to win these products for the guy in your life you can do so.


How long will the giveaway go on?
This giveaway starts October 1, 2011 and ends November 25, 2011. That's the day after Thanksgiving, which is also Black Friday. While you're out there scrambling to get the things your wife or girlfriend wants, you have the opportunity to possibly score something for yourself as well! The winner will be announced some time after midnight via email as well as announced in this post.


How to Enter
I'm keeping this really simple all you have to do is complete the form below. Comments on this post are not considered entries. If you win this giveaway you will be notified by email and must respond within 48 hours to claim your prize. If I don't hear from you within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen. Here's the form...

Bonnie and Clyde 2011 Holiday Gift Giving Guide: Week 1

This week's products are great because they're unique, affordable, and support small businesses. You can use them as small gifts, stocking stuffers, or swap gifts if you have a holiday gift swap in the office.

Where to Buy
Both products are handmade.

Honey Bee Holistics Natural Body Lotion can be purchased on the company's site HERE. My wife did a review on this lotion HERE and highly recommends them.

CleanJellyBean Fight Club Soap - The first rule of fight club is that you don't talk about fight club, so orders must be individually placed through custom orders by contacting CleanJellyBean through their Etsy site HERE.  The owner is great at shipping orders quickly. I did a review on this Fight Club soap HERE.

Holiday Countdown:
83 days to Christmas
78 days to Hannukkah
84 days to Kwanzaa

Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet

I heard about the announcement Amazon was making about a potential new tablet--one that might rival the iPad--and started following all the rumors and updates. I'm pretty excited about this because it has some great features and the price is right.

Aside from some changes to the kindles we're already familiar with (things like a touch screen model), Amazon announced the release of the Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire is essentially a small tablet that offers a lot. It's like the Kindle in the sense that it supports electronic reading, but it also offers many other features/benefits.

Overview

• An impressive color touchscreen
• Super detailed color displays of magazines
• User-friendly interface
• Ultra-fast mobile browsing through Amazon's new Amazon Silk Browser in addition to Amazon Web Services cloud
• FREE cloud storage! Meaning you don't have to rely on your device for all of your storage!
• Super durable screen (a special material that's supposed to prevent some of the typical bumps and scratches)
• Amazon Whispersync provides automatic backup of your data 
• Email app that combines all of your accounts
• Document support of documents including PDFs, new and older versions of Word, etc.
• Free month of Amazon Prime (unlimited streaming of movies and videos as well as free 2-day shipping on qualified items--love this! I did a trial a few months ago and was impressed)
• Access to 100,000 movies and tv shoes (not new, but a great feature)
• A dual-core processor (so excited about this!)
• Access to all of your favorite apps and games
• Millions of electronic books (again, nothing new, but great all the same)
• Children's e-books (nothing new, but great for families)
• 17 million songs (impressive and a good iPad competitor)

Price
This goes for $199 with free shipping. It can be pre-ordered now and will begin to ship Nov 15th.

Where to Buy
This can only be purchased through Amazon. Pre-order HERE. 

Final Thoughts
I have gotta get one of these!