The Big Skin Care Gimmick

2021 may well be the year that a lot more people open their eyes to the pollutants and irritants in our everyday products but there are still ALOT of people and ALOT of large, successful companies using these horrendous ingredients. 

Whack ingredients (like the ones you'll find in the products made by our good friends at NiVeA..) are damaging your face and making any routine you have void. 

Today we want to talk about what ingredients are mumbo jumbo, which ones you should be avoiding and which brands are selling utter malarkey.

We're going to kick off with being brutally honest about what we think of certain brands. Like us or loath us, we know our ingredients. 

Nivea for men | 4/10
It's a cheap and cheerful jobby, with far too many drying ingredients for our liking & petro-chemicals. 

Bulldog | 5/10
Credit where credit is due, the majority of their ingredients are in fact naturla. However, the naturals they use are low grade and often replaced with perfumes because low grade natural smell awful. The big boss Jon also reckons they smell a bit naff.....

Lumin | 3/10
This is a brand you're likely to have seen on instagram. We looked into their ingredients and my oh my they are full of gimmick ingredients like Charcoal.... which we'll talk about later. It's made in Korea and over priced for what you get. 

Hawkins & Brimble | 6/10
A step in the right direction for sure. It's made in the UK and smells reasonable. The ingredients are natural but they aren't in the unadulterated form so they are of lesser quality and the benefits won't be on the same level as organic actives. 

HARRYS | 2/10
A mass-made, petro-chemical concoction of bull...shit. Excuse our French. We've lost count of how many guys have come to us complaining about dryness after using these products so our advice, stay away. 

Lynx | Big fat 0/10
It may be a staple Christmas Stocking gift from your teen years but for goodness sake stay away. It is packed with heavy pollutants, cheap perfumes and major irritants. Stay. Away. 

Heath of London | 8/10
We like this one. It is a 'made with love' brand, with balanced formulations and we like that it's made in the UK. Maybe a little on the boring side and the moisturiser isn't as hydrating as we'd recommend but as a brand, we like it. 

Aesop | 6/10
If your Mrs buys your products based on what they'll look like on display in your bathroom then this is the one you're probably using already. It is a nice simple but sexy brand. It is pretty expensive considering what it does and some of the formulations we've seen have been pure bonkers and led quite a few of our own customers to irritation. 

How many products have you seen with Charcoal or Bee Venom? Or some sort of ridiculous ingredient that you would ordinarily through a frown at and move on but fads get the better of us, we get it. 

The Bee Venom was a weird one. Remember hearing about Gwenyth Paltrow paying to have bees sting her? Yeh, she's certainly one for the crazy. Supposedly Bee Venom can help people who typically suffer from inflammation and offer anti-ageing benefits. Trust us, it's a load of crap. The idea of the impact Bee Venom can have is thousands of years old and came from a time where it just took for the village crazy to have a nightmare to try something radical like Bee Vemon. Avoid guys. 

What about Charcoal masks? Charcoal bloody toothpaste as well for christ sake. Charcoal masks are all the rage. You paint on a charcoal-based gel to your face, and while you relax for 10-15 minutes, the charcoal draws out impurities, toxins and bacteria from your skin. When you remove the charcoal, you also remove the impurities.

Firstly, anyone who’s ever tried the masks or seen one of the many funny videos that circulated on FB for a while, will have felt the pain caused by physically ripping the dextrous material from your face. Irrespective of the damage this does to delicate skin cells, it’s worth understanding what binds the masks to your skin in the first place.

Acrylates.If that name sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the liquid plastic found in hairspray and nail polish. That’s right, while your charcoal mask is drawing out toxins, it also contains harmful chemicals that are left to seep into the deeper layers of your skin. Charcoal masks also contain PVA glue, commonly found in arts and crafts sections in primary school. If you’re using charcoal masks designed for sensitive skin, be aware that the ingredients are known skin irritants and can cause more problems than they solve, including dermatitis.

So tell us, do you agree with our ratings of the above mentioned brands? Are you reading this with a Charcoal mask on and about to apply a Bee Venom Serum that probably cost you £150?