The Gentle-Man Grooming Range

The question we pose today is – what is it to be a gentleman? To quote the dictionary it is a chivalrous, courteous, or honourable man. This is all fine and dandy, but to me I think a gentleman should also take a little pride in his appearance. So what’s a man to do in this world flooded with a plethora of men’s grooming products? How do we get back to the core gentlemanliness? The Gentle-Man range aims to answer these questions and more.

When Paul Byrne retired from a career in the production of fragrances he did not sit idle, (well not for long anyway) he spent two years sourcing and developing his range of British products. Using ingredients that are both gentle and effective on the skin, Mr Byrne used his knowledge to keep his products pretension free and ready for the task required.

The impressive product range includes body washes, moisturiser, shaving creams and eau de toilette. I, being the gentleman, having been giving these products a go. So do they all live up to the challenge?

To start with the Highly Hydrating Daily Moisturiser, which is a scentless cream formulated with Argan oil - an excellent source of vitamin E and a natural antioxidant. Designed for use after you’re daily cleansing ritual (or having a wash as I call it), the cream is refreshing,  non-greasy, and does indeed leave you feeling, for want of a better word, moist.

Next up we have the Frightfully Fresh Pomegranate face wash, a blend of gentle naturally foaming agents enhanced with pomegranate extract, which is a rich source of ellagic acid, another antioxidant. This wash has a nice zing to it and my face certainly felt refreshingly fruity after use.

The Peppermint Decidedly Invigorating Body Wash is nice and fresh and the manufacturer recommends its use first thing in the morning to rouse the senses. The minty smell is certainly pleasant and eye opening, good for your everyday morning scrub.

This is neatly followed by the Jolly Stimulating Black Pepper wash. Containing a black pepper fragrance (this may sound strange but stick with me) and six essential oils. The fragrance of this wash really spoke to me; it’s lively and spicy with some nice deep undertones, but not overpowering. Perfect for a night out, as recommended by the maker himself.

Moving onto the Lemongrass Aloe Sweet Cheeks Shaving cream, the smell, as you’ve probably guessed, is citrusy and is both clean and refreshing. Whilst the smell is nice I must say of all the products I did struggle with this one a little. I seemed to need a fair amount of product to get a good cover for shaving and when I do shave the cream tends to clog up the razor rather quickly. That’s not to say this is a bad product, just to me I prefer to use my shaving brush and apply a good shaving soap (Floris 89 currently) which produces better results for me.

Post shave you can follow up with the Super Soothing Shave Balm. Containing Willowherb to sooth and kendi oil to moisturise, the product is scentless, deliberately being excluded from the moisturiser to help those who find fragrance ingredients irritate their skin. This will be a plus to some and a minus to others, for me the product is certainly effective post shave, but I do miss a bit of scent.

Talking of scents, that brings us neatly to the Gentle-Man Eau de Toilette. Considering the maker’s background in fragrances this should be their standout product and the benchmark of the range. Does it stand on Mount Olympus triumphant or squat on Mount Pleasant destitute? Let me get this out there – I really like this fragrance. It has a complex nose containing a blend of herbal notes from basil and cardamom paired with fresh citrus notes of bergamot and lemon, rising above the deep woody undertones of teak and vetiver. At £30 this scent is a steal and easily stands side by side with products that are double the price. It’s definitely the crowning glory of Paul Byrne’s work and will remain one of my main fragrances for the foreseeable future.

As is customary for me, to summarize this is a nice little product range. The standouts to me are defiantly the Pepper body wash and the Eau de Toilette, combining nicely for a fragrance that will complement any would be gentleman. To Paul Byrne – keep up the good work and perhaps we can look forward to some new products in the future.

For more products and info why not have a look over a Harvey Nichols.

The SilverFox