Tasteful personal care items for a guy.
July 12, 2011 9:18 AM   Subscribe

What personal care items do you recommend for a guy looking to treat himself?

Suppose I decided to start taking a little better care of myself and just splurge a little, what items would you recommend?

By splurge I mean about $50-$100 a month recurring cost, and the items I'm thinking of are, e.g.:

Shampoo, face cream, face wash, soap, toothpaste, anything for my beard (I keep a pretty short beard), anything else anyone would recommend? I use unscented skin lotion because everything I find in the stores just smells too strong and I don't want it all over my skin.

I'm not looking for an excuse to spend money (well maybe not JUST that haha), but I just feel I don't always take as good care of myself as I should.

I live in Toronto, so there are plenty options, I just want to know what you guys would recommend. Bonus points for anything with less chemicals that's more natural.
posted by anonymous to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Get thee to a Kiehl's store! All of their stuff is great. And they're generous with samples, so you can take some samples home and try before you buy.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:25 AM on July 12, 2011 [4 favorites]


How do you trim your beard? If it is with a beard trimmer, get a barber-quality one; 90% of the stuff on the market is crap. Here's my question about them from a while ago. I didn't actually end up buying one, but I might come winter.
posted by griphus at 9:27 AM on July 12, 2011


2nding Kiehl's stuff. The coriander body wash is awesome. I also like their face moisturizer, and would basically trust anything they make.
Aveeno makes a shaving cream that's very gentle and unscented.
Finally, Bumble & Bumble styling cream is a nice way to get your hair to stay put without gooping it up.
posted by Gilbert at 9:53 AM on July 12, 2011


Kiehls is my addiction. I use their Ultimate Man Scrub (or whatever it's called) soap religiously. I am also VERY partial to their shaving creams.
Who am I kidding, I have a LOT of Kiehls products that I use often. Facial Fuel is another favorite, and their Ultimate Strength Hand Salve is next to me on my desk at work.

I've ordered a number of things from Baxters of California as well (they have sales fairly often with coupon codes). I picked up a nice shaving brush, and some other great products from them when they offered a 50% off coupon a few months back (maybe a year ago?).
posted by smitt at 10:16 AM on July 12, 2011


I endorse Bluebeards Original, beard care products by pirates for pirates. Even after the longest day of plundering, Bluebeards Original Beard Wash leaves my beard looking, feeling and smelling great!
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:39 AM on July 12, 2011 [2 favorites]


Also check out Jack Black products, which as far as I can tell have no relationship to the actor/comedian. (Really, would you want to buy "beauty" products from that Jack Black?)

In addition to ordering online at that link, you can often find some of their products in the tiny men's section at Sephora stores (here in the U.S.; not sure if they're in Ontario, too). I think I originally discovered Jack Black at Nordstrom, so that may be an option, too (again, if they have stores in Ontario).
posted by maxim0512 at 10:53 AM on July 12, 2011


My brother is fond of The Art of Shaving and has requested any birthday presents to be from there. We recently got Dad a shaving kit for Father's Day from there, and it was a big hit.
posted by southpaw at 2:27 PM on July 12, 2011 [1 favorite]


Kiehl's Creme with Silk Groom makes for a nice beard softener/smoother - might be useful since you keep your beard short.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:53 PM on July 12, 2011


Best answer: My boyfriend doesn't take good "care" of himself but the things he's loved in this department are as follows. Not all of them are cosmetics related but have made him feel pampered.

Philosophy Purity face wash
Queen Helene honey oat facial scrub
Lush face masks & scrubs
Shaving oil and GOOD shaving equipment
Really nice cashmere socks
A really nice soft leather travel toiletries kit with small version of the good quality stuff
Really good mints to carry around
Having his favourite good beers in the fridge all the time
A complete supply of GREAT underwear
Really large, luscious bath towels. Man sized, as he says.
Electric toothbrush
Basket of hand towels in the bathroom so he can do the hot washcloth on face thing every night.
Man lipbalm
A huge pump bottle of Aesop hand cream by the sink

Have fun!
posted by shazzam! at 7:08 PM on July 12, 2011


I want to 2nd a couple things shazzam! said.

1. Do you have a Sonicare toothbrush yet? OMG it's the best thing ever.

2. Great underwear is great. Banana Republic t-shirts always make me feel good when I put them on. Buy some nice t-shirts and boxers from some nicer stores and find what makes you feel the most "put-together".
posted by j03 at 12:02 AM on July 13, 2011


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