Thatisbeyond… My product bugbears!

Those of you who read my blog regularly will know that I am not a blogger that will write a wholly negative review of a product. I just don’t want to put that much negativity out there. (And what doesn’t work for me might be a holy grail product for some of you!) There are a couple of exceptions though, those products that are sold with misleading marketing – that is just not true, and products that are not formulated for men. And this is where I want to focus today.

Men are very different creatures to women, (I’m stating the obvious but hey!) Our skincare and product needs differ because of Out genetic make up, our environment, and different levels of different hormones at different times! This leads me nicely into one of my bugbears… Companies that package a product as a “Men’s product” purely based on a fragrance that they feel “will appeal” to men over women.

Firstly, I find this very patronising, and secondly in this booming market where companies are improving the technology of shaving @kingofshaves , where SPF is featuring in man specific moisturisers (Henri Lloyd has an excellent range) and where you can readily buy the same products that your grooming room supplies, on the high street. Why are we allowing companies to be so lazy in their development of products?

Now to the bit that I hate! The name and shame!

Original source is a company that I have written about before, I honestly I like some of their products, but the release of their “mens collection” was ridiculous. Up until it’s release, I would have said that 70% of their range was unisex, it’s the kind of product that had the USP of being suitable for him and her in the shower! But when the “mens collection” hit the shelves it was patently clear to me that this was a product full of marketing with no substance. The ingredient list was surprisingly similar to the other range, not much difference in the packaging either (with the exception of the word MEN being added). There were however two noticeable differences… The fragrance, and the price.
In terms of fragrance we had the usual expectations, the addition of ingredients such as chilli! (A wholly un ‘originalsource’ of inspiration.

And the price? More than double that of the same sized product from the original line! Companies should not be able to do this. It has seen a booming market, and that men are willing to spend a bit more of their hard earned cash on keeping themselves well groomed, and they have added some chilli or black mint?! (and the word men) and suddenly the price has doubled.

I will say that I do like the original source shower gels, the mint one is one of my go to’s, but I do not like to be made an idiot of and so I have stopped buying it.

I was shocked to be told by an employee of boots, that as they were out of the no7 mens moisturiser that I could get the women’s one as it is “basically the same product in more manly packaging”. I’m sorry, but that is treating the whole market as a money maker for their company, and putting very little into the product development.

These companies have questions to answer, and I will no longer support them with my hard earned cash.
We need to commend brands that actually spend time developing products for men, in the same way that female products do for them. Nickel spas have an excellent range developed specifically for men ( and their spa treatments are great). Bulldog tick the boxes for me too, tailoring their range to their target market.

Look at a range and see if they have been developed for you – does this deal with male specific issues. Don’t be fooled by sleeker packaging and a hefty price tag.

TIB