MAN TALK: How much thought do you give what you put on your body?

[Tsimp]

I want to start off by saying that I don't intend for this post to be an advertisement of any kind. I want to know the truth about your habits and how you feel about the topic.

Last week I was assigned to create an ad for a product or brand of my choice. After forming a team and talking it over, we chose the brand Every Man Jack for our ad. Every Man Jack is a company that makes grooming products for Men. (Deodorant, Shampoo, Body Wash, Shaving Gel/Cream, etc) We chose this brand specifically because all of their products are 100% natural, and contain no harsh chemicals; they are also cruelty free, meaning they will never test their products on animals.

This got me thinking; how much do we really know about the products we use every day, and how does that effect the various aspects of our lives, and our communities? Most popular Soaps and Deodorants are made with synthetic chemicals, and even the brands that use natural ingredients still use harsh natural chemicals. These products contain things like parabens, phthalates, dyes and sodium lauryl sulfate; you've probably never heard of these things before, and that's fine, that's why I'm here. These chemicals serve to make products more profitable by making them last longer, look and feel nicer, and hold together better. Now, these are all good things to strive for in a product; however, these products are detrimental to your health in varying levels. Some will clog your pores up, others will irritate your eyes and skin. There is even research pointing to Phthalates being detrimental to reproductive health.

Now, I am not a scientist and there is a lot of research that needs to go into the ingredients of what we put in and on our bodies. My reasons for posting today are three.

1. To share with you all what I've discovered in this past week of research.

2. To ask for you thoughts on this information, and about what you use to groom yourselves.

3. To post the video that I made for my assignment, and get your feedback for it, I will post it here:




TL;DR: What do you use grooming, and do you care what ingredients are in it?

[Deleted]

This is what I have used for the last couple of years, im happy with them, so I see no reason to change.

Gillette Shaving Gel.
Nivea Men antiperspirant
Davidoff Cool water or Gucci Envy aftershave.
Radox Shower Gel (oops forgot to add this)

as to what is in it ? No idea. could be ground up eskimo clown midgets for all I care. None of them effect my health or skin so i'm happy.

[Joey Ray III]

never gave this any thought. i have a couple brands i like i guess but i'm totally fine with using 'own brand' some supermarkets sell too.

isn't this "100% natural" marketing BS anyways? (as in it doesn't mean it's necessary good, just like synthetic isn't always bad)

[Deleted]

I drench myself in Axe, the girls practically gag when i enter the room in barely contained arousal.

...At least i think it is, arousal makes girls throw up and complain about a manly stench right?

[Elim Garak]

Obligatory Mitchel and Webb video

[Deleted]

You're making very big claims about something without any evidence.

The Phthalate controversy is quite frankly unfounded in a majority of cases. Where laboratory experiments have found detrimental health effects on rodents, it's been with specific formulations.

As for no animal testing, I'd like to know the testing methodology for products. Seeing as you can't test on humans unless they volunteer for it, and not many people are willing to subject themselves to sprays of random formulations in the eyes.

[Sole-Warrior]

I shave and shower, get at least some exercise, get enough veggies.

[Bakis]

Dont know what is in them, maybe I should but I frankly dont care.

Used the past week:
Antiperspirant
Shampoo
Soap
Some Hugo, Calvin Klein, Giorgio, Issey Miyake
Some moisturizing cream
A molding paste for my hair

[Tyrgannus]

Is it clean? Wear it.
Do I look like a hobo? Trim it.
Did I get in my minimum 5 showers I week? Shower it.

That's about it

[Bakis]

I drench myself in Axe, the girls practically gag when i enter the room in barely contained arousal.

...At least i think it is, arousal makes girls throw up and complain about a manly stench right?

Hehe remember when Axe first hit the swedish market when I went to early high school.
I also did the misstake of underestimating what should be considered nothing less than a chemical weapon, the smell is so powerful.
I bet all the people on that bus had difficulties breathing.

Havent used it since ;(

[Jester Joe]

I drench myself in Axe, the girls practically gag when i enter the room in barely contained arousal.

...At least i think it is, arousal makes girls throw up and complain about a manly stench right?

They throw up because they can't contain themselves due to the OVERWHELMINGLY MANLINESS SCENT!

But I just use whatever I have personally. Usually either Old Spice Deodorant, and whatever shaving gel I have.

[Tsimp]

never gave this any thought. i have a couple brands i like i guess but i'm totally fine with using 'own brand' some supermarkets sell too.

isn't this "100% natural" marketing BS anyways? (as in it doesn't mean it's necessary good, just like synthetic isn't always bad)

You're absolutely correct. Just because a product is natural doesn't mean that it's good, safe, or effective. In Every Man Jack's case, and one of the reasons we chose them as our brand of choice, they started will all natural ingredients, but still felt that some parts were too unhealthy, so they made the change to all Natural Non-harsh chemicals. This move impressed me a lot, and it ended up getting them into Whole Foods, who are notoriously hard on products. I agree that there are more and more people taking advantage of people by claiming to use "Natural" ingredients and still using dangerous chemicals or toxins.

- - - Updated - - -

You're making very big claims about something without any evidence.

The Phthalate controversy is quite frankly unfounded in a majority of cases. Where laboratory experiments have found detrimental health effects on rodents, it's been with specific formulations.

As for no animal testing, I'd like to know the testing methodology for products. Seeing as you can't test on humans unless they volunteer for it, and not many people are willing to subject themselves to sprays of random formulations in the eyes.

I am making claims based on the research I have done into the subjects. I don't make any claim that I know everything about these chemicals and I support more research into them, whether it proves them safe or otherwise. As for the testing, all I know is that they aren't tested on animals. I suspect that the founders tested them on each other.

[Tsimp]

Obligatory Mitchel and Webb video

Fun story: I love Mitchel on QI and other various British television and various skits. I'd never heard of Mitchel and Webb until a couple of days ago, when I found out that the "Are we the baddies" skit was a part of the shot. Upon finding out, I sat down with my Fiance and we watched 4 hours of the show in one sitting. It's amazing and I love it and that is my story.

[Xanjori]

My husband is really simple.

That's a bit harsh! I'm sure deep down he is a complex guy!

On topic I tend to use whatever my GF is fine with because she always complains about overly-scented stuff. So Head & Shoulders shampoo, Dove deodarant, Gillette Shaving Gel and normal soap.

[Deleted]

Hehe remember when Axe first hit the swedish market when I went to early high school.
I also did the misstake of underestimating what should be considered nothing less than a chemical weapon, the smell is so powerful.
I bet all the people on that bus had difficulties breathing.

Havent used it since ;(

I used it once and immediately regretted it, jumped straight back in the shower and binned it.

I'll leave it to the 14 y/o's to use, i pity the schools though

OnT.

I use a specific brand of shampoo for dry hair, ironically enough the prior one i'd use dried out my scalp instead of moisturizing my hair; One trip to the doctors and i'm fixed on a £9 bottle of wonder (It's 60ml, expensive, so worth it doe).

Then i use nivea sensitive shaving gel, alongside a moisturizer for my face after shaving, and a old spice roll on.

Some times i'll use a aftershave but i'm not really at all bothered by it, last time was a few weeks ago.

Should make a thread for women, i guarantee it'll be 50 pages in less than 6 hours.

[Tsimp]

Hehe remember when Axe first hit the swedish market when I went to early high school.
I also did the misstake of underestimating what should be considered nothing less than a chemical weapon, the smell is so powerful.
I bet all the people on that bus had difficulties breathing.

Havent used it since ;(

The vote is still out on whether the Geneva Conventions apply to AXE body spray.

[icausewipes]

I don't shower or shave for days and the ladies can't get enough!!

The scent of a MAN!

[Tyrgannus]

He just doesn't care about name brands or what certain products promise to do. He also can't be bothered with having to decide on 20+ products.

A man after my own heart

[Voolawl]

TRESemme Shampoo and Conditioner, I like my hair soft and clean
Degree Mens Deoderant
Edge Shave gel
Whatever body wash smells good

Stuff I can get at my local store no problemo

[Tsimp]

Some times i'll use a aftershave but i'm not really at all bothered by it, last time was a few weeks ago.

One of the reasons I like EMJ so much now is because it's not a miracle product and doesn't claim to be. It gets you clean using natural ingredients, and smells good. That's it. That said, I really like the addition of essential oils for scents rather than what ever is normally used. I can really tell the difference in that they're much less strong in that really harsh overwhelming shampoo time kind of way and holy crap they smell so much better. It's like someone ground out a cedar tree and then soaked the resulting mulch in water and then poured that water over my body. It smells amazing. I don't want to fan-boy, but I was really impressed.

OT: I was one of those guys whose dad didn't teach them how to shave or anything, I through myself how to shave through trial and error, and I never used shaving cream or after shave or anything until about two weeks ago. Wow. I know there must be a lot of guys like me out there who don't use these things and my message to them would be: DO IT. It's a much better shave. That's all.