TONI&GUY Beard Grooming Heroes

TONI&GUY were kind enough to forward on some samples from their new grooming range, beard grooming heroes. With all the grooming products I've been sent recently, my beard would be forgiven for thinking it was growing residing on cheeks of the Sultan of Oman. It's getting spoilt, one day all the beard oils will dry up and we’ll look back to these salad days and say 'we never knew we had it so good'. 

Sorry I digress. Talking hair follicles Carl? I thought this was a serious blog?

TONI&GUY are looking to get out in front of current beard trends, considering not just the gentleman that like to grow full voluminous beards, but different styles and lengths. Second day stubble has been wildly overlooks as a demographic and now we're seeing more retro moustaches come into vogue.

The packaging

I'm all in favour of having different shaped vessels to differentiate the products. It's something of a bugbear of mine when I squeeze out the face wash expecting the face scrub, all because I didn't read the fine print. The pack leader in this field of terrible packaging is LQD.

The only thing I would say is that the product is a little black for a Spring/Summer launch. It's not offending my delicate sensibilities, and it is a stylish look, but it doesn't exactly liven up my shelf. On the flip side it is very masculine and I would be drawn to it on the shelves of Boots.  

The products

The beard oils come in Nourishing Premium Beard and Softening Premium Stubble. Both retail at £11.99, essentially one is a pre-shave, but both are designed to hydrate the hair follicles and soften the skin. Remember only use 2-3 drops and don't over saturate your beard. I can't say I noticed it being any better than recent oils I've tried, it certainly hasn't got the emollient qualities of an Acqua Di Parma Serum, but for the price point I wouldn't expect that. 

The Beard Foam, Shampoo and Balm each bring different qualities to the table. The Shampoo perhaps isn't going to be a repeat purchase for me as it's designed for longer or thicker beards. It feels slightly superfluous for me, however the Beard Foam lathered up nicely and was quite refreshing. 

I should say that these TONI&GUY products are exclusively available at Boots, but the Beard Foam one isn't currently online. The Beard Balm would appeal to someone like me as I have quite a frizzy beard. Although the changes were imperceptible, for the price point this is a decent introduction for anyone looking to get into men’s grooming. 

The moustache wax was a tough one for me to trial as my facial hair in this department isn't long enough to shape. 

Conclusion

Fairly tick the box stuff from TONI&GUY, perhaps an opportunity for innovation missed, but we have to look at what market of the industry they’re targeting. They’re not Aesop or Acqua Di Parma levels of luxury, nor do they pretend to be. Moreover, TONI&GUY have produced what the industry might call accessible products for the everyday man. And they’ve done so comprehensively.