In my continued attempts to use more natural products my next attempt was to find a good deodorant. Doing the usual googling and site browsing I came across a product line by Every Man Jack. Their deodorants seemed interesting and had been featured in Men's Journal. They sport a rather extensive line of products - lip balm, deodorant, hair styling, bath soap, shave cream, etc. To sample a bit of their line I ordered one of their scent-themed 'kits' (they have two shave kits and two body kits). I picked the Cedarwood one and apparently there will be a Sandalwood (mmm...) kit as well in a few months. My package arrived yesterday and contained all the products listed above; - One LARGE body soap bar, - One Deodorant stick, - One VERY large bottle of body wash (500ml!), - One lip balm, AND - a Every Man Jack branded brown toiletry bag. (Sorry for the smartphone quality photos) Back of package showing what each product contains: The price for the kit: $16! (If you buy the items individually it'll cost you over $35). First impression: Wow, you get a lot of 'stuff' for $16. I also ended up getting some free samples: - Face Lotion, - Shave Cream, - Post Shave Lotion, and - Lip balm. So....prices are great...you get a lot for your money....next question: how do they perform? I will rate these soaps using the CUHPR system (Completely Unscientific and Highly Personal Ratings). I've tested out seven of the products so far and here are some early first impressions; Toiletry bag: CUHPR: 8/10 This to me was just a 'nice bonus' as it came with the kit but after receiving it I rather like it. It has three zippers and seems to be of decent quality. Will it be around a year from now with daily use? Probably not, but it's a great travel or gym kit! Body Bar: CUHPR: 7/10 This bar of soap was much bigger than I had expected it to be (and that's a good thing). Performance wise it lathers very easily and gives a good moisturized feeling. I only wish that it would have had a stronger scent. The cedar wood scent is appealing but I had a hard time picking up on the scent. Back of soap wrapper: Soap unwrapped: Deodorant: CUHPR: 8/10 This was the most important part to me as this is the product that I really wanted to try out. Scent: Very nice. Cedar wood but once again rather faint. Not bad at all I would have just wanted a bit more scent - but I know that's very subjective. Performance: Put it on in the morning and now in the evening I still smell fresh. No rashes or anything. It also has Witch Hazel in it which may explain part of its performance. I just wish there was a way to deliver and use the product without the use of the plastic container. Back of deodorant: Lip Balm: CUHPR: 8/10 It's a regular sized lip balm stick. It has no scent/flavor which I really like. It worked as well as any lip balm. Body Wash/Shower Gel: CUHPR: 6/10 Now this is a big bottle - 500ml. It's cedar wood scented but as with the soap bar I had a hard time picking up on the scent. It lathered actually even better than the bar and my skin felt great afterwards - soft/moisturized - I just didn't get that wood-scent I had hoped for. One thing I don't like about this - and other bottled products is the fact that it does have to come in a big plastic bottle. To me that goes against the whole concept of being a more natural offering. Taking the plastic bottle into consideration and there being so many other bars out there (including EMJ's own bar) - I can't see myself buying this particular product again. I also got some free samples and two of them were shaving related; - Shaving cream, and - Post-shave lotion. So....I thought why not try them both out during my morning shave? Back of the shaving cream tube: I gather some SOTD tools and get going: Shave Cream: CUHPR: 2/10 First I was a bit stumped by this product. It's a non-lathering cream to be applied to your face. So I did and I must admit I shaved maybe 2-3 strokes before I decided I value my face too much to risk it on this. There was very little to no cushioning/protection and not a whole lot of glide. Maybe this shave cream is not really targeting DE/SE/SR shavers and if so it's simply the "wrong" product and not a "bad" product - but for me I can't see myself using this cream. Post-Shave Lotion: CUHPR: 7/10 The only other post-shave lotion I can compare this to is Nivea's ASB for sensitive skin. In comparison this lotion is a bit 'thicker/creamier' and does not absorb into the skin as quickly as Nivea does. I am not sure I mind that though. I kept feeling my face for a couple of hours after the shave and my face retained a really soft/moisturized feeling - actually more so then when I use Nivea. It's a very, very fine line between feeling moisturized and feeling greasy but this product managed to edge over to the non-greasy side. I enjoyed it and will try it out again tomorrow morning. Where to buy? Online Target Whole Foods Would I buy again? Some of the products like the deodorant I would absolutely buy again. I'm getting the Sandalwood next. I'm also curious about their matte styling products. They are priced so you can afford to experiment and take a bit of risk. Note: If you're interested in trying out these products for yourself send me a PM and I might be able to get you a discount code or two to offset the online purchase cost. That's it.
I do notice the deodorant says aluminum free. A little redundant because no deodorant (that isn't anti-antiperspirant) contains aluminum. I have used regular deodorant like this and I don't think it works. It need to be anti-antiperspirant to really work for me. I'm interested to hear after a couple of days where you would rank EveryMan in terms of effectiveness.
This weekend I'll be out and about a lot in 70 degrees sun so we shall see how fresh it keeps me at the end of the day
Funny, noticed that just earlier today they announced their extended Sandalwood line: http://everymanjack.com/sandalwood.html?mode=grid . And today a 20% discount: Introducing our Sandalwood lineup including shave gel, face lotion, 2-in-1 body wash, deodorant, and daily shampoo. Featuring coconut derived surfactants, organic aloe and organic glycerin these hair, body, skin and shave products will have you covered from head to toe. It's the final day to save 20% on everything Sandalwood. Use coupon code 'SANDALWOOD' at checkout and save.
The only benefit I've found from their "shaving cream" is to use it as a pre-shave to help soften up the whiskers. I was pretty disappointed in the mint set I got as a gift a couple years ago.
Based on very early and limited experience I'd be temped to say that their strength lies outside of their shaving products
You've probably tried it already, but I've used the Tom's of Maine for years and it works fairly well for me.
Great review! I bought a mint kit locally awhile back. It a face wash, lip balm, face lotion, something else, and another thing I can't remember. I ended up giving away everything but the face wash, which I really liked. I mainly didn't like the mint, the products themselves were fine. I think the price was great too.
I have to say it's performing really well. Was out yesterday for 8+ hours. It was 70 degrees and I did a lot of walking. In the evening I still felt very fresh under my pits. I know these things are also very subjective but it seems to really work for me. Will probably get the Sandalwood one next.
After used the bar of soap again this morning I up'd it's score to a 7/10 from 6/10. It really performs great - good lather and moisturizing quality. The only thing holding it back from a higher score is the weak scent.
I've been using the citrus deo for the last few days and I can't say that I'm impressed. By, the end of each day (with very thorough product application), one pit was a little stinky, the other smelled like I had used nothing on it at all. Probalby, TMI there. But, there was no redness or irritation.
Their deodorant is actually what I liked the most out of their line. I ended up not finding it locally any more though. I've tried a number of others since then and am now working my way through some artisan-detox-candy-smelling thing that I'm not so sure about. To me finding a great Deodorant is harder than finding a good shaving soap. And yes, I'm happy the scratch-and-sniff technology have yet to make it to the internet
It's an interesting idea though...wouldn't you love to be able to smell the shaving soaps, colognes, etc online before buying...?
Mitchum used to have an antibacterial deodorant that was the best deodorant for me. I could go days with one application. Their other offerings though are much better than most. I always save my Mitchum stockpile for the summer when I really need it. It's a waste in the winter.
