Introduction.
How is it hanging my fellow beardos I hope you are all doing great coming up to christmas time, I hope you are all getting things done being productive and staying positive. I have a lot of reviews incoming in the next two months for very different companies, here is a list of what to expect and time to expect them at :
- A tartan tale beard oil – 16th November
- Thirty1 oil – 28th November
- Wild hare – 12th December
- Beard and Bones – 20th December
- The Bald Viking beard company – 16th January
After the January review I have plans to venture into reviewing more than just beard products and maybe even starting a YouTube channel to do video reviews on there but keeping this website too. I am considering doing reviews on stuff I love in my life, such as :
- Mens cosmetics products
- Technology
- Films & TV shows
- Video games
- Household gadgets
- Places I visit like national parks, shopping centres, activity places, restaurants and so on
- Airsoft sites, guns, gear, clothing and equipment
- Food
- Pagan stuff
- Products and food from the place I work
- Beard Products
- Energy drinks
- Alcohol such as Rum, beer, IPA’s, Red wine
If this is something you guys would love to see, please leave a comment to tell me yes or no and what else you would like me to review and if the YouTube idea is a good step forward or a step backwards. And if you didn’t catch my latest review on hoboheads’ new scent morose, check it out right here.
Lakeland Beard Care
Richard is from Carlisle, where he works as a dispensing optician and lives with his partner and her son. He started Lakeland beard care in December 2018 he had been experimenting for a year with his own beard oils, his fascination with the different combinations of carrier oils and essential oils took over and how they benefit the skin and beard. Once Richard had found the combination that made him happy he made them for himself, friends and even colleagues and in doing so got some awesome feedback which spurred him on to start selling his product. He started off with 3 oils and balms ( clean slate, morning dew and summer night) he gradually added other scents, butters, brushes and combs. This ambitious fella has plans to release new products that are not beard related in the future, and I think you should make sure you are around not to miss it.
The Site
Lakeland are using Etsy to sell their products on, and I think it is actually quite cool, It is right there in front of you with product name, scent name and images, in order with no complication with a simplistic side bar menu and further down all the reviews people have left. It is literally that easy, and I am now thinking why don’t other companies use Etsy to sell their products? I didn’t actually know the answer to this question, so I in all honesty I sought help from a much wiser man than me TheBeardedBrit and here is what he said.
“People use Etsy because it is easy to manage and they only pay a % of the sales they make. It is just handy. When companies get bigger they generally want a website”
- Impressive impact strategy
- Tools for success
- Low listing fees
- Opportunities for growth
- Marketing tools
- Commitment to Small Business success
- Expansive buyer pool
- Easy to set up and start selling
“Etsy has benn around for al ong time and offers sellers a wealth of information to build a successful buisness. With a comitment to help small brands grow, its a great fit for those with unique products but that may need more tools and support to expand”
This seems like a very good thing for when you are starting up and if I am totally honest I actually prefer to some of the sites I have seen that are out there hahaha! In my opinion, it is a good thing for Lakeland and Richard.
Check out the Lake land website.
The Land around the Lake
The bottle is made of glass and is brown and see through with a black handle pipette with a bulbous end and the label is determined by the scent giving its overall colour, for example summer night is orange with black writing and has the company logo slap bang in the centre with the essential oil ingredients beneath it. Giving you a plain view of how that oil will smell like, I must say I am a massive fan of this labelling idea. It gives customers such an easier time of remembering what they have ordered, I know that sounds dumb as fuck but the amount of times I have looked online, ordered a scent I loved the sound of and then when it has been delivered completely forgotten what the scent profile is. Which then I have to go on Instagram, search the beard company, click the link to the website, search for the product and scent. ” But john, just type in the essential names on Google ” … I have never done anything the easy way, it is the hard way or no way because I am fucking ginger and that’s how we roll bitch!
The label details are missing two things
- company address – there are more and more companies listing their addresses nowadays, but there are still some out there who do not like to advertise the address because more than often it is their family home address this is understandable, but it is also CPSR requirement.
- Allergens – allergens are normally stated in black bold writing and in the Latin names but the label I have states there are no allergens I don’t know if this is actually the case but 99% of products I have used list allergens such as, parfum, citronellol and nuts are examples.
The Lakes Water
The oil is of a faint yellow colour and a thin viscosity, making it easier to spread around the beard it consists of the following carrier oil blend:
- Sweet almond oil – this is a light oil that helps the oil sink into the beard hair and skin. It increases beard growth with its high levels of magnesium, biotin and vitamin E. It also treats and prevents beardruff.
- Argan oil – Reduces inflammation with its omega 6&9 fatty acids, it helps moisturize the skin and hair and is a non-greasy oil. It also helps regulate sebum levels and prevents beardruff.
- Jojoba oil – This is actually a liquid format of wax esters containing vitamins E and B complex. Helps against sebum oil, it also unclogs pours which allow the return of moisture.
This is a pretty basic mix of carriers and is often found in the UK beard care industry because arguably Argan oil and Golden Jojoba oil are the best carriers around. This formula gave me 8 to 10 hours of good beard and skin conditioning with very little irritation, providing a smooth beard and no beardruff. The lack of carriers allows for more concentration of the benefits within those oils to take effect, but other people could possibly argue there are more expensive oils out there that could also do a better job, but in my experience it comes down to personal preference. As you all know, I am a keen lover of apricot kernel oil and sea buckthorn oil.
Summer Lake Night
This is where I have to bite the bullet and give you guys my honest opinion based on my experience alone, even though I have had plenty of people tell me they have nothing bad to say about Lake land beard care and never had a problem with them. Don’t get me wrong, I also do not have a problem with Richard and his products, but I have done a considerable number of reviews now and not to toot my own trumpet, but I am taken in high regards from some of the best brand owners around.
My issue here is I received a bottle of summer night scent from Lakeland beard care and when I first opened the bottle the scent is incredible you can really smell the essential oils dancing around each other mixing together splashing into each other’s lakes providing an orgasmic aromatic sensual experience.
- Patchouli
- White Grapefruit
- Cardamom
The combination is beautiful and the first thing that hits you is the patchouli followed by the cardamom and then boom the white grapefruit takes over and makes your mouth water ( do not fucking drink it haha ). But here is my guys, the scent didn’t even last an hour in my beard, even on chilled days where I did fuck all. I proceeded to keep reviewing the oil for 3-4 days before I messaged Richard saying I think I have a dodgy batch ( batch number 010). Richard immediately sent me another bottle of a different batch number ( batch number 011) and it is also key to point out he sent me samples of other products and other scents and I will touch on them after I’ve finished here. Unfortunately I experienced the same problem with batch number 011 where the scent wouldn’t even last an hour I asked a few people with experience why this could be, and they said it could be to not mixing the oils properly or enough. But my conclusion is simple, the people who I asked about Lakeland all have long thick beards and I sport a short styled one with some thickness to it. Maybe the lack of surface area was providing me with less scent longevity? This brings me on to the next topic.
The samples he sent me were as follows:
- 2ml bottle of winter warrior beard oil – tea tree, peppermint and Eucalyptus, this did not last an hour for me either
- 10ml tin of beard butter in summer night scent – this did last an hour or more, and I was impressed with the feel of my beard too.
- 10ml tin of afternoon delight beard butter – Bergamot, black pepper and frankincense, this did not last an hour for me either.
- 2ml bottle of morning dew beard oil – Scots pine, Cedarwood and Clary Sage, this scent was absolutely fantastic and was my original choice to review before I changed my mind to summer night. The Morning Dew scent lasted for 4 hours or more which is in my experience the UK beard care standard scent longevity time and I loved every second of it. Safe to say, at some point in the future, Morning Dew review inbound.
Conclusion
Lakeland are a fantastic beard care company who are highly respected within the online bearded community with a lot of experienced beardos saying they can do no wrong. In my honest opinion it comes down to picking the wrong scent for a review and I should of gone with my gut instinct and reviewed morning dew. Don’t get me wrong summer night is truly a great scent and I tell you now that white grapefruit made my mouth water. But even though I am a beard feel guy over a scent longevity guy I do expect a certain time of scent longevity.
Would I recommend Lakeland based on my experience ? Yes I would !
Will I come back for another review ? Hell yes, morning dew is the one I can see myself airsofting to that scent firmly lodged in my nasal passages like a crackhead. £11.99 is a respectable price for a beard oil but I would love to see a more adventurous carrier oil blend that pushes the UK beard care market past its barriers and dominates the beard care market world wide.
Listen, Stay Safe, Stay Bearded and Stay Fire
