I want my hair done right right!

First off I must apologise [AGAIN] i've been looking after a very poorly Momma beard - and seeing Black fucking Sabbath - these are mutually exclusive I feel but I managed it! I even managed to pull the covers off my car and give her a cheeky spin out!

So to business ...

"You're a greaser and rockabilly but yet you haven't posted any hair product posts" - I hear you say. Yeah well most of have been done to death and there's only so many times you can yawn and say layrite is great!

I have very fine hair and even if layrite is great it still weighs my hair down. So I've been looking for something us finer haired gentlemen can wear in our hair that doesn't make it flat as a pancake within 30 seconds of perfecting that quiff.

I've been using a fair number of hair products over the years - from high end pomades down to Vaseline and the ones that everyone rave about but they all suffer from the same problem. They aren't that versatile. If I want a slick back wet look I use one product. If I want a day pomade I have to use another . If I want a bit of height I use another. You get the picture. None have the wherewithal to mix it up and suit whatever mood I'm in.

Except when I went proper old school (and by that I mean 80s old school). And tried some of the legends hair gel.

Now I haven't used gel since I was at school. It was always pretty Shitty and made your hair break  and you ended up looking like a werewolf by the end of the night as it dried your hair out so much.

But... that was before I tried out The Legends London Maximum Hold Hair Gel. 

during the week i like to go for a more slicked back dry look and the gel supplies - just use a little on dry hair rubbed between the palm of your hands and a narrow toothed comb to pull your hair back to perfection. 

Add a little water to your hair before hand and it turns into a mid shine wet look gel to easily get that shiny glow that I like without having to wash my hair with fairy liquid for 3 days afterwards.

The Gels appearance is a little dated having an almost neon pink look to it but hey - i'm not shy about these things and the smell is pleasant but not overpowering.

All in all i'm always gonna be a sucker for a pomade but day to day when i wanna look sharp but don't want the hassle of washing pomade out or worrying about the cost of a washable pomade - i don't think you can get better than this stuff. 

you can check out their stockists list here or even better go and see Darius and Jack yourself here at the shop and get yourself a Grade A cut while you're there!

Girls Don't like boys girls like Beards and Pies!! aka Beard of the week #1

Firstly I apologise for the lack of posts this week but I have been a very busy boy making pork pies! [i kid you not]

The proof is in the pudding!

So the first inaugural beard of the week honour goes to Theo - co owner and operator of the Hawkhurst vault and lovely new tea room on brick lane just next to the Tatty Devine shop!! He sells a great selection of hand picked teas at reasonable prices and has a dab hand at making coffee too!

Theo looking rather dashing in his leather apron and suspenders

He's been growing his epic mutha of a beard for about eight months give or take a month and I.think it's looking pretty God damn awesome.

Go to the shop and you can stare at Theo in all his beardie glory! Or you can drink tea and ask if you can stroke it ! He really doesn't mind. In fact he encourages it!

Go check them out!!

 

The Hawkhurst Vault on Brick Lane, London.

https://www.facebook.com/hawkhurstvault

You must be a wrestler! [from Borough Market to the WWE]

Jeans  - Farah Straight legged Dark Denim

Today was family day and a wee outing to Borough Market to get me some MEAT and BREAD for my breakfast!! This was a really bad idea. While my roasted rib beef sandwich with creamed horseradish was absolutely amazing. The foreign students who were unable to walk, have any sense of spatial awareness, or manners was simply too much too bear!

The place was totally packed! GRRRRR!!! I don't do well in busy environments. I'm too polite and expect everyone else to be polite too! Fuckers!!

Anyway...so today was pretty nice weather wise so I discarded my jacket for a waistcoat and flannel shirt as it was vaguely spring like outside.  My shoes I bought from a market shop in  Finsbury Park - everyone loves the shoes including me.

Borough Market

Shirt  - Vintage - From Value Village in Canada

Braces/Suspenders - Vintage - Camden Market

Vest/Waistcoat - Vintage - from Camden Market

two tone brogues - Market shop in Finsbury Park

Later in the day a boy in a shop saw my tattoos and said to me that "you must be a wrestler?" Then his mum told him to be quiet. Then he said "but look at his tattoos he must be a wrestler!" I'm not going to argue with him! 

The Beard of Destiny

For many years I chose to have mutton chops instead of a full beard [as you can see below]. and i'd never really thought about growing out a full beard. I had my chops and I was happy as larry. Until this last winter when I woke up one frosty morning and decided to go "Full Beard". ↓↓↓

The Mutton Chop Years

I was expecting loads of itching and stress and wanting to tear my face off and regretting ever having made the decision to grow a frakking beard!

It was, however, a breeze. None of hose things happened it just grew...like, you know, hair does.

I have a couple of pointers that I would like to share though.

1. - BEARD OIL! 

This bitch is essential - you'll need to put back some moisture into your beard as you're growing it out. Regular Hair conditioners kinda work but they just don't have the ooomph that a beard oil has. 

They help with the itch as well putting back a little as your face gets accustomed to all that hair hanging off your chin. I have been using "Bear Faces's" Spicy Beard oil.

You only need a tiny amount and rub it in well making sure it's well absorbed by all the hair and your face. Use too much and you'll have a shiny beard but this will soon be sucked into your hungry face.

There's lots of good stuff in it for your aging face! not that mine's aging you understand :/

Ingredients Apricot Kernel Oil, Coconut Oil, Argan Oil, Jojoba Oil, Amber, Frankincense, Sandalwood Amyris, Ho Wood and Neroli. 

The site helpfully points out that Argan oil is Nut based so if you have a nut allergy then you might want to steer clear of this! No one wants to have to epi-pen your chin!

I love the fragrance which is err... spicy, warm and i really like it and it goes really well with my aftershave. Although I would have like the smell to be stronger so that I could just get away with putting on the oil and not wasting my time with another product!

Still the best thing to slap on your beard and i've tried a few. Go now and check em and their other great grooming products out now!

£18.50 for a sexy little 30ml bottle.

2.  Keep It Trimmed

The best advice would be to go to a trained barber once a month hand over your fiver and get your beard trimmed professionally. They'll be able to give your beard shape and form that you will not be able to achieve at home with £20 clippers.

But if you are going to trim at home then go to a professional hair suppliers such as Paks or Sallys and spend a little bit of money on your clippers. most clippers that are £50 or above should suffice but no one said having a beard was gonna be cheap? 

Clippers are for cutting - trimmers are for edging!

I use my Wahl  Super taper Clippers that I use at work and the are more than capable for any beard. 

Gotta keep that bitch tamed!

I will do a full review of trimmers and beard trimming at a later date. So keep em peeled.

All oiled up and ready to ROCK!

So how do you Maintain your beard? Let me know in the comments below!

Haircut 101

As you can see my hair has got somewhat hippyish over the last week . 

So we're off to the Legends barbershop in holborn to get a little trim.

The Legends Barber shop In Lambs Conduit Passage, Holborn, London.

The guys there really know what they're talking about and provide an excellent service to everyone that comes through their doors. Everyone that is from high court judges, magazine editors the occasional Rock star and everyone else  who knows where to get a good haircut in holborn!

The shop is small with three chairs but they are always busy. Operating an appointment system as opposed to a "turn up and see" otherwise there'd be 40 people sitting waiting every lunch time. So it's best to call in advance to see if they have some space. Saying that though in the middle of the afternoon there was still space to do a quick drop in but that is a rarity.

The shop is unpretentious clean and old school. Simple clean decor. And a world away in price and hipster-Ness that's become the byword for barbers at the moment.

The shop is owned and operated by Darius and he takes his skills very seriously. He is a master barber and is meticulous in how he wields his steel.

Darius hard at work

The other regular barber is mister Jack. A jovial, humourous and skilled master barber in his own right! His laugh is infectious.

Mister Jack!

Darius did a traditional short back and sides from a zero grade took a little off the top and finished me off with some shiner gold pomade.  All in under 15 minutes.

Even though it was quick the lines are clean and the fade is awesome. The man really knows his stuff.

The shop is open from 9am-7pm last appointment time is 6.30ish. Monday to Friday only.

Cuts are £16 - clipper cuts grade 1-3 are £12 and shaves are £22.50

they've even formulated their own hair gel! 

But don't believe me go and try them. 

The Legends barbershop

Which barbers do you go to?

Here I am all trimmed and ready to go!