Review: Wet Shave Club (2nd Box)

My bearded face has been a memory for a few months now. As some of you may recall, it was my first experience with the Wet Shave Club that inspired me to take the beard off after having had it for several years. I have shaved almost every day since then, and was delighted to receive another box from Wet Shave Club in March.

Every item in this box was different from the brands I got before — soap, aftershave and blades, and this time a few packets of “Dude Wipes,” wet wipes with some BroCode language on the wrapper.

Unlike the first box, this one did not include a razor and brush, so the box was considerably smaller. Kudos to Wet Shave Club for reducing potential waste by not overdoing the packaging.

I’ve now had a few weeks with all of the items, and I can say that on the whole I like the products and I especially like the opportunity to sample different brands.

Here’s the breakdown.

Crown brand stainless blades (a box of 10). These blades are made in Egypt, unlike the Gillette blades I prefer, which come from Russia. The Crown box looks like it was last redesigned about the time Don Draper was in high school, with a website address added to the fine print.

The blades themselves are a bit more harsh than I prefer. They are effective, doing a good job with just one pass, but they don’t do it comfortably. They leave my face with a sting that the Gillette Silver Blue never does.

All Soaps on Deck Spiced Rum Shave Soap. This is my first experience with this brand of shave soap, and I have found it to be a good one. The spiced rum scent is subtle but present, and the lather is pretty robust. I find that I like the brush a little wetter with this brand than with others, to make the lather as rich an foamy as I want it to be.

Soap Commander USA Aftershave Balm. Now this is a nice one. A blend of oils, shea butter and a dash of menthol, this aftershave goes on tingly and cool and undoes the sting of the Crown blades. The scent is pleasingly masculine and the tactile qualities are just what you need after a shave — silky and smooth. I’ve used this almost every day since I got it, but I also made time to try out …

Whoos the Man Soap Viper Cologne Oil. This is a blend of coconut oil and fragrance in a small bottle with a roll-on applicator. The cologne smells nice, with earthy undertones, and a small amount is plenty.

Local Gent Shaving Co. Pre-shave oil. This is a blend of castor oil, olive oil, unspecified essential oils and tea tree oil. Dab a little on your beard and spread it out before applying the lather and it will make the shave a little smoother and a little closer. This is an efficient way to improve the quality of the shave, and just a small amount will do the job.

Dude Wipes. These individually-wrapped wipes are good quality, and you can use them to soothe a just-shaved face. The Dude-specific messaging is entertaining, but there really is nothing here that is any different than any other unscented wet wipes.

So those are the individual products. As for Wet Shave Club itself, well, I remain impressed. A monthly subscriber would get a box like this — about a month’s worth of blades and after shaves, and more than a month's worth of soap, as shaving soap lasts a long time. While it might work against forming a brand loyalty, the monthly surprise assortment will certainly expose you to range of options.

The club offers a single box option ($29) and three subscription choices: three months for $26 a month, six months for $24 a month, or a year for $22 a month. You can also buy many products individually from their online store.

If you’re a man with a face, you’ll be interested in what Wet Shave Club has to offer.

Wet Shave Club Website
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Our 1st Wet Shave Club Review

Review & Giveaway: Sinchies Reusable Snack Pouches

Being the mother of two young children, I am quite familiar with the concept of pouched pureed snackies. They are convenient and, seeing how quickly Mischief downs them and then begs for another, a novel and tasty approach to snack. When he was younger, I couldn't even walk past them in the grocery stores without him crying for them.

Thing is, though, when I'd look at the labels I'd feel a little queasy, seeing the artificial flavors and ingredients, not to mention how much they cost for just one little pouch that was only going to last 30 seconds. And let's not get started on what could be hiding in that opaque packaging. To me, I knew there had to be a better way!

Enter Sinchies and their reusable food pouches! Sinchies is an Australian based company that offers reusable food pouches in various sizes and various accoutrements to go with them.

The have 5 different sizes of spouted pouches, ranging from 80 ml to 1 L, as well as pops (for the making of frozen treats), snack, and sandwich bags. Also offered are kits, lids, accessories, recipe books, yoghurt cultures, and specials.

On the website, you can find a handy little tips and tricks section to help you get the most out of your Sinchies pouches. They also have a fun recipe section with recipes for all sorts of occasions, and not just ones that utilize the spouted pouches!

Imagine all the possibilities whizzing in my brain after browsing their site when I got my envelope of goodies in the mail! Inside held four spouted pouches (80 ml, 140 ml, 200 ml, and a large 1 l) and two regular zip top pouches, one snack and one sandwich size. Also included was a fun informational pamphlet that even included a recipe for chocolate pudding!

First of, let's talk about the construction of these pouches. They are double zip top pouches with a free flowing spout on the side. What does that mean? That means that, unlike other reusable pouches I've tried, they actually stay closed, instead of popping open to create gigantic messes (ask me how I know).

The free flowing spout means that you don't have to squeeze to get the yummy stuff out. Squeezing also means that you kind of have to be careful when opening it or handing it to small children, because that also has to possibility of creating a gigantic mess (again, ask me how I know).

The pouches also feature a contents label so you can always know what is in them, as well as an extremely helpful max fill line. Don't ignore that, it ends in, you guessed it, another gigantic mess when you try to close it.

The next question I had (after all these messes!) was: how easy are they to clean? Surprisingly easy is the happy answer!

Other brands I've tried have been difficult to get at all of the corners of the pouch because of the small openings, but the zip top is extremely generous in size, which aids in not just the filling, but also the cleaning, as you can get your scrubbie down in there to get at all the little nooks and crannies.

I used a combination of a bottle brush for the main container and a straw brush for the nozzle. Simply put them to air dry completely before closing them up. They are also dishwasher safe, but my dishmonster doesn't like to get things like this clean (also, it refuses to completely clean bottles, so I'm pretty sure it's jut my monster).

My family very much likes these Sinchies pouches, using the non spouted ones for park snacks and lunches for the Mister, while the spouted pouches have become the staple for homemade baby food, applesauce, and pudding.

I'm looking forward to using these again and again!

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Sinchies is offering one of their Mixed Bag Samplers to one of our readers worldwide!  This $11.00 package includes 7 pouches: 2 x 80ml, 2 x 140ml, 2 x 200ml, 1 x 1 Litre Reusable Food Pouches.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Rafflecopter, then leave the name you commented under and your email in the box in the Rafflecopter entry. (This allows us to contact you if you win!)  This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning.

This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE
and will end just before midnight ET on 4-21-15. 

The winner will be notified by email within 24 hours after the end of the giveaway.  In order to claim the giveaway prize, the winner will need to respond within 24 hours of notification, or an alternate winner will be selected.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

How-To: Skin Soother Bag

This morning I did a very silly thing. I was in a hurry, and I hastily put sunblock on myself. Here in the Mohave Desert, this is a year round concern.  Being the pasty white color that I am, it took no time at the park for me to get a stinging sunburn. Thankfully, I happen to know how to make a fantastic soothing bag!

The ingredients for this skin soother are simple and things you may even have in your house right now! All you need is a small fabric drawstring bag (like a spice bag), some raw oatmeal (not in a package mix), and some lavender essential oil.

I put about a quarter cup of the oats and around 10 drops of the oil in the bag and tie it up. All you have to do from there is get it wet until the water running out of it is cloudy, then gently dab at the burn! You may have a chalky oatmeal residue, but leave it be, I promise it will help.

 I like to make it up as soon as I get home, then put it in the fridge until I'm able to take a bath that evening, when I put the bag in the water just like a bath tea. After your soak, dump the oatmeal in the garbage and wash out the bag. If you still have irritation the next day, just make up another!

You can use this soother bag for more than just sunburns too! I've used them when Mischief had Hand, Foot, and Mouth, when I got into some poison ivy, bug bites, and have had friends use them for eczema.

Aaahhhh....

Hope this easy skin soother bag helps you the next time your skin needs a little TLC.