About this deal
This isn’t a bad moisturiser – it’s just not an amazing one. It takes a lot of rubbing in before it’s absorbed, and leaves my face on the greasy side of moisturised. On the plus side, it does last well – really cheap and nasty moisturiser can leave your skin dry again a few hours later – and this is also kind to my sensitive and eczema-prone skin. I’m producing this ManCave review after seeing the brand many times on my targeted Facebook ads. The algorithm robots clearly heard about my passion for skincare, and I have to admit that the prices – lower than I’m used to – attracted my attention. I’m very fussy about moisturiser, so this was always going to be the ManCave product that needed to do the most to impress me.
Unfortunately, it didn’t do that much to exceed my fairly low expectations – but I am setting an awfully high bar. My personal favourite moisturiser is Biotherm Total Recharge. It disappears into my skin in seconds, leaving it soft and moist for at least 24 hours – BUT it also costs more for a single 50ml container than the entire ManCave bundle I’m reviewing here. The Willowbark Face Wash has an intriguing smell – it manages to be rich and clean at the same time. It’s quite a strong aroma and good to snap you awake first thing in the morning! This one isn’t especially exciting. It lathers nicely and smells like a perfectly agreeable shower gel – but the aroma is rather muted. In fact, the smell of the caffeine shampoo (below) lingered for longer in my shower room, despite me using far less of it.
Rewards For Life
ManCave’s Hinoki Wood shower gel is much more interesting. It’s described as “rich and woody,” which is very accurate. It smells expensive, bringing to wind a luxurious hotel bathroom. I know I’ve mentioned Molton Brown a couple of times but this is the closest to those (much more spendy) products – and that’s a compliment.
Of course, on the flip side, there are others than don’t impress quite so much. There were a few misses among the hits in my bundle. However, it’s hardly fair to do a side-by-side comparison with – for example – a moisturiser that costs many times more. This is definitely a scrub, with surprisingly abrasive charcoal powder bits in it. It’s the kind of thing you’d use once or twice per week, not every day. It smells of nothing, and seems to be the only unscented product in the bundle.Even so, I am able to report that this has a strong, agreeable and – I guess – masculine(?!) smell. Furthermore, there is a way that I can judge a shampoo, and that’s how kind it is to my scalp, which can get sore and dry with some products. I’m please to say that wasn’t the case here. I guess I’ll thank the shea butter for that. This isn’t a range that I think intends to compete with Clinque and Clarins – it’s more “high end high street” than “high end department store.” Judged at that level, it’s great value, with some products standing out as particularly good.