Above The Taps: My Morning Routine

“Hey Mike, do you just wake up looking that good?” My adoring fans cry from the moment I leave my front door until I’ve fended them off and get the elevator door closed up to my office, followed by the screams of “and when are you baking us all cakes?”.
Well my answer to both is of course: “I naturally look like this, and don’t have to try, oh and I’ve already baked you all cakes, here they are”.

Then I wake up and realise that my hair is a mess, I look like shit and I’ve not baked anyone a cake.

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Review: Murdocks Beard Conditioner

As many of you may possibly know, I have a beard. I know, there were shocked gasps from a lot of you as this is totally brand new and interesting information. I’ve been hairy for a number of years and previously done a review on some of the Dapper Duke’s beard oil on the blog. I also wrote up a post on the beard wash from Lush, which I never got around to posting as my views of the product changed, I’ll be posting an up-to-date review of that stuff sometime soon. Today however I’ll be talking about the Beard Conditioner from Murdock’s.

Murdock Beard Conditioner

I’ve been told good things about this stuff by a couple of friends, but as it’s on the (slightly) pricier end of the beard care spectrum, it’s £25 for 250ml, I’ve not allowed myself to buy it. Enter Christmas. My sister bought me a bottle and a brush as a gift. She won a heap of brownie points for this. It now means I get to give it a go. I’ll start straight off the bat by saying I love this stuff. I think I’ll happily not buy much else for my beard and just keep using this. It works in a number of ways.

It’s designed to help condition the beard (making it feel soft), prevent itchiness/clean it/prevent ingrown hairs. As well as this I feel like my beard is much… fuller? One of my main issues with my beard is that it gets a bit thin towards the ends (straggly if you must), which is annoying as I do actually have a very thick beard. The conditioner actually acts, in part, like a styling agent (use the brush to shape your beard after applying). This means that once you’ve applied it and worked it through you can optimise the general shape of your beard.

The Bearded Baker
Yes, it needs a tidy and a trim. I wasn’t finished getting ready and my parents pointed out that the wolves appeared to enjoy the smell.

It smells exactly how you expect a beard conditioner to smell, like you’ve been out chopping wood all day. (No I will NOT bring the term lumbersexuals into this, can that stay in the tail end of 2014 and be forgotten, please). The difference between this and other beard washes is that it’s worked into a completely dry beard. You need about a 5p sized piece once a day (if you’re heading out touch it up with a smaller amount). Unlike your standard beard oils it’s more of a cream with oils in it. I find this means it works into your beard much easier.

Review: The Dapper Duke – Gentlemen’s Summer Beard Oil

I’ve recently been in the market for some new Beard Oil. My old one, Mr Natty’s Beard Elixir, leaked out in my bag (ironically breaking my breadtrimmer) a while ago and I’ve been putting off getting something new mainly due to cost. I thought it was about time I bit the bullet, especially with my beard getting a little longer and slightly more unruly recently. I turned to the good people of twitter/my fellow bloggers/my bearded pals and got inundated with suggestions. From Bedfordshire beard co, the Brighton Beard Company and Bear Face to a couple of US based ones like Bath Sabbath and Jack Earl Co.
The Dapper Duke

Wooden Comb

I eventually opted for something from The Dapper Duke, in part due to them offering fairly cheap wooden combs (and I’d been in the market for a new one for ages). For a 10ml bottle of oil it was £7.50 which compares very well with the competition with prices ranging from about £6 to £18. Wooden combs are great for combing beards and combing through oils. As well as for standard hair (my current comb sucks). They have a selection of oils on offer under various categories from Sweet to Citrus and finally “Masculine”. I went for one from the Masculine section as I’m not too keen on overly sweet scents on myself. The oil is their Gentlemen’s Summer Oil which uses orange essential oil with jojoba, argan and almond for a wonderfully fragranced oil. Once combed through it helps shape the beard wonderfully, also helping to soften it up. I’m looking forward to an extended test to see just how well it helps soften the beard. The packaging is also great, with the oil coming in a little pouch with a Dapper Duke plack. A great touch. It also took less than a day between ordering and arriving, and for only £3.50 delivery I really can’t complain. Excellent service and an excellent product. Now I just need to find myself a good barber… Suggestions welcome (Leeds & London).

Beard Oil

Also, it was payday and the sales happened. So I bought things I shouldn’t have.

Can anyone recommend a different oil or a barber? Suggestions in the comments below!