As a person who devotes most of their attention to coordinating outfits, it’s easy to lose sight of each meticulous step within the grooming process, at least for me personally. But let’s be honest, with a bushy beard like the one I keep, it can be hard!
I recently started grooming with Cremo, a new brand with a keen eye for beard care, to develop a new daily grooming and body care regimen that’s realistic and easy-ish to follow so that I don’t forget steps while pondering the mass of clothes in my wardrobe.
A Little Bit About Cremo
Cremo is the product you get when an inventor is unhappy with everything else in the shaving section of a store. Mike, a co-founder, wanted to shave with something better than everything he had been trying. After months of research, he finally found a winning solution later to be known as The Original Cremo Shave Cream, made from scratch.
After sharing this winner with his friend Kyle, the other co-founder, the two decided to take Mike’s concoction to the top and began their company, Cremo.
The irony here is that Cremo began with shaving cream — a phrase that should be eradicated from the dictionary, as far as I’m concerned! Despite this, they carried on to develop a well rounded selection of beard products in addition to hair, body, and face products.
Today, you can find Cremo is stores like Target, CVS, Walmart, and many of the larger grocery stores.
For the entire month of May, I’ve been grooming with Cremo’s products in five different scenarios that I’ve categorized of when you’d need to use products throughout the day. I’m happy to report that most of what I tried has performed very well and has even surprised me a little bit.
Now, Cremo isn’t your small batch, local, boutique grooming brand. They’re sold in major retailers and drug stores. But after trying practically everything they offer, and though not everything was my favorite, the quality was consistent across the board and I would absolutely reach for this line again.
So after all of that research, I’m happy to bring to you, the good people of America, The Next Gentleman’s 5 Stages of Daily Grooming with Cremo.
1. Shower
- Exfoliating Body Bar, No. 2 — Sage & Citrus
This body bar (street name: bar soap), makes both me and my shower smell fantastic. The bar features lava rock and oat kernel pieces to help exfoliate while you lather while hydrating. I also really appreciated that this bar didn’t leave my body feeling all “waxy” afterward. - All Season Body Wash — Citron & Vetiver
This is something that can be used interchangeably with the bar. It also smells wonderfully and actually compliments the scent of the bar. I found this particularly great to use for my armpits as the lather spoke the language of pit hair more so than the bar did. - All-in-One Beard & Face Wash — Mint Blend
Here is a classic beard wash. I wash the beard maybe every two or so days. The cool thing about this wash is that it’s multi-purpose for beards and faces alike. One thing I really loved was the cold, “minty fresh” feeling on my face after washing. I have normal/oily skin so this was fantastic for me to wash with. - 30 Second Beard & Scruff Softener — Forest Blend
I put much more importance on the conditioner for my beard than the shampoo. Similarly to the Beard & Face Wash, I try to use the conditioner alternating with the shampoo about every two days. This is a great hydrator and moisturizer for the follicle, which I prefer to treat in the shower before the styling process begins. Also, the Forest Blend is probably my favorite scent from Cremo. It might be a lumberjack thing.
2. In Front of the Mirror
- One-for-All Beard & Scruff Cream — Forest Blend
Sticking with Forest Blend, the scent of the scent-ury (haha), the Beard & Scruff Cream is something I used on non-shampoo/conditioner days to moisturize post-shower and post-blow dry and post-outfit selection. After drying all of the water out, it’s best to rub a thumbnail amount into the beard and all the way down to the skin to protect against itch. - Barber Grade Matte Cream
This was my first choice in the selection of Cremo pomades. It’s a very low to no shine pomade with just enough hold to shape but not restrict your hair. I liked that I would run my fingers through my hair throughout the day and not totally mess everything up. This was one product I was really surprised with because I’ve been using another product for quite a while and this may have earned a more regular spot on my bathroom counter. - Barber Grade Thickening Cream
For days when the Matte Cream just wasn’t enough, I needed the muscle of the Thickening Cream to keep my hair where the hell I needed it to be. Especially the back corner of my hair where the part bends, I call it “No-Hands Land,” and sometimes, “The Bro-muda Triangle,” because there are days where that tuft of hair just will not stay down. The Thickening Cream helps to combat that. Also, I used this to shape my beard for the beginning of the day because of it’s tougher hold.
3. Finishing Touches
- Spray Cologne — Spice & Black Vanilla
Now, I’m somebody who has been using the same fragrance for years because I know it works well on me. The bad about this one — it didn’t really work for my skin because it was spice-based. The other I tried, the Leather & Oud, also not right for me. They would work for other people though, I’m sure. The good about the one: I put some on this morning and I can still smell it after about 10 hours.
4. On-the-Go
- Styling Beard Balm — Forest Blend
I’m telling you, that Forest Blend is pretty damn good. This one is a winner for me and might be my #1 from this entire lineup. You already know I love the scent. Other than that, it really does what it says it does — style, shape, and nourishes the beard. I bring this with me everywhere I go now and use a pinky nail size once in the evening after my beard has gotten all out of whack. It’s 2 oz. which makes it a PERFECT trusted travel companion for airports. It also goes well with the next product… - Beard Brush
The Beard Brush. If I may… I thought this was for shoes when I first saw it. I’m glad I read the box, because this is a wonderful brush to have in your daily bag with the balm. It’s made from boar bristles, which are a wonderful hair distributor and provide a totally different feeling than a classic plastic bristle brush like the one I use to style my hair in the morning. I would describe this as a top layer beard sculpting tool. I mean it really tells the beard hairs where to go. - Solid Cologne — Blue Cedar & Cypress
This was another definite favorite. I much preferred this scent to those that I tried of the spray cologne. Similarly to the Beard Balm, this is an excellent travel buddy. It’s about the size of a matchbook and is exactly what it sounds like — a solid cologne. Being solid, you can bring this on planes with ease and stick it in the last crack of space in your carry on or personal item. It’s very easy to use as well. Simply slide the top of the tin back, rub your index finger over the cologne, and dab on your neck, behind your ears, on your chest, and on the wrist, as far as desired.
5. Before Bed
- Soap-Free Face Wash
This is a must-use. I mentioned earlier that I have normal/oily skin. I always try my best to wash my face before I lie down to sleep to get the dirt and bullshit from the workday and any excess oil off my face. As every food-in-bed ex girlfriend of mine will tell you, I believe that bed is a clean place and we should do our best to wash up to maintain that. The wash itself is gentle but effective and gently lathers in your hands to clean and moisturize.
To learn more about Cremo:
Visit CremoCompany.com
Follow @CremoCompany on Instagram
Like @Cremocompany on Facebook
This story contains some sponsored content. Despite that, anything you just read came from my own brain, well, fingertips, as you most likely can’t read minds.
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