The Best New Men’s Grooming Products Released In 2022
Want to start the new year looking and feeling great? Arguably the easiest way is to upgrade your grooming routine. A couple of choice additions to your bathroom cabinet can make a huge difference to your complexion and hair, instantly refreshing your appearance.
But with thousands of grooming products on the market, and more being released seemingly by the day, it can be difficult to know where to start. Fear not, as we’ve handpicked the very best creams, styling aids and fragrances that dropped in 2022, so you can make 2023 your most handsome year yet.
Ole Henriksen The Smooth Search Scrub & Moisturizer Duo
An extended cold snap and dry, overheated indoors can only mean one thing: it won’t be long before your skin sends out a winter SOS. Dry, chapped, dull and rough are all familiar distress signals.
Ole Henriksen’s Smooth Search Duo delivers a one-two punch to old, grey skin cells. The Lemonade Smoothing Scrub is laced with AHAs to resurface the upper epidermis while the C-Rush Brightening Gel Crème is packed with Vitamin C to brighten, hydrate and soften furrow lines.
Akt Deodorant Balm
De-stinking our pits has never been a particularly remarkable activity, but Akt make it a ritual. Created by two West End performers who had tried everything under the sun and were sick of sweating it out on the stage every night, Akt is a natural, vegan and effective deodorant balm designed to stop the schvitz and protect the skin.
The sophisticated scents are a world away from cheap deodorant sprays. We love the fancy brass applicator, because who wants to rub bicarbonate of soda in their eyes?
Creed Leather Sleeve & Fragrance
Truly for the man who has everything, Creed has introduced a range of luxury monogrammed leather accessories including this rather natty case in cool shades of blue.
With a price tag higher than most budget airlines, it’s nice to know your signature scent will always travel first class, even when you’re stuck in coach.
Horace Tinted Skincare Duo
In shades to suit every skin tone, Horace’s new tinted skin care products are designed to camouflage imperfections invisibly. Apply the concealer to cover spots, under-eye circles and blemishes, and the Healthy Glow Fluid all-over for instantly matte, better-looking skin.
The real world before and after images show exactly how the shade will look on your beautiful mug.
Mr Blackman’s Face & Skin Moisturiser
Made specifically for darker skin and anyone who wants to support black-owned businesses, this hydrating face cream contains mango, hemp and papaya seed oils, along with aloe vera, papain and salicylic acid, to soothe shaved skin and prevent razor bumps and ingrown hairs.
Philip Kingsley Vitamin C Jelly
Since we’re all about taking better care of our roots, we highly recommend this genius detox treatment to rescue oily scalps from product build up. A unique powder-to-jelly formula that’s packed with antioxidants, it comes in individual sachets that you mix at home, apply to apply to wet hair and leave in for five minutes before rinsing out.
It gives noticeable results – brighter-looking, weightless hair and better root lift.
Papier d’Arménie Incense Booklet
We all like a well-scented abode, but a designer candle habit isn’t always sustainable. For the times when there’s too much month at the end of your money, may we suggest Papier d’Armènie from The French Pharmacy – a treasure trove of personal care imports from France.
Papier d’Armènie’s scented book of incense strips will pleasantly mask the medley of domestic aromas – such as burnt toast, wet dog or stinky bin – with the calming scent of vanilla, benzoin and styrax.
Each strip gives three-to-four hours, and at 13 pages we estimate that one booklet can offer 117 hours burning time, for less than a London pint.
Buy now at The French Pharmacy
Paul Smith Home Bookworm Candle
Money to burn? Make a beeline for Paul Smith’s candle collection. Bookworm is one of our favourite scents – the mix of grapefruit, amber, pimento and cedar wood captures the cosy comfort of book-lined walls.
These hand-poured candles come in colourful glass canisters that can serve as smart storage jars later.
Vitruvian Man Anti-Pollution Cleanser & Toner
Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, there’s little escape from air pollution. City dwellers will benefit from arming themselves with this organic smog-fighting face wash.
Laced with anti-bacterial ginger juice and anti-inflammatory nutgrass root juice, it’s a grime busting and balancing detox smoothie for your face.
Movementum Prime Pro-Performance Warming Body Oil
Starting the new year with body goals? Created to bridge the gap between the fitness studio and the spa, Movementum offers a range of wellness products and treatment protocols designed to optimise performance and recovery. Teaming up with the Mandarin Oriental, Movementum now offer movement therapy treatments which combine assisted stretching, breath work, lymphatic drainage and trigger point massage and can be done before or after a work out.
Can’t make it to London? Use the all-natural pro-performance body oil to enhance your work out – it’s designed to kickstart your muscles, eliminate tightness, stimulate blood flow and improve focus.
Japan Best Bath Set
A genuine Japanese onsen is high on our bucket list, so we’ll admit we’re a little obsessed with this authentic bath set from Mr Porter. According to the blurb, the body brush is crafted out of real horse hair and magnolia wood and hand made in a family workshop, the detailed fish shaped soap-on-a-rope is infused with purifying binchotan charcoal, while the peeling towel has a unique exfoliating texture.
It’s sure to please those who appreciate the detail and simplicity of Japanese design, and need to brush away bumpy winter skin and improve circulation at the same time.
Bulldog Skincare Original Styling Pomade
Bulldog expanded its styling offer earlier this year, adding a salt spray, a styling cream and styling pomade to the mix. The pomade is made with natural ingredients such as hydrating argan oil, has a very subtle scent and a little goes a long way.
One to have on hand if you like a shiny finish with firm hold.
Le Petit Marseillais Shower Gel
An endless cheese aisle and wine so cheap they’re practically giving it away? French supermarkets are a worthy Aladdin’s cave for gourmet treats – and bathroom bargains.
Le Petit Marseillais make a range of affordable shower gels with superior scents like Cade wood & Fern, Minerals & Cedar wood and Maritime Pine and Eucalyptus. You don’t need to cross the channel to refresh your shower routine, snap them at the French Pharmacy.
Buy now at The French Pharmacy
Soho Skin 24/7 Treatment
Designed with members’ lifestyles in mind, Soho House has literal skin in the game with its new range of face products. The energising 24/7 treatment is what everyone needs right now, in the party-fuelled, deadline hurdling, virus dodging, rush to the holiday finish line.
Made with lactic acid, hyaluronic acid, Vitamin C magnesium, and ATP detoxify, a natural ferment, you can use this brightening, lifting gel as a quick mask or deep overnight treatment.
Grown Alchemist Face Trio Kit
Selling like hot cakes, we recommend snapping up this seasonal set from Aussie skincare brand Grown Alchemist before you miss out. The gift of good skin surely ranks above novelty socks and underpants, and this kit contains a mini routine that will set you up for the day.
It includes the wondrous Gentle Gel Facial Cleanser, Balancing Toner and the Hydra-Repair Day Cream.
L’Oréal Men Expert Magnesium Defence 48H Deodorant
Need a robust underarm performer to stem the tide? Look no further than this alcohol-free, hypoallergenic deodorant packed with absorbent magnesium minerals that create a barrier against sweat.
It smells fresh, lasts all day and treats the skin kindly.
Arkive All Together Now Co Cleanse
It’s hard to escape Timothée Chalamet at the moment, but quite frankly, who would want to? Dune 2 has just wrapped, so we say bring on the next instalment.
Adam Reed’s unscented Co Cleanse is the ideal way to manage a head of coils like the one Chalamet enjoys. A cleansing conditioner, it carefully clarifies while keeping the curl shape – all you need to do is rinse for a tiny bit longer.
Dr Jart+ Pore. Remedy PHA Exfoliating Serum
New year’s resolution to see off enlarged pores and break outs? Start here, with this exfoliating serum from Korean skincare brand Dr Jart. Perfect for those awkward places where blackheads love to congregate, like the crevices around the nostrils, this watery serum uses chemical exfoliants to gently decongest the area without drying out the skin.
Gillette Labs Exfoliating Razor
We raised our shaving game this year thanks to the innovation of Gillette’s exfoliating bar, which makes easier work for the blades, cuts the drag and irritation and lifts the hairs.
The dock helps the blades dry and stay sharp (rather than languishing in the puddles by the basin).
Wahl Cordless Mini Massager Gun
Slept funny? Lifted something the wrong way? Didn’t warm up properly? Didn’t warm down? There are many reasons that you need a personal massager, and this one from Wahl is compact and lightweight so you can take it wherever you go.
It comes with four different heads to cover trigger points, deep tissue, large muscle groups and joints, so you can tackle shoulder knots, tight glutes, achey lower back and stiff calves, and ward off costly trips to the physio.
