A mouthful of a title for this review and my first experience of a beard oil from this company. I have used the shampoo before and that was very good. How will this oil do? Let’s find out in The Urban Gent – Fruity Philanthropist Beard Oil Review.
The Urban Gent, who are they?
Lee Thomas (pictured below with a mighty fine beard) started the company when he realised that most of the products out there were chemically based. He made the decision to see if he could produce something better. He wanted his oils, balms and waxes to be 100% organic using 100% natural products. The Urban Gent was born.
In Lee’s own words, the range is designed for the man who wants to stand out from the crowd and be an individual. Treating their beard with love and care with products that not only smell good, they look after your beard throughout the day! The Urban Gent products are naturally rich in vitamins A, E and F, helping to keep the skin beneath your beard mousturised and hydrated.
Lee is married to Zoe and they have a dog called Marmalade. To unwind Lee loves to get out on his mountain bike and listen to old school rock! He is partial to a damn fine bourbon but tends to drink small batch rather than commercial. Lee doesn’t just make beard products, he is a master barber and over the next few years wants to grow the business and open their signature barber shop.
The review
Before I get started I want you to know that I only review products with a CPSR. That stands for Cosmetic Product Safety Report and it is a legal requirement. Brands that don’t have this for their products cannot legally trade. The Urban Gent have their CPSR’s which is exactly how it should be.
In my reviews I’m going back to basics and breaking each product into to 4 categories. Scent, Carrier blend, Branding and Value for Money. I will then rate each category which will give us a final score.
The Fruity Philanthropist is one of 2 oils that The Urban Gent have created where 30% of all sales go to the Birmingham Mind Charity. Right, let’s get to it!
Scent
This fruity delight comes at you strong in the beginning. Orange is the first fruit that invades your sinuses followed by the tang of Lemon. Lime doesn’t really show itself as the orange and lemon are quite powerful. I do like a fruity fragrance and this didn’t disappoint!
The only thing that did disappoint me was the longevity of the scent itself. As most of you know I like a good 6-8 hours from my beard products and this was, on average, lasting about 2 hours. It isn’t the be all and end all for me but I liked the smell and would have loved it to last longer.
All in all this lived up to the description on the website “The blend of Orange, Lemon, & Lime gives this oils a real zesty finish.” It is zesty and it is fruity.
Carrier blend
Interestingly, The Urban Gent uses different carriers through the range of oils they sell. The Stylish Gent range uses Jojoba, Sweet Almond, Coconut and Grapeseed oils. The Rich Gent uses Jojoba, Sweet Almond, Argan amd Avacado oils. The Mind Charity uses Coconut, Apricot Kernel, Cotton Seed and Sweet Almond. It also has a dash of Vitamin E in there as well.
Sweet Almond is a mainstay throughout and for good reason. It soaks into the skin really well and has been used for centuries on cuts and minor wounds. Cotton Seed oil is one of the lesser used carriers in the beard world but it is good for your skin. There’s less scientific evidence as to what benefits it has for hair but it is mixed with other carriers that are more proven.
How did my beard feel?
Well, the oils worked well together, as is to be expected. It soaked in well and didn’t leave any residue on my beard or skin. I could feel that my face fuzz was soft as was the skin underneath. That’s always a good sign that the product is working well.
It lasted for around 4 hours before my beard started to feel dry again which isn’t long enough for me. Having a short beard that is just growing past the stubble stage I would expect it to last a bit longer. A bit more added to the beard at the 4 hour stage would definitely be needed to keep your mane feeling hydrated for longer.
Branding
So this is a difficult one for me to gauge when it comes to The Fruity Philanthropist! The reason for this comes down to the fact it is a charity oil and doesn’t come with The Urban Gent branding. In fact the only mention of the company is at the very bottom of the ingredients section.
However, as you can see it is well branded with the logo for Mind Birmingham and The Whiskered West Midlands. I can see why Lee wanted to exclude his own logo from this in order to give the charity more exposure!
The label
This includes everything it should do apart from one thing. The batch number is not on this bottle and for me, having that number is extremely important. The batch number lets the owner/maker/company know which batch has been sold when and to whom.
This means that if there is an issue it can be traced back to both when it was sold but more importantly, which batch of ingredients it was originally derived from. Why companies don’t include this is a mystery to me. Although it is not actually a legal requirement to do so, from a customer care point of view I would think it would be good practice. Still, that’s my opinion and not the opinion of everyone else!
The INCI is correct, the responsible person address is there, the amount and the length of time it’s good for once opened are all there. My only issue, other than the batch number, is that the label is very hard to read. The writing is very small and the quality of the label reminds me of something back in the late 80s, early 90s. If you’re old enough to remember going to bootsales and getting a dodgy VHS with a reprinted cover of, I dunno, Die Hard or something. That’s what this label reminds me of.
Originality
I can’t say anything about the originality on this particular oil as it is exclusive to The Urban Gent and the charity involved. There won’t be anything out there similar to this at all. As for The Urban Gent branding you’ll have to wait until I review their butter for that wee nugget!
Value for Money
This oil weighs in at 30ml and is priced at £12.99. With 30% of the sales going to charity I would be a bit of a dick to say it isn’t good value!
The thing is, even without the charity aspect, £12.99 is actually really good value for a 30ml oil. You can get cheaper, you can get more expensive and you can also get bigger bottles for around the same price. It doesn’t mean they are better though.
Lee has always responded pretty quick to any questions I have asked him and I know that his regular customers talk about how good his customer service is. I think that is the key for any small business though, great customer service!
Conclusion
This is the first time I have used an oil from The Urban Gent and it performed okay. I love the scent, although it could have lasted longer in my opinion. The oil did it’s job in hydrating and moisturising my skin as well as keeping the mane healthy, but again. the effects could have kept going for a longer period of time.
Of course, this is only my opinion and I would love to hear from you about your experience with The Urban Gent. Would I buy this again? Probably not but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try for yourself.
Overall, this is a good product with a lovely scent and taking into consideration it is for charity, get yourself on to the website and make a purchase through the link below!
That’s the end of The Urban Gent – Fruity Philanthropist Beard Oil Review. Let me know what your opinions of the review, the company and if you’ve used it, the product by commenting below.
Thanks for reading and why not check out my older reviews here.
Take care and keep growing
Tony