CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN

Words by Cameron McLauchlan

Welcome to another lockdown edition of Something To Watch This Weekend, the lockdown specific series where we’ve swapped shopping for streaming. We hope this list will help you get through what is this rumoured to be the final weekend of the strongest lockdown measures (in the UK). Let’s crack on with the list!

With season 2 of the show only releasing a couple of weeks ago (24th of April) it’s an incredibly easy series to get up to speed with.

The dark comedy features Ricky Gervais as the main character, a man who has sadly lost his wife to cancer. Tragically left to continue by himself and Brandy, his female German-Shepherd.

Having been written and directed by Ricky Gervais, the storyline whilst featuring scenes which will make most cry, are equally balanced by moments which can make you laugh just as much if not more. Centred around the village in which he lives, the story develops to render some hilarious moments during his characters darkest scenes. The writing is truly some of Gervais’ best work, a statement which should not be made lightly given his previous success.

After Life is available exclusively on Netflix and due to the popularity of the newly released second series, Gervais has already announced a third series is in the works! A testament to how good the show really is.

2) Star Wars : The Rise of The Sky Walker (2019) – 12A

The last film to join the most recent trilogy is out on all platforms now. A film which I regrettably failed to make it to my local cinema to see, at the tail end of last year. The Rise of The Skywalker is no different to any previous film, an action packed, space-thrill ride which nicely rounds off the entire Star Wars franchise to date.

The final film, in this phase of Star Wars features familiar faces from the previous two installations  such as Rey, Finn and Kylo as well as the legends of the franchise – Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.

The film is typical Star Wars through and through with incredible actions scenes, laughter and plot twist’s. The clanger twist is saved until last, arriving at the very end of the film, a scene which sees one of the franchises darkest characters make return. This is a must watch if you haven’t already to get you over the line this weekend!

3)  The Man From U.N.C.L.E (2015) – Netflix (12A)

How a follow up film hasn’t been made yet I don’t know. Fresh on the Netflix recently added list, this Guy Ritchie film is an incredibly enjoyable watch. The plot is centred around CIA agent Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB agent Illya (Armie Hammer), who are forced to come together in an effort to prevent nuclear warfare.

The film in true Guy Ritchie style is filled with brilliant action sequences. The settings and scenes do a great job of building the 1960’s world in which the film is set. Speaking completely subjectively as a die hard bond fan, this film is good enough to rival some bond movies and offers a similar feeling to that of a bond film. Theres just an extra leading character.

If you’re struggling to decide on something to watch this weekend, this film is easily one to dive straight into. You wont be disappointed.

4) We Are The Millers (2013) – ITV2 – (15)

I often forget that there are still some some really decent shows and films on normal television.

Starting at 9.00PM this Saturday on ITV2, We Are The Miller is a hilarious film for all to watch. If the kids aren’t too young!

Starring Jennifer Anniston, Jason Sudeikis and Will Poulter. The plot surrounds the story of a random collection of individuals which (in order to make a sum of money) have to travel to Mexico in an RV acting as a legitimate family.

In true comedy style, the journey there and back is loaded with eye-watering scenes in more ways than one. This films is perfect for a Saturday night infant of the telly to capitulate what will hopefully be the last weekend of the current lockdown conditions!

We hope all of our readers have stayed safe, happy and well during the unprecedented time and hope the list above will get you through and your loved ones through this weekend one way or another!

Until next time.

While we are in this period of social isolation, we are all having to come to terms with everyday things we just took for granted prior to this, retail therapy, going for a drink with friends, getting your hair cut and as a result of this, A LOT of us are turning to a spot of DIY. Now, when I say DIY, to be more accurate I mean GSETDI, as in Get Someone Else To Do It, and the case in question is Haircuts. Yes, we are trusting our nearest and dearest with hair clippers, even though they have never so much as touched a set of hair clippers before, we are turning to them, for a low maintenance option of a Skinhead. In fact, the number of male hair clippers sold was up +228.2% for 5-11 April compared to the same week last year, with value growth of +320.7%. Although this is a lower figure than we saw during the peak in the two weeks before, the average selling price remains on an upward trend week-by-week.

With this in mind, we are seeing a real trend out there for GSETDI when it comes to our hair maintenance, over the last couple of weeks alone we’ve seen the likes of Christiano Ronaldo, Mark Wright, Kelvin Fletcher and even Mr David Beckham returning to his skinhead roots, although I really couldn’t see Posh with a set of Clipper in one hand and asking David if a 1 is too short, can you?

Kelly Whitwick, UK Retail Lead for Market Insights at Research company GfK, comments, “The increased price points for both shavers and hair clippers indicates a transition from the focus on ‘survival’ shopping that we saw in the first weeks of lockdown, into a ‘cocooning’ phase. People are accommodating themselves to the new reality and are increasingly making aspirational purchases within these limits, rather than just survival purchases.”

Say “Hello” to a new platform exclusively selling a range of eco-friendly products from A-Z.

With all expert opinion claiming many aspects of how we lived our lives prior to the Covid19 pandemic being different once we come out on the other side, whether that be travel and tourism, the way we work in our careers to retailing in every aspect from food to fashion, General conscientious, is our lives will be different in many ways.

New Footprint is a platform that connects eco-friendly consumers with eco-friendly businesses, simple idea, yeah? Having all these incredible products in one place makes them easier to find, easier to order, and levels the playing field for eco-retailers who don’t want to run their own website or who would otherwise struggle to gain brand awareness.

New Footprint foundations began with the important mission of creating a one-stop-shop for sustainable and cost-effective products – everything you’d need to live an environmentally-friendly and eco-conscious lifestyle, all important in the new normal life we will be leading in this new world order, just hopefully not in an Orwellian style.

Products available on their online shop range from organic clothing to dinnerware made from leaves, to guilt-free grooming products and essentially everything in between. Major brands creating waves within their respective industries are listed on New Footprint including Bru Cups (voted on the top 10 best re-useable coffee cups), so given a whirl and feel good about a spot of retail therapy.

Now if your anything like me and not particularly fond of shaving, but have to in their grown up by day career, obvs by night, I’m an international playboy/crime fighting superhero, but by day I have have to be semi sensible and as responsible as I can humanly muster. One of the few benefits of Covid19 have been not have to endure the daily grind of shaving. If I’m completely honest, since lockdown has begun, I’ve had a trim once.

Nearly a third of all UK men are growing a beard during the coronavirus lockdown, according to a new survey conducted.

The astonishing fact (30.4%) shows that the lockdown is allowing men to experiment with facial hair in the way they’ve always wanted. From the survey conducted that means that over seven million men are currently growing a beard. 

Before the Coronavirus lockdown there were approximately 5.3m men who had a beard. But it seems that we’ve now fallen back in love with facial hair.

The survey also shows that nearly a half (47.5%) of the British public believe that men with beards look sexier, more masculine and more powerful than others.

The survey was conducted on 1,000 British people by Danish beard grooming company, Copenhagen Grooming, who’ve seen the demand for their products increase by 278% during the coronavirus lockdown from February 21st – April 21st 2020. 

And it’s no surprise that the top three most handsome celebrities with beards are David Beckham (43.2%), Idris Elba (35.8%) and Tom Hardy (31.3%) according to the survey.

The survey also showed the three celebrities with the worst beards were Joe Sugg (2.4%) Wayne Rooney (4.2%) and Steven Gerrard (4.5%). 

Surprisingly, male supermodel David Gandy (6.1%) and comedian come philosopher and sometimes actor, Russell Brand (7.7%) both received a very low percentage from the British public.  

Simon Bang, Co-founder of Copenhagen Grooming (CG) said: “Now is the perfect time to let your luscious beards grow and it’s amazing to see that nearly a third of men in the UK are currently growing a beard, so don’t stop guys.

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in traffic to our website and social channels from the UK since the Coronavirus lockdown began and we have just launched a new social media campaign called #StayInGrowOut, encouraging men to grow out their beards in isolation whilst they freely can. We’ve already seen some incredible beards. Let’s hope everyone keeps going with growing.”

Traditionally, there are some men who aren’t able to grow their beard out due to work, or others who have just been too scared to take the plunge. With the current lockdown, British men have the opportunity to get through the awkward patchy phase without relentless teasing and decide whether they love their beard gains.

Surprisingly, almost one fifth (19.5%) of Brits believe that beards should be washed multiple times throughout the day. Simon Bang commented: “We were surprised to see many people believing that beards need to be washed this often. To ensure your beard and the skin underneath is hydrated and looked after correctly, our recommendation is to wash your beard as often as you deem necessary, however, usually 2-3 times a week will suffice, using a beard wash designed to remove filth and dirt while leaving your beard’s natural oils intact.

“We originally started CG as a core team of three people in Barcelona and one person in Denmark, built on the belief that we’re stronger together. Our mission is to design products that help men grow and groom awesome beards, so with this in mind, we have just launched 8AM Splash, a new mild beard wash with natural active ingredients that will leave your facial fuzz in perfect balance.” 

This research was conducted by Copenhagen Grooming.

Now, if this has stoked your interesting in either growing some facial furniture or to promote your growth, then maybe this is the brand for you.

Copenhagen Grooming was built on the belief that we’re stronger together. Their mission is to design products that help men grow and groom awesome beards, and they want you to be part of the process!

In the Copenhagen Grooming universe, you’ll find radical products that will boost your beard growth and maintain your banger beard.

In a 150-days clinical study, their products have proven impressive results for improving beard growth.