Moustache Wax - Two Reviews

Review by Charles Moffat - December 2014.

On the left is Firehouse Moustache Wax (dark), which you can find online at firehousemoustachewax.com.

On the right is Urban Beard Moustache Wax (blonde), which you can find at urbanbeard.ca.

I enjoyed reviewing both of these products, but ultimately ended up preferring the Urban Beard Moustache Wax because it was available in blonde. The dark Firehouse wax was equally good in my opinion, but the colour was slightly off for my dark blonde beard. It was fairly close.

The Urban Beard Moustache Wax is made using organic oils, and while the Firehouse moustache wax doesn't say anything about whether it is organic, I think it probably is organic judging by the similar smell. Both of these waxes smelled nearly identical so I have a sneaky suspicion that due to their very similar performances on my moustache that their recipes are practically identical. They are basically the same product, but different colours and different brand names.

Since these two products ended up being so good at their job and nearly identical except for their colours I ended up making homemade moustache wax using bees wax and coconut oil - and determined that I am not very good at making homemade moustache wax, so maybe I should stick to the store bought stuff. I made the homemade wax in an effort to find a 3rd comparison, but also to see just how easy it is to do. The instructions (below) seemed easy enough, but having instructions and following them are two different things.

Homemade moustache wax still works, but the process of making it made me realize I would rather just buy stuff that someone else made so I don't have to do the work myself.

There are many other companies out there who make moustache wax, these are just the two companies I have reviewed so far. If additional companies want to be reviewed they can contact me via email: charlesmoffat at charlesmoffat dot com.

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE MOUSTACHE WAX

Get 1 ounce of bees wax and 1 ounce of coconut oil.

Step 1. Melt the bees wax in a container inside boiling water. Go easy on the heat, wax can explode under heat and pressure.

Step 2. Remove the container from the boiling water and add the coconut oil. Stir until everything is melted and completely mixed.

Step 3. Pour the mixture into a glass heat-resistant container or into leftover moustache wax tins.

Step 4. Let cool for 45 minutes or more.

HOW TO APPLY MOUSTACHE WAX

To apply wax keep the wax warm (room temperature or slightly better). Use small portions at a time by scraping it with your thumbnail like a bulldozer, roll the scraping into a ball, and then work it into the moustache.  Comb your moustache to style it.

Free Handbag Offer

Who doesn't want free things. Companies should give away free samples of their products more often. ;)

Click the following link to visit Stearns & Foster to enter your name in the draw to win a free leather handbag.

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Ties, Suspenders and Cufflinks Oh My!

Grey Paisley Design Silk Tie - $9.95 AUD

Honestly... When it comes to ties, suspenders and cufflinks I really could not care less about Brand Name.

Why?

Because I can't NAME a brand name of ties, suspenders and cufflinks. (Ask me about bicycles on the other hand and I will rattle off about Miele, Norco, CCM, Raleigh, Cervelo, etc.)

And it is the honest truth - myself and, I imagine, many other men would be hard pressed to name a manufacturer of ties, suspenders and cufflinks - unless they were really into a particular brand for some reason.

Now for demonstration purposes lets use a website which has all three. The Aussie website Ties n Cuffs (www.tiesncuffs.com.au) has all three - and they sell men's handkerchiefs too. And scarves, men's underwear, tie clips, socks, silk vests and more. So they will be a good demonstration for talking about ties and other things.

But what impressed me about this website is that they DO pay attention to the brand names of all the companies. They are (I copy pasted this straight off their website so some of them are not actually brand names, but just topics like "clip on ties" instead) the following:

2eros 4 Play London Business Socks 4Play London AFL Belts AFL Credit Card Holders AFL Cufflinks AFL Tie Bars AFL Ties AS Colour Belt Buckles Ben Sherman Underwear Bloke Undees Bonds Bow Tie and Hanky Sets Bow Ties BR4SS Underwear Braces Braces by Buckle Budgy Smugglers Business Belts Carlo Visconti Collection Carlo Visconti Socks Celtic Antique Silver Cuffs Chicklinks Clip On tie

Collar Stays+ Collar Bars Cufflink Box Culture Cuffs DC Comic Cufflinks DC Comics Diesel DIY DKufflinks Footy Cuffs Footy Socks Frank Dandy Fun Novelty Cuffs Geoffrey Beene Gianfranco FERRE Gift Voucher Giorgio Rossini Italy Givenchy Ties Grundies Hardy Amies Hardy Amies Cufflinks Hardy Amies Formal Ties Hardy Amies Pocket Squares Hardy Amies Socks Holeproof Socks Jockey

K by Karl Lagerfeld KENZO King Socks Knitted Scarves Lafitte Socks Lapel Pins Leather Belts Leather Island Belts Men's Gift Sets Money Clips Moschino Mosmann Australia Muay Tie NRL Official Team Cufflinks Nudie Ties On sale ties Oroton Underwear Pashmina fashion Scarfs Personalised Beanies Personalised Belt Buckles Personalised Collar Stays Personalised Cufflinks Personalised Lapel Pins Personalised Scarves Personalised Supporter Sets

Personalised Tiebars Personalised Ties Plain Silk Scarves Plastik Underwear. Pocket Squares Polyester Scarves Puma Socks Puma Underwear Roberto Loren Collection Salvatore Ferragamo Silk Georgette Scarves Silk Knot Cufflink Series Silk Satin Scarves Silk Series SirRocco Cufflinks SirRocco woven ties Sly Underwear SmartSet Snatch Underwear SNJ Socks Socks Express Star Wars Cufflinks Teamm8 Tiebox Timothy K

TNC TNC Bottle Openers TNC coins TNC Cufflinks TNC Custom TNC Money Clips TNC Neckties TNC Novelty TNC Pewter Mugs TNC School Ties TNC Skinny TNC Tie Bars TNC Vests TNC Wallets Tribe Underwear Underwear Of Sweden Valentino Vintage Cufflinks Vintage Ties VIP Wedding Cravats Wedding Cuff Links Wedding Silk Ties Wood Look Cufflinks Wright Socks

Hardy Amies Formal Silk Tie - Black Floral - $50.00 AUD

In which case, that is A LOT OF BRAND NAMES.

I had no idea there was so many companies in the men's accessories business.

I do like suspenders and ties myself (especially silk ties with a very kewl pattern on them), but not a big fan of cufflinks. The photos I have chosen for this blog post are silk ties I picked out because I like their patterns.

What I do like about the Ties N Cuffs website is that you can search their selection very easily and it shows you EXACTLY what you are looking for...

Examples

http://www.tiesncuffs.com.au/search?q=grey+ties

http://www.tiesncuffs.com.au/search?q=silk+ties

http://www.tiesncuffs.com.au/search?q=black+suspenders

Mucho gracias!

The only disappointment was when I tried typing in "Moffat tartan" to see if they had a tie with my Scottish family tartan on it. They did have a variety of tartan ties (44 results, including bow ties and other tartan products), but they didn't have specifically the tartan I was looking for (see Moffat tartan below).

So maybe that is something they could add in the future. Tartans ties and bow ties for specific families.

However I will note they also had custom bow ties and custom ties. So maybe it is possible to get the exact thing you are looking for.

The last thing I should talk about is the prices.

Ties can get quite expensive sometimes. The Hardy Amies Formal Silk Tie in Black Floral for $50.00 AUD above for example... is a tie worth drooling over. But you wouldn't want to drool physically on it because its $50!!! That is the kind of tie you should wear to weddings, funerals and really important events.

The Grey Paisley silk tie that I picked out (way up at the top) on the other hand won't break your wallet. And it still looks fantastic.

What I also like about that website is that it tells you when a product is currently sold out.

What I don't like is that you cannot sign up for a waiting list so that they will email you when the product becomes available again. (I should email them with a list of suggestions for improving the customer experience...)

Still, its a very good website and one worth checking out if you like ties, cufflinks and other accessories.

Free Hearing Tests in the GTA

I recently had a free hearing test in Vaughan.

Why? It is a long story involving trespassing, someone shooting at me, and hearing damage. I shall spare you all the details, but suffice to say it happened when I was 12 years old and I am now 34.

I knew I had hearing damage because my hearing in my left ear has been "not so great" ever since that incident. My problem is that I don't know how bad the hearing damage is - and whether it is likely to get worse in the future.

Now because I like being frugal finding a place that offers free hearing tests in Toronto is pretty tricky. I ended up going all the way to an hearing clinic in Vaughan to have the hearing test done. I might have been able to find another place in Toronto that offers free hearing tests, but when I spoke to the people at Omni Hearing on the phone they were extremely helpful and willing to help me - even though they knew I was unlikely to purchase an hearing aid.

OMNI HEARING CLINIC
9699 Jane St. Unit 19
Vaughan ON L6A 0A4
905-605-4593

I have been living the last 22 years without an hearing aid and I am not about to buy one now when my hearing doesn't seem to have gotten any worse. Buying hearing aids to me is more for people who are significantly older than myself. True, I have hearing damage, but its not so severe that I can't do without.

Truth be told I have rather afraid of going to an audiologist / hearing centre because I was worried about what they might say about my hearing damage. Instead I was relieved to learn that my hearing damage wasn't as severe as I thought it might be - and while the damage was done a long time, the audiologist said it appears to have repaired some of the damage over time. There is still permanent damage, but there was likely temporary damage at the time of the incident which faded with time.

The weird thing is that he also tested my right ear - which turns out to have BETTER than normal hearing. He speculated that my right ear ended up compensating for the left ear for a period of time and has since become my "dominant ear".

So yeah, very happy with the results.

I also browsed, for fun more than anything, Omni Hearing's prices of hearing aids. I don't know if their prices are higher or lower than normal places, but their services, honesty and eagerness to help me was impeccable.

So yeah if you live in Vaughan, Thornhill or Woodbridge and are looking to buy an hearing aid or get an hearing test, I absolute the the clinic at Omni Hearing in Vaughan. I'd even recommend people from other regions of the GTA make the trip there for any kind of ear exam / hearing evaluation, etc. So if you have hearing loss problems, totally the place to go.

You can even take your hearing test online. Its less detailed, but still quick and easy to do.

Omni Hearing also sells and offers the following services:

Hearing Aid Batteries;
Hearing Aid Repair;
Hearing Aid Cleaning;
Hearing / Listening Devices;
Amplified Telephones;
Musicians Earplugs;
Custom Hearing Protection...

Basically anything you can think of hearing wise then Omni Hearing can help you.

Is that a ringing endorsement or what???

Chinese Rip Offs: Good or Bad???

I love China. Wo ai Zhongguo.

But one of the fun things about China is how they copy everything from Gucci bags to specific brands of cars. Where else can you get:

#1. A rip off of the famous "In-N-Out" burgers from California at a restaurant called "CaliBurger".

#2. Fake Apple products from a fake Apple store in southern Yunnan province.

#3. Dairy Fairy (Dairy Queen)

#4. Pizza Huh (Pizza Hut)

#5. Jambo Juice (Jamba Juice)

#6. Obama Fried Chicken (Kentucky Fried Chicken)

#7. Fake Dior sunglasses.

#8. Fake Armani jackets.

#9. Fake Gucci bags.

#10. Fake Apple iPads.

And so forth... basically any big brand name you can think of there is a fake or ripped off version of it in China.

Including cars! Check out the following videos with clips from Top Gear's trip to China.







So... coming back to the title of this blog post, is all this ripping off of products a good thing?

Well... if you're just looking to get a Gucci bag and can't afford one, absolutely. Ripped off fashion is no big deal.

If you're looking for a cheap car, yes, by 2020 you should be able to buy a pretty good Chinese rip off. Right now they suck, but in 8 years they should be pretty decent.

Even the fake electronics is getting to be pretty good.

As long as you aren't buying fake birth control pills or fake medicine, you should be fine.

Just remember you get what you pay for. Cheap junk is more likely to break, but for certain items it won't be that big of a deal. Real Levis Jeans still rip anyway, so don't be surprised if the fake Levis rip too.

My Hunt for Summer Sandals & Sunglasses

I HATE SANDALS.

There, I said it...

That done and over with, my reasoning for wanting a pair of sandals may seem flawed.

Its going to be hot this summer. I don't want to be walking around in socks and shoes when I could be barefoot with nothing but sandals between my feet and the sidewalk.

Now as to the reasons why I hate sandals...

#1. I hate plastic shoes. Crocs, flip flops, anything like that is complete crap. The plastic gets too hot and they end up feeling sticky. Any sandal I buy will have to be made of wood and leather.

#2. I hate the straps that go inbetween the toes. They're damn uncomfortable. My goal therefore is to get something more like a Roman sandal, with two strap that goes over the top of the foot and one that goes around the ankle. Anything else will be "pootahed" as absolute garbage.

#3. Sandals get sand and dirt in them too easily. You keep having to remove them to get rid of any grit that has gotten under your foot. I am hoping that whatever sandal I buy its easy to take off when needed.

#4. Sunburned feet... nothing I can do about that except wear sunblock on my feet.

After the sandals the other thing on my agenda is to find sunglasses similar to the blue 'John Lennon' esque sunglasses I had back in 1997-1998. The blue lenses were shiny and tinted in a way that they changed colour slightly depending on the lighting and the angle you were looking at them.

I remember when I first got those sunglasses my friends tried them on and EVERYONE looked good in them. They were the most perfect sunglasses ever. Sadly they were later stolen by an ex-girlfriend (that bitch Kristin Greeniaus, who also stole my favourite bandanna from New Mexico) and I never saw them again.

So my goal is to find sunglasses exactly like them. A challenge I admit, but one worthy of attempting. I did at one point a couple years ago find purple sunglasses similar to the blue pair, but they just didn't look as good. MUST FIND THE HOLY GRAIL OF SUNGLASSES!