Review - Nasal Hair Trimmers

The older you become the more hairs start receding from where you want them to be and sprouting from places you don’t. Wiry hairs dangling from your nostril are never attractive and finding a painless and effective solution is not as easy as you may think. This isn’t a tool that you have to use that often but when you do, you want it to be effective. We’ve all bought rubbish nasal trimmers that make all the right noises but don’t seem to be doing anything and tweezers, well, they just bring tears to the eyes. We thought we’d road test a few of the biggest selling nasal hair trimmers around. Here’s what we thought.

Merkur Nose Hair Trimmer

The Blurb

This best-selling little device will instantly sort out those embarrassing nasal and ear hair problems. This nose trimmer is a stainless steel precision tool that allows you to safely and painlessly remove excess hair from the nostrils and the outer ear. Made in Germany by Dovo you can be assured it's the best quality and is really easy to use.

Verdict

Very neat and compact device. A precision tool of quality German engineering.

Be gentle, it is quite sharp at the end and very hard. It’s a bit daunting sticking the solid metal bar up your nose at first and without a battery it seems a little silent. Move it backwards and forwards as you turn the cylinder, it doesn’t seem to be working but it actually does a really good job. Feels like quality and will last a long time. One negative, it looks hard to clean, requires a screwdriver and oiling, sounds a bit technical.

6/10

Merkur Nose Hair Trimmer

Price - £17.50

www.mankind.co.uk

Philips Nose & Ear Trimmer

The Blurb

The Philips Nose and Ear trimmer uses a powerful precision micro-trimmer for a safe, fast and easy trimming experience.

Verdict

Nice design, like the orange highlight at the top. Good sound.

You’d feel safe sticking this in your ear. Very gentle and nice size for sticking up your nostril. Gets into that hard to reach area at the front. Very good. This one I would use regularly as it might not be that good on lots of long hairs.

Comes with battery and attachments for eyebrows, do not use any of these trimmers on your eyebrows without testing them on your forearm first. 100% waterproof.

7/10

Price - £12

Stockists include Boots, www.amazon.co.uk, Argos.

Wahl Personal Trimmer

TheBlurb

Two trimming head, reciprocating and rotary. Ideal for trimming nose, ear and eyebrow. Hygienic blade rinses clean.

Verdict

This is the traditional type of nasal hair trimmer. Quite large head and bulky body. Comes with lots of fiddly attachments you’ll never use and are quite difficult to put on. Looks cheap. Did the job effectively and made all the right noises. Rinses clean. Comes with battery and protective cover.

5/10

Price - £9.78

www.Amazon.co.uk

www.asos.com

Q & A - Barry Alford of Alford & Hoff

In true entrepreneurial spirit, Barry Alford and business partner Jefferson Hoff spotted a gap in the men’s grooming market and decided to go for it with their Alford & Hoff skincare programme. CG So Barry, where did the idea for Alford & Hoff come from? BA Jefferson and I were at Arizona State University together, we were always into brand-named clothes and skincare products. Our team mates used to make fun of us but after two or three years they started coming up to us and asking us for our advice.

Then five years ago my mother was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, a neurological disorder. I Googled all the information I could find and came across sirtuins. These are the naturally occurring proteins that protect the death of cells. If you can activate them, they can protect the cells from dying off.

I had spent the past decade working in the medical field consulting with neurosurgeons, plastic surgeons and neurologists. I saw the potential in this for the skin and with Dr John Gross, a noted cosmetic and plastic surgeon, we developed Alford & Hoff.

CG Where does the ‘Sirtuin-Activating Complex’ that is in your products come from?

BA Rice extract

CG So why develop the range exclusively for men?

BA We met with American retailer Neiman Marcus with the idea and the buyers said you should do this for men. They saw lots of men buying women’s products. As men, Jefferson and I can relate to our customer. We like to go down to the stores and speak to men about their skin.

CG Favourite product?

BA If I had to choose one, I’d say the serum.

CG What next for Alford & Hoff?

BA We’re bringing out a fragrance in October which we’ve been working on for the past year. It will be called Alford & Hoff.

CG What advice would you give men regarding their grooming regimes?

BA Educate yourself. Go in and ask lots questions.

CG Any final words of advice?

BA Your face is your first line of communication so look after it.

Exclusive to SpaceNK

www.alfordandhoff.com

Moisturisers with Built-in SPF

Now the sun has finally begun to show its face, get some added protection from your daily moisturiser. Here are the best men's moisturisers with built-in SPF.

Korres Ruscus & Chestnut Men’s Cream SPF 15 - £21 - www.korres.com

Anthony For Men Facial Moisturizer SPF 15 - £30.95 - www.mankind.co.uk

ClarinsMen UV Protection SPF 20 - £25.45 - www.clarins.com

Alford and Hoff Moisturizer SPF 15 - £75.00 - www.spacenk.co.uk

· King of Shaves Men's SPF 24 Moisturiser - £7.99 - www.shave.com

Lab Series Daily Moisture Defense Lotion SPF15 - £24.45 - www.mankind.co.uk

Clinique Skin Supplies for Men M Protect SPF21 - £20.55 - www.cliniqueformen.co.uk

Easy Sun Protection

We all love the sun, but there is something distinctively annoying about applying and continually reapplying sun tan creams and lotions. As men, we’re not used to putting on body lotions and find the whole thing an awkward and monotonous chore. Sun care experts recommend applying, regardless of factor, every two hours so we welcome anything that makes the whole process simpler and quicker.

This summer sees the introduction of sun protection in easy-to-use cans and spray bottles. Now all those hard-to-reach areas can be easily covered and unsightly and painful pink areas will hopefully be a thing of the past.

Clinique Body Spray SPF 25 - £15 – www.clinique.co.uk