Your skin is something that changes from day-to-day, and sometimes it can be difficult to keep your skin looking great. Here are a few low-cost tricks to help keep your skin in tip-top shape. There might be a few that you haven’t thought of before…

 Honey

Sweet and sticky, but amazing for your skin. That might seem a little difficult to understand, but honey is really soothing for every type of skin and it possesses natural antibacterial properties, which can help with treating breakouts without drying your skin out which can happen with more chemical-based ingredients. The best results come from raw or unpasteurised honey.

 Avocado

Keeping on with the food theme, this green fruit is not only great to use in salads or spread on toast, but it’s also great for your skin. The oils in the vitamin-rich avocado are great for keeping your skin moisturised and the antioxidants are a great way to protect your skin from the environmental damage that leads to fine lines and wrinkles.

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus oil is a great antiseptic and anti-inflammatory ingredient- great for protecting your skin as well as helping with skin tone and sebum regulation.

Beer

Yes we know most of the time health experts are telling us to cut back on beer consumption, but here’s one way you can use beer guilt-free. Used as a cleanser, the hops, which are rich in vitamins such as Vitamin B, are a great way to dissolve dead skin cells and increase skin elasticity.

Of course, we also have an easy-to-use, no fuss solution that is great for your skin which combines some of the above ingredients and more. Check out our skincare products here.

Garry Spencer, founder of The Great British Barber Bash, a networking event for barbers across the UK, sat down with us to let us know more about the events he runs across the country, how he came up with the idea and talk us through his grooming routine.

CS: Tell us a little bit about your background.

GS: I started off as a hairdresser and have over 30 years of experience in hairdressing. I also own five hair dressing salons across Liverpool- Spencer’s Hair Salon.

CS: How did you come up with The Great British Barber Bash idea?

GS: Having been in the hairdressing industry for 30 years and having attended numerous conventions and shows it became evident that there needed to be a bigger focus on barbering. Hairdressing was something quite fashionable and a lot of people wanted to get into it but barbering seemed to be less popular. I wanted to come up with something that would put the spotlight back on traditional barbering and also make it more affordable to showcase talent, teach new techniques and network for both up and coming barbers and the more established ones. The Great British Barber Bash is a new movement for people who want to make the barber industry more fashionable, more current and also inspire and attract new talent. So far the shows have been really successful and we’ve been lucky enough to increase the number of shows we’re running across the UK. Social media has allowed us to reach a lot of people and promote our events on a much bigger scale. This year we’ll be in Glasgow, Manchester, Belfast and possibly Dublin too. The success of the shows has also led to a bigger demand in workshops across the country where we offer training for aspiring barbers- it’s both affordable and a sociable way of bringing barbers together.

CS: You’ve been in the hairdressing and grooming industry for quite some time now, so what would what you say are your top grooming products you can’t do without?

GS: I swear by Reuzel hair paste and Go24.7 shampoo, I use them all the time. In terms of shaving, I’ve always preferred being clean shaven and since trying the Cornerstone products I’ve got to say I’m a big fan of your razor, shave gel and post-shave balm.

CS: Thanks Gary, that’s really great to hear.  Finally, talk us through your morning routine, how do you start your day right?

GS: My day starts at 6am. I usually spend around an hour checking social media and my emails. I wet shave and moisturise every morning and use a face scrub once a week. Once I’ve done that I get my three kids ready for school. The last thing that completes my morning routine is a Costa coffee once I’ve dropped the kids off at school. I’m trying to be good though and only take one sugar with my morning coffee!

Wanting to turn your clean-shaven face into something a little more rugged, or have you decided to trim that mammoth beard down to more manageable stubble? Whether you’re looking for facial hair that’s easier to manage or you’re thinking of letting it grow a little, allow us to help you with our top tips to maintaining your perfectly groomed stubble.

First, and most important of all, we want to make sure you look your best at all times. So it’s important to work out if your face actually suits stubble. And you need to be able to put the effort in to maintain it.

Be honest with yourself. There’s nothing worse than seeing a poorly kempt effort on someone whose face isn’t naturally suited to stubble. A patchy attempt is never a good look; just shave it clean.

Shaping

If however you do decide to grow your stubble, shaping is imperative. If you’ve ever done Movember, we’re sure you’ll understand why we recommend shaping. We all grow hair at different rates on different parts of our faces. Some people will have hair high up on the cheeks, for example. You want to be able to control and maybe remove some of that growth so that it looks natural and tidy.

Our tip for doing this is to not use shaving foam. Hear us out.

Instead, use a shaving gel that produces little in the way of foam. You can now see precisely where you’re shaving, giving you an even look without wondering if you’re taking too much off or if you’re symmetrical.

Did you know we do a non-foamy shaving gel? Funny how things work out like that…

Maintaining Length

Hair grows, and it grows at different rates. The best way to maintain the length is to go over your stubble with an electric trimmer; this allows you to keep a decent length whilst not letting it spiral out of manageable control.

You’ll have to do this every two to four days to make sure that stubble doesn’t become a full-blown beard, and the simple way to check you’ve done it correctly is to run your fingers over your stubble to ensure it’s even. If it’s not? Simply pass over the hair with a trimmer until it is.

 Shave at Night

This final tip is just a little suggestion. Although we’d normally suggest shaving in the morning (it makes more sense, right?), we’d actually recommend shaving at night whilst you’re still in the early stages of growing and shaping your stubble. This not only gives you more time to sculpt your stubble exactly to your tastes, but it also allows your facial hair some time to settle, grow in a fraction and look just that touch less precise, making you look as if you’re naturally blessed with great facial hair.

When it comes to shaving we’ve all picked up a few bad habits and adopted some terrible advice over the years.

Whether it was your father hastily giving a young you some tips with a face full of shaving foam, mates passing on their “expert” advice, or for the millennials amongst us, it might have been a dodgy YouTube tutorial. Wherever it was you learned to shave, these shaving myths have somehow become part of the collective consciousness. Like I before E except after C…ignoring the several hundred exceptions to that rule.

So let’s debunk some of the most ingrained shaving myths we’ve heard to keep those chins smooth and looking sharp.

“Shaving against the grain is the only way to get a close shave”

Shaving with the grain means foregoing a close shave. Wrong! We know a lot of men have always shaved against the grain, and for the lucky few that can handle this then that’s great, but the reality is the skin on our face is too delicate for this and many men (including the chaps here at Cornerstone HQ) can’t handle shaving against the grain. 

You see, shaving against the grain means the blade is tugging on the hair and pulling it back from the skin which can cause damage and a lot of irritation, so you’re left with sore skin and an increased risk of in grown hairs, which can swell up into bumps that the razor then catches on. And we know what happens next, right? The razor catches on these bumps and before we know it it’s a blood bath and we’re heading out the door with little bits of tissue stuck to our face!

So if you’re looking for a more comfortable way of achieving a close shave simply make sure you use a sharp blade (dull blades increase the chances of tugging and require more passes across the same area of the skin) and make sure you know which way your hair grows- and shave with the grain.

“Shaving just causes stubble to grow back thicker, darker and faster”

Where this old wives tale came from we don’t know, but one explanation is that shaved hair is blunted, giving it the appearance of being slightly thicker.

That withstanding, stubble and beard growth is determined by what’s on the inside – hormones, DNA and scientific stuff of that ilk. Not how often you shave.

 “A new razor causes more nicks and cuts than a broken-in razor”

This is the Loch Ness Monster of shaving myths. If you have an all-important Tinder date, or client meeting, do not, I repeat, do not reach for you blunted old razor.

As we’re gearing up for Easter weekend- a time when we eat the equivalent of our own body weight in chocolate- we thought it would be a good idea to explore chocolate tasting- for those true chocolate lovers.

Chocolate and wine have a lot in common…  Just as the altitude and climate affect the grapes in a fine wine, the same things affect the flavour of beans in a cocoa pod.  You get the finest wine when you give the finest grapes to a talented maker.  And the same is true for chocolate.  When the best cocoa beans are given to a skilled maker who takes the time to hand craft every stage from bean to bar, you find yourself with a chocolate that deserves to be savoured.

There’s just one catch – while whole books have been written about how best to enjoy a fine wine, very little has been written about how to enjoy a bar of chocolate.  Most of us reach for a chocolate bar for a mid-afternoon pick me up and eating it without much thought.  But when a maker has taken the time to directly source their beans from a particular origin, then painstakingly draw out the flavours of their beans origin, wouldn’t it be nice to know what to look out for?

Our friends at Cocoa Runners, spend their lives running around the world, trying to find the very best chocolate bars.  And today they’re presenting their five point bluffer’s guide to tasting chocolate.

 1.   Look at the bar.  Is it shiny and glossy, or does it have a dusty white powder on the surface?  The white powder is the fat in the bar, that has risen to its surface.  This normally happens when a bar has melted and reset, and is a sign that it hasn’t been properly stored.  This is particularly true of dark chocolate.

 2.   Break off a piece.  Does it break with a nice clean snap, or does it crumble?  As well as a wonderfully glossy finish, a well tempered bar should break with ease.

 3.   Hold the bar for a second.  Does it start to melt?  Artisan chocolate bars contain cocoa butter, and this melts quickly at body temperature.  Most mainstream bars start to crumble and flake instead of melting.  This is because of a trick used my many mainstream chocolate makers - they separate the cocoa powder from the cocoa butter and sell it off to the cosmetics industry for use in moisturisers, lipsticks, etc, then replace it with cheaper fats.

 4.   Smell the bar.  Can you smell citrus, berries or nuts?  We’ve already said that tasting chocolate is like tasting a fine wine, and following your nose is just as important here as it is there.  A good proportion of the flavours in any food or drink comes from their aroma.  A wealth of aromas are released the moment you unwrap a craft chocolate bar.

 5.   Finally, put a piece on your tongue and rather than chewing it, let it melt.   As it melts, different layers reveal themselves.  Quite often, rich Dominican cocoa starts with a punchy, chocolate ganache note that develops to leave an earthy finish.  Or the initial berry notes of a Madagascan bar transform into a citrus ending.

All told, there are over 400 distinct flavour compounds in chocolate, and taste is extremely subjective.  What’s more, it’s influenced by everything you’ve eaten and drunk throughout the day.  While it’s always tempting to devour a whole bar in a moment of weakness, we hope our bitesize guide has left you equipped to savour a craft chocolate bar with the best of them.

Want to find out more about the world of craft chocolate?  Visit Cocoa Runners and use code Cornerstone to get £5 off your first purchase.*

What better way to gear up for St. Patrick’s day than to get some insider knowledge of craft beer and how its popularity is on the rise in Ireland, from craft beer experts HonestBrew. Brody Rossiter- beer guru from HonestBrew- is our guest blogger today and tells us more about he craft beer scene in the Emerald Isle.

Although Guinness is still a force to be reckoned with, it looks like smaller craft beer producers are starting to make themselves heard. Since 2012, Republic-based microbreweries have more than trebled in number- highlighting the public’s new found thirst for small batch beer. Today, craft beer is back in a big way across the Emerald Isle. The number of Irish breweries is continuously growing, while a reputation for quality products is constantly being reinforced by producers such as HonestBrew favourites, White Hag.

The west coast brewery is one of the most exciting and unique companies to arrive in the wake of the recent craft beer boom. Combining traditional and modern techniques to build upon beloved native Irish styles with their own distinct twist, the brewery has rediscovered some extinct styles from the many hundreds of breweries that once thrived in Ireland as well as creating world class examples of classic styles such as IPA and stout.

We suggest trying White Hag’s multi award winning Imperial Stout, Black Boar. Rich, bold and roasty, Black Boar comes across as warm and bittersweet with flavours of treacle, coffee and dark chocolate. If you’re a velvety chocolate fan, this’ll be your perfect St Patrick’s tipple.

 Another of HonestBrew’s featured Irish breweries is 8 Degrees. The shockingly harmonious partnership of a Kiwi and Aussie combine southern hemisphere hop know how and Irish malts in the Ballyhoura Mountain region of Cork. Scott and Cam have been making waves over the last few months, further exposing Ireland’s diverse and collaborative brewing community.

Why not try 8 Degrees’ Single Malt IPA, The Full Irish. Originally released in 2014 and a year later voted in as the best beer of 2015 by Irish beer organisation and all round good bunch, Beoir.

This beer is brewed using 100% Irish malt and showcases the quality barely grown in Ireland’s famously luscious countryside. A hop bomb with citrus and floral characters, grapefruit at the fore with hints of lime, melon and lychees.

The concept restaurants cometh

When it comes to good eats, sometimes we want a bit more than a semi-stale supermarket sandwich or a burger from the latest chain to take London by storm.

From quirky cat cafes, if you’re feline like French toast and furballs (sorry, bad pun), ice-bars that specialise in frosty seats and frozen sweets, or them silly sods and their cereal café, London has it all when it comes to concept restaurants.

So if you have a hankering for dinner with a difference this weekend, we’ve got you’ve covered, with the latest concept restaurants to hit the capital’s streets.

1.Gingerline

Where? East London, somewhere.

Shhh, don’t tell anyone. With the mantra “loose lips, sink ships” Gingerline is a clandestine concept with a difference. You take a leap of faith, book, and then wait, with the location revealed a few hours before dining.

Think secret cinema, but it’s actually a secret.

All the venues hug East London line stations like barnacles, hence the name: ‘Gingerline.’ Menu wise, well that’s a secret too.

2. Camden’s Daughter

Where? Kentish Town Road, NW5

Kebabs are naughty, we all know that. Reserved for nights of heavy inebriation under the cover of darkness. But Camden’s Daughter are looking to change all that.

Sustainably sourced lamb shish, deliciously grilled aubergines, accompanied by something hoppy to wash it down with.

Craft ales and kebabs. Why didn’t we think of that?

3. Wünderlust at The Big Red 

Where? Deptford, SE8

What’s not to love about partying on a bus whilst enjoying rare breed grilled meat? All the products are locally made and served atop a classic London Routemaster bus (the Cliff Richard, Summer Holiday kind, not Boris Johnson) then this is your place.

Here at Cornerstone, we’re all about making sure guys look their best. Whilst we’re based in the UK, we’re always keen to see how grooming techniques and trends differ throughout the world, and so in this blog post we take a look at 3 different parts of the globe and to find out a little more about the grooming scene there and how techniques vary to what we’re perhaps used to seeing in the UK.

 Japan

Men’s grooming in Asia has mirrored global trend and as an industry; it has grown exponentially over the past few years. As a culture, they are less inclined to fall in line with the manly-man image, and are more likely to use products to help their skin and hair look their best without feeling as if that is less masculine.

In Japan, men’s barbershops range from 10-minute quick cuts to the cut/shave offering that we would maybe expect, albeit with less of a familial atmosphere. But that’s Japan’s culture; utterly focussed on the job at hand, and that’s no bad thing!

 Turkey

 Turkish barbers are definitely an experience that all men should try at least once in their lives. Traditionally, the ‘efes’ (the barber) only use a straight razor when shaving clients, not unlike most barbershops, but they do so with a speed and precision that is probably unrivalled. You also should be offered (or given as default) a hair singeing, which gets rid of unwanted ear hair. That is a feeling unlike anything else; a hot flame into your ear and immediately slapped by your efe!

 UK

The UK demand for barbering has exploded in recent years, as more and more choose barbers over unisex salons. There has been an increased demand for male grooming experts who are specialists in cutting men’s hair and can help trim down unruly facial hair. As the big beard trend diminishes and guys start grooming their facial hair or getting rid of it completely, we’ll see more and more barbers making use of their wet shave offerings.