When a new range of skincare for men comes along it is only natural that sophisticated men about town worldwide feel instigated to learn more about it or try its products. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, it is a widely accepted belief that men look after their looks and try to conceal or prevent signs of skin ageing or tiredness. When The Style Examiner came across the new brand Evolution Man and saw its alluring visual identity and supposedly green credentials, we knew we had to find out more about its products.
In addition to resorting to recycled packaging made with SFI certified paper, Evolution Man relies on very seductive minimalist graphics to engender its identity: the choice of white sans serif white typeface achieves an elegant result by contrasting starkly with the black background. However, and despite these very effective marketing characteristics, Evolution Man’s products fell short of satisfying us.
We started by experimenting with the Moisture Protect SPF20 cream and, in all the times we tried it, we felt that it was never properly absorbed by the skin. Instead, its creamy white texture (which reminded us of the effect found in some sun protection creams) remained on the skin throughout the day, covering the face with an unflattering white layer. After this bad experience, we gave the Moisture Protect SPF20 Bronze a chance and could not be more unsatisfied. In stark contrast with the normal cream, the Bronze version is heavily tinted and functions like a foundation cream to provide an artificial tan. After we noticed that a white shirt became stained with the ochre shade, we had no option but washing it off the skin, change clothes, and bin the full bottle.

However, not all Evolution Man products were as bad. The Lip Balm SPF15 was acceptable and did not look glossy on the lips, which is always something that men appreciate. Similarly, the Revitalize Eye Gel seemed to do the trick and spread easily and evenly on the eye area. Nonetheless, as with any eye cream, we might have needed more time trying it out in order to form an opinion.

The aptly named Cleanse & Shave cream scores points as it can be used as a face wash or as a shaving cream, providing a pleasant lather and feeling smooth on the skin. Equally, the Wash & Buff face scrub managed to be very commendable: its scrubbing agents were gentle enough to be used every day as a face wash while softening the skin and facial hair prior to shaving.

As much as we would like to give the thumbs up to Evolution Man, we feel that some of its products need significant improvement before we would not hesitate to recommend them to our readers. Our advice is to improve its moisturising line and investigate using gels (instead of thick creams) as their texture tends to work better on men’s skins.