Alright manly men, this review is for you! Last week we received an amazing sampling of men’s handmade shaving gear from The Holy Black Trading Company, and we’re thrilled to be sharing it with you today. The Holy Black is a brilliant shop that offers up some of the most raved-about shaving soaps and aftershaves around, and we’re definitely part of the fan club. In this week’s In Gear review we’re going to introduce you to just a few of the great shaving gear items from this amazing artisan shop… enjoy!

Style and Substance

What catches the eye first when perusing The Holy Black  Trading Company Shop online store is the look and personality of their product line. It’s a combination of  Old West Barbershop and vintage nostalgia tailored to the man who lives right here, right now. The styling is truly one of a kind and it speaks accurately about the overall experience you’ll get from the products themselves.

The Holy Black  Trading Company currently proffers a complete line of traditional-style shaving soaps that lubricate and hydrate the skin while you shave, and some artisan aftershave blends that soothe and surprise.

Shaving Soap

When shopping at The Holy Black Trading Company, you have several unique shaving soap scents to choose from, each made from top quality ingredients that hydrate and soothe the skin for the perfect shave. The same scents are available in their aftershave line so it’s easy to get on board with a signature shave with one-of-a-kind fragrance.

The soaps are soft, perfectly lathered, easy to rinse off, and really effective with a straight or safety razor. If you think that creams and gels packed with chemicals are the only way to get a smooth and soft shave – think again!

Aftershave

The aftershave offered by The Holy Black  Trading Company is made from nourishing ingredients that include real whisky as an astringent and alum to help stop any bleeding. Sheer genius! They go on well, the scent lingers for hours in a subtle and enjoyable way, and they work really well with the soaps as a single daily shaving protocol.

Scents

We’re fans of the understated fragrance that lasts but doesn’t overpower – and this shop nailed it. Here are some of the scents you can find in both their shaving soaps and aftershaves…

Sandalwood Smoke

Like the name implies, this is a masculine, grounded, woodsy, and smoky blend. The scent is deep and brooding while not being aggressive or overwhelming.

Mountain Man

This scent is clean, light, invigorating, and masculine. There are gentle hints of pine and fir that make the concrete jungle feel like a woodland forest, and the deeper notes have a comforting scent that lasts for hours.

Bay Whisky Lime

What happens when a perfected version of the classic bay rum scent meets cooling lime? Bay Whisky Lime! This fragrance brings up the classic bay rum scent but adds more energy and invigoration in with the crisp lime. This is a great option for any guy who doesn’t love their morning shave because it’s sure to wake you up and start you out with a smile.

Gunpowder Spice

It turns out that smoky and spicy make the perfect shaving combination – and the most intriguing and attention-getting scent to have lingering around your mug all day long. This is sure to become a classic fragrance blend because it is completely unique and blends classic comfort scents with a twist that will surely please!

Get Some!

Click the banner below to visit The Holy Black Trading Company online right now…

Keep your eyes open for their sample kits and unique shaving brushes!

The post In Gear! The Holy Black Trading Co. appeared first on Handmade Men | Men's Artisan Style | Gift Ideas.

It’s not often that we get the chance to check out handmade eyeglasses and sunglasses. We’ve actually tried to do features on this before but simply couldn’t find enough shops to put a themed collection together. So, it goes without saying that we’re thrilled to have connected with Sire’s Crown Eyewear on Etsy and we’re really excited to be sharing their work with you today. If you want to take your prescription Rx glasses or your favorite shades to a new level of artisan style, this is how to do it!

Materials & Manufacturing

Each pair of Sire’s Crown frames is made using natural woods with a great deal of visual interest and depth. The frames are actually retrofitted with genuine woods from all over the globe, and they are created in such a way as to remain flexible which adds to their ease of use and longevity.

The hinges are made from high-end titanium which looks great on its own and really compliments the wood grains. Each pair of frames is finished off with an acid resistance coating for even more longevity.

Some designs can be created using a variety of woods while other frames are specific to one perfectly matched wood type. Because of the clarity of this line, it’s really easy to hone in on the styles that will work well for your face, your eyes, and your personal style.

Getting Personal

Each pair of handmade frames can be customized for use with UVA/UVB lenses  or your prescription lenses.

You can browse the online shop or even get a live online tour via Skype or webcam!

Once you’ve selected the frames that suit your tastes, you’ll have a short 7-10 business day wait before you’ll be sporting eye-catching frames that simply cannot be duplicated!

Keeping It Clean

Sire’s Crown frames are made from eco materials and gently harvested woods. They go so far as to donate a portion of every sale to Trees For The Future in order to help keep our earth an amazing and healthy place to live.

One of the reasons we love supporting small business is ethics like this. It says a lot about a shop who goes above and beyond to balance out their craft footprint so that there’s enough left for future generations.

Try ‘Em On!

Use the banner below to see the full available line from Sire’s Crown Eyewear right now, and consider which ones would look best on you!

The post Shout Out! Sire’s Crown Eyewear appeared first on Handmade Men | Men's Artisan Style | Gift Ideas.

This week on the Handmade Men Hot Picks theme collection we’re tipping our hats to six amazing artisan shops who are creating lids, domes, caps, and hats just for guys. From classic styles to modern innovations, these hats are the perfect head’s up to any man’s personal style. We know you’re going to love them all, so let’s get to it!

Click on the images below to see more about each hat…

Hats off to the amazing shops who let us feature their amazing works this week. Click the banner below to see more themed collections from past weeks…

The post Hot Picks! Men’s Handmade Hats appeared first on Handmade Men | Men's Artisan Style | Gift Ideas.

We are so excited to be teaming up with Michelle Verbeeck from Etsy for another giveaway here on Handmade Men! This is the second giveaway Michelle has sponsored, and the last one had one of the highest numbers of entries we’ve ever seen! Michelle’s work is truly one-of-a-kind – combining style, amazing craft, and designs that you simply cannot find anywhere else.

Keep reading to see what’s up for grabs so that you can get up to 35 entries while you think about whether you’ll keep this for yourself or give it to someone special in your life. Good luck everyone!

What’s Up For Grabs…

A 1/2″ wide hand-stamped leather cuff bracelet from the Michelle V Custom Leather Jewelry shop on Etsy. This bracelet is created using genuine jewelry quality leather that has been distressed by hand in a chocolate brown color, a simple and comfortable buckle closure, and a nickel plated hand-stamped focus.

The binary code stamped on the plate reads ‘love’. How cool is that? This would be the perfect gift for the tech-savvy guy who have everything, or a well deserved present for yourself.

Scroll down to enter now!

To get up to 35 entries in just minutes, use the simple entry box below…

a Rafflecopter giveaway

While you’re waiting for the winner to be announced, click the banner below to see the full line of amazing pieces available from Michelle V right now…

The post Giveaway! Men’s Stamped Leather Bracelet appeared first on Handmade Men | Men's Artisan Style | Gift Ideas.

This week we’re packing it up and heading out into the world with the most amazing handmade messenger bags for guys we’ve seen all season! These bags are created to carry whatever you need wherever you wander, and they’re made with style, strength, and ease of use in mind. We selected just three artisan shops to work with for this feature and will be showing you two men’s messenger bag examples from each one. If you’re looking for the perfect way to get your laptop, jacket, overnight essentials, or books wherever you go – this themed collection is for you… Enjoy!

Click on the images to see item details and to learn more about each shop.

If you’re looking for the perfect gift for a guy who has it all, why not get him a place to put it all? Click the images above to see more about each piece, and if you’re an Etsy community member, make sure to give these shops a ‘favorite’ to show your support of their work.

A big thanks to Swe Much Style, Milloo, and Hemp London for participating in this week’s themed collection. Click the image below to see more themes from past weeks…

The post Hot Picks! Handmade Messenger Bags appeared first on Handmade Men | Men's Artisan Style | Gift Ideas.

We are so thrilled to share this week’s In Gear review with you! Last week we had the privilege of experiencing the upcycled wallets from Bamboo Chutes. These amazing handmade wallets are created from retired paragliders and parachutes which have a limited number of usable hours for the sake of safety. The artisan behind Bamboo Chutes salvages the high-quality, lightweight materials used in these popular wind riders and transforms them into wallets the likes of which we’ve never seen before. From geometric quilted designs to layered placements that go perfectly with any style, we’re huge fans of what this shop is creating and we know you will be too. Enjoy!

The Upcycle Initiative

When shops upcycle, they are taking valuable, high quality, and like-new materials and giving them a new lease on life. These materials are destined for the landfill, but they are diverted to the craft room which helps our environment and adds something amazing to any personal style.

Ripstop Nylon Fabric

The Offchute Wallets from Bamboo Chutes are made one at a time, by hand, using professional grade ripstop nylon – the same stuff used to keep people safely in the air when they paraglide and parachute! The material is extremely lightweight, durable, tough, and simple to work with. It also comes in an array of vibrant colors that please any personal taste.

Designs

We got to experience two of the main wallet designs from Bamboo Chutes…

Striped Design

This wallet design is clean, to the point, and really eye catching. The piece we reviewed had a full size bi-fold design that features an inner cash pocket and six card-size pockets.

Geometric Design

This hand-quilted style cannot be missed, and it comes complete with perfectly edges. The piece we reviewed had an inner full size cash pocket and six card pockets.

Use

We used these wallets. I immediately transferred my back-pocket necessities to the wallet I reviewed and handed another over to a friend to get another perspective. At the end of the week we shared our finds.

We both loved the wallet, how easy it was to use, and how many compliments it got. It hugged our cash and cards perfectly and felt very safe to carry, and it fit snugly in back pocket spaces and backpacks.

The construction is clearly built to last, and if people trust this material to fly them through the sky, I’ll trust it with my debit card!

The Handmade Men Review

Win! We love these wallets and give them our stamp of support through and through! These are the perfect wallet for men of any style, and we think they’d also make a great ’my first wallet’ for a tween or teen considering how tough and usable they are. If you’re a fan of color, texture, geometric patterning, and unique style – this is the wallet for you!

Take Flight!

Click the banner below to grab your wallet now. There are several styles in stock all the time in addition to other great items like tote bags, eyeglass cases, sling bags, pouches, and more!

Reviewed by Josh

The post In Gear! Upcycled Wallets appeared first on Handmade Men | Men's Artisan Style | Gift Ideas.

This week on Handmade Men we’re thrilled to be chatting with Robert Boyer who creates some amazing functional pottery and operates a much loved shop on Etsy. From highly textured usable vessels and bowls to truly unique sculpture pieces, Robert’s work captivates the eyes and intrigues the artist within.

Welcome Robert! Tell us a little bit about your work and your Etsy shop…

My recent work in clay is mostly about playing with texture and structure within a single form. If I pierce thousands of needle holes, or maybe just punch a few really big ones, into what was once a standard vase, I end up with a completely different object. A few of these holes or divots are just embellishment; sometimes a lot of them create an entirely new form.  The accumulation of these simple actions into regular patterns can also create structures that mimic nature, honey comb, pine cones, etc. I find this process fascinating.

The Etsy shop itself is a new challenge for me. It’s fun and interesting to mess around with the sculptural forms and ideas about structure but at some point they need to go somewhere. I took a bit of time to focus on the “getting it out there” part of the artistic process. I’m now excited to have a place to show the work.

What got you started in working with clay?

Growing up I was introduced to a lot of different art like drawing, painting, needlecraft, and pottery from different members of my family and in school. It wasn’t actually until I began working on a graduate degree in the sciences that I started focusing a bit more on ceramics. I found that for me many of those other artistic mediums required the same sort of analytic, focused attention that I was burning up all day with class work and research. Working with clay can be very tactile, and in grad school I made a lot of random shapes where my fingers were doing most of the thinking because my head was done for the day.

Your work is really detail-oriented and textured. What kinds of tools do you use most in your work?

As I’ve found some distance from grad school, my ceramic art has become much more detail-oriented. I spend most of my time in the studio punching divots or pierced holes into patterns that are often derived from my grad research. The tools for these techniques can be generally described as “pointy sticks.” Potter’s wheels and hand building techniques are fun, but from my perspective, the best part of what I do is the individually pierced holes or other repetitive detail work.

Let’s look at some of your personal favorites…

A wheel thrown form pierced with a sharpened chopstick in a simple hexagonal pattern that is at an angle to the form

This dragon was built from simple coils of clay laid into place and then smoothed together. I sculpted the head and claws separately and attached them after pressing the scale texture into the surface of the body.

Why do you think that handmade is such a great option for men?

I’m personally a huge fan of handmade items and have an almost dysfunctional drive to make the things I use on my own. (My friends make fun of me for this.) However, we can’t all be experts on every craft and every material. Supporting one another in handmade endeavors is a great way to have the best of both worlds, high-quality from an expert maker without having to solve every problem yourself. Being able to find this type of work in a masculine aesthetic is sometimes difficult which is why the Handmade Men site and the general promotion of men in craft is such a great idea.

Thanks again for sharing your work and energy with us! Where can people find you online?

>>>Etsy Shop

>>>Facebook

>>>Official Website

The post Featured! RDBoyer appeared first on Handmade Men | Men's Artisan Style | Gift Ideas.

No matter how you wear your scruff, having the very best in handmade shaving gear is essential. A shave can be an enjoyable experience or something that leaves your skin looking and feeling terrible – but the right choice is product and technique can make all the difference in the world. This week we’re featuring several men’s handmade shaving essentials from artisan shops across the world. We’ll introduce you to classic shaving soaps, aftershave, kits, brushes, travel bags, and more!

Click on the images below to see more about each item…

Why choose anything but artisan quality handmade shaving gear for your mug? Take a few minutes to explore the featured items and shops above to show your support of handmade!

A big thank you to the great shops and artisans who allowed us to feature their work this week.

The post Hot Picks! Handmade Shaving Gear appeared first on Handmade Men | Men's Artisan Style | Gift Ideas.

We are so excited to have Elegant Rose Boutique sponsoring an amazing giveaway this week! We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing their products here on Handmade Men (see the review here), and now one lucky winner will get to see why we raved about these soaps!

Up For Grabs…

The lucky winner of this giveaway will receive two bars of men’s handmade soap in two distinct styles…

True Grit

Cowboys, cowgirls, farmers, artists, domestic goddesses, gardeners, zookeepers, plumbers and grease monkeys….. True Grit Hand Soap with Pumice works for them all…True Grit is an abrasive soap with my original handmade soap recipe with the addition of pumice, scented with a fresh clean scent that includes citrus oils known for their cleaning abilities! It removes dirt and grime without nasty solvents or irritating additives. Use on hands, feet, knees, elbows…wherever dirt happens.

and…

Activated Charcoal

This Activated Charcoal handmade soap is my best selling soap and here’s why – my charcoal soap contains activated charcoal in addition to a combination of essential oils wonderful for any skin type, not drying just soothing. Makes a wonderful facial soap and a great all over body bar.

Giveaway Details

• Giveaway ends on April 30, 2013
• Winner will be announced via their provided email
• Open to adult residents of the continental USA only

How To Enter

Use the simple entry box below to get 15 entries in a matter of seconds…

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

While You’re Waiting For The Winner To Be Announced…

Click the banner below to visit Elegant Rose Boutique on Etsy and see all of their amazing products.

The post Giveaway! Men’s Handmade Soaps appeared first on Handmade Men | Men's Artisan Style | Gift Ideas.

Nothing says ‘it’s spring!’ like a perfectly fitted t-shirt made just for guys using the very best in printing and painting techniques! This week we’ve rounded up examples from some of our favorite print and paint shops across the web and we’re showing you just how great one-of-a-kind shirts can be! From serious and sultry to comedic and playful, hand printed shirts let you show off your individuality while honoring the artisan process and a higher level of quality and attention.

We’re sure you’re going to love everything featured in this week’s Hot Picks theme!

Click on the images below for shirt and shop details…

Try those on for size!

A big thank you to all of the amazing shops who let us feature their work in this themed collection.

Visit all of the amazing artisan shops featured here by clicking the images above.

The post Hot Picks! Men’s Print Shirts appeared first on Handmade Men | Men's Artisan Style | Gift Ideas.