Here are a couple we’d like to highlight. If you are in the area, stop by and see what
else they have to offer besides TAUN.

Goose Barnacle

Our hometown shop is Goose Barnacle (http://goosebarnacle.com/) in Brooklyn
Heights. Owner David Alperin is a native of the area and provides a high-end, comfortable
store to explore some global fashion.

Between the internet and growing trade, our options for clothes have expanded exponentially while improving along the way.  Alperin recognizes this paradox of choice and takes the time to curate an amazing collection of wears in his cozy shop.

We’re lucky enough to be among Goose Barnacle’s carefully selected skin care lines and proudly sit in his array.  If you’re visiting New York or are already a fan or neighbor of Goose Barnacle, stop by and chat with David and check out our display. (Also follow @goosebarnacle on Twitter and Instagram).

The post Celebrating Our Retail Partners : Goose Barnacle, Brooklyn Heights, NY appeared first on TAUN Men's Skin Care.

Growing up, we always liked when our favorite sports team would unveil new jerseys. While we were accustomed to and loyal to the current uniforms, you just can’t beat new.

With that in mind, after our first year of existence we’re giving our Facial
Repair Formula a new uniform of sorts. We love our early packaging, here we’ve upgraded the style (while keeping all the same look & feel) to highlight the quality of the product within.

Our new canisters will feature a sketched map of Brooklyn and New York City. As a Brooklyn-based company, we wanted to incorporate that somehow while maintaining the classic look and feel of the TAUN logo. We’ve always been big fans of vintage maps and this was an opportunity to use one to convey that timeless feel to the TAUN brand.

In addition to the new exterior packaging, the glass jar will now be 2.0 oz. rather than 1.7 oz. This larger size will be the same price.

Our new packaging is beginning to roll out now!  We’re very excited for TAUN Facial Repair Formula 2.0 (literally). Turning a year old,
TAUN is getting wiser, and a little better looking. Just like all of our customers.

The post Brand New TAUN Packaging appeared first on TAUN Men's Skin Care.

We are excited to announce a partnership between TAUN and the revolutionary shopping startup Birchbox.

Our Facial Repair Formula was included in their March shipment of Birchbox Man.

What is Birchbox?

Birchbox was founded in September 2010 by a couple of Harvard MBA graduates who thought the retail process was a bit too crowded and difficult to navigate.

With Birchbox they have developed a “discovery commerce platform” that allows you to try before you buy. Customers pay a small monthly fee and receive a new box of premium samples every 30 days.

Birchbox Man

With the insane success of Birchbox for women, Birchbox Man was spawned in April 2012. Growing by the day, Birchbox Man has taken a proven concept and improved upon it even further.

Why Should You Consider Birchbox?

It’s hard to find time to keep up on every new product that hits the shelves, so Birchbox does it for you.  Giving reviews and trials for products you may have heard of, and also introducing you to curated gems. For a reasonable monthly fee, you will receive 4-5 high quality samples across a variety of different product types. In the market for a new hair gel? Let them know and you’ll receive some. Want a new tech gadget or lifestyle tool? They’ll probably send you something extremely useful you didn’t yet know you needed. How about a new anti-aging moisturizer? Come on, we’re right here.

Birchbox is an amazing resource for product discovery and we couldn’t be more excited to start our partnership.

(As always, we have samples available through our site. Just let us know where to send it.)

The post TAUN: Coming Soon to a Birchbox Near You appeared first on TAUN Men's Skin Care.

Jojoba (ho-HO-ba) oil is one of the best-kept secrets of skincare, despite its widespread use. Jojoba oil is not actually an oil at all, but a sort of wax. Jojoba oil is a botanical extract from the seed of a jojoba tree, which means that it is about as natural as it gets. Jojoba oil is interesting

Jojoba close up

and useful for a number of reasons, all of which you should be aware.  Read this article and see if you may benefit from jojoba oil added to your skin care routine.

1. Jojoba oil for acne

When considering what to use for acne, jojoba oil can prove helpful. In fact, the main use for jojoba oil is for home acne treatments. Jojoba oil is not only great for removing pimples and blackheads, but it can be applied directly to the skin to help curb breakouts. A 2002 study from the National Research Council notes that acne treatments containing jojoba extract can slow the outbreak of acne. In that study, the researchers found that this conclusion was very likely based on the fact that jojoba oil mimics your skin’s sebum, which brings us to the second use.

2. Jojoba oil mimics your skin’s sebum

Sebum is basically a waxy substance that your skin naturally secrets through glands. Sebum is the cause of people experiencing oily skin or hair. If skin produces too much sebum, it can cause breakouts or excessively oily skin. Jojoba oil is helpful here because when applied to skin, it can theoretically “trick” skin into thinking it has produced enough oil, and thus makes your skin produce less sebum, which curbs breakouts.

3. Jojoba oil for dry skin

Jojoba oil is also useful for dry skin because it is so similar to the natural sebum that our body produces. Therefore, our skin easily absorbs it without leaving an oily residue. Not only will jojoba oil moisturize, it can also soften hard and dry skin to a more youthful feel.

When used in moderation, jojoba oil is one of the most versatile products behind your bathroom mirror. It is entirely natural, very safe and conservative use can bring back shine to skin. While it may be a little bit on the expensive side, its effectiveness is proven time and time again.

A good Jojoba Oil Moisturizer for Men?

Well, we are obviously biased on this one.  We recognized the benefits of jojoba oil and our Facial Repair Formula used Jojoba Oil as a base.  We then carefully chose 12 other active anti-aging ingredients, so you know you are getting a powerful product.

The post Benefits of Jojoba Oil in Moisturizers for Men appeared first on TAUN Men's Skin Care.

“My skin is dull. How do I make my skin better? Maybe I should try a home facial scrub. I think I’ll call up my bro and ask him what’s good for my skin,” asked, like, no guy ever—right?

You might be surprised. The men’s grooming industry is exploding—according to some reports, at up to eight percent a year —and it’s not just cologne and aftershave that men are looking for. They want to improve complexion on their skin; they want better facial skin, more pleasing skin tones, a more confident look.

Facials for men, though, provide a whole lot more than a simple confidence boost. They help improve facial muscle tone, provide much-needed stress relief, and facilitate vastly improved skin health. You may be surprised at the benefits of a facial, even for men.

Muscle Toning

During your super-precise, ninety minute daily workout, exactly how much time do you spend working the muscles in your face? Is that even important? Believe it or not, a great men’s facial doesn’t just clear damage to skin, it helps tone those underused muscles that make your cheekbones distinct, your smile engaging, your furrowed brow fascinating, and your soon-to-be-developing crow’s feet as masculine as Clint Eastwood’s. In short, a facial might just make you manlier.

Remarkable Stress Relief

The results are in, and they’re no surprise whatsoever: Men are typically more stressed out than women. Massage and muscle relaxation, especially in underused areas like the muscles of the face, neck and shoulders, are key to handling stress and moving forward at home and in the workplace. A good facial twice a year might not just make you manlier; its de-stressing effects might make you more able to take on life’s challenges.

Skin Health

We’ll leave the most often used argument for men’s facials for last: They help clear up your skin. Facials remove blackheads and dead skin. They might even help remove discolorations and small marks that you thought were permanent.

As you can see, your friend’s advice on keeping your skin healthy might be more important than you thought. Facials tone the muscles in your skin, relieve stress, and help you maintain skin health for life; it may be that manly exercise you didn’t know you were missing.

Where Can I Go?

The Gent’s Place offers a wide range of services for the modern gentleman.

There are upscale full service Gentleman’s Barbershops popping up all over the country.  The Gent’s Place is a great example with locations in Texas and Kansas.  These types of establishments usually have highly skilled staff offering a full shave, haircut, and anything from a pedicure to facials to botox.  All while you enjoy a glass of scotch – the real choice: neat or rocks?

The post I’m a Man. Why Do I Need a Facial? appeared first on TAUN Men's Skin Care.

Your skin is amazing. Despite whatever aesthetic aspects you might want to change, human skin is a fascinating and important part of the body. Sometimes we spend so much time nitpicking the small stuff about our skin that it’s important to step back and realize the big picture of how amazing skin is. Below are a few of the more interesting skin facts for men:

1. Your skin is much larger than you might imagine.

Skin Comes In All Shapes And Sizes

You may think of your skin as a sort of thin egg shell over your muscles and bones.  However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Did you know that your skin accounts for 16% of your body weight, is around 22 square feet in the average adult, and it stores 4.5% of the blood in your body? Your skin is the largest, heaviest organ in the body―so take care of it!

2. Your skin sweats a lot more than you might realize.

Your skin has around 3 million sweat glands which emit 3 gallons of sweat per day. In a 5 square centimeter section of skin, you have 600 sweat glands! Men tend to sweat more than women, so men should pay extra attention to these numbers.

3. Your skin is regenerating itself at an incredible rate.

Every minute, your skin sheds 30 to 40 thousand skin cells, which means that you will shed around 8 pounds a year in dead skin alone. This is pretty incredible, and given the amount of people in the world, dead skin cells account for around one billion tons of dust in the atmosphere, globally. Additionally, those dust bunnies you find in your home are very likely made up of mostly your dead skin cells.

Your skin is far more nuanced and involved than you might initially realize. Understanding these facts about the biological processes of your skin will help you understand the purpose of skincare in general.

The post Interesting Skin Facts For Men appeared first on TAUN Men's Skin Care.

We all know that drinking water is necessary for life. However, scientists and dermatologists wonder if water is good for your skin. Not only is our body weight two-thirds water, our cells need water for every single reaction or action they want to do. This fact includes our skin cells―they need water too! So, armed with this general knowledge, what are the specific benefits of increasing your water intake, and are these benefits backed by science?

Claim 1:  Water aids in curbing wrinkles and sagging skin.

Proponents claim that drinking water for your skin literally moisturizes your dermal layers from the inside out, leaving you with better facial skin. Your skin is comprised of 20% water, and if your

Does Water Hydrate Skin and Reduce Fine Lines?

body lacks water it will start the process of premature aging. If you renew your body with water, over time your skin cells will plump up and make your skin taut and stronger.

However, some dermatologists disagree with this premise and claim that the water you drink will be filtered through your kidneys to the point where water preparing skin cells will fall short. These dermatologists suggest using a moisturizer to “heal serious dehydration.” Despite that, one might conclude that if dehydration harms skin, and water prevents dehydration, then water at least prevents the damage of dehydration to skin.

Claim 2: Water with lemon will clear your skin.

Water alone is great, but sometimes people need some variety. This tip comes from the fantastic SoCal website La Jolla Mom.  They list 10 intriguing reasons to drink water with lemon in the morning.  Not only will you reap the benefits of drinking more water in general, but the Vitamin C component of the lemon juice will help clear up your skin, all while moisturizing your skin from the inside out, as mentioned before.

However, evidence is limited in claims that Vitamin C alone will prevent wrinkles, and if people doubt the overall effectiveness of drinking water in general to improve skin health, then adding a bit of lemon won’t do much to change the result. In fact, one study investigated whether the type of water subjects drank had any role to play in the effectiveness of improving skin health. The result was that whether the subjects drank tap water or mineral water made no difference in the appearance of wrinkles or to the smoothness of skin.

So Does Water Really Help Hydrate Your Skin?

The science is still out on whether or not water has a material impact on improving the health of your skin. However, science is deadly clear in its determination that water is necessary for life. That said, there is nothing out there saying that water harms skin, but whether or not it actually helps skin is still up for debate.

It is unwise to drink water and hope for this single method to heal all your skincare woes. Go ahead and drink water (you need it to live, after all), but pair it with a high quality anti-aging routine and a healthy lifestyle for that 1-2-3 punch.

The post Is Drinking Water Good For Your Skin? appeared first on TAUN Men's Skin Care.

No matter what you build in life, you always need to start with a strong foundation. This axiom is no less true in the anti-aging skincare world, because any great anti-aging regimen should build on the same great foundation: Retinol.  Let’s take a look at how retinol benefits your skin, and how.

Retinol is a naturally-occurring substance that is literally the best over the counter anti-aging ingredient on earth. Much as you want to build your home on solid ground, retinol provides that base to build upon in your anti-aging regimen.

How does Retinol work?

The reason Retinol (otherwise known as Vitamin A) is so effective at preventing skin aging is because scientific research has clearly demonstrated its benefits. In general, Retinol acts as a sort of skin cell hypnotist, because it attaches to almost any skin cell and convinces it to behave like a younger, healthy skin cell. Retinol also works as an antioxidant, which can prevent free radicals and increase collagen production; it can also reduce existing wrinkles, fight acne, unclog pores, strengthen aging skin, and repair sun-damaged skin. These benefits will give you better facial skin, clear your face, reduce face lines and red cheeks, as well as fight and prevent aging skin.

What rigors of testing has Retinol gone through?

Retinol certainly has a great reputation, but what’s important is the fact that these conclusions are based upon scientific, peer-reviewed experimentation.

In one experiment, consisting of elderly (average age of 87) subjects, scientists applied Retinol-based lotion to one arm and non-Retinol lotion on the subject’s other arm. After this time concluded, the University of Michigan Medical School dermatologists concluded that, Retinol “improves fine wrinkles associated with natural aging… [R]etinol-treated aged skin is more likely to withstand skin injury and ulcer formation along with improved appearance.” This study continued as authority on the subject within the dermatology field after it was conducted.

When asked about the study’s significance one scientist remarked, “In the past, it was everyone believed that retinoids would treat only photoaging, or damage from exposure to sun. This is the first systematic, double-blind study showing that it improves any kind of aging – photoaging as well as natural aging,” said co-author John J. Voorhees, M.D., the Duncan and Ella Poth Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Dermatology at the University of Michigan Medical School. “You can rub it anywhere, and it will help to treat the signs of aging.”

However, if you remember our article about choosing an anti-aging product that’s right for you all consumers should be aware of any potential risks or downsides in order to make an informed choice. Despite Retinol’s wild scientific successes, some have criticized its effectiveness.

The popular criticism is the thinking that the improvement will be so small that human eyes are unable to detect the improvement. While this may or may not be true (nobody has done a scientific test on this criticism yet), the point to remember is that anti-aging benefits are a slow process (around 12 weeks at least), and it takes time to see any drastic improvement. One should also notice that this criticism also does not take away from the scientific fact that Retinol does in fact work, it just might not work to turn skin around 180 degrees.

Additional points about how to use Retinol products

With all this said, you should remember a few key points about Retinol use:

1. Retinol is available over the counter―there’s no need for a prescription, although prescription Retinoids do exist for more extreme cases. However, it’s wise to start with an over the counter formula so that you can ease yourself in.

2. Don’t use Retinol with products containing benzoyl peroxide or alpha hydroxy acids. This pairing will cause your skin to dry out, and it will neutralize the effects of Retinol. In addition to prohibitions on use, don’t use Retinol if you’re pregnant or nursing.

3. A very small percentage of people’s skin are unable to handle Retinol. If you fall into the category, you should use a gentle physical exfoliator twice a week to soften your skin, and be extra-conscientious about sunscreen to prevent collagen loss in the first place. Similarly, the sheer effectiveness of retinol can increase sensitivity to the sun and increase the chance of sunburn.

Retinol is one of the best anti-aging ingredients out there, and it is one of the few which has stood the test of peer-reviewed dermatological testing. If you’re looking for a great anti-aging routine, start with Retinol.

Additional Retinol Research and Information Sources for this Article

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17515510

http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/features/antiaging-retinoids

http://www.oprah.com/style/Retinoid-Skin-Creams-Why-You-Should-Use-a-Retinoid

http://www.prevention.com/node/25989

http://www.dermalinstitute.com/us/news/?s=retinol+benefits+voorhees

http://www.sharecare.com/question/retinol-skin-care-benefits

http://www.livestrong.com/article/143905-skin-benefits-retinol/

http://dermatology.jwatch.org/cgi/content/full/2007/608/1

http://www.cosmeticscop.com/retinol-for-wrinkles.aspx

http://www.smartskincare.com/treatments/topical/retinol.html

http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2007/retinol.htm

The post Retinol Benefits for Skin – How and Why Does Retinol Work? appeared first on TAUN Men's Skin Care.

Songza is the ultimately curated playlist source for any mood, situation, or genre of music.  As a music junkie, I already have my own personal collection of music that I can categorize into playlists.  But not every situation calls for my personal taste, at times you have to cater to crowds.  Songza really comes through when the situation calls for a genre of music you may not have handy.

The real utility for Songza, though, may be for those that don’t have the time, energy, or interest in developing and sourcing new music.  Songza does all that for you.  Have you been busy raising a child that you were making sure didn’t die the past year?  Songza can fill you in.  Need to throw a party and have no clue what anyone listens to anymore?  Just pick a genre and you’re going to look as hip or as timelessly cool as you like.

The first question people ask when I mention the app is: how is Songza better than Pandora?  Some of this is opinion but here is my list:

1) Usability: Songza’s Music Concierge selection screen is fantastic to navigate

2) Music choices: Songza seems to be operating without an agenda, while Pandora tends to play more major label music.  I also find that Pandora veers off from an artist I chose and manages to play music that is unrelated.

3) Ads: Songza doesn’t interfere with your playlist audibly, they just have ads on screen.  Pandora does.

Someday I imagine Songza will have to have a more obvious method of making money.  That could certainly affect my enjoyment of the app.  But I trust them to do that carefully and in this fast-paced technological world I’m just happy they are around now.

The post Things We Love – Songza appeared first on TAUN Men's Skin Care.

Urban Cargo is a new men’s grooming discovery tool.  If you haven’t heard of them yet, get your head out of the sand and head over to their website.  They have put together a program where you can quickly, easily, and inexpensively discover the best men’s grooming brands available.  UC does the heavy lifting – their in-house team reviews, tests, and researches every brand and product they carry, to ensure you only get the best.  No need to worry about quality, these guys have weeded out the imitators for you.

TAUN + Urban Cargo Partnership

TAUN recently partnered with UC to distribute our Facial Repair Formula across the country.  This is a great opportunity for men in all locations to get their hands on a 5-7 day sample of our flagship anti-aging moisturizer.

Read this thoughtful Urban Cargo review of TAUN, and go sign up for their service now.  It’s like Christmas morning every month when you receive a box full of high quality grooming goods!

The post TAUN Now Found in Urban Cargo Shipments appeared first on TAUN Men's Skin Care.