Product Review: Dove Men+Care

Attention male readers, this post is for you! When a publicist from Dove contacted me and offered to send me free samples from their new Dove Men+Care line of bath and skincare products, I was reluctant to accept. Men's products are typically formulated with stronger ingredients than women's products because they have to work on thicker skin. Since I couldn't test Dove Men+Care myself, I enlisted the help of a special product reviewer and guest blogger, my brother Gary. As a sartorially smart guy who also knows his way around skincare (he bought me the Garnier caffeine eye roll-on pen after I kept swiping his), I couldn't think of a better person to take on this assignment. Gary kindly agreed to contribute the following review despite his busy schedule.

A round of applause for my little bro, please!

The Men+Care line by Dove is designed and marketed towards males. This was a smart move by Dove as other major cosmetic brands have developed their own male-specific line of products.

For two months, I got the chance to test some samples from their new line: body washes, bar soaps and the showering tool. The products came in simple and aggressive packaging. Grey bottles and boxes instead of the usual Dove white packaging definitively separated the Men+Care line from other Dove products. The products that I tried for two months were Clean Comfort body wash, Deep Clean body wash, Fresh bar soap, and Invigorating bar soap. They all claim to gently cleanse the skin while leaving no soap scum residue, and purportedly contain “micro moisture” technology to moisturize the skin on contact.

My first impression of the body washes was that they have an overpowering scent. (The bar soaps did not smell as strong.) The fragrance itself wasn’t bad, it’s just that there’s too much of it. I could still smell the scent three or four hours after showering. Otherwise the body washes performed as advertised. They didn’t leave any slick soapy residue behind, which usually induces skin irritation.

My favourite items during the test were the bar soaps as they simply performed without any fuss. The soaps didn’t leave my skin feeling tight and dry afterwards. Both the body washes and the soaps claim that they can be used on the face as well. However, it wasn’t effective in deep pore cleansing of the more fragile facial areas. Therefore, they should not replace a face specific cleanser. Males who suffer from facial acne should forget about using it on their faces. Clean Comfort body wash is a milder cleanser, while the Deep Clean body wash contains an exfoliant.

A front and back view of the showering tool

When used in conjunction with the showering tool, my skin felt and looked softer and less dull. The Dove Men+Care showering tool is mighty impressive. Instead of a wimpy-looking shower puff, Men+Care’s version looks like a robust heavy duty tool. This triangular shower puff and exfoliator hybrid is framed by a thick rubber casing which is easy to hold and use with wet soapy hands. On one side is a very compressed version of a shower puff and on the opposite side is an abrasive, almost loofah-like exfoliator. The showering tool has stood up well through the two months of use and it’s easy to clean.