Ben Sherman Exfoliating Facial Scrubs: Reviewed

I don't know about you but I see the words Ben Sherman and I think Burberry check, gingham short sleeve shirts buttoned to the top, Danny Dyer straight to DVD movies. But I've always had something of a soft spot for them. Because they know who they are, what they are, and they don't apologise for it. They don't try to be luxurious and they don't stray from their lane. That lane by the way is whatever roads come out of Lewisham to Brighton. And it seems that the acquisition of the brand by Marquee Brands, controlled by the US investment group Neuberger Berman for £41m back in 2015, has deterred them from their course.

I do wonder how they manage to get the copyright to put the Union Jack on their grooming products. A quick Google tells me that you can Brand Britain. The Union Jack is in the public domain and so long as you stick to the guidelines, it's free and open season.

It's interesting, I picked up these scrubs in a mall in Florida, and tried to find some product links and information but it's nowhere to be found. Some Body Scrubs are on Amazon, there are no grooming products on either the US or the UK Ben Sherman websites, which in itself is strange having two different entities under the same name. Can I take it all back about Ben Sherman knowing what it is? Shall we just concede that it's yet another sucker to corporate buyouts that wish to exploit heritage because they often have none of their own? Conceived in Britain in the 60s, distributed out of NYC, made in China. Where has the soul of the brand gone?

But let's get to the products.

THE EXFOLIATING FACIAL SCRUB in CHARCOAL has a very buttery texture and smell. Like you're licking the spoon clean of cake mixture, with Mum's approval of course. It lathers up well and the bottle dispenses it perfectly. There is a waft of walnut after I wash the liquid free from my face. Overall enjoyable.

THE EXFOLIATING FACIAL SCRUB in VITAMIN C is slightly thinner in application but that's fine. It feels rich and smells vaguely familiar, with a lot of all that nebulous citrusy synthesis flavours so ubiquitous now in mid range grooming goods. Ultimately this falls into a disappointing bracket of 'I'm too old and knowledgeable now to use products this low end' and 'what a shame Ben Sherman has come so far to go backwards.'

I don't mean to sound elitist, but I have reviewed plenty of grooming products in my time and I've been spoiled with having been given some very high end products. Some mid-range products have also exceeded expectations, sadly this one does not. It's a low bar for this one, and I've limboed under it.

Ultimately I will now hand these down to someone else who might have reverence for what once was an iconic British brand, and hope they have a better time with it.