A short history of Australian men's grooming
From slip-slop-slap to supermarket aisles and a 2008 Melbourne idea about climate-first moisturiser. How we got to a no-nonsense journal.
Priya Nair · 13 min read
The journal
Long enough to be useful.
Every essay here is written in Australian English for people who live with this UV index, this hard water and this weather. Browse by date or start from a hub.
Hands, neck and the bits the mirror forgets
Faces get the moisturiser. Knuckles, necks, ears and the V of a polo get the weather. A map of the skin you actually live in.
Jack Moretti · 11 min read
Beard care in heat and humidity
A beard in a Darwin build-up is a climate, not a look. Wash it, dry it, keep the neck honest, and know when the itch is medical.
Jack Moretti · 11 min read
Scent layering so eucalyptus does not fight your cologne
The old eshu moisturiser was designed to fade. Most modern bush-scented products do not. Here is how to wear both without starting a tram incident.
Jack Moretti · 10 min read
How to read a native-ingredient label
A field guide to INCI lists, cameo percentages and the difference between a harvest and a mood board. Take it to the chemist with you.
Tom Adebayo · 12 min read
Sport, sweat and the post-training wash
A change-room regime that respects sweat, synthetic fabric and a UV index that does not care about full-time. Wash sooner, dry properly, keep it bland.
Priya Nair · 11 min read
When to see a GP about skin, not a shelf
A journal can tell you how to wash. It cannot tell you that a changing spot is fine. The line between a regime and a waiting room, written plainly.
Helen Cho · 12 min read
Quandong, desert lime and forgotten natives
Beyond Kakadu plum and tea tree sits a cupboard of fruit with real chemistry and thinner evidence. How to meet them without collecting a cartoon bush.
Tom Adebayo · 11 min read
Macadamia oil and the lipid barrier
Macadamia is the rare native ingredient that behaves like a moisturiser rather than a myth. How it sits on Australian skin, and when it is just salad.
Tom Adebayo · 11 min read
Brows, ears and the line between tidy and overdone
The 2011 site had a stub about tweezing. The grown-up version: what to tidy, what to leave, and how not to look surprised until Christmas.
Jack Moretti · 10 min read
Bushfire smoke, pollution and the skin barrier
Smoke days are not a skincare trend. They are an air-quality event. Here is what to do with a face when the hills are the colour of a bruise.
Mara Keating · 11 min read
Building a travel kit for FIFO and fly-in work
The 2011 site sold a road-warrior pack. Here is the editorial version: a kit that survives a donga, a reclean, and a 4 a.m. bus.
Helen Cho · 12 min read
Lemon myrtle, eucalyptus and the Australian scent
The old eshu range smelled of eucalyptus, citrus and mint, then got out of the way. How to wear native scent without fighting your cologne or your colleagues.
Tom Adebayo · 11 min read
After-surf care that actually works
Salt, wind and a UV index that does not care about the water temperature. A post-surf routine that is three steps, not a beach-tent spa.
Mara Keating · 11 min read
The long drive: truckies, road trips and neglected skin
A cabin is a climate: one-sided UV, recycled air, a dash that cooks the SPF, and a left arm that keeps the diary. How to drive without donating skin.
Priya Nair · 11 min read
Face wash versus cleanser: what men actually need
If it squeaks, it is too proud. How to wash an Australian face without stripping it, and when a plain rinse is the grown-up choice.
Helen Cho · 11 min read
Winter offices and air-conditioning damage
Recycled air is the fifth Australian climate. It cracks hands in Brisbane and tightens faces in July boardrooms. Here is how to work in it without a saga.
Mara Keating · 10 min read
Tea tree oil without the folklore
Melaleuca alternifolia is a useful antiseptic with a talent for irritation. Dilute it, stop treating it as a personality, and know when a GP beats a vial.
Tom Adebayo · 11 min read
Dry inland air versus coastal humidity
The same face can fail in Broken Hill and steam in Ballina. Here is how to change texture, not identity, when you move between dry inland air and the coast.
Mara Keating · 11 min read
Exfoliation without sandpaper: beads, acids and frequency
Australian men still punish a face for being a face. Here is how to lift dull skin without carving it, and how often to bother in this UV.
Helen Cho · 11 min read
Skin on the tools: tradies, salt, cement and sun
Occupational skin is not a spa story. Cement, solvent, salt and a six-hour UV shift need hygiene, barriers and a lower bar for the clinic.
Priya Nair · 12 min read
UV, the ozone hole, and the daily moisturiser habit
Australian men still treat sunscreen as a beach product. The UV index does not. Pair a daily SPF with a moisturiser that can survive wind, not a ten-step.
Mara Keating · 12 min read
Shaving in Australian water: hard water, heat and irritation
Mineral-heavy taps and a climate that dries a nick before you find the tissue. How to shave here without turning the sink into a project.
Jack Moretti · 11 min read
Kakadu plum: what the science actually says
Terminalia ferdinandiana is a genuine antioxidant fruit with a supply chain and a lot of adjectives. Separate the vitamin C numbers from the miracle.
Tom Adebayo · 12 min read
Why Australian skin needs a different rulebook
Importing a northern-hemisphere routine into an Australian year is how men end up shiny in March and cracked in July. Start with the continent, not the aisle.
Mara Keating · 11 min read
Two-step skincare that holds up in forty-degree heat
A regime you will still run when the car door burns your hand. Cleanse when you are dirty, moisturise lightly, protect from UV. Everything else can wait.
Helen Cho · 12 min read