Ladies! Ladies! Ladies! Last-Minute Gift Guide for Your MR: Only 7 Days Till Christmas!

So last time we met, we covered some of your best bets for gifts that don’t suck. But some of you ladies may be looking for something a little more intimate (not like that!) for the special men in your life. Something that doesn’t leave a chemical smell on his face; something that clears those unsexy blemishes instead of causing them. If the perfect gift for your man is a more natural approach to skincare, we’ve rounded up the best brands just in time for Christmas.

First up is Bulldog Skincare. Designed specifically for men, the Bulldog range targets issues with oil balance, pH balance and others that commonly affect men’s skin. All products contain blends of essential oils and other amazing natural compounds alongside only the safe manmade ingredients. That’s right! No parabens, SLS, synthetic fragrances or artificial colours are used, and since no animal products are used either, the Bulldog range is suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Natural, affordable, non-greasy, badass, and it works! Available from Priceline, Woolworth’s, Target and Coles.

Up next is Handsome, a brand exclusive to Australia. If you’re looking for something that’s all natural, this is the way to go. Like Bulldog, nothing is tested on animals, only “the handsomest of men”. Can we help out?

These two brands surely aren’t the only ones around these days. Dr Bronner has been around for a looooong time (almost 160 years!), and their Castile soap range is an all-natural substitute to your typical Axe body wash. As an added bonus, the hippie ramblings on the packaging can make for some entertaining showertime reading. Here's a little secret, their shaving soap is to die for. 

Intelligent Nutrients is a much newer brand, and with ingredients like coconut and pumpkin seed oils, it has more in common with supplements and salad dressings than your average skincare product. This virtually edible line uses antioxidant blends from fruits and plants that won’t smell flowery and are pretty high-performance stuff.

Maybe your man doesn’t like the idea of buying too many products, in which case, John Masters Organics could be a winner. While it was once just a unisex line, they recently released a men’s line featuring 2-in-1 products. A face wash that doubles as shaving foam, or a moisturizer/aftershave, anyone?

For results-oriented, classy guys, Naturopathica’s functional products contain ingredients from aloe vera to plant stem cells and come in sophisticated packaging. One reviewer of the Soothing Shave Cream said, “It spreads out easily, unlike some of the other natural creams that can be pasty, and it provided great protection.”

If your man likes the glass-bottle, apothecary style of Kiehl’s or Aesop, Prada Lab is a great all-natural alternative. Prada Lab uses unisex, man-appropriate ingredients such as macadamia in body scrubs and “volcanic ash” clay in facial cleansers. And if either of you get a little in your mouths, you may taste a hint of dessert, as other ingredients include honey, dates and white tea.

Here at The Rushing Hour, we can’t resist a good social enterprise. SkinCanDo uses some of their proceeds to send care packages to troops overseas, and has an appropriately military aesthetic. Their Combat-Ready Balm is an “all-purpose skin salve” that contains beeswax as well as apricot kernel and coconut oil.

Counting down to 7 days before Christmas. Are you ready?!