When you meet the guys from Toronto's own Rebels Refinery, your first thought might be that these are the people your parents told you not to hang out with as a kid. Judging by their promo videos, your parents would have been right. But they've grown up (kind of). While you're likely to find them still out at last call at any local watering hole, they try to take care of themselves the next day.
The Rebels realized they couldn't buy the products they wanted without paying a fortune. Skincare in particular is an area where they found products to be overpriced and loaded with synthetic ingredients. To solve that problem, they created a solution for men made from natural ingredients that do not include phthalates or other harmful synthetics found in many other skin care products. Their products are currently available exclusively at Jacob & Sebastian, and online at the Rebels Refinery website.
I came across one of their promo videos and it made me curious about skincare. However, I'm a 28 year old male and my usual skin care routine is using my safeguard bar of soap in the shower to wash my face and also rinsing my face with water before bed. I sat down with the Rebels to find out why I might be making a mistake and to learn more about their products.
What's the difference between Rebel's Refinery and what I can pick up at my local drug store?
We want people to know what they are buying. One of our goals is to get people to start reading the ingredients in every product they buy. You probably won't, but be careful because the skin care industry is still largely unregulated. A lot of the chemicals in use could actually be harmful for your face. Rebel Refinery is focused on our customer and the communities we live in.
Here's how we differentiate ourselves from the crap pack:
1. Rebel's Refinery skin care is loaded with a ton of fantastic certified organic ingredients.
2. They actually work (crazy, I know).
3. Everything is made in North America, and we are based out of Toronto.
4. You're not embarrassed to have our packaging seen by friends and family members who creepily scan every corner of your bathroom.
5. We give a percentage of all profits to Prostate Cancer Canada.
6. We do all of our testing on real humans.
What is a refined Rebel?
It's not a philosophy but a way of life. Do whatever you want at night, stay up as late as you'd like, but get your act together in the morning and look the part. A lot of men who work in an office and come into work hung over, always wear their best suit that day to deflect from the fact that they are hurting and useless. We recommend pairing that suit with our "Rehab Roller." It's an undereye roller/serum that helps with bags and dark circles. It's loaded with caffeine which is one of the only ingredients that helps break up the blood cells under your eyes; your dark circles are actually clustered blood cells. Science.
Why should men be using skincare products?
Men don't have to use skincare products but we'd like them to stop pretending they aren't as vain as women. We'd also like them to stop lying to their significant others when caught in the act of borrowing those others' products. To look and feel your best, we recommend using skincare as part of a normal, healthy routine. We at Rebel Refinery personally started using skincare because mirrors started making us look old. We started to moisturize to protect our skin. Moisturizing is key because dry skin will lead to wrinkle development. You heard it, the dreaded "w" word. Also, we're not blessed with the looks of Sean Connery circa '62, so we need all the help we can get.
If a guy has never used skin care products before, where do they start? How do they actually use your products?
Start with a facial cleanser (face wash) in the shower, at your sink or above a bucket if you live in the 1800's. This will help remove dead skin cells, oil, dirt and pollutants from the skin. This will also unclog pores and help prevent acne. We recommend the Rebels Advanced Clear Skin Facial Cleanser. Then exfoliate your face by using a facial scrub. Like a cleanser but more hardcore, exfoliating removes dead skin cells, unclogs pores, keeps skin clean, and helps reduce acne breakouts. Exfoliating is especially important for men, as it helps prevent in grown hairs/bumps caused by shaving.
Exfoliate every other day to once a week depending on how your skin reacts. We recommend our Advanced Clear Skin Facial Scrub; it's pretty awesome. Follow this up with the Rebels Anti-Wrinkle Moisturizer. Moisturizers prevent and treat dry skin, protect sensitive skin, improve skin tone and texture, and mask imperfections. Think of it as armour. Our moisturizer is packed with peptides which are one of the main ingredients in anti-aging creams. Lastly, apply our under eye Rehab Roller depending on how many times you have to talk to your boss that day.
What's next for Rebels Refinery?
The perfect shaving cream and the perfect cologne. The creative team also helped Prostate Cancer Canada with a couple of commercials which will be coming out soon. They're pretty cool. Lastly, the first 3 people to show up to Jacob & Sebastian on Queen West and give the secret word ("REBEL") to the store owner will receive a free Rehab Roller.
Writing by Jared March