The brand with its unique scents have become a powerhouse in men’s grooming, slowly consuming shelf space in drugstores as it expands into new categories. First the body sprays, then the antiperspirants and body washes, and now hair care and styling products.

Axe is a great brand for young guys who don’t want to spend a lot of money but are learning the importance of smelling good. It’s not a Givenchy or a Calvin Klein eau de toilette but the brand does a great job educating young men that if you want to get attention from the fairer sex, smelling good is a great way to improve your game.

Piggybacking on the success of Axe Hair care and styling products, the brand just launched three new 2-in-1 shampoo-and-conditioners. The new formulas that take washing your hair to a new level. It’s not just about the fragrance but the experience. With added ingredients like peppermint leaf, tea tree oil and citrus, guys will experience a warming, tingling or cooling sensation. A simple shampoo becomes more refreshing and therapeutic.

Previously, many of these ingredients and experiences were reserved for higher-priced lines like Bumble and bumble’s Tea Tree Oil Shampoo, Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree Oil line, or Aveda’s Rosemary Mint Shampoo and Conditioner. Axe brings these experiences and ingredients to the masses at an affordable price.

• AXE Downpour Refreshing Mint Shampoo with peppermint leaf extract refreshes guys so they feel clean and cool.
• AXE Heat Igniting Citrus 2 in 1 Shampoo + Conditioner with warming spices and citrus.
• AXE Zen Soothing Tea Tree Shampoo with real tea tree extract, a natural astringent that’s great for oily hair.

Let’s be honest, most men (unless they dye or treat their hair in some way) don’t need to spend a ton of cash on a high-priced salon brand shampoo or conditioner. With short hair and frequent daily washing, using a gentle shampoo and conditioner designed for everyday use is all you need.

$4.99 for a 12oz. bottle, available at drugstores nationwide.

Enter to Win The Products!

Axe and HOMME Grooming are giving away 1 FULL SET of shampoos and styling products from Axe (that’s 10 shampoos/conditioner and 5 styling products) including the three new products. Can you say early Christmas gift? You won’t need to buy shampoo and styling products for a YEAR (maybe).

Here’s how to be entered to win: (This Contest is Over, but stay tuned for more giveaways!)

1. Vote for Homme Grooming in the Cravat Awards (click here).
2. Once you’ve voted, share this post with your Twitter followers and include a #hommegrooming tag so we can keep track of your vote. The more tweets you send out with the #hommegrooming hashtag, the more entries you’ll receive!

We will announce the winner on our Twitter account @hommegrooming on Monday, December 13th. Stay tuned!

The winner is @KennyLong24! Congratulations! We hope you’ll continue to spread the word about Homme Grooming.

Nick Burns, founder of Homme Grooming and co-author of The Bearded Gentleman:The Style Guide to Shaving Face, asked Joe Gallagher of Joe’s Barbershop in San Francisco, to show us how to trim your beard at home. Check out the video below! If you have an idea for a video, send an email to tips@hommegrooming.com!

Their newest products, Smooth & Sophisticated Look Shine Pomade and Deep Clean Shampoo + Hair Scrub can help you go from slob to slick—Mad Men-style. If you’re not sure how to pull off the classic look, AXE asked Amy Komorowski, celebrity hair stylist who has fussed with the hair of Justin Timberlake, Ryan Reynolds and Ed Westwick, for some tips to getting the high polish-look. Here’s how to get it right:

Start with clean, wet hair.

Shampoo with AXE Hair Deep Clean Shampoo + Hair Scrub with rock crystals to help remove hair of gunky build-up.

Typically most styling products work best on dry or almost dry hair, but for this polished style, I recommend applying AXE Smooth & Sophisticated Look Shine Pomade to wet hair in order to lock in the moisture.

To begin styling, take a fingertip amount, rub it vigorously between your hands and spread it evenly through the hair from front to back and back to front – adding more as necessary.

The key to creating the look is in the severe part.  Take a comb and create a side part in a straight line from the front of the head to the crown, then comb the hair into the desired style.

Take another fingertip amount of the shine pomade, rub it between your hands and lightly go over the finished look to ensure it stays in place all day.

If you’re a product guy, your head and hair might need a good scrub,  Styling products can leave residue on your scalp and hair, making it difficult to style and—in extreme cases—can contribute to hair loss. Give your head a good scrubbing with Axe Deep Clean Shampoo and Hair Scrub. It contains rock crystals to help exfoliate your scalp and remove product buildup. But don’t use it everyday—just once a week will do.

WIN IT NOW! If you want to give the look a try, we’re giving away 5 sets of AXE Hair Deep Clean Shampoo + Hair Scrub and Smooth & Sophisticated Look Shine Pomade to the first 5 people who email tips@hommegrooming.com with their name, address, email and telephone number! You must be a US resident and 18 years old or older to win.

AXE Smooth & Sophisticated Look Shine Pomade, $5.99 to $6.99 at drugstores

AXE Deep Clean Shampoo + Hair Scrub, $4.99 to $5.99 at drugstores

Turns out, Malin + Goetz’s new intensive hair mask is a relatively light affair. With a fragrance much like cherry cola, the product is designed for daily use, and largely disappears into your hair after shampooing. Leave it in for 5-15 minutes, depending on your treatment needs, and then rinse. After a week of daily use, I found the mask left my hair shiny and healthy without any noticeable residue or fragrance.

Sceptics, take heart; despite the name, Malin+Goetz’s Intensive Hair Mask won’t weigh you down. —Tom G.

Malin + Goetz Intensive Hair Mask, 40oz/113g $25 at malinandgoetz.com

Q: I have a unibrow — two eyebrows that connect in the middle, meeting as one. How do I split the Siamese twins into two self-sufficient brows? And how do I do this without making that area look too obviously manscaped?

By Shorty Maniace for Men’s Life Today

A: I won’t ask how long you’ve been sporting this Cro-Magnon beast (maybe you kept hoping the caveman look would come back some day?), but now that you’ve manned up to the task of taming it, there are a few things you should know.

First, maybe you should think about switching barbers. A good barber should have taken care of this the last time you got a haircut (with a little tact and a lot of skill). But if you want to try and tackle it on your own, we’ll tell you how.

Second, it’s an old wives’ tale that the more often you shave, the thicker the hair will grow back.

That said, take a beard trimmer, switch it to the No. 1 or 2 setting (for a close cut) and run it over your eyebrows to thin out the hair. Then use a razor to remove the hair in the middle. For a guidepost on how much hair to remove, use the inside corner of your eye — that’s where the brows should start. Next, use a pair of tweezers to remove any other superficial hairs and flyaways, being careful to stay away from plucking the arch of the eyebrow — that’s when you’ll risk looking too manicured. And believe me, your girlfriend doesn’t want to be seen with a man whose eyebrows look nicer than hers.

If this is starting to sound too complicated, consider heading to a salon esthetician. She can help determine the best shape for your brows (straight or with an arch) based on your face shape and features. But stay away from waxing — it looks more obviously “manscaped,” and the hair grows back unevenly.

If you’ve read this far and your unibrow is starting to get cold feet, don’t worry: We heard they’re casting extra werewolves for the next Twilight movie.

Love corduroy? Check out the Levi’s x Opening Ceremony collabo for lightweight, spring-appropriate cords in a 60s-style colors. [GQ Eye]

Warm up your winter with Tom Ford’s new Private Blend Bois Marocain fragrance—a blend of  thuya, Madagascan black pepper, bergamot, and nutmeg. [Truman Says]

Prada + Japan + Denim = Prada’s handmade Japanese Denim. Now available stateside. Need I say more? [Truman Says]

Emporio Armani’s fashion show on Friday will be streamed live over the internet at live.emporioarmani.com and on facebook.com/ARMANI. [Fashionista]

Think everyone is staring at your crotch? They will with these pants. They leave little to the imagination. [OMG]

Stinky balls? There’s a product for that. This lotion promises to keep your berries dry, and stench-free. Amazing. [OMG]

Not sure where to find your favorite moisturizer or aftershave? Lucky for you, we’ve got some of the web’s best sites for men’s products just a click away.

If you’ve got a favorite online shop, post a comment and share with the rest of the class!

Grooming Lounge – The Washington, DC based salons for men (favored by Capitol Hill movers and shakers) also offers a popular online store with Baxter, Barc, Acqua di Parma, ClarinsMen, Dermalogica, Geo F. Trumper and many more.

SkinCareLab – The SoHo spa that has become a favorite of celebrities offers a great selection of highly effective products. Each product line is chosen by the spa’s owner, cosmetic dermatologist Bradford Katchen, MD. The site offers hard-to-find products from La Roche-Posay, Clinique Medical, REN, and SkinCeuticals.

Blue Bee Men – The online home to one of Santa Barbara’s most stylish stores stocks John Allan’s, Baxter of California, Malin + Goetz, Molton Brown and L’Artisan Parfumeur.

Sephora – The mothership of beauty products has an extensive collection of products for men including hundreds of colognes. Look for Anthony Logistics, Zirh, Ole Henriksen, Clinique, and Lab Series. That’s just for starters.

SpaceNK – Part of the British Invasion of SoHo in NYC, Space NK is an awesome shop to find hard-to-find products and a number of products from the other side of the pond. Check here for The Art of Shaving, MenScience, Philip Kingsley, Frederic Fekkai, Dr. Hauschka, Diptyque, Eve Lom and more!

MenEssentials (Canada) – The Canadian motherlode of grooming products features everyone from Men-U, Truefitt & Hill, Urth, Marvis, Sharps, Proraso, Nickel and Jack Black, American Crew and more.

New York nightlife mainstay and tranny performance artist Amanda Lepore has jumped onto the celebrity fragrance bandwagon. She has launched a fragrance called “Amanda” with notes of champagne, steamed rice, cucumber, strawberry and mandarin…seriously. What did you think Amanda would smell like? [NY Times]

Adidas’ newest line SLVR (it’s eco-friendly, relatively affordable and functional clothing, not a Motorola phone, we swear) has opened a new store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. [NY Times]

NowSmellThis has a great review of Guerlain’s Mouchoir de Homme (Gentleman’s Handkerchief), a true classic scent (it was created by Jacques Guerlain himself in 1904). Unleash your inner fop and inhale this potent potion. [NowSmellThis]

The Van Wagner billboard company has rejected a new Armani Exchange ad meant for the Meatpacking District in NYC because of a naked man’s behind is visible in the background. Have they never seen the Tom Ford ads with the fragrance bottle wedged between a woman’s thighs and barely covering her vajayjay? [The Cut & Towleroad]

Football star and Gisele-lover Tom Brady admits to his grooming routine. He wears moisturizer and so should you. Be like Tom. [Butterfly Diary via The Cut]

The first style has a natural, kind of organic look that’s a tad messy with a soft shine. The hair is brushed forward and across, and the bangs lay across the forehead. The other looks (below) continue to follow fashion’s obsession with Mad Men and the classic men’s looks of the buttoned-up 50s. Slick and all-business, but with some high-shine gel adding some serious polish.

(Photos courtesy of Aveda)