King of Shaves meets Jack Wills (or Abercrombie, depending on which side of the pond you live on) for a very dapper take on the affordable men’s grooming market. Let’s take a closer look at Kings, shall we?

Championing classic British style with a contemporary twist, Kings is a range designed to keep you always impeccably groomed. Our products reflect a timeless English panache coupled with the desire to do things differently, whilst retaining a focus on quality and elegance.

At Kings we take fragrance very seriously. It’s a personal signature and all Kings’ products have a unique and distinctive aroma which lift the spirits and the senses. The range includes products for hair, body and face that are perfect for everyday use yet special enough to rise to the occasion with enough zest to lift things out of the ordinary.

After my disaster with the Soap and Glory men’s line, this comes as a refreshing change – the line is chic, well thought-out and easy on the eyes. The products themselves are split into three separate ranges that span through face, hair and body. The ranges are all characterised by their own scent and take on products; for example the Faraday range – made for the modern dandy – is scented with black pepper and sandalwood.

The sheer attention to detail in both scent and packaging immediately places Kings above anything else at a similar pricepoint. Hopefully this marks a shift in the affordable grooming market where most lines default to the generic marketing answer to ‘modern and masculine’  -  lots of silver and black and very little subtlety.

I haven’t seen the line on a shelf yet but it’s bound to make a stark contrast against brands like Lynx which look and feel as cheap as they cost. The Kings line definitely reads far more expensive than it is with prices starting at around £2. Okay, it’s a little bit ‘Skincare for Toffs’ but it makes a nice change from the usual.

I’ve only tried a few things from the line so far, the Kielder hair cream – which smells nice but is way too heavy for my short hair. May have to try the wax. The Hayward shower gel which smells very fresh and citrusy (the fragrance stays on the skin for quite a while) and the Faraday deodrant which does the job and smells good too. The scents aren’t incredibly complex or expensive but they’re nice, very nice actually. Haven’t had a chance to look at the rest but I’ll update when I do!

Just one word of warning, with a line so concentrated on fragrance, I think you might smell like you dipped yourself in cologne if you use it all. Try out a few key pieces instead, I recommend starting with the body products. Having said that, this is certainly a line to watch and well worth a look next time you’re in Boots.