Beauty news for the man in your life: the arrival of Triumph & Disaster

Taking its name from Rudyard Kipling’s poem of the same name and its aesthetic from Brooklyn’s rock n’ roll dandies, Dion Nash’s men’s skincare and grooming range Triumph & Disaster is one impressive beast. Despite the fact that the company is still in its infancy it’s making some serious waves in the industry, and not long after sitting down for coffee with its creator I was soon a raving fan.

The former New Zealand cricketer and 42 Below alumni is passionate about decent skincare for men that looks good and actually does what it says, and the high performance ingredients in his small-but-perfectly-formed offering would put many a women’s skincare brand to shame.

"It's about doing things right to set you up for the day,” he has said of the range, “The idea is you should clean, shave and protect your face in the morning. If you do those things before leaving the house, you'll give yourself every chance of dealing with triumph and disaster over the course of the day." Products like his soon-to-be-released daily moisturiser will more than set you up to face whatever the day will throw at you, and the tester pot I got to have a play with points to an offering that is set to turn the men’s skincare market on its head. Serious skincare it most definitely is, as well as giving a healthy nod to tradition in the form of an old-fashioned shave cream designed to be used with a brush and a shearing soap modelled on what they used after a hard day in the woolshed.

 The Old Fashioned Shave Cream is my husband’s go-to product right now and he’s a hard man to impress. Lanolin is its key ingredient – giving it some serious glide – and a few citrus notes thrown in for good measure give it a scent that is reminiscent of old school barber shops and the secrets held within their walls.

The products were created in collaboration with a chemist named Phil, who has a history that includes creating fragrances in France for major names like Christian Dior as well as developing consumer-focused products after a move to Australia. “His experience in the industry has been invaluable,” Dion tells me, “and he really ‘gets’ what I’m hoping to achieve. He’s an amazing find.”

Oh and if all of this isn’t enough to convince you to give the range a second look, it’s refreshingly paraben, petroleum and silicone free. In Dion’s words: “derived from nature, engineered with science,” and I strongly suggest you check it out now.

Have a closer look at Triumph & Disaster here.