In my beauty career over the last 16 years, I’ve worked with all of them: The Modern Man was the first sponsor of Manface when I launched back in 2011. I was the early blog editor for Mankind. I...
In my beauty career over the last 16 years, I’ve worked with all of them: The Modern Man was the first sponsor of Manface when I launched back in 2011. I was the early blog editor for Mankind. I used to love working with the now defunct Brummels of London. There just never seems to have been a breakout star of the men’s online grooming world – no one ever really got it right.
So when I first heard about Humanery.com, I was sceptical; feeling I’d seen it all before and that I knew its eventual fate. But it was responding to a callout, looking for someone to help them drive the brand forward in the digital grooming space, to help navigate the pitfalls so many before it had fallen into, that I felt my experience, expertise – and probably ego – could help this venture stick!
Therefore, don’t read this as an impartial review, I am the Consultant Growth Marketing Director for the firm, but instead, see this as the inside scoop of what I feel has the potential to become a staple of British the men’s grooming industry; helping men get the solutions they need a new, emerging brands to get the spotlight they deserve.
Captain Fawcett’s Booze and Baccy Shampoo, one of the brands available on Humanery.com
Who is behind Humanery.com?
Sid Baveja is the founder and CEO of Humanery.com. An understated, charismatic individual with a background in both finance and a tiny, little-known delivery platform you may or may not have heard of… Just Eat. Sid is not from the world of cosmetics and grooming, and because of this, has come to this venture with an objective viewpoint.
Sid has amassed an incredible team around him – the humans of Humanery – including top developers, marketers, and creatives as well as the likes of Lee Kynaston (Grooming Guru), Adrian Clark and Jeremy Langmead to name a few. There is some real effort going into making Humanery.com a success in a way I haven’t seen before.
Sid wanted to create a digital retail platform that encompasses all male well-being: skincare, grooming, fragrance, mental well-being and men’s self-care.
Why was Humanery.com founded?
When we first met, Sid talked about a specific experience in one of London’s most well known department stores, where some really bad customer service lead him to be inadvertently recommended an excellent grooming solution for his shave rash at the time – Aesop Moroccan Neroli Post-Shave Lotion. This made him question how many men’s skincare and grooming solutions fail to get into the hands of those who need them because they’re sold so badly – both in-store and online.
Sid also believes, and he’s right on this, there is a lack of choice for male customers in traditional beauty environments. It creates a terrible experience and further impedes us men who want to take premium skincare and grooming more seriously.
My last little haul from Humanery.com including hair paste, shower gel and a candle. There’s a huge choice, it’s not just shaving creams and beard oils by any means!
What is unique about Humanery.com?
It’s a marketplace not a traditional e-tailer. Whilst that might sound like some sort of jargon technicality, it’s actually very important to you as a customer. Instead of all the stock being in some mega-warehouse, most of the Humanery.com catalogue is delivered to you by the brands themselves. So if you buy three things, they may come in three separate packages – it does all arrive at pretty much the same time.
But the advantage to you comes from the ability of new and niche men’s skincare and grooming brands to get in front of you by overcoming their biggest barrier – not having the money to send unreasonable amounts of stock, plus huge fees and percentage cuts to work with the likes of Boots, The Hut Group (Look Fantastic, Mankind et al.) and FeelUnique etc.
I’ll review this separately but a new candle brand I am dying to share with you.
This means so many great brands you might have never heard of get their time to shine, resulting in better options and more choice – with Humanery.com working hard to curate the marketplace with the expertise and knowledge of the editorial and consulting team: Lee, Adrian, Jeremy, me et al.
But these frustrations with the market are not just shared by the smaller, niche brands but also the likes of Clinique, Aesop and Augustinus Bader to name a few, who you’ll also find on the platform. All being amassed by Claire Marden, former president/director of sales for The Inkey List and Pixi Inc.
What brands are available on Humanery.com?
Despite being only around a year old there are a good number of brands on Humanery, the following just to name a few.
Augustinus BaderDr. David JackPATRICKSRUFFIANSJack Black NEWHaeckelsBARBER PROADAM Grooming AtelierSmileTimeMurdock London (who I featured when they first launched)Captain Fawcettanatom?Dr Jackson’sLifeJacket Skin ProtectionHEATHCheck out Humanery.com and explore it for yourself, the products in the photographs for this post were from my last order and really show the variance of what’s on offer, with Suru Punjab Rose candle, Captain Fawcett Booze & Baccy Body Wash and PATRICKS M3 Matte Finish. The last two are for Mr. Manface, neither brand he’s tried before and were instant winners.