Solid State is a company that produces solid fragrances for men. I can’t find too much history on the company online, but they’re based in Australia, and produce a range of fragrances, body and face washes. Their major USP is the fact that their fragrances are ‘solid’, in some kind of a wax base, so the product should last longer, and is much more convenient for taking out and about with you, to ‘top-up’ (which according to almost every review I read), is a necessity. But hey, these are the days of the metrosexual male, and there is absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t too become accustomed to pop off to the loo ‘to refresh’ our fragrance, just as women have been doing for years. Having been bombarded by their UK Facebook advertising campaign, I thought I would give it a go. So I placed an order from their website. I thought I’d play it safe, and go for the variant which has attracted the most positive reviews, ‘Wayfarer’, which is ‘inspired’ by Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille, which...

[image] So You’re Thinking About Fountain Pens… There are a lot of good reasons to use a fountain pen. For one, it adds character to your handwriting—in every dot, cross, and flourish—that you just can’t get from a standard ballpoint. Some people consider it a relatively inexpensive way to bring luxury into their day-to-day lives. Others like that it’s reusable, and more cost-effective than buying a new disposable pen every time the last one runs dry. Then there’s that hard-to-describe feeling: Fountain pens feel good to write with, plain and simple, and they make you want to keep writing. Once you’ve decided to make the switch, there are a few steps you’ll need to take before you’re ready to jot, scrawl, and scribble with the best of them. The world of fountain pens, like any new hobby, can be a mysterious place with its own history and vernacular. And it can get a little messy, too—especially when you want to clean your pen or start inking it from a bottle. But don’t let that...