Grooming: Patricks Does It Better

Our customer is a guy who appreciates performance and is happy to spend extra to get the best. Someone who doesn’t settle for “it’s good enough”. We have a very strong brand identity too, so we do attract people who appreciate design and – for lack of a better saying – the finer things in life. Perhaps this is what they call a “luxury consumer”? We spend a lot of time getting fragrances right in all of our products, and feel as though this side of our following really appreciates that.

We’ve purposely stayed away from marketing our products as simply solutions to problems, however we do like to position ourselves as multi-functional, low-fuss products. Boil that all down and you could say our customer is someone who’s after performance, appreciates design and is after a low-fuss regime with maximum results. Demographically that’s a 25 to 55 year old, time-poor male professional, who likes all of the aforementioned.

We didn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to hair products, but we did try to do everything better – packaging, formulations, fragrance and of course incorporating PRC, Patrick’s Recovery Compound, our DHT-blocking hair-loss and scalp-health active ingredient. The devil is in the details!

To be honest, when we were first designing the packaging it was all about function over form. The product’s performance was second to none, and I knew the packaging would be taken to the gym, work trips, holidays and everything else; so I designed the double lock system along with the audible click to let the user know that the package is locked and ready for the rigours of pressurised air travel.

I thought it was a bit utilitarian and ugly in the beginning, but its function gave it a weird beauty – and I think that resonated with many of our customers as well as all the people that have given us design awards over the years. The double-lock packaging was a first and I think guys really trust it. It looks so different to everything else out there it also gives it a unique positioning whether it be in a retail environment, or at home in a guy’s bathroom. We even have rubber gaskets on the bottom of the packaging to prevent it scratching surfaces, as well as for better hold on the product during use. We have a video on our website that goes through everything!

We spent four years developing the formulas with one of the best labs in the world as well as testing the products on 200-300 men per week. This allowed us to perfect each style of product and get the performance that we are now known for.

The first thing most guys do when they open the packaging is smell the product, and because of this, we went to a fragrance house in New York and developed bespoke colognes for all of our products. We used Tom Ford, Creed, Chanel, Le Labo, Byredo etc. as benchmarks because they were the colognes that I personally use and love. The trick is to not make them too strong – you don’t want a hair product outdoing your expensive cologne.

We developed a compound that we named PRC – Patricks Recovery Compound – that we put in all of our products, that prevents hair loss and helps create thicker, fuller hair. It’s a proprietary blend of 14 actives that addresses the causes of hair loss, supports hair growth, and scalp and hair health. If a product's going to be in your hair all day, it should at least be somewhat good for it and it’s a concern that most guys are glad we addressed.

Our philosophy on ingredients is pretty simple. Use the best available and at active levels, not claim levels, which in our opinion, is the biggest cop-out in this industry. Every product we develop has an open budget with the lab so the chemists and engineers know they can really push the limits of performance and create products that actually work. I feel like this makes the chemists “give a shit”’ about our formulas and go the extra mile for us!

Often brands will use ingredients at levels that they can “claim”, as opposed to levels that the particular active in question has been clinically tested at. Whilst the latter is a more expensive way to produce products, we believe in doing it this way to ensure the best product ends up in our customer’s hands. It’s better for re-purchase, as the products do what they say on the box – this is a bit of an office mantra! Of course, that probably describes why our products sit, price-wise, in our particular segment; however I can assure you our margins are nowhere near as good as a number of more well-known brands out there, which we think ultimately makes our products great value.

As mentioned above we only use the best quality raw and actives when it comes to the formulations of all of our products at our labs in the US. All the packaging for the above products is 50 to 100% PCR plastics with recyclable, biodegradable, compostable, refillable, reclaimed parts.

Our AM1 Anti-Aging Moisturizer is officially the best moisturizer in the world. Well, according to British GQ, who recently informed us that AM1 took out the prestigious Best Moisturizer category for 2021. And our SH1 Thickening Shampoo, specifically formulated for men concerned with, or beginning to experience hair loss.

We are launching the AM2 Matte Finish Moisturizer for normal to oily skin, the SR1 Matte Finish Super Serum which we developed in Korea, the SH Plus and CD Plus ultra-high-performance hair loss shampoo and conditioner, and SH Lite and CD Lite high-performance entry-level shampoo and conditioner without all the hair loss actives. Then we have the M4 Super Matte finish high hold styling product and the ND1 high performance natural deodorant.

Shop Patricks hair and skincare range and other men’s grooming essentials below.