Caffeine, it’s that much loved little drug of choice that gives you a little extra pep when you need a little extra oomph to get things going. I for one am a fan of caffeine. It can increase your energy, helps with headaches (although it can cause them as well) and it promotes brain activity, unless of course you use it as a chaser for alcohol. I’m taking to you Red Bull and vodka. In those cases I think it just gives you more energy to destroy your brain cells faster. Still, it does have some attributes that make it my drug of choice.
Over the years my consumption of caffeine has included:
- Coffee – Cold and hot
- Tea – Cold and hot
- Chocolate covered coffee beans
- Chocolate in general
- Pills – Vivarin, NoDoz
- Energy drinks – Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, etc.
- Yerba Mate
- Hot chocolate
- Sodas – Coke, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, etc.
- Bubble Gum – Yes I did try Jolt gum once . . . only once. Okay, so maybe I made it through the entire pack, but at least two pieces were given to people I was not particularly fond of, who liked to get all uppity and tell me I was addicted to drugs because I drank Mello Yello.
Apart from the pills, chocolate, chocolate covered coffee/espresso beans, and gum my history with this little pick-me-up has been beverage related. Hell, even today my average daily caffeine consumption comes from one can of Xing tea, usually blueberry or mango flavored. There is also the occasionally iced chai tea or Tai iced tea. So yeah, when it comes to caffeineing myself up (yes, it’s a real word, which I just made up), tea is my old reliable, and drinking it is how I get my daily allotment . . . or so I thought.
On the average, men can be a touch lazy when it comes to caring about products that are part of our hygiene care. In the beginning there was soap, one product that was used for washing ourselves, including our hair. Then came shampoo, which was apparently liquid soap just for the hair on your head. But you know what? After we were introduced to shampoo we used it for both soap and shampoo. That is until it ran out, in which case we went back to just using a bar of soap for both until we got some more shampoo.
Then came conditioner. Want to know what every man thinks when he’s first introduced to conditioner? “What the hell is this?” Seriously, it’s a confusing addition to our hygiene productions arsenal. At this point in my life all I can tell you about conditioner is that it’s essentially lotion for your hair.
And yes when I run out of shampoo, that’s when I finally use the conditioner, but not as conditioner, it just replaces my shampoo until I can get some new shampoo.
Some companies had done a brilliant job in realizing that men don’t care about the crap we use in the shower to get us clean. There are now 2 in 1 products with shampoo and conditioner combined together in one, which, when it comes down to it is just soap with some lotion in it. I have even seen 3 in 1 products, which is body wash, shampoo and conditioner all in one. You know, soap with some lotion in it.
So a while ago my sweetie-baby-cutie-pie-wifey-pooh, who, as a woman has chosen to accept that there is a difference between soap, shampoo, and conditioner (apart from the smell) and is very adamant that I have my own of these products so I do not use hers, got me some new 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner specifically for men. I know this because it says so on the bottle.
Well, the other morning, as I was dumping a glob of this liquid soap into my hand to begin lathering up, I noticed something on the front of the bottle. A little box highlighting the fact that the stuff I was about use to wash my hair and my armpits contained caffeine!
That’s right, you can now skip your morning cup of joe and just wet, lather, and rinse your head. And for those of you what are used to that extra shot of espresso in your morning blend, well, that’s what the “repeat” directions are for.
At first I was a bit skeptical about caffeinating my hair before work. I was sure my hair was going to get all wigged out, and I’d show up at work with Don King equivalent hair do, or worse. Surprisingly, my hair seemed okay with this new ingredient, and behaved rather nonchalantly about the whole thing.
There have even been a few days that I have skipped my tea and didn’t really notice much difference. However, I don’t see it as a reliable replacement in most cases. For one thing, it would be weird going into my work bathroom for a quick lather and rinse if I’m feeling the need for a little pick-me-up in the afternoon. Likewise, lathering up while you drive down the road could cause a few more problems than just drinking a caffeinated soda or some coffee because you feel a little tired behind the wheel.
Well I purchase this product again after it’s gone. Truth is, you’ll have to ask my wife about that one, because I really don’t have a strong opinion about it one way or the other . . . it’s soap.
I will, however, state that for the record, adding caffeinated shampoo to the tub so you can take a hot, relaxing bubble bath is quite counterproductive.
Image Sources:
Google Images, keywords: caffeine, caffeinated drinks, shampoo = soap, crazy hair.
Copyright © 2013 Richard Timothy