Old Spice Guy Isaiah Mustafa is more than a pretty face with a a tightly toned torso and a voice like butter. At one point, he was a actually a real dude, just like you.
After running track in high school, Mustafa decided to try football and ultimately walked-on at Arizona State University as a wide receiver. He played in the 1997 Rose Bowl and caught passes from quarterback Jake “The Snake” Plummer.
Post graduation in 1997, Mustafa played on the practice squads for the Tennessee Oilers, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Seattle Seahawks and even played a season in NFL Europe for the Barcelona Dragons.
After football and prior to landing the “Old Spice Guy” gig, Mustafa owned and operated a restaurant in L.A., won $47,000 on game show The Weakest Link and landed acting roles for shows on NBC, ABC, USA Network and The CW.
We spoke to Isaiah just prior to the kickoff of Old Spice’s year-long partnership with Tough Mudder at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, where he and thousands of athletes took on a grueling 10-plus mile obstacle course.
We’ve partnered with Old Spice to give you a chance to win your own Hardest Working toolkit, featuring a collection of scents so powerful, so masculine, we almost didn’t want to share it with you!
Inside the box, you’ll find the entire lineup of Hardest Working Collection products (including Odor Blocker and Sweat Defense anti-perspirants, plus Dirt Destroyer body wash) to put you through the paces as you lead your legendary existence. Dig a bit deeper and you’ll also find:
• FREE entry into a 2016 Tough Mudder event to challenge the performance of the Hardest Working Collection
• An Old Spice T-shirt fit for Legendary Men
• A gift from Tough Mudder partner Merrell to keep more than your armpits dry
• An autographed photo from the product king himself, Bob Giovanni (as seen on Old Spice’s popular digital infomercials)
• Recognition of your Legendary status with a customizable trophy, as commemorated by Old Spice
The giveaway ends on April 20th, so don’t waste another second and enter today! For more information about the Hardest Working Collection, check out the Old Spice Facebook page and YouTube channel.
As a dude, do you know how bad petroleum jelly is for your skin? Of course not, why would you? You’re a dude. I had absolutely no idea, either.
The most egregious of all is that before it’s refined, petroleum jelly includes carcinogenic compounds. What’s a carcinogen? A substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue. Of course, carcinogens don’t cause cancer in every case, but why are we so cavalier about using petroleum jelly if we know the potential exists?
Petroleum jelly was originally created for the purpose of coating the bottom of oil rigs in 1859. You heard right; it was literally made to help streamline vessels traveling in the ocean, not the vessel of your body.
Rather than actually healing your skin, it creates the illusion of moisturized, hydrated skin by creating a barrier and sealing the skin so that moisture cannot leave. So really, it functions as a water-repellent while suffocating your pores.
For as cool as all that was, Old Spice is back with Bob Giovanni, the self proclaimed “King of Products.” The patron saint of the new Old Spice Hardest Working Collection wants you to #smellegendary. Give this video a sniff:
I learned more about shaving from pro barber Woody Donahue in two hours than I had in 20-plus years of begrudgingly dragging a razor across my face. Donahue, the official Schick Hydro barber, set up shop at The Carlton Hotel in New York City and gave us the full treatment via hot towel shaves at a showcase event for the new Hydro5 and Edge Shave Gel.
Schick has made a concerted effort to be the most sensitive of razor companies. So sensitive, that in the past I have mused that the Hydro5 has all the sensitivity of a toddler petting a kitten on a pillow with a rainbow in the background, while listening to Richard Marx’s hit power ballad, “Hold Onto the Nights.”
If you’re like me prior to the event, you probably have no idea how great, and how necessary a full shave from a professional is. On top of being surprisingly relaxing (considering a dude has a razor at your jugular), a hot towel treatment at the start gently opens your pores and relaxes your skin.
Rather than smacking shaving cream on haphazardly and scraping a cold metal blade across your face, the billboard of “You Incorporated,” if you will, there are several aspects necessary for a proper shave, like also making sure the blade has been at least warmed slightly by running it under hot water.
After the hot towel cooled on my face after several minutes, Donahue got to work. The number of dudes I would trust to run a razor across my face and neck can be counted on one hand. But Donahue became one of the few, and easily the best.
