The name alone stops people. Triumph & Disaster. It's not a name anyone arrives at through a brand workshop or a marketing brief. It comes from somewhere more personal — a poem, a father, a moment that stayed with a man long enough to shape everything that came after.
A Cricketer, a Poem, and a Problem Worth Solving
Dion Nash spent nearly a decade as a professional cricketer for New Zealand — a career spent almost entirely outdoors, exposed to sun, wind, and sweat in measures most men never encounter. Throughout that time, the high-quality men’s skincare options were still relatively limited. Nash used women's products to protect his skin, not because he preferred them, but because they were the only things that worked.
When he saw a man in a business meeting discreetly reach for a women's hand cream, he had his moment of clarity. Men need products designed specifically for men’s skin and routines that are formulated for how men live and what men's skin actually needs.
Triumph & Disaster was founded in New Zealand in 2011. The name comes from Rudyard Kipling's poem If — a piece of advice from a father to his son about how to live with honour, humility, and courage. Nash's own father had given him a framed copy of the poem as a teenager. The line that became the brand: "If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same."
Nature Engineered by Science
The ingredient philosophy at Triumph & Disaster is precise: naturally derived, scientifically engineered. Not purely natural — a term often loosely defined within the cosmetics industry — but honestly formulated, with plant-based ingredients chosen for their chosen for their traditionally recognised and research-supported properties and enhanced by science to perform better and deliver real results.
The brand sources native New Zealand ingredients that sit at the core of many formulations. Horopito — a native New Zealand plant known for its antioxidant and skin-conditioning properties, traditionally used within Māori herbal practices — appears across the skincare range. Ponga fern extract, also native to New Zealand, helps tone and tighten skin. These are not exotic ingredients added for storytelling value. They are ingredients with a a long history of traditional use and modern cosmetic application., sourced from the country the brand calls home.
The brand avoids ingredients such as parabens, sulphates, and silicones across much of the range. The brand is committed to cruelty-free practices. The brand's sustainability commitment means less packaging, traceable ingredients, sustainable sourcing, and recyclable materials.
The Range at Gentleman & Son
Skincare
The Gameface Moisturiser is the hero product — a lightweight, fast-absorbing daily moisturiser formulated with Horopito and a blend of active botanicals. It's the product that converts men who have never taken moisturising seriously into daily converts. It is often the product that converts men into daily moisturiser users.
The Ritual Face Cleanser is the ideal daily cleanser — gentle enough for everyday use, thorough enough to actually clear the skin. The Rock & Roll Scrub is the exfoliant: it delivers the kind of weekly deep cleanse that makes the moisturiser work harder.
For shaving, the Old Fashioned Shave Cream is a brushless formula designed for in-shower use — softening the beard, protecting the skin, and leaving the face clean and calm post-blade.
Hair Styling
The Coltrane Clay is the workhorse of the hair range — strong hold, matte finish, workable texture that helps maintain workable texture without excessive stiffness or flaking. The Fibre Royale Hair Wax is a beeswax and Argan oil blend with Kawakawa that moulds hair and while helping condition both hair and scalp — hold and conditioning in a single product.
Body
The body range carries the same ingredient integrity as the face products. Body wash, deodorant, and shampoo and conditioner formulated without compromise.
The Packaging
It's worth mentioning because it's distinctive. Triumph & Disaster's visual identity draws from old boxing imagery and vintage liquor brand aesthetics — dark, typographic, slightly worn at the edges in a way that feels intentional rather than affected. The products look as good on a bathroom shelf as they perform on skin.
Why Triumph & Disaster Belongs at Gentleman & Son
Triumph & Disaster is the brand for men who care about what goes into their products. Its New Zealand origin, indigenous ingredient sourcing, science-led formulation philosophy, and the personal story behind every product make it one of the most genuinely distinctive brands in the range.
If the poem means something to you — the idea that how a man prepares himself says something about how he faces the day — then this is the brand that takes that seriously.
