Thread: Art of Shaving "Lavender" shaving cream

Let me begin by expressing my gratitude to the good people at The Different Scent in Berlin. Jens, the owner of TDS, kindly provided me with the full range of AOS shaving products for reviewing purposes, free of charge, for which many thanks!

Packaging: I got the dispenser. It is a very nice package, not least because you can dispense equal doses of this cream.

Texture: Slightly more liquid than I had expected. More like a thick balm than a thick cream.

Scent: If you take Castle Forbes's Lavender Cream as the benchmark, AOS's is much tamer. Personally, I like that. The smell is more discreet, but lingers on for quite a few minutes.

Latherability: AOS creams are allergic to water, and the Lavender is no exception to this rule. If you start with very little water and add more along the lather building way, you will get the meringue like texture every shaver craves for. If you do not, you will either get a sticky mess that will dry up faster than you can say "Castle Forbes", or a Lavender smelling liquidy mess that will not provide any cushion.

Cushion: See above. If your lather is as it should be, this cream will deliver an excellent cushion.

Moisturising: Three words: Not quite enough. If you do not use AOS's aftershave, or one that is equally rich. I used AOS's Lavender preshave oil and Castle Forbes' Lavender aftershave, and my skin dried up in a rather unpretty way.

Price: This cream is expensive, or rather, it is even more expensive than Castle Forbes. But it does not deliver as well as CF's Lavender does. In a squeeze, I would opt for CF, because it is easier to lather up, and provides better moisturising.

Overall impression: On the down side, this cream is more difficult to lather up, costs more, than the benchmark product (and I consider all of Castle Forbes's products such). On the up side, if used properly (i.e. alongside its family members, the pre and after shave), it is a very good cream that leaves little to be desired. Still, I rate it 8.0 because of its drawbacks when compared with CF Lavender.

It sounds like they may have made the cream more liquidy to make it work with the dispenser. The AOS creams I've had in the tube and tub have had a more traditional consistency - same as say, T&H or Trumper. Thanks for the review. I look forward to seeing what you have to say about the soaps.

I'm not much of a cream guy, but I do think AOS creams are up there with the best of them.

Jordan

I recently bought a tube of the sandalwood one and I quite like it. It smells wonderful and gives a nice thick lather as well. It's also nice to be able to find it locally (no shipping charges)

Great reviews, Robin. Thanks!

Just a comment on price for this and the other AOS creams - in the US, they can frequently be found for $22 when on sale, less than 2/3 the price of CF.

Not bad at all, although if you have very sensative skin that reacts to strong scents you might be pushing the limit with this one...