Thread: The Art of Shaving Unscented Line

Since all vendors I buy from keeps on sending me sample of unscented AOE stuff, I thought I might just as well review them.

So far I've gotten these samples;
Pre-shave oil
Shaving cream

I haven't had time to try the shaving cream yet, but I have tested the oil so I'm gonna write a review on that today, and then do the cream tomorrow if I have enough time.

I tried the Unscented Pre-Shave Oil and I must say I'm impressed. I didn't really get the point of these oils before trying this one, so I went at it in a quite weird way.
I thought that since they are designed to give a smoother shave, why not pit them against something that does the opposite. So I cracked out the Mach3, with a blade that didn't have more than half a shave left in it. I then deliberately did a half-job preparing my face by just massaging in some warm water instead of having a shower and some facewash before shaving. Afterwards I just massaged the 1½ teaspoons of oil that was in the sampler into my face, and started preping my lather. I used Dr. Harris Arlington soap and a BBB from EJ.

First there's a bit of annoyance with using these oils. Due to the way soap works the oil is going to bind with the soap which destroys the lather. This doesn't mean that you can't lather up properly the first time, but if you don't rinse out your brush and redo the lather before re-lathering the second time, you won't be able to get any good lather. Still, this is a minor inconvenience and is only truly annoying if you don't know this is going to happen. After making new lather for the second pass you can use that batch for all the following passes.

The oil itself gives you loads of time preping your lather and lathering up since it keeps your face moist in some kind of weird but good fashion. When you then do start shaving, it feels a tad slicker than usual, but it's a quite subtle effect. I also noticed that I was able to do more passes than usual (and with usual I normally use a new blade, this on had about 3 shaves on it). There's no need to re-apply oil after the first pass, or any other pass for that matter as the oil doesn't go away.

But, the true forte of this product is what it does to your face after shaving. After the cold water rince and towel patting, I noticed that my face felt very conditioned, like if I had spend quite a lot of time rubbing moisturizer into my face. This effect didn't go away after AS either, and stayed with me for the rest of the day.

Will cont. in a moment.

The oil didn't interfere with my AS either, which I consider a big bonus. Also the moisturized feeling was very nice since my face is normally quite dry after shaving.

The shave was also as good as the ones I get with a shower and new Mach3 blade, which kind of says something about what the oil actually does.

The only real downside with this oil is the way it smells, like olive-oil cut with cloves, which is probably what it really is. But this isn't a problem as their scented pre-shave oils are essentially the same, just with added scent. The smell isn't such a big problem since it's quite subtle after you've lathered up, and after the cold rinse you can't distinguish it at all.

Pros;
Shortens prep work, and helps keep the face "moist" after washing
Gives better glide with less irritation
Gives the face a moisturized feeling after shaving that's very persistent and nice feeling

Cons;
Makes lathering a bit more tiresome
Smell isn't very great

That's it, stay tuned for the coming cream review and my coming review on T&H's pre-shave oil!

Today I tried the shave cream for my morning shave, and it's also high quality stuff. It doesn't smell much of anything, which is kinda odd feeling but quite nice for a change. It's also latherable by hand, which is great for travel.

Now, how it behaves in a proper wet-shave;
I did as usual, post shower I soaked my brush (should have done it beforehand, but I forgot), the same EJ BBB that's all the rage over at B&B. Then I went method shaving style and opened the brush's "breech", and put a big dollop in there, afterwards closing the "breech". Then I proceeded building lather on my face. First of all, it doesn't need much water at all for a proper shave, I added just a little bit for ultra-slick lather. It also lathers up really quick, just about as soon as you start lathering. The lather is a bit thicker than what I get from my Dr. Harris Arlington, which should be about right for a glycerin based product.

Now, the shave;

The shave was a bit better than my first try, and my face felt a bit slicker than normally. The cream also added a lot of cushion to my face, so the shave was easier as well. As this was my second straight shave, I can't really say that the 2 nicks I got (compared to 10 for my first try) was all down to the cream, more a combination of stropping, honing, better feel and the cream. The cream definitively benefit me, as a pure straight razor noob, so I'm not sure how much better your shave would get if you were a seasoned vet, but it was definitively easier to get a good feel.

The cream is also very long lasting, I was able to completely lather 3 times, and the brush didn't feel any "lighter" after the third pass, so I think you could get away with either 6 passes or half the about I used (think 1 small penny pile, I used about 2).

A truly recommended recommended product, and the high price isn't that insane given the effect, feel and longevity of the product! The unscented in the name isn't true though, should read scentless.

Does anyone here actually like Art of Shaving Cream? I have sandlewood, and it didn't lather as much as I thought. I'm a noob, so who knows if that was the issue...but I tried a few times (TAoS Badger brush too), and got--what I felt to be--a rather light lather.

I'm going to keep on trying...but is it the cream or my technique?

Originally Posted by Stuggi

First there's a bit of annoyance with using these oils. Due to the way soap works the oil is going to bind with the soap which destroys the lather.

I've been using the AOS unscented pre-shave oil (and cream and aftershave) since now almost a year, and I never had the issue of the oil destroying the lather... maybe it is because I am using not soap but cream... and I always had no problem growing a nice lather from the first to the third pass without rinsing the brush.
What you may try is the following - it is working for me - : apply the pre-shave oil before stropping so it will produce its effect while you are stropping and lathering; do not grow the lather entirely in the shaving bowl, but stop using the bowl when the brush is fully covered and only a thin layer of lather is in the bowl; use a lot of water on your face and finish building the lather on it. It worked for me.

@Whatsthe2ndDfor Maybe you need a little more practice... I never tried their scented line, but I never had a problem building a very rich lather from the unscented cream... but maybe somebody here had other experiences...

I myself prefer T&H, The Gentlemen's Refinery or Origin pre-shave oil to the one made by AOS but only because they are a little less oily... but I think that they all perform their task very well.

Originally Posted by Whatsthe2ndDfor

Does anyone here actually like Art of Shaving Cream? I have sandlewood, and it didn't lather as much as I thought. I'm a noob, so who knows if that was the issue...but I tried a few times (TAoS Badger brush too), and got--what I felt to be--a rather light lather.

I'm going to keep on trying...but is it the cream or my technique?

Hi there,

It's kinda funny you asked about the shaving cream, since I finally got around to using the stuff recently. Yeah, I had a bad experience (burned my poor face)) with the sandalwood cream a few years back, and I stayed away from any other AOS product till maybe 3 weeks ago. Heh, I wish I wouldn't have waited so long, because both the lemon and unscented versions have been excellent!

I'm mostly using soaps like MWF, IK, and DR Harris products now, but will still use the occasional cream as a nice change up. I gotta say, the AOS has all those soaps beat in ease of lathering........unbelieveable. Takes me 20-30 seconds to make a very thick and dense lather. It's a real kick, since all those soaps take a good bit longer to reach the tiny bubble stage. It's easier than most other creams I've tried as well.

There's plenty of slip while shaving, and the very tiny bubbles add a nice cushion for the razor to waltz over. The lather is as thick as any of those soaps I mentioned, which is saying something. Plus, much less product than you might think is plenty for my 4+ passes. Hehe, can you tell I like this stuff? I would also mention the post shave skin care was quite good.....not drying in the least.

Price is not bad...yeah, it's not out of line for what you get. Standard price on a 5 ounce tub is $22. That will last a very long time, and it's less money than a comparable T&H item. Seriously, this is my next cream to buy. Don't give up on this stuff till you find the sweet spot....its there somewhere......heh.

Hope that helps,
Martin

I am not sure how true it is, but I seem to have read somewhere that the current cream formulation is different and better than previous. I like the sandalwood cream. It lathers well for me, and the scent is good, not articifial, if just a bit too strong, and leaves my brush smelling of sandalwood for days despite use with other creams. I find the lavender to lather better. They both provide good lubrication and cushioning.

The only unscented I have tried is their soap, which I think is outstanding, and is one of the few soaps that are still tallow based. Ridiculously expensive with the bowl, but if you act fast, you can still get it HERE for 50% off.

Yeah, the cream lathers like crazy. Put a little dollop in the middle of your brush when it's wet and start working it straight on your face, worked real good for me!