Best of the premium shaving creams I have tried. I have tried the following brands of Shaving Cream in the following order: Taylor of Old Bond Street Lavender Shaving Cream Bowl Taylor of Old Bond Street Lemon + Lime Shaving Cream Paula's Choice PC4Men Shave Proraso Shaving Cream, Sandalwood Musgo Real Shave Cream Proraso Shaving Cream, Aloe and Vitamin E First, a little about me and how I shave, so you have some perspective when reading my review... I am a bald man and shave my face as well as head. I am fair skinned and would say that my beard is medium-coarse and my skin is semi-sensitive. I prefer using a Gillete Fusion cartridge blade, although I have tried many other types. I shave in a hot shower and apply shave cream to my face using a Vulfix "Super Badger" hair brush, and apply it to the brush with my hand. I don't use a bowl, due to being in the shower, and since my hand works just fine to mix/apply the cream to my brush. In a shave cream product, I look for a product that creates good lather, reduces friction and irritation, has a comfortable shave, is moisturizing, doesn't make me break out, and either unscented or a pleasant smell. My first foray into premium shave creams started with the brand, Taylor of Old Bond Street. I really liked their lavender shave cream bowl. I happily used it for a couple of years. It has a nice smell and a thick lather which lasts on the brush for as many as 5 passes on my head and face with only re-applying to the brush once. It was a very comfortable shave and left my face and head soft, smooth, and moisturized. The smell was a little strong, but I love the smell of lavender and enjoyed it despite the strength of the fragrance. I never had any problems with breakouts or irritation, and always had a good shave. I also tried the lemon-lime scent, but didn't find it as pleasing as the lavender variety, although the shave quality was the same as the lavender scented cream. The lemon-lime scent is not nearly as strong as the lavender, and I would recommend these two Taylor products to anyone; they're awesome. The problem with the Taylor stuff for me was that, in the shower, I would have to unscrew the top of the bowl container, set it aside, then use my fingers to collect some cream, and then replace the cap. A few times I ended up spilling some or getting water in the bowl, thereby wasting product. By the end of the usable life of the bowl of shave cream, I had a watered down cream. So, I decided to look for shave cream in a tube form, for easier use in the shower. I'm not sure why I never tried the tubes that Taylor sells. Perhaps it was the cost, or maybe they weren't available at the time. I can't remember. First, I tried the brand, "Paulas Choice", since my wife and I use her skin products like sun screen, exfoliants, anti-oxidant creams, moisturizers, cleansers, etc. She makes great stuff and it is much more affordable than other premium brands. I highly recommend her stuff. Where her stuff is lacking, though, is in men's shave products. I tried her "PC4MEN Shave" gel and found it to be extremely thin, no lather, and not as pleasing to shave with. Admittedly, it is not meant to be a lathering cream, and is an entirely different type of product, which some people may actually prefer. The shave was not as comfortable or pleasing as any of the creams I've used, but did seem to provide decent lubrication. I had to apply it several times during a shave and use a lot of semi-expensive product. I just didn't like it. If Paula ever comes out with an actual shave cream, I will rush to try it, because of the extremely high quality of everything else she sells. Next, I ordered myself a tube each of the Musgo Real and the Proraso Snadalwood creams from Amazon. I decided to try the Proraso first. It had a nice, very light smell. It lathered up thick and creamy, and felt great going on my skin with my Vulfix badger brush that I've used for years. I had a slightly better shave than the Taylor stuff I used to use, with less irritation; I wasecstatic. I was getting a better shave, without the hassle of the bowl packaging. It was also easier to pack and travel with than the bowl. Admittedly, I miss the Taylor's lavender smell a little. I'm not super-crazy about the sandalwood smell, but it is pleasant and very light. My skin feels smooth, moisturized, and without irritation when shaving with the Proraso Sandalwood. It is my favorite shave cream product I've tried. Next I tried the Musgo Real. I really liked it. The smell was different than the Proraso Sandalwood, and I preferred it over the Proraso. The Musgo Real has a thicker feel. It probably has less water in it than the Proraso stuff. It also has, what seems to be, fibrous strands of something mixed in. It feels really nice! When applying it with my brush, it felt super thick and hearty. It required a little more work to generate the same lather as the Proraso, and Oh!, what torture it is needing to massage my face more with my badger hair brush! Just kidding, of course. More time with the brush is actually a pleasure, except if you're in a big hurry. I got an excellent shave with the Musgo Real and really liked it. Very little irritation, and it is right up there with the Proraso Sandalwood for comfort and a very pleasant shave. It takes a very close second place to the Proraso Sandalwood, mainly because of my preference for Proraso's easier lathering. I feel like the Musgo Real did last a little longer on the brush for more applications, but only very slightly longer. Next, I was running out of my supply, so I decided to order some more Proraso. I decided that since I wasn't in love with the Sandalwood scent, I would try Proraso's Viramin E and Aloe formula. On my first shave with it, I didn't like it very much. The scent reminded me of Johnson and Johnson's body powder. Not horrible, but not my preference. It's a very light scent and not over powering, just like the sandalwood, but, regardless, the scent was more bothersome to me than pleasant. It went on a little thinner than the Proraso Sandalwood, and I needed to use significantly more to get a decent lather. Even when applying a good amount, the lather was not as rich as with the Proraso Sandalwood's or Musgo Real's. The Proraso Vitamin E and Aloe also has a slight bit of menthol in it, which I absolutely hate. It is barely noticeable until the end of a long shave, after you've had it on your skin for a while. Then comes that menthol tingle that I absolutely despise. I ended up going through the tube as fast as I could, just to use it up. I then ordered another tube of Proraso Sandalwood and am going to stick with it. I am very happy with it and do not plan to switch any time soon. I hope this helps those of you deciding on what shave product to try next. Since you know so much about how I like to shave, feel free to recommend a new product to me that you like, or comment on my review.
