Tags
bergamot, cardamom, citrus, clary sage, cologne, elemi, fougère, frankincense, J. Peterman, labdanum, leather, shaving cream, smoke, tobacco, wood
To kick off the week, we’ve got J. Peterman’s 1903 Concentrated Shaving Cream.
True to its name, it’s a rather dense cream, which whips up quite easily; a bit thirstier than most creams out there, it did need a bit of fiddling with the right amount of water to get just right. It turned into a fairly thick lather, with some rather good glide. I did notice a bit of a lack of lather stability; there was some breaking down happening by the time I got near the end of each pass. After the shave, it left the face feeling rather nice.
The scent is akin to a rather spicy cologne. J. Peterman’s website makes up some story about “finding” it in a shop in Paris, but describes it as follows:
an “old woody fougère.” Clean citrus notes, bergamot, “green notes.” The middle notes: clary sage…cardamom. The dry-down: leather notes, smoky labdanum…elemi, tabac, frankincense.
I guess that sounds like a reasonable description to me. I found it to be a rather subdued spicy and smokey scent. Not too strong, but nice and steady nonetheless.
- 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
- 7/10 Scent Strength
- 8/10 Lather Quality
Overall? A solid 7/10. Decent enough all-around, nothing outstanding; I think I might like to try the cologne though.
- Cost: This sample was received from a kindly fellow redditor who wanted to know what I thought. If you’re looking to purchase some, it’ll run you $28 for a 7 oz tub. Unfortunately, they don’t ship internationally for some bloody reason, so offer valid for US residents only.
Gear used:
- Brush: The Colonel
- Razor: Vintage Bakelite Slant
- Blade: Asco Super Stainless
- Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4
Ingredients: No clue. Can’t find a listing anywhere.
