eShave Mandarin shave soap

Tags

7/10, citrus, eshave, Fruit, Orange, shaving cream

Ok, so I’ve been lazy lately. Sorry about that. During this time, I’ve been using almost exclusively this soap, which I’ve had forever and just hadn’t gotten around to reviewing. So, suffice it to say at least, I’ve got a pretty good idea of how much I like this soap, having tested it for about 4 months straight.

Which isn’t to say that I’m necessarily going to have all that much more to say about it mind you.

The scent is supposed to be mandarin, and for that, I suppose that it fits reasonably well enough. It’s a sweet vaguely orange-y scent. I think I also catch a bit of the Shea butter as well, one of those ingredients in the actual soap that you can still sometimes actually get a whiff of.

It’s a somewhat weak scent. Just strong enough that you can notice it during the shave, if you’re paying attention. Not strong enough to command your attention if you’re not.

As for the shave itself, it’s rather good. It has a very wide range for the amount of water that you can use and still get a good shave. Using just a bit more than a moist brush will do a passable job, add more and you get a good balance of glide and thickness, keep adding water and it thins out only gradually. It never does get to quite what I’d consider to be an ideal balance of the two, mind you, but still overall, I’d say it’s a really good soap. The moisturization is about average for a typical commercial product.

• 8/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 6/10 Scent Strength
• 9/10 Lather Quality

I probably rounded up on the lather quality above, but I’m going to have to round down for the overall due to the weakness of the scent. 7/10.

• Cost: I had purchased this from Fendrihan, where a refill goes for $26.50, or you can purchase it with the bowl for $39.

Gear used:

• Brush: Mühle HJM Black Fibre
• Razor: Feather AS-D2
• Blade: Astra Superior Platinum

Ingredients: Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Water, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Palm Kernel Acid, Shea Butter, Cocamide DEA, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, FD&C Yellow 5 Al Lake (CL 19140), D&C Red 7 (CL 15850), D&C Yellow 10 Al Lake (CL 47005), Limonene, Citral, Hydroxycintronellal, Citronellol, Geraniol.

eShave White Tea shaving cream

Tags

7/10, citrus, eshave, Fruit, shaving cream, spice, white tea

Although I’ve had a puck of their Mandarin soap kicking around forever, this is my first review of an eShave product; I can say that thus far I’m reasonably happy with what I see.

The scent is a sweet aroma that is immediately reminiscent of something familiar but for some reason can’t quite seem to put a name to it. A little bit fruity, and a bit of a fresh green scent? A glance at the ingredient listing reveals it’s scented with Tarragon, Orange & Lemon peel extract, Star Anise, Litsea Cubeba and Peppermint.

It’s pleasant, a nice light scent probably best suited for a spring or summer shave. It is a rather light scent, which I’m sure most of you know I’m not too much of a fan of, but it has good staying power without too much in the way of fading.

The lather produced was good; I did find that it had some lather stability issues at the lower water content levels, but adding enough water to even that out did thin out the lather noticeably. So a bit of a balancing act between those two aspects; the slickness was good regardless, and it provided a good amount of volume for only a bit of product. It did however have what I’d say quite good moisturization properties.

• 8/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 6/10 Scent Strength
• 8/10 Lather Quality

All in all, a few minor quibbles with the lather, and the scent could have been a bit stronger, but overall it’s still pretty nice. 7/10.

• Cost: Disclaimer: I was provided this sample free of charge along with an order by Seth over at Men Essentials; a 4 oz tub goes for $22, also available as one of the scents in their assorted mini kit, 1/4 oz x 4 creams and 4 balms for $17.

Gear used:

• Brush: Ecotools Kabuki Finishing Brush
• Razor: Edwin Jagger DE81BL (Red)
• Blade: Personna DE
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Purified Water (Aqua), Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Fatty Acid, Glycerin (Glycerine), Essential Oils (Tarragon (Artemisia Dracunculus), Orange (Citrus Aurantium Dulcis peel extract), Lemon (Citrus Medica Limonum peel extract, Star Anis (Illicum Verum), Litsea Cubeba (Litsea Cubeba), Peppermint (Mentha Piperita)), Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Limonene, Linalool, Benzyl Benzoate.