Casswell-Massey 1752 Lather Shaving Cream

So I bought this in liu of the top shelf product.

I've been using this cream for the last few days and the one thing that stands out is the great scent. Man, I love the smell of sandelwood. In this respect I am very happy with the cream. But thats about it.

It does not lather worth a damn. And I'm not about to waste my energy trying to get this cream to lather, when i could be using my forearm for more productive stroking....LOL. At least that would yield a more satisfying result.

Aside from the fact that it doesn't lather, it provides a passing grade as a lubricant for shaving and a better grade for moisturizing. Though I can't say it is better than your drug store brands in those departments. So as far as price goes its not worth it at $16 a tub.

At the very least I have not suffered razor burn nor uncommonly big and bloody weepers since using this product....On the other hand a weeper's a weeper and I have gotten a few while using it.

I will use this cream up, but won't buy it again. And I definitely will be using fresh blades to minimize risk.

we need pics to believe ANYTHING reviewed by Caswell Massey

I bought this in Charleston, South Carolina while traveling, for $8 at a gifty kind of shop. Since returning home I've tried using it with two different badger brushes, four razors, and several blades. The results were fairly consistent. The lather was rich and nicely scented (I had the almond scent), whipping up quickly. But appearances were deceiving -- the cream provided little lubrication. My razor would not glide smoothly on my skin, but would slide unevenly, as if cushioned only by water. The lather washed off cleanly and left a soft hint of a scent. The shave results were decent, but it took extra care to compensate for the lack of slipperiness.

This cream did everything nicely except its primary purpose, to lubricate.

So, here's the story.The local TJ Maxx gets a lot of products from Asquith and Sommerset, Molton Brown, and Caswell-Massey.

A few days ago, I happened upon what I feel to be one of, if not the, best all-around men's conditioning shampoos that I've ever used. I was the Caswell-Massey Greenbriar shampoo. It has a fragrance similar to Green Irish Tweed and other fresh green fragrances, but with a little more prominent cedar and sage added. Not only does it smell WAY better than any men's shampoo that I've ever used ( it simply blows away generic, laundry detergent smelling crap like Gilette Body Wash, Axe, and Old Spice High Endurance ), but it is also an extremely great conditioning shampoo which leaves your hair soft and feeling great. It helps alsothat I got a $20 bottle of shampoo for $3. I would never spend that much on the expensive shampoos and body washes out there, but the truth is, they really are much higher quality. So, if you can't tell I was impressed........I was!

Anyway, back in TJ Maxx last night looking to buy another 1 or 2.......or 50 bottles of the Greenbriar shampoo ( sadly, they were out, that blows ), I happened upon a tube of Caswell-Massey 1752 Sandalwood shaving cream, for only $2. So, riding the luxurious tails of the shampoo, I purchased it instantly.......along with another ( 2 ) 10.1oz bottles of Echt Kölnisch Wasser 4711 Cologne ( at $12 each, God I love TJ Maxx ).

Well, when I woke up this morning, I began perusing the reviews and happened to come across a review of the Caswell-Massey Almond shaving cream. I was hoping for some decent reviews, but most of them really trashed the stuff, so I decided to try the Sandalwood out for myself.

Now, let me start off by saying that, yes, it takes about 5 times as long, in a mug, to make a good lather than would Proraso, Taylor's, Art of Shaving, etc. What I found out, though, is that it does make a lather very nicely on the face. I tried it again in the cup to no avail, but on the face it works great, especially if you have a decent growth of whiskers. I used about a quarter sized dollop, per the instructions, and it worked fine. I don't know if others were using less, but that was the correct amount. Now, the lather isn't as opaque and frothy meringue-like as what you'd get with TOBS Avocado or AOS Lemon. You can actually see your some darker patches of skin underneath where with most other shaving creams you probably wouldn't, but with about 30 seconds more, using a circular motion on the cheeks and then painting it on, you can have a good 3/4 centimeter pillow of great smelling, slick lather on your face. Two great things about this lather, which make up for its less thick and frothy appearance are its slickness and its fragrance. First, it is actually a but slicker than most of the creams and soaps that I have in my shave den ( Proraso, T&H, GFT, C&E, MB, TOBS, AOS, D.R.Harris ). I had plenty of lather for 4 or 5 passes, but really didn't need them, as I was able to do passes after most of the lather was gone due to the extreme slickness still on my face. While washing the brush out, its obvious that there was plenty of super slick lather still left in it. In fact, I had to wash it more than usual to get all of it out. I found the razor had a better glide on my skin than with several of my other high end creams. Secondly, the scent is really great. I think that many of the Sandalwood shaving creams have a tendency to smell musty or dirty. Not this one. The scent is strong enough to stick with your skin for a little while after the shave. ITs been almost an hour and I can still smell it. This would be perfect for the guy who wears Sandalwood colognes like Creed Santal Imperial, Art of Shaving Sandalwood, GFT Sandalwood, or Tam Dao. Its not quite a sweet sandalwood, but its also not very astringent, like Art of Shaving. Its a very manly and invigorating Sandalwood aroma and I really enjoy it. My girlfriend and two of her very smoking hot friends that stayed here last night were watching me shave and they all said it is one of the best smelling shaving creams they've smelled. Thats good enough for me. Three hot girls lying in my bed telling me how good I smell always helps a product's image in my mind.

The packaging is fine, no more or less impressive than the other black plastic tubes of quality creams.

Overall, I have to say that this performs pretty darn well. I'm not sure if there is a difference between this and the Almond cream, but I would rate this as an overall 7.5/10. Maybe not as stellar as my absolute favorites, but much higher quality than mass market junk, not to mention better than many of the expensive high end products.

I would simply advise that one try this out before making any determinations as to its quality, or lack thereof. If I had seen the reviews of the other Caswell-Massey shaving creams before I saw this, I probably would not have bought it, even at the low price. However, I'm glad I did.

I just went to the Caswell-Massey website and I see that they sell the Greenbriar in a shaving cream and aftershave also. I always prefer shaving cream in a tub, so I will definitely be purchasing a tub of the cream and possibly the A/S and will post reviews for them sometime soon.