Edge Infused Hydrate Shave Gel

I got a couple of coupons for free cans of this new line. My friend got the Comfort one, and I got both. I've only tried the Hydrate flavor, so I can't comment on the other. I expected to hate this.

I've tried this with just wetting my face and rubbing the gel on it, and with the oil pre-shave (OCM, but not rubbing the beard area in the shower). I put some on my face, and it looked kinda lathery, but I said what the hey, it was free, might as well load it up and see what happens. I got the thickest lather on my face. The shave after the oil pre-shave was not uncomfortable in the least.

The reason I gave the price just a 7 is with how much I loaded the gel on for each pass to get the lather so thick, it can't be that cost effective, compared to a soap.

Lathering was just as easy as any canned gel. Duck soup.

I didn't notice whether it left my face moisturized or dry, so it couldn't have been bad. I did use an after shave balm afterward anyway.

If I don't have time for the whole towel treatment or pre-shower, and the lather-building with a brush, like say someone calls me up and says "hey I'm goin' to such 'n such, wanna come?" and I need a shave, I won't hesitate to use this.

This was the canned goo I was using right before I started DE Wet Shaving. As canned goos go, I thought it was a step above the cheaper lower end varieties.

It's a canned shaving cream, compared against high quality wet shaving products, it will rate quite low. Compared against other canned goos, it is better than most.

The scent is very chemical smelling, and unnatural. ICK!!

The cream would actually create a burning sensation on my face, if left on for too long. I found this out when using it as a pre-shave prep; being frugal I was trying to use it up, instead of just chucking it.

I found this to be fairly moisturizing, again only when compared against other canned creams.

I am giving it a N/A for latherability. Canned gels don't really lather, they form a foam like paste, that is nothing like a high quality lather you can generate with a shaving brush.

I'd have to disagree with the OP and wonder if he used the product right. Each person experience varies, but I don't think it deserves a 0 in all those categories, at the very least in latherability. I suspect he used not enough product and too much water.

I use this when I shave my head, and it's made a huge difference in the the quality of my shaves. I have very coarse hair, and before I started using this product the razor (multi-blade) would snag and pull horribly and I also received lots of cuts. After using this gel, the snagging stopped and the pulling was very minimal if at all. If I hadn't tried this product, I would have stopped shaving my head as it was too painful.

I'm new to classic wetshaving and I've only tried a few soaps/creams and none of the "premium" stuff so I can't say how well it compares to them, but it works very well and I doubt the high end products, in terms of the actual shaving, would perform a whole lot better.

I first use VDH Deluxe shaving soap to first soften my hair as I doubt that this would do much if anything to that effect.

Price: It's $3 for 7.oz

Quality: I'm not quite sure what to put here. I'm not a shaving snob (no offence to anyone). I have no problems with using stuff from a can. All I really care about is if a product works.

Scent: It smells like mint toothpaste. I'm not a big scent guy so while I don't find it offensive, it's bit of a let down after hearing guys talk up the smells of their various creams. Who wants to shave their face with something that smells like toothpaste? At least I don't. Although, if I had never encountered this forum, it probably wouldn't have occurred to me to question the scent at all.

Latherability: Quick and easy. I've only used this with a omega boar brush and it whips up a nice thick protecting lubricating lather. The lather doesn't dry up in the amount of time it takes me to make an entire pass of my head and I don't shave quickly. It needs VERY little water. The amount of water that the brush holds is really too much so you'll need to use more of the gel to get the desired results. Try a quarter sized mound, in a mug, because a nickel size drop won't be enough. It doesn't take long for it to start to lather up, but keep whipping at it until it starts to get thick and stiff. You are going feel resistance. If after whipping at it for short while you don't get the described results, add more gel.

The lather that you squeeze out of the base of the brush won't be very good, unlike soaps/creams, and instead be thin and frothy. You can shave with this, but it won't be as protective.

If after using up the lather in your brush you want to start up another batch of later, do not add additional water to your brush. Squeeze out whatever lather is in the base of the brush and discard. Add more gel to your mug, although less this time because your brush won't be as loaded with water, then several drops of water and begin lathering.

This doesn't mean you should start with dry brush, and it might be different with a badger.

I suggest you don't build the lather on you face, at least at first. You'll get better feed back if you do it in a mug or bowl.

Because of this gel, I now know what good lather is and know what to look for when I make lather with soaps/creams.

Efficacy: It works and it works well. As I posted above, from snags and pulls to none. Maybe it deserves a higher score, but not having tried out some of the higher end products, I'll leave it at an eight.

Moisturizing Properties: I'm not sure. I have dry skin to very dry skin so need to use lotion on my head after I shave. At the very least it doesn't dry out my skin and my skin doesn't feel as tight as with other shaving products I have used, but that may just be the new lotion I have been trying out.

Packaging: It's shaving gel in a can. Nothing really special about it.

After using this gel and now knowing what a good lather is, I could probably get get better results out previous products I've tried, but for now I'm going to stick with this.