Gal for Men Shaving Stick

I was given this stick (thanks Pat!), so for price I feel compelled to say 10.

In terms of quality, it's a cheap, tallow soap, in efficacy much like Erasmic, that is, fine with a bit of work, awful if you haven't got the knack. Ru in plenty of the soap, you'll need it, then lather away much longer than you'd think necessary, adding water as you go to make it nice and wet. When you get it right you'll get a lovely creamy lather and well softened stubble. If yiou don't lather long enough, or add enough water, it will dry on your face, or there will be a layer of unlathered soap that makes the razor drag. Gives a nice close shave and happy skin when you get it spot on.

The scent isn't great, smells cheap as all the related soaps (Palmolive, Boots etc) but you don't get this for fine fragrance. It's a citrussy, musky aroma, so decidedly animalic that I wonder if they didn't render their tallow very thoroughly... Mild though, and doesn't last.

The packaging is great, a nice plastic tube with holes to let it dry out, but it could do with a wrapping of foil to make it a bit more user-friendly.

I received this stick from a very generous B&B member along with some other common drugstore-type shaving sticks from Spain. This was the only tallow based stick, however, it does not really outperform the others (La Toja and LEA).

Price: I have been informed that this stick costs around €2.50, which is certainly not bad. This is a 50g stick, and seems to last quite some time. Furthermore, it comes with a lid, which is a bonus.

Quality: The stick seems well made, and well-packaged. Perfect for travelling. My only issue is the lack of any foil wrapping to hold on to. One can hold it just by the base, though I must say that I feared it would come off, so I just held the soap itself. However, the flip-side of this is that you could use the sides of the stick, to apply the soap, thereby applying more soap quicker. That seems to work, though it gets a little messy if the stick is too damp.

Scent: This is where the stick loses marks. It smells soapy ('tallowey' also comes to mind). Not horrible or revolting, but nothing that I really look forward to smelling. However, the scent virtually disappears once lathered up, so its nothing serious.

Lather: The lather was great. Nice and thick, though I did have to reapply the stick a little after the 3rd pass. As previously stated, it does not outperform the vegetable-based spanish shaving sticks, but it still works well.

Efficacy: Throughout the shave, the lather provided a lot of cushion and glide. It worked very well.

Moisturising: It did dry my skin a little, but not bad. Though I suspect it may seem more drying to some (as my skin is a little greasy).


Overall a great product, though there are alternatives (e.g. La Toja) which cost a little less, but give a lot more. The scent is where I really am not too fond of it. As I said, it is not horrible, but its just boring and soapy. If I went to Spain I'd probably get one, if I saw one, but its nothing I would actively seek out.