Kent Shave Cream

First, I'm glad someone reviewed this.

Second, don't ever apologize for ebaying. I actually was at work today, and I came across this very same cream over the web, and (back to my original statement) I too wondered if this had the WF scent like the soap. Thanks for informing me before I gave in and bought one.

Like most wetshavers, I bought a puck of Kent soap at a hefty discount as compared to its twin Mitchell's Wool Fat soap. I was cruising Ebay last week (sorry dear -- it's a sickness; I can't control myself) and found a brand new 75ml tube of Kent shave cream for 9$ shipped. At that price ($18 is the best I'd seen anywhere) I couldn't pass it up.

The red tube is reminiscent of the deluxe box my BK4 brush came in, if you can compare a rather standard plastic flip-top tube to the BK4's cradle. The list of ingredients reads like a who's who of chemicals that I'm quite certain weren't around when Kent brought their first products to the royal marketplace.

A small snurdle of the soapy smelling cream needed a rather surprising amount of water to produce loads of thick lather. On my face, the lather continued to smell soapy with a hint of something else, perhaps a clean eucalyptus.

Then I started to shave, and got a huge surprise. That clean smell turned into a blast of menthol, with a moderate face freeze that was damned unwelcome on a cold early spring day here in the Rockies. I actually stopped my shave to look at the ingredients again; no menthol listed. Duh -- on the front of the tube it says "with cooling menthol". So I'm not always the sharpest blade in the razor...

Anyway, I finished the shave. Nary a nick or a cut, no dragging or pulling. Overall, I got a heck of a good shave, although I could have sliced off my chin and not noticed it with the ever-increasing face freeze. After a warm water rinse and a splash of Thayer's Rose, my face felt soft and conditioned. Topped it all off with Musgo Real balm and my face still felt great, although it took nearly ten minutes for the face freeze to subside.

I wouldn't pay $18 for this tube again; I'm not a Proraso fan, and I don't really care for menthol in anything. But at $9, this stuff is a great performer. I'm putting it away for those hot summer days, and will try it again then.