Item Description
I bought this one more or less on a "let's try something new" whim after chatting back and forth with Malaspina's owner about factors of moisturizing, slipperiness, cushion and so on.
I should make clear here that I am not myself vegetarian or have any issues about meat. Oddly enough, I did raise a concern about the use of palm oil, as I am very much against the destruction of Orangutan habitat. As it turns out, Malaspina uses only palm oil certified to not be contributing to this, which was reassuring to me. The chilled orange flavour was selected, again on the premise of offering fewer post shave issues because of the menthol as well as being a new scent to me.
So, a relatively few days later, it arrived and sat unopened for a couple of days. The first thing I noticed is that Canada Post must hate me, as this is about the fifty bizillionth package from them that arrived looking like it had been routed through Kandahar.
This was also a non-issue. Malaspina packs things properly cushioned against this kind of abuse.
The container itself is nicely done and functional without being frou-frou. I care little about such things, as long as I can use it without issues to the bottom of the product; I'm not making keepsakes here.
The product is either a thick cream or thin soap; I went with "cream". It's a lightly tan colour with the scent readily apparent without knocking you on your tukhus.
I used my usual routine: wetting with lukewarm facecloth, hot-soaking my beaten up old boar brush, swirling in the product, face lathering, rinsing off and swirling and face lathering again. I had a bit of an issue getting a good amount on the brush by swirling but it worked. It is soft enough that I could also use the finger painting on the face method as I do with many other creams. I managed with the brush swirl and will try the finger next time. For this, I stropped up my LeCanadien 7/8.
So, this cream initially made a fairly unimpressive layer until I did another more forceful swirl, then it made a nice, whipped cream texture and the orange scent came on pretty strong. Not being a usual user of menthol, I was expecting chill right off but noticed none. Until I started making passes with my LeCanadien, then the frostbite set in
I thought I might see my breath. 
After that inital re-load before my first pass, I did not have to add more product for a two-pass with the 7/8. The lubrication was paired with a very small cushion, which I personally like. One thing I noticed is that the razor seemed to take off the lube with it, which caused me to re-rinse my face before lathering for the second pass. The chill stayed with me until about halfway through my post-shave shower, which was bloody impressive.
So:
8/10 Price and shipping: Good value and reasonable shipping
10/10 Packaging and shipping quality: Very well packed survived better than the package, which had seen some major abuse.
8.5/10 Appearance: It's a little "crafty" in appearance but doesn't make you want to shave with your eyes shut.
6/10 Scent: Very pleasant, if you like oranges that much. I will probably order mint the next time around
9.5/10 Latherability: Excellent, after getting the amounts right. Face painting instead of brush swirling is probably the better technique here and I usually do that anyway with creams
9.5/10 Lubrication: Effective layer, seems to hold slippyness through the pass.
9/10 Cushion: Almost non-existent cushion, which I like but which might take some getting used to if you're used to what comes out of, say, Musgo.
8/10 Amount of product: Somewhat more than I am generally used to but not a huge amount.
9.5/10 After-effects:The chill stayed with me through a good part of my post-shave shower. As much as I love my LeCanadien, it does tend to require more of a push than my other razors, with the attendant itch and burn a bit. I noticed later that I had no such after burn, which is probably partly the menthol chill and partly the moisturizing effect of the product.
In short: I think it's a fine cream. I believe I will order something non-fruity to try and gift this one after sampling but it was a nice diversion from the ordinary, to be sure.
Nice to use, nice after use. Good Job
Regards,
- John
I should make clear here that I am not myself vegetarian or have any issues about meat. Oddly enough, I did raise a concern about the use of palm oil, as I am very much against the destruction of Orangutan habitat. As it turns out, Malaspina uses only palm oil certified to not be contributing to this, which was reassuring to me. The chilled orange flavour was selected, again on the premise of offering fewer post shave issues because of the menthol as well as being a new scent to me.
So, a relatively few days later, it arrived and sat unopened for a couple of days. The first thing I noticed is that Canada Post must hate me, as this is about the fifty bizillionth package from them that arrived looking like it had been routed through Kandahar.
This was also a non-issue. Malaspina packs things properly cushioned against this kind of abuse.The container itself is nicely done and functional without being frou-frou. I care little about such things, as long as I can use it without issues to the bottom of the product; I'm not making keepsakes here.
The product is either a thick cream or thin soap; I went with "cream". It's a lightly tan colour with the scent readily apparent without knocking you on your tukhus.
I used my usual routine: wetting with lukewarm facecloth, hot-soaking my beaten up old boar brush, swirling in the product, face lathering, rinsing off and swirling and face lathering again. I had a bit of an issue getting a good amount on the brush by swirling but it worked. It is soft enough that I could also use the finger painting on the face method as I do with many other creams. I managed with the brush swirl and will try the finger next time. For this, I stropped up my LeCanadien 7/8.
So, this cream initially made a fairly unimpressive layer until I did another more forceful swirl, then it made a nice, whipped cream texture and the orange scent came on pretty strong. Not being a usual user of menthol, I was expecting chill right off but noticed none. Until I started making passes with my LeCanadien, then the frostbite set in
I thought I might see my breath. After that inital re-load before my first pass, I did not have to add more product for a two-pass with the 7/8. The lubrication was paired with a very small cushion, which I personally like. One thing I noticed is that the razor seemed to take off the lube with it, which caused me to re-rinse my face before lathering for the second pass. The chill stayed with me until about halfway through my post-shave shower, which was bloody impressive.
So:
8/10 Price and shipping: Good value and reasonable shipping
10/10 Packaging and shipping quality: Very well packed survived better than the package, which had seen some major abuse.
8.5/10 Appearance: It's a little "crafty" in appearance but doesn't make you want to shave with your eyes shut.
6/10 Scent: Very pleasant, if you like oranges that much. I will probably order mint the next time around
9.5/10 Latherability: Excellent, after getting the amounts right. Face painting instead of brush swirling is probably the better technique here and I usually do that anyway with creams
9.5/10 Lubrication: Effective layer, seems to hold slippyness through the pass.
9/10 Cushion: Almost non-existent cushion, which I like but which might take some getting used to if you're used to what comes out of, say, Musgo.
8/10 Amount of product: Somewhat more than I am generally used to but not a huge amount.
9.5/10 After-effects:The chill stayed with me through a good part of my post-shave shower. As much as I love my LeCanadien, it does tend to require more of a push than my other razors, with the attendant itch and burn a bit. I noticed later that I had no such after burn, which is probably partly the menthol chill and partly the moisturizing effect of the product.
In short: I think it's a fine cream. I believe I will order something non-fruity to try and gift this one after sampling but it was a nice diversion from the ordinary, to be sure.
Nice to use, nice after use. Good Job
Regards,
- John
