Pecksniffs Fern Shaving Cream

I agree with all of the above reviews: Pecksniff's is an excellent shave cream (actually a soap). I have only tried the Fresh Citrus but I assume the formula is the same for Fern and the others. I bought mine on eBay for $11.99 plus shipping. When you factor in this reduced cost, it is an EXCELLENT soap for the money, maybe even better than two of the 3-T's, Trumper and T&H (ToOBS is already an inexpensive high quality cream/soap IMO).

I shall add my review of this somewhat elusive and little talked about shave cream.

Price: This is a bit hard for me to pin down. I am one of those who thinks that if something performs well for you and you really like it, then most likely the price is not an overwhelming issue. Particularly since with shave lathers they come down to pennies per shave. However, I am of two minds about this one. At the sale prices of $20-24, it is well worth the expense. However, I believe the normal retail price of $40 is too much. I have some GREAT lathers that are nearly as expensive which perform even better.

Quality: I was nicely surprised at the overall quality of this lather. When you look at the ingredients list, you realise it is detergent based and I was expecting something a bit less than stellar in appearance and and effect. Quite nice actually.

Scent: Hmm. This is the hardest factor for me to decide on. I like the scent but I am not taken with it. It says Fougere(Fern) on the packaging and I suppose it is but I find it quite modern. Thankfully it has NONE of the water/ocean accord of most newer scents. It is strong in the jar but moderates nicely when lathered.

Latherability: This is an easy 9. This soap lathers up readily and fairly jumps to the brush. It lathers up to a sort of hybrid mix between a traditional cream and a hard soap. It is nice and creamy but thinner than a normal cream lather. Extremely slick and gave no irritation. Stability was not as good on the third and fourth passes like D.R. Harris soap but it was more than satisfactory.

Efficacy: What does this mean really? Dictionary.com gives one definition as "effectiveness". I think this succeeds in spades. It does exactly what it should do. What more could you really ask of it?

Moisturising: This is an even easier rating for me. 10. No quibbling, no qualifiers, no doubts. It left my skin baby smooth, irritation free, and needing no a/s splash or balm. A knockout performance.

Packaging: Another two pronged argument. I really liked the box the jar was packaged in. A black, textured papered over lid with a yellow/tan inner base that held the jar. Art work was minimal and nicely understated. It just looks upper class. The jar was another matter. It was the same basic el cheapo plastic "jar" that Castle Forbes creams come in. Fully functional but none to awe inspiring. I will take package presentation and performance over the jar qualities any day but wouldn't it be nice to have most of this nice stuff in GLASS jars? As an aside, I like the wide mouthed jars. They make lathering easy.

All in all this is one very good soap. And make no mistake. This is not a shave cream. It is a hard, dense soap that is poured into a jar. Do not plan on taking a small bit out and lathering in a bowl. Load like any other hard soap and then go to a bowl or face lather. I did the latter with grand results. If you can get this one sale, then I feel it is easily worth the price. I would hesitate at full retail but you know how individual this all is. Another thing I would recommend is that you try to sample the scents of the edts before purchasing these creams. It is a stout cologne type scent and may not be favoured by those who like the single note floral and citrus scents.

Regards, Todd

+ 1 tk maxx £7.99 cant be bad, just tried this cream excellent.very fair review above

This cream comes in a robust plastic tub in a nicely presented box. Although it is labelled as a cream it is solid like a soap and is used like a soap. You need a decent brush to get the best lather out of it but it is extremely slick when you work the brush on top of the soap. I really like this "cream" and it is a slick as any of the best soaps out there. I get a really close shave with lots of glide for my razor, reducing any chance of burn. The tub is a large 200 gram size and retails for £20 or approx $40. This is expensive but fortunately I can pick this up for £7.99 from TKmaxx fairly regularly which makes it an absolute bargain. The fern scent is very pleasant and can only be likened to the smell of woodland after a rain shower, and is very true to its name. The cream also has a slight cooling effect which is also very pleasant. I think this cream is underrated and under used, probably due to its price and availability but I can highly recommend it, especially if you can get it for the cheaper price.