Barbasol Lovers Thread

[Benzadmiral]

A 1950s style shave today on a 24-hour beard:

Gold fat-handled postwar Tech, just cleaned up, with a new Feather blade

Barbasol Original foam

Stirling SDM aftershave (well, okay, that wasn't around in 1955), no-name skin lotion (which I doubt most men would have bothered with back then), and Clubman powder

Did just 2 passes with a little extra touchup on the throat, so not near BBS, but very fine. I followed the suggestion Slybrewguy made here when I posted about being disappointed in my last Barbasol shave. His advice: Put on the foam, wait my standard 3 minutes, rinse it off, then re-apply and shave. Worked a treat, it did.

 

[OldJackd]

do what ?

 

[Benzadmiral]

Used the Barbasol Original again this a.m. for a quick Sixties Shave. I noticed the scent this time, a sort of baby powder aroma. Not unpleasant.

 

[slybrewguy]

Used the Barbasol Original again this a.m. for a quick Sixties Shave. I noticed the scent this time, a sort of baby powder aroma. Not unpleasant.

Scent wise the OG is my favorite. Slightly powdery, slightly peppery, and a whole lot of awesome. The new Pacific rush with menthol and caffeine is my favorite in terms of performance, the scent isn't bad but I'm into more subtle scents and that one is a little too on the 'modern masculine' side for me.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Scent wise the OG is my favorite. Slightly powdery, slightly peppery, and a whole lot of awesome. The new Pacific rush with menthol and caffeine is my favorite in terms of performance, the scent isn't bad but I'm into more subtle scents and that one is a little too on the 'modern masculine' side for me.

Menthol and caffeine?? As if I didn't already get enough caffeine in the mornings --!

That said, where can I find this stuff? "Pacific Rush" -- is that the name?

 

[slybrewguy]

Menthol and caffeine?? As if I didn't already get enough caffeine in the mornings --!

That said, where can I find this stuff? "Pacific Rush" -- is that the name?

This is the stuff:

Barbasol Invigorating Formula Pacific Rush® with Caffeine and Menthol Thick & Rich Shaving Cream

Top men's shaving cream from the maker of men's shaving systems, disposables, foams and creams - buy in store.

barbasol.com

In my opinion it outperforms all other barbasol 'flavors' by a mile (and I like barbasol so that's saying something). It's not quite as easy to find as the others, some of my local CVS and Walgreens carry it but not all. I've never found it at Walmart or target. All of my local Publix grocery stores carry it but if you don't live in the SE USA then you probably don't have Publix.

The menthol is surprisingly strong, more then proraso green. The caffeine really does a great job of reducing redness and inflammation, I thought it was snake oil but it really works. The scent is a bit 'modern masculine' like I mentioned but it's also got a strong medicinal note that is pleasing and overall the scent doesn't longer post shave. It's slickness is on par with proraso foam, the most slick canned foam I've ever used. It's a really nice product especially when a sub $2 can would last a couple months or more of daily use.

 

[Benzadmiral]

This is the stuff:

Barbasol Invigorating Formula Pacific Rush® with Caffeine and Menthol Thick & Rich Shaving Cream

Top men's shaving cream from the maker of men's shaving systems, disposables, foams and creams - buy in store.

barbasol.com

In my opinion it outperforms all other barbasol 'flavors' by a mile (and I like barbasol so that's saying something). It's not quite as easy to find as the others, some of my local CVS and Walgreens carry it but not all. I've never found it at Walmart or target. All of my local Publix grocery stores carry it but if you don't live in the SE USA then you probably don't have Publix.

The menthol is surprisingly strong, more then proraso green. The caffeine really does a great job of reducing redness and inflammation, I thought it was snake oil but it really works. The scent is a bit 'modern masculine' like I mentioned but it's also got a strong medicinal note that is pleasing and overall the scent doesn't longer post shave. It's slickness is on par with proraso foam, the most slick canned foam I've ever used. It's a really nice product especially when a sub $2 can would last a couple months or more of daily use.

No, no Publix here. I have a CVS near me (and the pharmacy I use in my local Target is CVS too) and a Walgreens. I'll have to take a look!

 

[fightingillini22]

Heat finally broke today in Chicagoland so I spent 3 hours this evening working in the yard.

Shaved this morning but after my evening shower I had a desire for another quick shave.

Broke out a recently acquired can of Aloe and used a brush to work a decent amount of water into the cream. I used Barbasol Aloe exclusively from age 15 until I took up wet shaving and the light clean scent brought back many memories of high school, college, and beyond.

The shave itself was flawless. Working the water into Barbasol is what I have found to be the key to delivering great shaves. I use a small travel size original in my dopp kit and while traveling I work water into it with my hands. It's even easier with a brush.

I always have and always will love Barbasol!

 

[Juanmosey]

Heat finally broke today in Chicagoland so I spent 3 hours this evening working in the yard.

Shaved this morning but after my evening shower I had a desire for another quick shave.

Broke out a recently acquired can of Aloe and used a brush to work a decent amount of water into the cream. I used Barbasol Aloe exclusively from age 15 until I took up wet shaving and the light clean scent brought back many memories of high school, college, and beyond.

The shave itself was flawless. Working the water into Barbasol is what I have found to be the key to delivering great shaves. I use a small travel size original in my dopp kit and while traveling I work water into it with my hands. It's even easier with a brush.

I always have and always will love Barbasol!

Do you find the Aloe the best of the bunch? I remember it being very good and for $1 at Dollar Tree it's a deal. I use the sensitive version with a Yaqi syn brush.

 

[fightingillini22]

Do you find the Aloe the best of the bunch? I remember it being very good and for $1 at Dollar Tree it's a deal. I use the sensitive version with a Yaqi syn brush.

I personally have a large nostalgia driven affinity to the Aloe because of my history with it. I don't know if I actually feel any difference between the Aloe, original, skin conditioner, etc. aside from scent. The purple extra moisturizing is the only variant with lanolin now.

In terms of price, if you have a Walmart near you you'll get twice the product for 47 cents more as the cans at Walmart are still 10oz vs the 5oz cans they have at Dollar Tree.

 

[Chandu]

To me the Orange and Purple cans are superior to the Original. They are slicker and glide the razor better. I can't tell any other difference than that regardless of what they contain and what they do for my skin.

 

[fightingillini22]

To me the Orange and Purple cans are superior to the Original. They are slicker and glide the razor better. I can't tell any other difference than that regardless of what they contain and what they do for my skin.

Do you incorporate any water into the cream at all? I will admit that I haven't used the cream straight out of the can since starting wet shaving, so it very well could be that without my added water I would find the lanolin in the purple to provide better glide.

Once I add water to the cream to make it look more like a typical wet shave cream instead of whipped cream, I haven't found much difference in performance but as always, YMMV!

 

[slybrewguy]

Do you incorporate any water into the cream at all? I will admit that I haven't used the cream straight out of the can since starting wet shaving, so it very well could be that without my added water I would find the lanolin in the purple to provide better glide.

Once I add water to the cream to make it look more like a typical wet shave cream instead of whipped cream, I haven't found much difference in performance but as always, YMMV!

I don't use barbasol with a brush but this is what I do: rinse face real well, apply barbasol by hand and let it sit, get everything else ready (load the blade, choose aftershave, etc), rinse off the first layer of barbasol, reapply barbasol by hand with a little bit of water in my hand, jump right into the shave.

Barbasol has a ton of stearic acid, that first application acts almost like a preshave/prep treatment and really starts to soften the hair. While it's sitting doing it's thing it does dry out a bit so I rinse it off and reapply a slightly 'wetter' barbasol lather to shave with. This method of a first application is so effective at softening hair that even the most snobbish of brush and cream/soap purists would find benefit from using barbasol just for that step.

 

[Chandu]

Do you incorporate any water into the cream at all? I will admit that I haven't used the cream straight out of the can since starting wet shaving, so it very well could be that without my added water I would find the lanolin in the purple to provide better glide.

Once I add water to the cream to make it look more like a typical wet shave cream instead of whipped cream, I haven't found much difference in performance but as always, YMMV!

I don't use a brush and add water if that's what you are asking. I do wet my face by splashing a little water on it first and I rub the foam in well before shaving, so it ends up a bit thinner than right out of the can.

 

[Frankie0210]

What does the yellow smell like?

It has a talcum powder scent. That's the best I can describe it.

 

[fightingillini22]

It has a talcum powder scent. That's the best I can describe it.

Unfortunately the yellow Skin Conditioner is no longer offered - I enjoyed it when it was.

Used the purple Extra Moisturizing this morning, which is the only variant with lanolin now and it's a great performer. Scent on the purple is what I'd call a fresh and clean scent.

 

[Frankie0210]

Unfortunately the yellow Skin Conditioner is no longer offered - I enjoyed it when it was.

Used the purple Extra Moisturizing this morning, which is the only variant with lanolin now and it's a great performer. Scent on the purple is what I'd call a fresh and clean scent.

I still have a can left of the yellow!

 

[Frankie0210]

I still have a can left of the yellow!

I liked the purple can too!!

 

[fightingillini22]

FWIW, I personally find their reformulated Pacific Rush to be quite enjoyable. Been a while since I've used the Arctic Chill before it was discontinued, but the scent of the Pacific Rush is quite nice (same as the old matching splash but lighter) and the menthol provided a nice cool shave.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Today I tried a mix of Barbasol Original with Trumper's Almond Cream. I've done the TOBS Peppermint/Barbasol before, but not this combo. It produced one heck of a thick lather. I did my usual three minute soak-in, rinsed the cream off, then re-applied the mix and wielded the Tech. Two passes on cheeks and lower lip, three plus cleanup on the throat.

A comfortable and smooth shave, one of those times you're hardly aware there is a blade in the razor, with a near BBS.