Introduction
Below is the optimum lather table and review of Floris shaving cream from my lather optimization guide in the ShaveWiki. Please see the guide for an overview, a disclaimer, and general information about optimizing lather.
Back in June, I acquired the shaving cream from @shavefan through a trade in the BST. (Thanks for the trade!) Optimizing the lather for Floris was not pleasant. The slickness seems to be good overall, but it varies quite a bit and the post-shave is dry to me with significant irritation that develops over time. The performance certainly doesn't seem to justify the high price, in my opinion.
Thoughts? Feedback is welcome.
Optimum Lather Table
| PR | Performance Ranking |
| PD | Purchase Date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
| SCM | Soap/Cream Mass (g) |
| WM | Water Mass (g) |
| TM | Total Mass (g) = SCM + WM |
| WSCR | Water-to-Soap/Cream Ratio = WM / SCM |
| SCIT | Soap/Cream-Incorporation Time (s) |
| LBT | Lather-Building Time (s) |
| SCP | Soap/Cream Price (USD) |
| PR | Soap/Cream | PD | SCM | WM | TM | WSCR | SCIT | LBT | SCP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nanny's Silly Soap (NSS) Original Shaving Soap | 2017-04-23 | 1.20 | 9.60 | 10.80 | 8 | 30 | 45 | 0.15 |
| 2 | Declaration Grooming (DG) Shaving Soap, Premium Bison Tallow Base | 2017-08-11 | 0.81 | 8.91 | 9.72 | 11 | 20 | 60 | 0.15 |
| 3 | Proraso Single Blade (PSB) Shaving Cream | 2018-01-12 | 0.95 | 7.60 | 8.55 | 8 | 3 | 60 | 0.07 |
| 4 | Barrister and Mann (B&M) Shaving Soap | 2017-10-19 | 0.71 | 8.52 | 9.23 | 12 | 25 | 30 | 0.12 |
| 5 | Cold River Soap Works (CRSW) SELECT Shaving Soap | 2017-12-15 | 0.86 | 9.46 | 10.32 | 11 | 6 | 60 | 0.15 |
| 6 | Stirling Soap Co. Shave Soap | 2017-08-14 | 0.53 | 9.01 | 9.54 | 17 | 20 | 30 | 0.04 |
| 7 | Saponificio Varesino (SV) Shaving Soap | 2017-12-01 | 0.64 | 8.32 | 8.96 | 13 | 90 | 90 | 0.15 |
| 8 | Barrister's Reserve Shaving Soap | 2017-06 | 0.96 | 11.52 | 12.48 | 12 | 45 | 60 | 0.15 |
| 9 | Proraso Red Shaving Soap | 2017-11-27 | 0.82 | 8.20 | 9.02 | 10 | 5 | 75 | 0.06 |
| 10 | Martin de Candre (MdC) Shaving Soap | 2018-05-31 | 0.70 | 7.70 | 8.40 | 11 | 45 | 60 | 0.16 |
| 11 | Mike's Natural Shaving Soap | 2017-09 | 0.75 | 9.00 | 9.75 | 12 | 60 | 60 | 0.07 |
| 12 | Barrister and Mann (B&M) Latha Shaving Soap (Discontinued) | 2018-01-30 | 0.75 | 9.75 | 10.50 | 13 | 10 | 30 | 0.07 |
| 13 | Floris Shaving Cream | 2018-02 | 0.98 | 6.86 | 7.84 | 7 | 1 | 60 | 0.29 |
| 14 | The Art of Shaving (AOS) Shaving Cream | 2018-01-03 | 1.00 | 7.00 | 8.00 | 7 | 3 | 45 | 0.19 |
| 15 | Mystic Water (MW) Shaving Soap | 2018-01-27 | 0.70 | 9.10 | 9.80 | 13 | 30 | 30 | 0.07 |
| 16 | The Sudsy Soapery Shave Soap | 2018-02-05 | 0.46 | 8.28 | 8.74 | 18 | 10 | 60 | 0.05 |
Floris Shaving Cream
Tube of cream, close-up of cream in small jar, and ingredient list
Version Name: No. 89, as part of The Gentleman Floris Collection. This is the only shaving cream by Floris.
Purchase Date: Approximately February 2018. I acquired the shaving cream from @shavefan through a trade in the BST on June 28, 2018 [8]. The photographs of the tube and ingredient list in the above composite picture were provided by @shavefan.
Review Period: November 9 to 18, 2018. 10 optimization shaves and 0 ranking tests.
Manufacturing Location: Devon, England, UK
Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum (Fragrance), Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium PEG-7 Olive Oil Carboxylate, Allantoin, Dimethicone, Ethylhexylglycerin, Propylene Glycol, Alcohol, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Limonene, Linalool, Geraniol, Citronellol, Coumarin, Citral, Evernia Prunastri (Oakmoss) Extract
Density: With a carefully leveled tablespoon of the cream and a calibrated tared scale, I measured the mass of 1 T of cream as 13.26 g, which results in an approximate density of 0.897 g/mL
Appearance: Light yellow and somewhat pearlescent
Scent: The scent is officially described as "citrus woody" with various top, heart, and base notes. It is neither offensive nor pleasant to my nose.
Optimum Lather Overview: Sheen is matte. Lather has some good "peaking" and yogurt-like behavior of "stringiness", but lather is "airy". Adhesion and application are okay, at best. Scent is hardly noticed. Slickness is generally pretty good to very good with some okay moments and a little moderate friction. Cushion/protection is okay, not much, despite the lack of thickness. Post-shave is dry and, with respect to comfort, bad because of significant irritation that develops. A tiny bit of scum might be noticed on equipment during cleanup.
Optimization Details: Over the course of nonsequential shaves, the water-to-cream ratio was varied from 4 to 16. At lower ratios, the lather was too dry and clogged the razor in spots. With more water, the slickness increased up to a point as the cushion/protection decreased and the post-shave generally got drier with similar or more irritation. The irritation was what really hit me. Usually, it began during application for the third pass, which indicated that the lather was really causing irritation. Irritation was then notably felt during application of the post-shave balm, and over time, the irritation dropped, rose, peaked, and finally dissipated. Choosing the optimum was not easy due to the unpleasantness of the post-shave and the tradeoff between slickness, cushion, and post-shave.
Ranking Details: Ranking Floris shaving cream was done without any ranking tests because I was pretty sure where it belonged and I didn't want to shave with it anymore. Floris produces a lower density lather with good slickness, but bad post-shave. It didn't warrant much more attention, in my opinion.
