Now before I delve into this review Id like to offer up a disclaimer if you will. For those of you not too familiar with me, I am known for giving very honest, detailed reviews of MY PERSONAL opinions and experiences with products. Everyone has different likes/dislikes, facial sensitivities, type of skin, etc. No one product will be liked or disliked by all. If you have had a different experience with these products please remember, this is just MY opinion/experience.
Now with that out of the way here goes!
Lets first start out with the Tonys Choice Aftershave. First the packaging. I very much dislike this aluminum canister with a squeeze top... kind of defeats the purpose of a squeeze top. You cannot see how much product is left in the canister, and it is inconvenient to dispense the appropriate amount of product, in a timely manner. Quite often, when shaking this product vigorously to dispense it onto ones hand, you are rewarded with far too much product. I can imagine how frustrating this could be when you have reached the bottom 10% of the canister. Also, I very much have a gripe with the labeling. The little floppy tabs are NOT easy to read, and if you collect a large portion of products, it is hard to distinguish which on is which. Id MUCH prefer a sticker type label with bold easy to read writing . Some of us can barely see in the wee hours of the morning!
Now getting to the liquid itself this stuff smells like a chocolaty, mint, vanilla concoction. Although VERY pleasant and delightful, it is more of an edible scent. Although this smells wonderful, it is not a scent I would want stuck to me, but luckily it fades quite quickly. In my opinion the scent is quite refreshing and rather delightful, however it is somewhat problematic in that it makes you MIGHTY hungry in the morning! Really delightful smell! As far as the actual efficacy of the aftershave, although effective, it DOES leave much to be desired. It has a very light cooling sensation and provides a bit of moisture, however it does not seem to markedly reduce irritation or soothe ones skin after shaving. Although this is superior to the likes of Nivea balm, and other store bought brands, it is simply inferior to Proraso Liquid Cream, Pre-Post, CAR Balm, C&E, DR Harris, T&H and others. With that said, it is less expensive than the aforementioned products, and personally just out of raw function Id step up and fork out the money for the aforementioned balms over the Tonys Choice. You take C&E and scent it with Tonys Scent and you have an ace in the hole.
Rating Scale Each Quality from 0-2 (2 being best)
Price 2
Quality 1
Scent 2
Efficacy 0
Moisturizing properties 1
Total 6 out of 10
New Spice Cologne. Well this is where I think a bit of a disagreement may arise, so please again refer to the disclaimer. To be blunt, basically I feel every aspect of this product is a complete disaster.
First the packaging is awful. You cannot tell how much product is left in the bottle, the aluminum will theoretically affect the scent as is sits in the bottle over time, and the atomizer is terrible and unless I tried a faulty one requires a FULL priming each time it is used, so after 10 or so pumps, it dispenses 1 spray of product. The labeling is poor and the tied silver bow and label is quite a feminine and does not contrast with the silver aluminum bottle. If this firm were to come out with other scent, it would be impossible to tell which scent was what from bottle to bottle if the labels were misplaced. I would much prefer a cheap sticker with plain text.
Lets get to the juice. I feel this stuff is somewhat mislabeled, as it is more of a body spray than cologne. It does not seem to have the lasting power or depth of a true cologne but fortunately for this cologne that is a godsend as once you get it on you you want so bad to get it off. One sniff of the cologne in liquid form will damn near knock you dead as it smells so vile, however once it is sprayed and settles a bit, it is promoted to a rank/stank smell. A HIGHLY distinguished, retired gentleman with whom I shared a few drinks with a few days ago when I was wearing this concoction pulled me aside and politely and constructively informed me that I smelled like Urinal Cakes and whatever I was wearing, I should not do so again. Keep in mind, this is a gentleman who knows how serious I take my personal appearance/scent, and have NEVER said so much as a WORD about any of the other FIFTY or so scents I had worn around him in the past. This was rather embarrassing. This is without question, the most horrid cologne I have ever adorned bar none.
I give this 2 out of 10, one point for effort, the other point for its low price. If you ask me though two words of advice stay away.
St. Charles Shaving Soap Citrus Basil.
Firstly this wood bowl is of substantially lower quality than that of other firms offering wooden bowls such as C&E, T&H, Trumpers, etc .. but who cares, as the soap is rather nice, and the combo is quite inexpensive. I have noticed however, the prices have been bumped to $11.95 for the soap/bowl combo and that this is just an Introductory Price which is quite agitating. It will be interesting to see where the price ends up, but alas, lets get down to business.
As you can see the soap does not lather too prolifically in the bowl, but once it is applied to your face, trust me it really opens up.
This soap provides amble lubrication, lather, and has a nice soothing property to it. The scent to it is not at all my cup of tea, and I find it rather a feminine, too strong and a bit cheap smelling, but I accredit this more towards my lackluster feelings towards basil scented products. I think in Almond this would be a knock em dead great product (it IS available in Almond and I will more than likely purchase it when I get back home early next week). This soap provides an uncanny amount of miniaturization for a shaving soap, and leaves your skin feeling spectacular. My only viable gripes about this product are the lack of labeling the bowl (as to the scent) and the fact that this is not really a hard soap. This is an AWFULLY soft soap, softer even than Proraso shaving soap. While not a bad thing, and probably the reason the soap provides so much moisture, it does however wear quickly. With just three uses, I can see this soap will not last nearly as long as a triple milled traditional English shaving soap. I think these cakes would last about a month or so, and given the current price, I feel this offers a great value. Since the actual prices are still up in the air, who knows where they will end up I would/will buy a cake or two at their current price but with cakes of T&H to be had in the $8-12 range, which will last MANY months of daily use, I simply wouldnt/couldnt buy St. Charles over T&H. If they can keep the price down or VERY close to its current level, I feel these will be a very viable and successful product. All in all I enjoyed this soap quite a bit, and would recommend it to those interested in delving into the soap world, without having to buy into an expensive triple milled soap.
Rating Scale Each Quality from 0-2 (2 being best)
Price 1
Quality 2
Scent 1
Efficacy 2
Moisturizing properties 2
Total 8 out of 10
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