Manscaping 101 Product Review: John Allan's face scrub and shave cream

by Tris Hussey on May 15th, 2008

I had the chance, before I bought my new Merkur razor, to give a couple of John Allan’s products a try. I received the Face Scrub ($17 on the website) and the Shave Cream ($14.50 on the website) to try. Both products I thought were good. Yes, they are pricey, but of course these also fall into the category of “use for special occasions”

Face Scrub—smells good, feels good

The scrub had a really nice smell, but as an exfoliating scrub, I don’t think I’d use it every day. You can tell with these scrubs that they are really cleaning something. If you haven’t tried one, it’s pretty much like rubbing sugar or salt on your skin (there are sugar and salt rubs for your skin too).

The only thing I didn’t like was that I didn’t feel like it rinsed cleanly. I know that if you’re going to shave right after this, that will all be taken care of, but still if I’m just giving my face a quick wash for some reason, I’d like to feel really clean when I’m done, not goopy.

Shave Cream—worked well, no scent!

Of course after I wash my face I’m going to shave. Giving the shave cream a try was interesting. I don’t know if I’m supposed to use a brush to get lather going or if it’s not a “lather” cream. Regardless the first think I noticed was something I missed—scent. There wasn’t a scent to it! I don’t think this is bad or a big deal really. It’s kinda nice to not have layer upon layer of scents to deal with.

As for the shave, very nice (not knowing that it might be my last shave with a multi-blade razor). Smooth, comfortable, clean. The cream rinsed off nicely and my face felt pretty fresh.

Final thoughts

I finished my shave with the Nivea product I like, but I noticed about an hour later that my face was feeling a wee irritated. I’m wondering if this is a reaction to the Nivea, blades that needed replacing, or the products. The irritation wasn’t really bad, but I pay attention to these things for these reviews.

One final bit, though these aren’t “organic” products, the tubes do say that they aren’t tested on animals.

Would I buy these?

Honestly my whole concept of what I would or wouldn’t buy now is all akilter. I have a much better appreciation for quality products than I did a month ago. Yes, there is a reason a lot of products are cheap.

So, are they good? Yes. Would they make a nice gift for Father’s Day? Totally. So if you can find these products, see if you can try a sample.

On a side note, John Allan’s products are part of his whole men’s grooming lounges. One is opening in Boston this summer and I’m going to pay them a visit when I’m there in August.

I really like this new trend (or what was old is new again) of men’s grooming lounges. Sounds like a nice respite for an afternoon.

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification (just ignore this, thanks)

Tags: face srub, john allans, Men's Product Reviews, mens grooming, mens skin care, shave cream, shaving products, Skin care for men

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