Member
Paris / France
(This post was last modified: 05-20-2016, 10:27 PM by Lacaff.)
Hello Gentlemen,
This review to share my experience of this uncommon shave product which has challenged my beliefs on how an ideal lather should be.
Aesop is an Australian company offering premium / luxury natural cosmetics for women and men. I know this brand quite well for I am using many of Aesop products on a daily basis: shampoos, tonic skin lotion, moisturizing creams, deodorant. They are fantastic for my hyper sensitive skin.
The brand is offering a very small range of wet shaving products: one shave serum and one after-shave lotion. Period. Both of them are formulated alike, based on a refined combination of natural ingredients (but I assume that some of them, end of the list, are chemicals). The front ingredients (highlighted on the packaging) are Sandalwood, Moroccan Neroli flower and Panthenol. But there are many other natural ingredients in the formulation to provide cooling, soothing, moisturizing, nourishing effects. As of the perfume, top notes are woody but sweet. It is masculine and elegant, complex but natural.
The aftershave lotion is the best I have ever experienced. It is a fantastic cooler and reconstructing moisturizer. Its texture is less fluid than regular lotions but it is not a balm neither. It penetrates very quickly. No burn effects due to essential oils / perfume. Never. Comfort is fabulous all day long (not kidding).
The serum looks like a gel. It is bottled in a brown plastic bottle (UV protection) with a first class pump at the top. As every Aesop products, the label is black and white-stripped and inspired by apothecary. Quite hip and trendy but no blablah. Only straightful indications on what it contains and how to use it. There are 2 options: 60ml bottle is sold 31 euros. 100ml is sold 47 euros. It is very expansive but lathering only requires a very small amount of serum. Besides, these formats are very convenient for travelers.
Using this serum for the first time was very deceptive. Based on my experience with traditional artisan soaps, I was expecting a creamy and dense lather. All I got with the serum was a light and bubbled lather. To picture this, imagine that you lather up your soap with far too much water. There is a video on Aesop French website. Can’t find / connect to the US website. Here is a link to find it. Click on “Une demonstration”. Run the video and you’ll see how unusual Aesop serum lather is. Not reassuring, isn’t it?
As I was shaving with a Merkur Futur, I didn’t feel secure at all with such a liquid lather. No irritation, no side effects of any kind but… well… the lather brought by the Aesop’s was so different from the “Chantilly” we are used to shave with that I put the serum aside and didn’t give it a chance again. Until now, after many months.
What has changed? I met the PILS. I have experienced many DE and SE razors. Some were great, some not but each of them led to excessive irritations (my skin is the type of a Disney princess ). Exploring DE again and again, I decided to buy a PILS. It is my first and only razor to match with my fragile skin. Gentle and efficient, I love this razor. Giving the PILS a chance, I gave the Aesop a new try. Many other tries. The conclusion was unpredictable.
I got over its fluid, light and bubbled lather. Whatever you may do, it will remain as this. But using it again and again, I have to admit that the glide is outstanding. Really outstanding. None of my artisan soaps provides such a glide. Neither MdC or Tabula Rasa nor CRSW (I like each of them a lot). Aesop lather is lubricating so much my skin that while rinsing with water, a layer is persisting on my skin. I have to rinse more than with any other soaps. Safety is at its stake with Aesop serum. So long irritations.
My shaves are fantastic every time: DFS at the minimum, easy BBS. And you know what? It’s because the lather is light and fluid. It doesn’t clutter the razor head or blade. The shave is closer, far much closer but safe still.
I can only recommend to traditional wet shavers to try this one, even if we / you have other benchmarks in mind as of a Lather of the God. May it be as good with every razor as it is with the PILS? I can’t answer. But (super) glide is (super) glide. I am glad I gave this shave serum a second chance. Otherwise, I may have not cross the way of this game changer. It’s expansive but for me, it is worth every penny.
This review to share my experience of this uncommon shave product which has challenged my beliefs on how an ideal lather should be.
Aesop is an Australian company offering premium / luxury natural cosmetics for women and men. I know this brand quite well for I am using many of Aesop products on a daily basis: shampoos, tonic skin lotion, moisturizing creams, deodorant. They are fantastic for my hyper sensitive skin.
The brand is offering a very small range of wet shaving products: one shave serum and one after-shave lotion. Period. Both of them are formulated alike, based on a refined combination of natural ingredients (but I assume that some of them, end of the list, are chemicals). The front ingredients (highlighted on the packaging) are Sandalwood, Moroccan Neroli flower and Panthenol. But there are many other natural ingredients in the formulation to provide cooling, soothing, moisturizing, nourishing effects. As of the perfume, top notes are woody but sweet. It is masculine and elegant, complex but natural.
The aftershave lotion is the best I have ever experienced. It is a fantastic cooler and reconstructing moisturizer. Its texture is less fluid than regular lotions but it is not a balm neither. It penetrates very quickly. No burn effects due to essential oils / perfume. Never. Comfort is fabulous all day long (not kidding).
The serum looks like a gel. It is bottled in a brown plastic bottle (UV protection) with a first class pump at the top. As every Aesop products, the label is black and white-stripped and inspired by apothecary. Quite hip and trendy but no blablah. Only straightful indications on what it contains and how to use it. There are 2 options: 60ml bottle is sold 31 euros. 100ml is sold 47 euros. It is very expansive but lathering only requires a very small amount of serum. Besides, these formats are very convenient for travelers.
Using this serum for the first time was very deceptive. Based on my experience with traditional artisan soaps, I was expecting a creamy and dense lather. All I got with the serum was a light and bubbled lather. To picture this, imagine that you lather up your soap with far too much water. There is a video on Aesop French website. Can’t find / connect to the US website. Here is a link to find it. Click on “Une demonstration”. Run the video and you’ll see how unusual Aesop serum lather is. Not reassuring, isn’t it?
As I was shaving with a Merkur Futur, I didn’t feel secure at all with such a liquid lather. No irritation, no side effects of any kind but… well… the lather brought by the Aesop’s was so different from the “Chantilly” we are used to shave with that I put the serum aside and didn’t give it a chance again. Until now, after many months.
What has changed? I met the PILS. I have experienced many DE and SE razors. Some were great, some not but each of them led to excessive irritations (my skin is the type of a Disney princess ). Exploring DE again and again, I decided to buy a PILS. It is my first and only razor to match with my fragile skin. Gentle and efficient, I love this razor. Giving the PILS a chance, I gave the Aesop a new try. Many other tries. The conclusion was unpredictable.
I got over its fluid, light and bubbled lather. Whatever you may do, it will remain as this. But using it again and again, I have to admit that the glide is outstanding. Really outstanding. None of my artisan soaps provides such a glide. Neither MdC or Tabula Rasa nor CRSW (I like each of them a lot). Aesop lather is lubricating so much my skin that while rinsing with water, a layer is persisting on my skin. I have to rinse more than with any other soaps. Safety is at its stake with Aesop serum. So long irritations.
My shaves are fantastic every time: DFS at the minimum, easy BBS. And you know what? It’s because the lather is light and fluid. It doesn’t clutter the razor head or blade. The shave is closer, far much closer but safe still.
I can only recommend to traditional wet shavers to try this one, even if we / you have other benchmarks in mind as of a Lather of the God. May it be as good with every razor as it is with the PILS? I can’t answer. But (super) glide is (super) glide. I am glad I gave this shave serum a second chance. Otherwise, I may have not cross the way of this game changer. It’s expansive but for me, it is worth every penny.
