Saturday, December 1, 2018

Initial Pass: Dr. Bronner’s Organic Shaving Gel


I like the Dr. Bronner’s Pure-Castile Liquid Soap; the peppermint is a particular favorite of mine.  When shopping I’ll regularly see the soap bottles, toothpaste, and soap bars. Though I’ve never seen Dr. Bronner’s Organic Shaving Gel until my wife brought a bottle of the Unscented home.  She had been on an assignment for work and happened to discover it in a client’s company store.  If there’s something she thinks is interesting, she won’t hesitate to pick it up for me to try.  I suppose up until this point, I don’t think I realized how much she understood my enjoyment I got from this wet shaving hobby. 
My wife bought Dr. Bronner's Shave Gel on one of her business trips for me to try.
When I first opened the bottle a very thin, brown, runny liquid immediately leaked out of the dispensing opening.  This definitely didn’t resemble gels that I had previously tried before.   After a few shaving sessions it started to dispense more like a textured gel (as if it contained salt granules).  At this point I realized that even though it didn’t mention it in the directions I probably should have shaken the tube first.  This probably would have prevented that the thin liquid from running out.   With subsequent shaves, I would vigorously shake the tube.

It started out runny. But was able to push out a thicker gel.
Even though this Dr. Bronner’s Organic Shaving Gel is described as Unscented didn’t mean it is without an odor. As with other unscented wet shaving or grooming products I’ve tried, I would imagine that the mixture of the different ingredients produces their own aroma.  Personally, I thought the scent of the Unscented Organic Shaving Gel was just awful.  It wasn’t as noticeable when I use it for just my head shave.  But when applying it to my chin and upper lip, I am very aware that it has been applied.  It almost reminds me of the smell of a brand new badger brush that hasn’t been cleansed of it’s odor.   The upside was that it washes away easily and that aroma doesn’t linger around. 

After about 15 seconds, the lather thinned out.
After applying the gel to my head and face with my hands and a bubbly lather started to build.  After stopping the lather disappeared after a few seconds and trying to lather with a brush was no different. I did find that the Dr. Bronner’s Organic Shaving Gel had a decent slickness to it.  However, I did apply my Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Pure-Castille Soap to my head and face and found the slickness and protection to be similar.   Though I seriously preferred the peppermint aroma to the “unscented.”
Overall, the Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Organic Shaving Gel got the job done.  But, it wasn’t an extremely gratifying experience.  If the shave brush is something of a must in the wet shaving routine then this probably isn’t a must have.

Pairing my Dr. Bronners with my Parker 24C Razor
Have you tried Dr. Bronner’s shave gels?  Please leave a comment below and let us know what you think.


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