King Of Shaves AlphaOil Cooling Menthol Shave Oil

Some time ago, I received a box of shaving supplies as a gift.  This wasn’t one of those wet shaving subscription boxes, but a very generous selection of shaving cream, gels, soap, and aftershaves selected by my girlfriend to support my hobby.  One of the items was the King Of ShavesAlphaOil Cooling Menthol Shave Oil.

King of Shaves AlphaOil Menthol Shave Oil

The directions on the bottle indicate this oil can be used by itself or with a shave foam/gel.  The King of Shaves website indicates it can also be used as a Beard Oil. I don’t have a beard, so I can’t say how effective a mentholated oil is for maintaining a beard.  But as a shaving supplement, I prefer to use this Menthol AlphaOil as preshave oil.  Admittedly, I have yet to use it with a shaving foam or gel; but I find that it works just fine with a shaving soap or cream.

The King Of Shaves AlphaOil Cooling Menthol Shave Oil is a clear blue-ish color and (to my nose) smells like an olive oil mixed with Fine Accoutrement’s Snake Bite Aftershave. Personally, I don’t find it to be the most appealing of scents.  But when using only a few drops I think the aroma is barely noticeable and it gets overpowered by the soap that I’m using.  Because of the menthol, I get that distinct mentholated cooling feeling a few seconds after applying.  I don’t find that mentholated sting to be very intense; it isn’t like Captain’s Choice Cat O’Nine Tails aftershave.  But it does yield a nice, cooling, feeling.

The King of Shaves AlphaOil bottle is a 15ml (.5 oz) container.  It’s a small size and I find that it’s a good size for my travel dopp bag.  My girlfriend is a big Doctor Who fan and she is amused that from the side it could resemble a Dalek.  

GF thought the bottle loosely looked like a Dalek

The downside is that for a shave oil it is generally priced at a premium.  As of this writing, a .5 oz bottle of AlphaOil sells for roughly 8.00 USD.   By contrast a 2 oz bottle of Taconic’s Unscented Preshave Oil for about $15.00 (about 3.75 USD per .5 oz) and Art Of Shaving’s 2 oz Unscented  Preshave Oil for about $25.00 (about 6.25 USD per .5 oz).  Though, if the Mentholated AlphaOil is something that one uses regularly, some sites have been known to sell them in bulk and some have had flash sales on them.   I really like this shave oil and try to keep an eye out for any deals that I can find.

The Mentholated AlphaOil is a clear, blue-ish color

Have you tried the King of Shaves AlphaOil Cooling Menthol Shave Oil?  Leave a comment below; let us know what your thoughts are.