Wrapping up Schaf Skin Care Products

I’ve now reviewed all five of the products in the Schaf line, so I thought maybe I’d wrap everything up with a capstone post.  I’ll admit when I first saw Schaf products online I was somewhat skeptical: there are a lot of well-established skin care product lines, and there was certainly a feeling of “oh yeah? what can you possibly offer?”  What do they offer?  All five of their products are fantastic for sensitive skin.  That’s the bottom line.  Even the stuff that I wasn’t too hot on would be great for people who’s skin is more sensitive than mine; if you have sensitive skin, it is worth check out their products.

The products are vegan, cruelty free, gluten free, and paraben free – another reason to try them out.  One of the things that really hooked me was that everything in their line is virtually scent free – this is a huge, huge plus for me.  If you don’t like your skin care products to have a smell to them, then Schaf is certainly the product line for you.

One thing which I didn’t mention in the individual reviews, which I’ll bring up here, is the price.  The MSRP for all of the Schaf products is, frankly, higher than many other products of that type.  Don’t let this be a deterrent to you.  Setting aside, for the moment, the quality of Schaf, one of the great things about their products is a little bit goes a very long way.  I can clean my face with two pumps of the face cleanser.  About a quarter of a pump of the eye cream provides enough product for my under-eyes.  Frankly, you’re going to get enough out of these products that the cost equalizes out over time.  As far as quality goes, you do get what you pay for – I am a fan of these products, and the quality is worth the money paid.

I’m not sure if Schaf is planning anything else anytime soon, but I’ll tell you what I’d like.  I would really like to see an aftershave lotion from them.  Given that their products are soothing, scent free, and great on sensitive skin, it is almost a no-brainer, for me, to see the development of an aftershave lotion.

All in all, Schaf products are very good – they are a welcome addition to the market.  At least three of their products will have found a permanent home in my dopp kit.  Check them out.

Schaf Nutritive Daily Moisturizer

We’re at the last Schaf product – thanks again to Schaf for sending me their line to review.  This is another Schaf product I’m mixed on.

To start, it has, like all Schaf products, many qualities I really enjoy.  It is totally scent free, it is light weight, and it is non-oily.  These are three things I like in a moisturizer. These qualities also suggest it is an excellent moisturizer for those with sensitive skin – if that’s you, this is worth checking out.

The first time I tried the Daily Moisturizer, I applied it to my face, and it really wouldn’t absorb easily.  I thought that perhaps I had tried to apply too much, so the next morning I tried much less, and again, it wouldn’t absorb easily.  I spent a great deal of time trying to get my skin to absorb this moisturizer – standing there in front of the mirror and patting and rubbing furiously.  This was counter productive – if you have sensitive skin, you don’t want to spend all day sitting there agitating your skin by rubbing at it.  The results, though, once it did absorb, were great – it made my skin feel light, and really prevented any tightness on my face all day.

A few weeks later, I needed a blast of moisturizer mid afternoon.  Canadian winters are horrid for skin, and sometimes a once in the morning, once in the evening moisturizing routine doesn’t hold for the day.  Anyway, rather than dig through my gym bag for my dopp kit and dig through it to find my regular moisturizer, I just rummaged through the big box o skin care products and grabbed the Schaf moisturizer.  I got a small amount, put it on my face, and it absorbed immediately – and made my skin feel light and no longer tight.

I then went back and tried it the next morning with similar results to the first time around – it wouldn’t absorb easily into my skin.  I’m not sure about the science here.  I really don’t know why it doesn’t absorb easily on slightly wet skin, but does on dry skin.  Or maybe I’m doing it wrong?

Coming up with a final tally on this was difficult.  It certainly moisturizes very well, and is excellent for sensitive skin, but that I can’t get it to absorb on slightly wet skin is annoying.  I’m not sure it will displace my regular moisturizer.  But, it might be the moisturizer for you, depending on your needs.

Schaf Nutritive Daily Moisturizer

Schaf Nutritive Daily Moisturizer: 3.5 / 5

tl;dr: great lightweight moisturizer, good for sensitive skin, although it doesn’t always absorb easily onto wet skin.

Schaf Ultimate Comfort Shave Cream

Sorry about missing last week.

Returning to the world of Schaf products, this week we’re looking at Schaf’s shave cream.  This is the first Schaf product that I don’t have universally good things to say about.  Like all of the Schaf products I’ve tried, the shave cream doesn’t have any scent to it at all, which is an obvious plus for those looking for scent-free shave cream.  This would mean, I suspect, that it would also make for a good shave cream for those with sensitive skin.  It is also very lightweight and very smooth to the touch.

Now, the product tub says to simply massage the shave cream on your face and shave.  I decided to forgo the instructions and try to lather it up with a shave brush.  This did not work well.  At all.  It didn’t make a lather one bit, it just sort of disintegrated.  Okay, so I’ll follow the instructions.  This is, however, my main complaint with the product.  One of the reasons why classic wet shaving with a double-edged razor makes for such a close, nice shave is building the lather with the brush.  When you brush on shaving cream, the brush action lifts whiskers and stubble away from the face – this prevents razor burn and helps make for a closer shave.  When you pat shaving cream onto your skin – like you would from one of those spray cans – you’re mashing the whiskers down into the skin.  This can cause irritation and make for an uncomfortable shave.  The Schaf is the same principle – you’re massaging the cream onto your skin, so you’re not getting the benefit of the brush.  I really didn’t like it for that reason.

Anyway, the shave itself.  The shave, once I applied it the way as instructed, was pleasant enough.  The cream is a very good lubricant, and I got a good close shave with it.  I did have some minor irritation, though, but I can’t say it wouldn’t be more than what I would “normally” expect – some days you’ll get some irritation, others you won’t, no matter what cream you use.  Oh, also, the shave took longer, because rather than whipping on cream after each pass with my brush, I had to go back and lather up with my hands.

Now, I don’t think that this shave cream will displace my go-to shave cream.  But, considering that it provided nice lubrication and was scent free, I tried to find a way to use it.  I’ve tried using it as a pre-shave treatment for my skin.  I apply a thin layer of the shave cream, by hand, before I lather up my regular shave cream with my brush (like you would for any pre-shave treatment).  Combining this cream with another made for a very pleasant shave.  It allowed my razor to easily glide across my face, and I didn’t have any nicks or irritation.  It is possible that the shave cream could be used as a pre-shave treatment quite effectively.

Bottom line, it won’t become my go-to shave cream. That said, it might be for you if you have very sensitive skin, don’t like scents, and don’t shave with a double-edged razor.

Schaf ultimate comfort shave cream

Schaf Ultimate Comfort Shave Cream (as a shave cream): 3 / 5

Schaf Ultimate Comfort Shave Cream (rejiggered as a pre-shave treatment): 4 / 5

tl;dr: not the greatest shave cream I’ve used, but would be great for those with very sensitive skin. Also, is a great pre-shave treatment.

eShave After Shave Soother

So much attention (and rightfully so, in most cases) is spent on the aftershave when it comes to traditional wet shaving.  Besides adding a bit of scent (sometimes), aftershaves help reduce irritation, prevent razor burn, and heal nicks and cuts.  I’ve come across more lotion type and more liquid type aftershaves, and the eShave aftershave is a lotion.

This particular aftershave is scentless and designed for sensitive skin.  It doubles as a moisturizer, too, which makes it pleasant, and you could use it to moisturize your face in a pinch.  As far being scentless, that much is true – there’s no discernible scent to the lotion at all.  That’s an obvious plus if you want to avoid scents (as I do), but it would also be great if you use colognes and don’t want to mingle scents.  So, if you’re looking for a scentless aftershave, this works for you.

As far as actual aftershave qualities, yep, it works as well.  It soothes the skin – hey, you just dragged a metal blade across your face, it might need some smoothing, and moisturizes as well.  It helps deal with small nicks.  I’ve had it in my dopp kit for some time.  I should also add that a tiny bit of this aftershave goes a long way – the bottle I have has lasted me months and months.

Now, all that said, I did come across a minor gripe with the eShave aftershave.  The typical post-shave routine is cold water to close pores and wake you up, alum to close nicks and cuts, aftershave, enjoy your day.  When I started using this aftershave, that’s what I did.  I noticed that the aftershave seemed to be clumping up, making this pebble-like beads on my face and not absorbing.  I thought this might have something to do with temperature change – I shave at the gym, toss everything in my gym bag, toss the gym bag in my car.  Perhaps something was happening to the aftershave with all this temperature change?

I contacted eShave directly to ask.  Let me interject here with something – eShave has some of the best customer service I’ve encountered in the industry of dandy things.  They replied quickly, and kept in communication with me until the problem was solved.  In their guess, it wasn’t the temperature, but that I was using it after alum.  It appears that there’s something in the lotion that just doesn’t mix well with the alum – it causes it to clump up and become nonabsorbent.  The fix was to change the routine: shave, alum, rinse with cold water, aftershave.  Now, that’s no big deal at all, really, but it would be nice if they could science around this problem.

Right now, I have two primary aftershaves – the eShave, and another that’s more of a liquid than a lotion (I use the Proraso white).  Both serve me very well.

eShave After Shave Lotion

eShave After Shave Lotion: 4/5

tl;dr: Excellent for sensitive skin, no real scent to it. Just make sure you rinse off alum before you apply.

Schaf Nutritive Daily Eye Cream

Let me tell you, dear readers, of my experience with eye cream.  For a very long time, I thought that eye cream was the dividing line between dandyism and vanity.  I may be a total dandy who takes forever to get ready in the morning (and before bed), but at least I don’t use an eye cream! Those are for totally vain people!  This is the framework under which I operated for a very long time.  Then, along came one day where I needed to fill out an order online to qualify for free shipping.  An eye gel fit the bill, so I got one.

Now, the particular eye gel in question (not the one I’m reviewing), was used for months and months.  And, well, I didn’t particularly like it.  It didn’t seem to do much.  I kept using it, but I was determined to abandon the eye gel after I finished the tub I got.  Along came my Schaf sample, and I decided to test out their eye cream.

Before I get to the review proper, as this is the first time I’ve talked about eye cream, a pause.  The skin under the eyes is the most sensitive there is, and, as such, it is the first place signs of aging will appear – fine lines and wrinkles will appear under the eye before elsewhere.  So, if you’re even in your mid 20s or older, it is the time to consider an eye cream.

Schaf’s eye cream comes will all of the other things that make Schaf good – it’s vegan, paraben free, gluten free, etc. The eye cream comes in a plastic pump dispenser, and even half a pump will give you enough cream to work with.  When you dispense the cream, the first thing you may notice is its yellow colour – that vanishes quickly on the face, so no worries there.  Like all the other Schaf products I’ve reviewed, there’s no scent to it at all – and that is usually a major point for me.

The cream is easily absorbed into the skin under the eye.  Now, you always want to gently pat eye products – not rub – them into the skin.  A few easy pats and the cream absorbs into the face.  It doesn’t irritate the skin or the eye, and there’s no scent.  There’s no greasy after feeling either.  I’ve used a few eye gels, and one of the problems with gels is that they can leave a shine finish under the eye shortly after applying.  Not the case with the Schaf product – it doesn’t leave any immediate trace of it being there.

So, does it work? I’d say so.  Within a few days of using the cream, I noticed my eyes looked less puffy and there were fewer lines under them, so that’s good – it’s also a definite improvement over what I was using before.  The skin feels smoother and looks smoother, and there’s less of a difference between “face” and “area under my eyes” on my skin. So, it does the job – makes the eyes look better, and doesn’t irritate the skin.

I’d like to talk, just for a minute, about the cost of the eye cream.  The MSRP is $40 on it, making it easily the most expensive skin care product I have used.  I could see, frankly, why some people may balk at the price.  I’ve only used a small selection of eye care products, and one didn’t seem to do much, and out of the ones that work – which includes the Schaf one – the Schaf one works the best.  Now, you only need a tiny, tiny bit of the cream each day, so you’ll get a good long run out of the small bottle you get.  I would hazard a guess and say its good value for cost, given how well the product works and how long, I assume, the bottle will last.  That said, I don’t have many comparison points out there.  Will I permanently add this to my dopp kit?  I’d like to.  I really want to see how long a bottle of it lasts, though, before I commit to it.

Schaf nutritive daily eye cream

Schaf nutritive daily eye cream: 5/5

tl/dr: makes the skin on the eye look better, absorbs easily, and does what its supposed to do.

Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street Pre-Shave Gel

As I’ve mentioned on here before, I am a big fan of TOOB – they’re one of my go-to companies if I’m looking for a new product; many of my classic wet shave friends agree on this point.  So, I decided to check out the TOOB Jermyn Street Pre-Shave Gel.  The Jermyn Street Collection is for sensitive skin, so that was a selling point for me.  That said, I really didn’t enjoy this gel.

The pre-shave is a really important part of the wet shave. A lot of attention is paid to aftershaves (with good reason), but the pre-shave is really important, as it preps your face for a shave – it softens the whiskers, making them easier to remove, and provides some cushion to the face.  There are two major pre-shave treatments that I’ve encountered – oils and gels.  I honestly couldn’t tell you why you may chose one over the other.

The first thing that I noticed when I opened the gel was the scent.  The scent was overpowering.  I’m not sure what it is, but it can be described as “gentlemanly” – you’d probably recognize it as classic gentleman scent when you sniffed it.  Now, I know I rail against scent on here all the time, and I do mostly enjoy light-to-no scent.  It confuses me how something marketed to sensitive skin would contain scents.  I know the two aren’t the same, but surely those who have sensitive skin would find scents may inflame that?  I don’t know – that’s what happens for me.  Anyway, I’ve used this two or three times, and every time I do I have a massive sneezing fit after I apply it to my face.  So, there’s that.

Does it work as a shave product?  Yes.  Mostly.  The few times I’ve used it, it does provide a cushion and makes the first pass easier.  In comparison, though, I found the pre-shave oils I’ve used to be much better – the oil cushions for much longer.  In the small sample size of three uses or so, I nicked myself a few times with this gel, but I can’t say the nicks were any more frequent than if I had used the oil.

Frankly, this isn’t something I’ll be restocking.  All the pre-shave oils I’ve used are the same, or better, at a pre-shave treatment, and the scent is just overpowering.  It sticks with you for an hour or so after the shave, which is pretty annoying.  All this said, if you enjoy scents and have sensitive skin, this may be a useful addition for you.  It just isn’t for me.

Jermyn Street Pre-Shave Gel

Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street Pre-Shave Gel: 1.5 / 5.

tl;dr: The scent is overpowering and somewhat uncomfortable. The gel, as a gel, is good enough, but I’ve found oils that work better.

 

Schaf White Lava Purifying Scrub

Second of my Schaf reviews. A facial scrub is a pretty important part of the wet shave routine. I’ve mentioned on here before that I like two scrubs on hand: one a ‘heavy duty’ scrub, which I’ll only use once a week to really refresh my face before shaving, and a more ‘lightweight’ scrub which I’ll use 2 – 3 other times a week. The Schaf scrub certainly falls into the second category, it is a lightweight scrub, but it is certainly a scrub which gets the job done.

The exfoliating agents are ‘white lava particles’ and ground apricot seed. You can feel them working right away, they both provide a really nice grit to them that means you don’t have to work too much to get a good scrub from it. One of the first things that I noticed about the scrub, which is a theme with the Schaf products, is that there’s very little scent to the scrub at all. In my quest for ‘no scent’ men’s cosmetics, this certainly fits the bill.

The scrub does its job. It exfoliates, rather gently, and prepares the face for a shave while the solution cleans your face. Many scrubs I’ve used leave your face feeling slightly tingly or zippy (you know what I mean with zippy), which can really wake you up in the morning – this scrub doesn’t. This isn’t a complaint, but if you’re looking for a scrub with a “pow!” to it, this isn’t it. On the flip side, that means that this is really the scrub for people with sensitive skin – I would certainly add it to any sensitive skin shaving routine.

There is one thing, and one thing only, that prevents me from giving this a full 5/5: the bottle is annoying. Every time I’ve used this, I’m standing there, I flip open the cap to the bottle, give it a squeeze…. nothing happens. Shake it up, squeeze again… nothing happens. Repeat. On squeezeshake four or five I get a great gob of the stuff in my hands – often more than needed. Now, this isn’t anything to do with the quality of the scrub itself, which is great, but perhaps the engineers over at Schaf could work on a bottle that doesn’t do this. Anyway, that’s my pedantic gripe.

Schaf white lava purifying scrub

Schaf scrub: 4.5/5 (on account of the bottle)

tl;dr: great lightweight scrub, would be excellent for those with sensitive skin

Until next time, be kind to animals.

Schaf Daily Facial Cleaner

A few weeks ago I got a tweet on The Tweeter (are you following me on The Tweeter) from Schaf cosmetics, wondering if I’d like to review their products.  I’m not sure what the etiquette is, but I did want to let my readers know that I did get the line of Schaf cosmetics as promotional / review products.  I’ve used them all now, and there are some I quite enjoy a great deal.  I’ll be reviewing them over the next few weeks.

So, what’s The Deal with Schaf cosmetics.  They are vegan and not tested on animals, which is how we found each other.  But, there are a few other cool things about them: no parabens, artificial fragrances,  and a whole host of other things, including gluten.  Now, full disclosures, when I saw that their products are gluten free, I kinda rolled my eyes with a “oh gee, jumping on the gluten free bandwagon.”  I actually emailed them to say “really?”  Turns out I’m an idiot.  Gluten free cosmetics are specifically targeted for people with Celiac – who really do need to avoid gluten.  So, that’s pretty cool.

On to the review!

It’s billed as a face wash for all skin types, especially those with sensitive skin.  Now, I usually use products for sensitive skin, so I was excited.  The label says “This coconut-based cleanser – infused with a blend of Chamomile, Aloe and Cucumber,” and I thought “great.  Coconut.”  I really don’t like coconut, and I was worried that I would not enjoy this one bit.  You can’t really tell that there’s coconut in it, at all.  There’s no coconut scent to it.  There is, however, just a hint of cucumber scent to it, which I found very nice and refreshing – it wasn’t overpowering, and it dissipates very quickly, but is nice when its there.

I really enjoy this wash.  It’s a very light wash, and doesn’t feel “soapy” on your skin, but does leave your skin feeling very clean and refreshed.  It leaves your face feeling clean without it feeling like you’ve stripped away an entire layer of skin – which is a good thing.  I tend to use it in the evening before I go to bed.  It’s nice for that.

I think this will be sticking around in my daily routine. It’s a great end-of-the-day face wash.  I would also recommend it for anybody with very sensitive skin, or for those who don’t want any fragrance at all to their facewash – while there is a hint of cucumber, it goes away quite quickly.

Schaf facial cleaner

Schaf facial cleaner: 5/5. 

tl;dr: excellent lightweight facial cleaner, almost no scent, great for sensitive skin.

Taylor of Old Bond Street Rose Bowl

Alright, let’s talk about shaving cream.  As I’ve mentioned, ad nasuem, my skin tends towards the sensitive side.  Many, many of the wet shave brands out there have a ‘sensitive’ line, or sensitive products, but when I first started wet shaving, many sites around the internet recommended rose shaving cream for the sensitive skin.  I’ve gotten a handful of rose creams, and I’ll slowly review them all, but let me just put this out there: the Taylor of Old Bond Street Rose Bowl is, so far, the best cream I’ve ever shaved with.

When you first open the bowl, you’ll notice two things – a dull pink colour, and a faint smell of roses.  Now, the first.  I’m gonna be honest and say when I thought of rose bowls, I was hesitant to try them right away – the idea of covering my face in a pink lather every day did not appeal to me.  This had nothing to do with the colour pink – many of the other varieties of shave cream come coloured, and the idea of lathering my face in a colour of any kind didn’t appeal to me.  If this is a worry of yours, discard it – it whips up into a white lather.  Second, if you’re a regular reader of this blog (any of you out there?) you’ll note I rail against scents all the time.  Not the case here – the faint smell of roses is faint, and, frankly, delightful.  As you lather up the cream it gives a gentile  floral aroma, which is very nice.  If no scent is what you’re looking for, though, this might not be the cream for you.

The TOOB Rose Bowl whips up a nice lather in no time at all.  It takes only a few turns of the brush to start forming a lather, and you get a nice lather very quickly.  It is also one of the easiest creams I’ve ever worked with to lather. It builds a lather very easily and quickly.  It’s got a great consistency, makes nice peaks and an airy cream.  It applies smoothly and uniformly to the face, without bumps.

The shave experience is great.  It creates a nice pillowy lather that really shields the face.  I rarely nick myself with TOOB cream.  While a few nicks and cuts are going to be part of the wet shave experience – even the most seasoned veteran will nick himself from time to time – this cream creates a great protective barrier.

I really enjoy this shave cream.  While I have others I’m testing out, the Rose Bowl has yet to be displaced as my daily shave cream.  It’s really quite enjoyable.

Taylor of Old Bond Street Rose Bowl

 

Taylor of Old Bond Street Rose Shaving Cream: 5/5

tl;dr: fantastic shave cream, my go-to cream. Great cushion, light scent.

Billy Jealousy Sucker Punch Face Scrub

A face scrub is a very important addition to any counter top or dopp kit of the classic wet shaver.  A scrub exfoliates the skin, prevents ingrown hairs, and prepares your skin for a closer shave – and a closer shave is a better shave.  I will, generally, use a face scrub three times a week to prepare myself for a good shave.  Being a dandy, I actually have two scrubs on the go at any time.  One is my “everyday scrub,” and the other is a “heavy duty scrub,” which I’ll only use once a week.  The Sucker Punch falls into the latter.

Let’s take a moment to discuss exfoliation agents.  A lot of scrubs have some sort of sciency beads in them, some use volcanic sand, and another favourite is crushed almond or walnut shells.  While I don’t really have a preference, I thought it would be useful to mention this up front – if you, or somebody who you live with, has a nut allergy, you should really read the ingredients list carefully to avoid the nutty scrubs.  The exfoliation agent for the Sucker Punch is “Tahitian Volcanic Black Sand” and crushed walnut shell.

I only used this scrub once a week, and I honestly doubt I would use it more frequently than that.  It is a pretty powerful scrub.  The consistency is very liquidy, more than I would have expected for a scrub.  This means it can be a little sloppy to apply, but it is easily controllable.  It gets on to your face easily, and you can feel it scrubbing away almost immediately.  You don’t need to put a lot – or any – pressure on with your hands to feel the grit working away on your face.  Within a few moments of applying, you’ll feel a tingling sensation on your face as well, which is quite pleasant.  It really leaves your face with a very clean feeling, and makes you feel awake and refreshed first thing in the morning.  Oh, it also does its job of helping out with ingrown hairs, and it makes my face ready for a shave a soon as I hop out of the shower.

So, now that my bottle is empty, will I replace it?  I’m not sure.  The thing is, as my skin is dry-ish and sensitive-ish, it sometimes, but not always, feels a bit too abrasive on my face.  I do like a good once a week heavy duty scrub, but I worry that in the depths of a Canadian winter, when my face is going to take a beating anyway, that this might not be the best.  There are also a few other “heavy duty” scrubs that are on my to try list before I make a final call.  I don’t dislike this scrub in any way, but I’m not yet sold on it being the one for me.

Billy Jealousy Sucker Punch

Billy Jealousy Sucker Punch face scrub: 3.5 / 5

tl;dr: good heavy duty scrub, leaves you ready to shave, has nuts in it, good for once a week.