Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street Pre-Shave Gel

by tfowler

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.