PAA Cube, the best pre shave product that I have used.

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Just thought I would share my review/thoughts on here of the Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements Pre Shave Cube. I hope it's helpful to some of you.

Having seen these mentioned (and highly praised I will add) on the many shaving forums, shaving groups, social media, I decided to give it a try. I struggled to find anywhere in the UK that had them in stock. So I waited and eventually noticed that Agent Shave had got a small quantity of the Cube back in stock.

I went with the unscented version as I didn't want the mentholated version, as I knew it would overpower my none mentholated shaving soaps.

The Cube is very easy to use and I use it as follows:

1: Wet my face.

2: Rub the Cube over the wet face, and you can see the Cube gather on the whiskers. Bear in mind you don't need a lot.

3: I wet the fingertips and then rub into my whiskers.

4: Apply your shaving soap on the top of it.

The Cube is very slick on you hands, so you can see how it will add to the slickness you usually get. You do not need to rub the Cube on your face for very long, as a little goes a long way. I can imagine the Cube lasting quite a while. So the £10.75 asking price (around £13 with the P&P) is not a bad price, considering how little of it you need, and also the large size of the Cube.

Once you begin to rub the Cube on your wet face, you can see your whiskers turn a dark grey/black colour. You don't need a lot. After this, you just wet your fingertips, and work into your whiskers. Immediately you get a small amount of lather (like you would with a soap). After this, apply your shaving soap, shaving cream as you would normally with your brush.

YOU DO NOT wash off the Cube, before applying your shaving soap!

After I have used the Cube, I just wipe it clean, and dry, and leave it until dry, before I put it back in the box.

Here's my findings and thoughts:

The Cube, definitely adds an extra amount of slickness to your shaving soap. Not a massive amount, but you would certainly noticed it more with a less quality soap. For the record, I've used the Cube with both Wickham soaps and Stirling soaps (both of which are some of the best slickness soaps around).

What I have noticed more is, the way the blade cuts through the whiskers more easily. So the Cube certainly does soften the whiskers as well, and in turn means less passes and less chance of irritation.

Also, I find I get a closer shave more easily, with less weepers and also a better post shave feel.

All in all the Cube (or any other pre shave product) isn't vitally important to a shave. But for me, the Cube has made my already excellent shaves, ever more so and also more enjoyable and comfortable.

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I also purchased the Cube (Mentholated) from Agent Shave, I echo Talster's sentiments. The Cube is the best preshave product I've used to date. It also acts as a degreaser soap where you can use it as a face wash, to clean any excess oils on the face before the actual shave process. The mentholated version does add a strong chill factor to any non mentholated soap, which I found to be more effective than using Stirling Frost Drops.
The shave is greatly improved if using a less inferior soap lacking in the slickness department. Highly recommended, 8oz of pre shave soap should last ages
 
I must have struck lucky and managed to obtain a mentholated version which arrived yesterday from Shavetime.
Used this morning and followed the instructions from "Talster" . it is certainly very menthol smelling and if you do not like that scent would try the normal version. Have also cut mine into 2 to make handling easier as very easy to drop when wet.
Had a nice close shave after applying so looking forward to using this as part of my routine.
 
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