Hiya,
So this product is like a medium consistancy cream and as such I partially dissolved some in a small amount ( 1 teaspoon or so) of very hot water and let it sit in the mixing bowl for a minute or two. Then I loaded my well shook out brush and worked the lather in the bowl for maybe 15-30 seconds or so.....just to charge the brush deeply. Then to my face where the lather is made.
From there the cream whips up real quick......really nice looking thick texture. I remember bowl lathering with this one time and it was amazingly easy. Reminds me of Penhaligons in that way.
Plenty of slip, which is unusual to find in a cream, and the cushion was great. Post shave skin care is very good. Really, there's a lot of good things going on.
Scent wise, it's gonna be a crapshoot I can tell ya. It reminds me of the C&S #88 as a reference point. Same kinda dirty rose infused thing. This frag has lots of pepper for sure. Hah, I've used it 6-7 times and still can't tell if I enjoy it. I know I like using it....does that count?
Price wise, holy crap it's expensive. Yeah, normally a large 250m tub will run about $75 shipped. Yeah, it's over 8 ounces of product, but that's the deal. As of this writing there's one German place selling it for around $50 shipped, which is by far the lowest I've seen it. That is a crazy good price, but still not cheap I know.
Finding the stuff isn't easy. Only a few vendors selling that product and none in the US right now. The two places that did are out of stock. So there's that to deal with.
Made in Italy by a company with some big accounts called Forester. Here you go:
http://www.askforester.com/eng/
So would I buy this again? At $50 shipped (or thereabouts) I think it's a good value. This cream is one of a few I will use, those others being Penhaligons and J Peterman 1903. Mostly I use soaps and this stuff performs similar to a very good soap. That's the deal. If you like the scent it's a bonus.
The reviews I've seen on Xpec are all positive as far as great performance goes. What that's worth is up to the individual (how 'enthusiastic' they are). I am happy to have this in the arsenal.
Martin
An update from February 2014: This turned out being a favorite of mine and there's been some in the arsenal since the original post almost a year ago. The scent is what C&S #88 tries to be, with Xpec doing that dirty rose note better. Totally hooked........sheesh.
So this product is like a medium consistancy cream and as such I partially dissolved some in a small amount ( 1 teaspoon or so) of very hot water and let it sit in the mixing bowl for a minute or two. Then I loaded my well shook out brush and worked the lather in the bowl for maybe 15-30 seconds or so.....just to charge the brush deeply. Then to my face where the lather is made.
From there the cream whips up real quick......really nice looking thick texture. I remember bowl lathering with this one time and it was amazingly easy. Reminds me of Penhaligons in that way.
Plenty of slip, which is unusual to find in a cream, and the cushion was great. Post shave skin care is very good. Really, there's a lot of good things going on.
Scent wise, it's gonna be a crapshoot I can tell ya. It reminds me of the C&S #88 as a reference point. Same kinda dirty rose infused thing. This frag has lots of pepper for sure. Hah, I've used it 6-7 times and still can't tell if I enjoy it. I know I like using it....does that count?
Price wise, holy crap it's expensive. Yeah, normally a large 250m tub will run about $75 shipped. Yeah, it's over 8 ounces of product, but that's the deal. As of this writing there's one German place selling it for around $50 shipped, which is by far the lowest I've seen it. That is a crazy good price, but still not cheap I know.
Finding the stuff isn't easy. Only a few vendors selling that product and none in the US right now. The two places that did are out of stock. So there's that to deal with.
Made in Italy by a company with some big accounts called Forester. Here you go:
http://www.askforester.com/eng/
So would I buy this again? At $50 shipped (or thereabouts) I think it's a good value. This cream is one of a few I will use, those others being Penhaligons and J Peterman 1903. Mostly I use soaps and this stuff performs similar to a very good soap. That's the deal. If you like the scent it's a bonus.
The reviews I've seen on Xpec are all positive as far as great performance goes. What that's worth is up to the individual (how 'enthusiastic' they are). I am happy to have this in the arsenal.
Martin
An update from February 2014: This turned out being a favorite of mine and there's been some in the arsenal since the original post almost a year ago. The scent is what C&S #88 tries to be, with Xpec doing that dirty rose note better. Totally hooked........sheesh.
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