- Messages
- 1,133
Crikey, I'm venturing into the world of reviews now, this is a bit scary. I still feel like a n00b on this site, but I'm starting to feel like my opinions are appreciated, so here we go!
Prior to Christmas, I heard my dad say to my mum, "don't buy our David any crap shaving stuff this Christmas, he's serious about it now". Aside from the fact that no one calls me "David" except my mum and dad, I appreciated his sentiment. It was a great surprise to recieve unexpectedly from them what appears to be a decent vintage straight razor (see the relevant thread), but I was a little ambivalent when I opened a package of Harvard Aftershave Balm, which a quick Google revealed to come from M&S.
The words "alcohol free" on the bottle enheartened me, because I know it's alcohol in "ordinary" aftershaves that makes me go "AAAAAAARGH!". My wife then packed the bottle away with some other Christmas presents, and I only rediscovered it tonight, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
It's a thick white cream; very thick, thicker than Proraso, and took some shaking to get it out of the bottle. It has a very subtle scent, barely there, and I struggle to describe it. It's certainly not unpleasant. Definitely manly. I could imagine Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy smelling of this.
It's soothing when it goes on, but I'm sitting here an hour later and there is still an undercurrent of heat on my chin and neck that I don't know whether to blame on the second Shark I'm trying out (thanks David!) or the lack of oomph from this Harvard.
It's not a loser. I'll finish the bottle. I see from a quick scan of the forum that some people use this every day. But it won't knock lovely lovely Proraso off the top spot for me.
And that, gentlemen, is my first review. Be gentle with it...
Dave.
Prior to Christmas, I heard my dad say to my mum, "don't buy our David any crap shaving stuff this Christmas, he's serious about it now". Aside from the fact that no one calls me "David" except my mum and dad, I appreciated his sentiment. It was a great surprise to recieve unexpectedly from them what appears to be a decent vintage straight razor (see the relevant thread), but I was a little ambivalent when I opened a package of Harvard Aftershave Balm, which a quick Google revealed to come from M&S.
The words "alcohol free" on the bottle enheartened me, because I know it's alcohol in "ordinary" aftershaves that makes me go "AAAAAAARGH!". My wife then packed the bottle away with some other Christmas presents, and I only rediscovered it tonight, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
It's a thick white cream; very thick, thicker than Proraso, and took some shaking to get it out of the bottle. It has a very subtle scent, barely there, and I struggle to describe it. It's certainly not unpleasant. Definitely manly. I could imagine Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy smelling of this.
It's soothing when it goes on, but I'm sitting here an hour later and there is still an undercurrent of heat on my chin and neck that I don't know whether to blame on the second Shark I'm trying out (thanks David!) or the lack of oomph from this Harvard.
It's not a loser. I'll finish the bottle. I see from a quick scan of the forum that some people use this every day. But it won't knock lovely lovely Proraso off the top spot for me.
And that, gentlemen, is my first review. Be gentle with it...
Dave.
