REVIEW - Pall Mall Barbers Home Shaving System

[nick_s]

WHAT IS IT, AND WHAT DOES IT DO?
Pall Mall Barbers 3 Step Shaving System (Pre Shave Scrub, Shave Cream, Post Shave Balm)

Like Ronseal, these items do exactly what they say on the tin (well, pump bottle in this instance).

APPLICATION METHOD AND DESCRIPTION:

SCENT:
Scent is a very subjective thing, and for me, without a good scent, you're doomed up front. Thankfully for me, I like this scent. There is warmth from the sandalwood, there is a hint of Christmas with the clove. Combined they make a very masculine scent, not out of place at all. The same scent profile is present in all three products, although it does vary ever so slightly in each, with the scent being strongest in the scrub, then the balm and lastly the shave cream itself. At no point is it over powering or unpleasant, nor indeed lacking.

LATHERABILITY:
Here is one POTENTIAL issue. If you like a lot of lather on your boat race, you may want to look away now. For Pall Mall doesn't create fluffy clouds of lather, oh no. It creates (when used as suggested by Pall Mall themselves) a relatively thin lather, but do not (and I can't stress this bit enough) be fooled into thinking you're not in for a good time.

Pall Mall claim that one pump of the cream on a small to medium sized brush is sufficient for a full shave. I put the question to the team, does this mean one pump per pass or would one pump be sufficient for a full three pass shave. Now I'll be honest and say I did sit there laughing to myself a little thinking that this one teeny tiny pump of product wouldn't last the distance. So, I performed some test lathers in the bowl, adding water in TINY increments, as it was suggested that the product required very little water. This is very true. You'll know as soon as you add too much water, the lather fails completely.

PERFORMANCE:
The PRE SHAVE SCRUB is something I used to enjoy incorporating into my shave on a daily basis, but for some reason I stopped doing so. I was therefore quite keen to try Pall Mall's scrub. Again, it is a one pump dose suggestion, and again I was sceptical that one pump would do the trick. It did though. It was quite a coarse feeling scrub on the skin, coarse but not unpleasant. I for one like to actually feel like I'm being scrubbed when using a scrub, not tickled with impossibly soft beads of feather ends. Scent was nice, felt slick when scrubbing the face...all good there!

Now, the SHAVE CREAM. Initial test lathers in both the bowl and on the hand yielded SOME lather, but not masses. Remember, I was advised that you don't get masses, and don't NEED masses, but still I felt a little apprehension going into the first shave. One pump on a brush, surely this couldn't so the trick? Well, the Body Shop Synthetic brush isn't the greatest face lathering brush, and to ensure minimal wastage, I face lathered. The brush was soaked in hot water for a short time, I flicked out as much water as possible, dispensed one single pump and away I went. Sure, I got some lather pretty quickly on my still damp face, but as is consistent with this brush, any remaining water flicked everywhere but on my face (not a fault of the cream). The lather was thin, but well scented. First pass with the Merkur 39C (with a 5th day Astra SS blade) felt smooth. The first three quarters of the first pass were good, but the final quarter I noted the lather had dissipated into nothing. So I applied a little more, with a few drops of water.

Dialling in the lather is always worth taking your time over, because once you've got the product to water ratio right, you get a nice slick lather. Sure, it's lack of density means there is not a huge amount of cushion against the blade, but this doesn't detract massively from the shave experience. Did the lather from one pump of product last the whole three pass shave? Much to my surprise, YES! I admit to being very skeptical with one eyebrow raised very high to the claim. If I owned a hat, I'd have to eat it as there was sufficient lather from the single pump to perform the whole three pass shave, with the same level of lather on each pass. This certainly seems economical.

After the shave, my skin didn't feel tight, didn't feel unpleasant at all, so I wasn't sure what the POST SHAVE BALM could add. When using GOOD soaps/creams, I don't need to add balm, but for the sake of completeness, I used the system as intended. The balm from one pump is more than enough to moisturise the whole face and neck. The scent is great. The balm does feel a little greasy up front, but this soon dissipates as the balm is absorbed into the skin, leaving a silky smooth feel (something I don't often get from liquid balms such as this).

POST SHAVE:

Yes, I have to say, the post shave feel from the system is good. If you've read my previous reviews, you'll understand this is a very important factor for me, and the Pall Mall Barbers system doesn't disappoint here. There's no irritation to be had, no tingling from sensitivity to ingredients, in fact there's nothing to dislike about the post shave feel at all.

 

[nick_s]

CONCLUSIVE COMMENTS:
Now, these three products are sold as a kit, so I will review as a kit (received gratis for the purpose of review), but also on their individual merit, because let's face it, we traditional shavers are creatures of habit and we like what we like, so may want to dabble in part, but not all of the kit.

Firstly, AS A SYSTEM - The three products work very well together. The scents compliment each other extremely well (understandable given they were designed to do so). By using all three as intended, you get a very good shave, that is close, comfortable and that offers a great post shave feel. The scents are just right in terms of strength, enough to know they are there, but not strong enough to leave you wishing for something else. A quality three step kit indeed.

As individual products, firstly the Pre Shave Scrub. This is a great scrub. I particularly like the aggression offered by the seed particles. If I want to use a face scrub, I want to feel like I've been scrubbed. There is great slickness during the scrub, with a nice scent. There's not an awful lot to say about a scrub if I'm honest, all I know is that it works, and it works well, as part of the system or in conjunction with other products.

The Shave Cream. As creatures of habit, I think we are conditioned to certain things. We want a slick shave (we get it here), we want cushion (we get some here, but not masses because of the next bit) and we want lather (we get lather, but a different lather in that there is less because you NEED less). If, and it is a big if, you can get your head round the fact that you don't NEED enough lather to replicate the scenes from Ghostbusters where Mr Stay Puft has exploded, then you'll get on with Pall Mall Shave Cream. Consider the slickness and scent the assets, and allow those to be at the forefront of your thinking and you'll 'get' the cream. I honestly did not expect a single HALF MILLILITRE amount of cream to create enough lather COMFORTABLY for a full three pass shave. It's a mind blowing thing really. It does give a good shave on it's own with basic prep (hot towel) and my normal DE razors, so can hold its own among the current market.

The Balm to me is the crown in the trio of products. The scent is lovely, the feel is superb. Slightly oily up front, but easily absorbed. There is no waxiness or greasy finish once you've massaged the balm into your skin and allowed to dry naturally for a few minutes. Again, a half millilitre pump is more than sufficient to cover your shaved face and neck area, with enough probably to do the rest of your face sparingly. Even after a particularly unpleasant shave, the Balm helped in a big way, soothing and calming my irritated skin.

Now, I made sure I used the products before enquiring as to the price of the products. As a kit of three, the price is £60, which is a lot of most peoples money I can hear you say. Now consider the claims Pall Mall Barbers make about the products. Two hundred shaves if you stick to the suggested usage rates. If you do use all three, and stick to the suggested rates, that is only 30p per day. Thirty English New Pence. Or if you use one of the three products, 10p. You can't even make a phone call for that now. If you consider my favourite soap works out (at suggested 70 shaves per tub) 15p, it works out to very good value indeed. For your money, you are getting a high end product that on the whole performs well, and performs exactly as expected.

Now, with all the positives, could I find anything that I didn't like? When I consider the scrub and balm, no, I cannot, for they perform admirably every time For the cream, there is only one real short coming I could find. When used with an highly aggressive blade in an aggressive razor, the lack of cushion meant multiple nicks and cuts. Sure, the slickness prevented an awful lot more damage, as I am sure if it were a drier lather, the Feather would have been TRULY brutal. Now, I can use this razor/blade combo with confidence usually, but as with everything there is always a learning curve. Perhaps I need to adjust my technique to allow the Cream to shine in conjunction with a Feather equipped shavette. Perhaps this is not an ideal shaving combination, and another blade would be better suited.

So to conclude, we have here a system that works well, smells great and is a complete package. It'd make for a fantastic gift for a new or seasoned shaver alike. If you were to buy this, is it money well spent? I'd say so.

 

[longplay]

Having used all three... I'd say you can lose the scrub no problem, and that the pump on the balm is a little too generous, but otherwise good stuff (if towards the pricier end of the market).