REVIEW - Simpson's Lavender and Vertivert

[glenos]

I was sent a tub of Simpson's - Lavender and Vertivert (sic) Luxury shaving cream to trial and review, first impressions are, it comes in a nice screw thread steel container, is a nice consistency a fairly soft cream, the smell in the tin is quite soapy with little of the vertiver and virtually no lavender smell.

I have shaved with this cream twice now using the same razor, blade and brush (I only have one brush). I usually shave once or twice a week, before my first shave with this cream I hadn't shaved for a week and today it had been 3 days (I guess).

Razor - Merkur HD Barber Pole, 38C
Blade - an ageing Schick Plus Platinum, probably has about 8 shaves on it.
Brush is a mensbiz pure badger.


Following the instructions on the tin, I dipped the tip of a pre-wet brush and loaded what I figured was the right amount of cream, I got it pretty right. It takes bugger all really;

As is my usual routine, I work the lather up in a ceramic bowl which I have pre-warmed and add some water as I got and then finish working the lather up on my wet face. This cream just worked, I had plenty of nice dense lather almost instantly. 30 seconds of twirling anti-clockwise and then clockwise aith a good addition of water gave me this;

The consistency is like uncooked meringue or super dense micro-foam on your latte.

The scent changes once you start wetting the cream, there is an earthy, resinous scent that comes to the front, with a subtle lavender, just enough to add some sweetness without overpowering.
As the lather was worked onto my face the earthy, resin smell increased, it is not unpleasant, a bit hard to describe, I would say rich and masculine. The overall impression is a sweet musk.

The shave is comfortable with good glide even with my ageing blade. The finish is nice and close with no irritiation.

How does it compare to some of my favourites, in the scent department it stands up well against, TOBS – Jermyn St, Col Conks Bay Rum, L’Occtaine Cade, it is different to all of these, but in a really good way. It lathers as well as the above group and Body shops Macca Root cream, plus the traditional Italians I have tried.

Would I pay for this, yes. It fits into a little niche in the range of soaps I have offering a great lathering soap which shaves well with a different scent. If you want to pay for a tin it is available here.

 

[Monsta_AU]

That 'hard to describe' resinous scent you talk about also has some bitterness. I didn't know what it was either, it was similar to the Vetiver but harsher. Eventually the ingredient list came up with the answer.

It's the Epiloboium Angustifolium extract. It's called Rosebay Willowherb in the UK, or Fireweed in the US. When the plant gets older it has a bitterness to it and I am pretty sure that is where this is coming from. Here's the Wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamerion_angustifolium

Good to see you had the same experience as I did.

 

[glenos]

@Monsta_AU Bitterness is a good description, it's not unpleasent in the same way as good espresso

 

[Monsta_AU]

I think it works with the Vetiver to enhance that note, while it balances the lavender right down... to the point where I would not mind more lavender in the mix to work against the bitterness.

Either way, it is a pleasing scent, quite different and very old school.

 

[glenos]

I mixed things up today, same brush, razor, cream and a new GBE blade.

I had another nice comfortable easy shave. Once I wrangled the GBE out of the dispenser, they were stuck together I had to pop the top off the dispenser to get enough access the loosen the oil.