Osma Laboratoires (France)

Colonel Ichabod Conk (USA)

Derby (Turkey)

Dovo (made in Italy)

The Gentlemens Refinery (Canada)

Geo F. Trumper (England)

Mühle (Germany)

Omega (Italy)

Proraso (Italy)

Vulfix (Great Britain)

Osma's Gift Set would make a lovely and thoughtful thing to present to another human, and includes everything you need to make wonderful lather for shaving and take care of that freshly-shaved face.

Made in France.

The Osma Shaving Soap boasts a "unique formula based with Alum Stone and Shea Butter ease frie (sic) burn and prepare skin to razor crossing", so its got that going for it.  It is a pretty big cake of soap at 2.8 x 1.2" (71x31mm) and 100 grams (~3.5 ounces) net weight.  Comes in a 3 x 2" (76x50mm) WxH tin, or alone as a 100g cake in shrink wrap.  Made in France.

There's a very good soap on the market that, unfortunately due to the combination of the internet age and its N. American distribution point, is impractical for us to carry.  Anyway, among that soap's distinguishing traits for many is its very fussy nature for producing good lather.  Having perpetuated an impossible-to-quit love/hate relationship with this very special Osma soap going on a year now, I'll declare it in the same vein as the unnamed aforementioned stuff-nail the water/product ratio and brush pressure metrics and be rewarded with uniquely SLIPPERY lather, or be quite frustrated all the other times things don't go exactly right.  This ain't Proraso, giving up the goods to everyone who says hello, but provide it with every damn thing it wants and you will bathe in an afterglow that is only possible with this impossibly difficult "soap gf" pain-in-the-ass.  The alum and shea butter are atypical, and the shea's distinct feel and odor's apparent.  On the best early days I could fluff it up to a brilliant white opaque cloud with an Omega synthetic; when I didn't have my "A" game going, I'd hit the little soap cake again and again.  A high degree of difficulty product for sure...but finally (~100 sessions) this fussy bastard's become a pelt on the shaving wall; load a sticky tar of product on your face that'd clog any safety razor with a ~dryish brush, then take that brush to the water's top, shake out excess, and begin imparting more moisture to the ratio directly upon the face.  Works like a dream...watch it bloom and get as slippery as a mob accountant.  You want this stuff so wet that if it were any wetter it would run down your face, and that means very little cushioning, but this soap needs cushioning about as much as a stinking badge.

The biggest surprise is with the alum block application immediately thereafter this soap, assuming you made its lather perfectly.  ZERO stinging sensation anywhere if you'll do your part; perhaps that's the moderate quantities of alum within the shaving soap itself, but the alum block will move along like glass, and that can't be a bad thing.

While it is hard to go without the English stuff for long after you've developed an affection for their large stable of perpetual olfactory entertainers, eliminating the great influence of odor (I don't know what the hell this stuff smells like, but it isn't 'entertainment') I must characterize the Osma as the best hard soap I have ever tried.

Osma Styptic Pencil (aluminum sulfate) is used whenever you cut yourself.  It is far more intense and not the same thing as the Osma potassium alum blocks.  Much like styptic pencils you can get at a corner drugstore, at least they're the same aluminum sulfate, but Osma as usual has found a way to incorporate more retained water in the device.  No application of styptic pencil's as fun as watching "Star Wars" the first time, but this easily is the least irritating one I've tried of about half a dozen.  Kind of a must for a first-time shaver, and while we've always known that 'round here, until we could get this one I didn't want something common and ubiquitous (at least here in the USA) on offer.  Made in France.

This pencil's ~0.4 oz (12g) of product, weighs ~0.6 oz (17g) in its reservoir, and takes up 0.6 x 4.1" (15x104mm) in a travel bag.  Hold tip under faucet a sec and put right on the cut with pressure.  Do not share this device with anyone, it is like a hypodermic needle in that regard!

Osma Alum Blocks (100% pure potassium alum) are used as natural deodorants or after shaving to soothe razor irritation and close up any lil' nicks.  Alum blocks are the world's best natural astringent.

To use, in either case, leave the skin wet after the shave/shower, wet the block under the faucet for a second, and run it 'round until the area's dry.  When you use them on your face, be sure to move the stone down your beard, with the grain growth.  With shaving, a few seconds of discomfort's followed quickly thereafter with a very comfortable feeling; using as a deodorant, you'll feel no discomfort at all.

Seasoned hands may use alum to examine the true performance of a blade, for while your face may look fine, alum reveals bad blade performance best of all.  It is an amazing arbiter of skills of beard prep, shaving technique, and (for us straight razor folks) edge condition.

This premium block's made in France, and lasts at least a year with daily use.  I use this after every shave, in fact it is the only item we sell beyond Proraso's pre-shaving cream which I'll use daily.

Inexpensive alum abounds in the marketplace; intimately involved with Indian culture, I've used plenty of bargain alums, as every specialist grocery shop's got 'em.  Though it is true all are (usually) 100% potassium alum, folks are smokin' crack if they think these French blocks' cost earns only some branding panache.  Osma's alums look different for one, but it is their feel on the skin (but especially, of course, the face) which distinguishes...the high uniformity of the crystals in these particular chunks justify their enormous (enormous expressed in % surcharge, as opposed to raw cost-per-use, which is tiny) expense, as that extra $$$ thrown on the table rewards for a loooong time.  Osma alum blocks water content exceeds all competition, key to why they look less white...the extra water retained from that which came from the earth (technically, they 'reintroduce' the water) helps make them the mildest.

We carry all five sizes that Osma forms; the flat-faceted "BPO" and "BP2C" (to the left in the group image above) are marketed specifically towards shaving while the other three towards use as deodorant sticks, but you can certainly any of them for either task.

• The "BPO" weighs ~2.8 oz (80g) and takes up a 1.5 x 2.3 x 1.0" (38x59x24mm) chunk in a travel bag.  Its waxy box lasts rather well as a practical way to travel with it, too.
   
• The "BP2C" size is ~45% more of product than the entry-size "BPO", but in the grander scheme of things, as it takes so long to consume either with judicious application, the most important part of choosing the bigger one is that you'll have an easier time grabbing it.  As delivered in its durable case, it weighs ~4.4oz (126g) and consumes 1.88 x 2.92 x 1.05" (48x74x26.5mm).
   
• The "STDEO" is a 1.25 x 3.15" (31x80mm) piece that's expertly formed for use as a comfortable deodorant and put in a container that holds the alum firmly in place during application (and gives its fragile nature enough protection for travels).  Just wet the top, and apply right to your underarms.  It works!  Tube/alum take up 1.6 x 4.5" (41x114mm) of space and weighs 4.9 ounces (140g) when you get it.  You're paying some for the engineering of the reservoir here...if you just want 100g of alum form itself in a plastic screw-bottom shell case, choose the "STBCR".
   
• The "STBCR" version is just the little ~40x55mm alum form, in a plastic screw-bottom (aka helicoid) shell case which doesn't offer enough protection to the fragile block.
   
• The "BL150" version is just 150g worth of alum stone in a ~53x53mm half-sphere shape which is extremely comfortable for your underarms.  Meant for stay-at-home use, it only has a wax paper wrapping, no other packaging of any kind!

Try not to drop these things; they'll fracture, and likely develop some rough edges, thereby eliminating the deliciously smooth surface advantage.

The Osma 'BIO' Roll-On Deodorants is essentially the EU's way we'd say 'organic' over here.  I've used their best-selling, newly-named "Deo Too Doo" aloe formulation (far left in the image of the quartet) for a year and a half now, and came to prefer it to their formed alum stones.  It certainly seems to work better at the combined tasks of regulating wetness and inhibiting growth of odor than the pure stones, and it is a more pleasant experience to use the thing-both, however, hold the great advantage over the typical "flaky white stuff" in that they inhibit wetness and odor without just blocking/clogging the damn pores.

New for 2012 are three additional varieties; bamboo extracts ("Apaise moi"), organic orange blossom ("Orange Dynamique"), and organic water lily extracts ("Voile de Caresse").

50ml Roll-on reservoir.  I've gone through 4 in a year and use near-daily (use "GFT" Trumper's deodorant for 'date nights').

The Osma 'BIO' Spray Deodorants are not under compression and thus have no air travel restrictions.  Organic sage water, organic mint extract, and organic rose water are the three options here.  I like the scents' authenticity great, but don't like how a spray bottle under no compression dispenses product.  Good stuff for sure, but I'll stick with roll-on just for the way in which it applies.  The rose really smells like a fresh flower to me.

75ml Pump-spray misting action bottles made in France.

The Osma 'BIO' Foot Cream is, you guessed it, rubbed upon your feet.

99% of its ingredients are natural, and 84% are 'from biological agriculture'.  It has virgin olive oil and is reputed to both fight against excessive sweat and soothe the feet.

So far, I can report one woman's opinion; "it feels like a pedicure without the water".

This is a 60 ml bottle.  Made in France.

Made from recycled glass, the Osma 'Foot Stone' is rubbed on your feet just before a shower, or during it.  There's a coarser side and a finer-grit side.  Rub 'across the grain' of the heel and ball of the foot with the highly-useful rough side and in a few weeks be amazed at this thing's capacities which heartily trump any pumice stone.

Pretty much gave up on on any real feeling in the skin on the ball, heel, and the critical bump just aside the smallest toe on my feet long, long ago.  But even upon the first aggressive application, I detected a small presence of the sense of touch near the little toe; I'd be better off using a 16-grit lapping wheel for the heel of my poor feet if I'd expected immediate change, but with months of use now I can declare my feet haven't had this much sensation in decades.  I sense touch inside my socks walking around, laying in bed,...a welcomed change.

Wears away much faster than a pumice stone-used daily/heavily between two people, ~5mos. use was the yield.  It will 'load up', too if feet have things no soap's moving along trapped within, so to restore aggression rub it against some concrete to get a clean, effective surface.

Made in France.

These have been around forever; the last time I've used 'em I was a youngster, with the "amber" flavor, an old Simpsons Wee Scot I got secondhand on my very first trip to Europe (still have it!), and, heaven forbid, I believe a Gillette Sensor razor.  The internet was a single page in my area of Florida, with all of us knowing kids looking at the same page where you could write something.  Times have changed since then a bit, but not this old school soap.

- This Bay Rum, essentially was the whole reason for bringing the brand in as any decent shave shop simply MUST have a Bay Rum or three, is one of the best Bay Rums I've sniffed outside of Caribbean perfumeries.  It isn't a strong scent by any means, but the odor is 'authentic' to what I think of as 'real' Bay Rum.

- The Almond variety, too, does come across as the real thing, though with it the scent's so subtle as to practically be of no consequence.

- Soaps are consistent in the lather-making across flavors.  The soaps have nothing in them which caused me any burn or irritation, and take a bit of time getting their head of steam (as does any glycerine soap), but ultimately become a thick, rich, gleaming-bright white lather buffer, a bit better suited to the straight razor, just not to the extreme in this regard like the Dovo-branded creams.  Plenty of hydration going on here, too.  They seem to like good badger brushes quite a bit, too, for I'll admit I do have trouble getting the same lovely white buffer of lather with them and my big Omega boar brushes than with the lot of Simpsons/Vulfix fellows.

The Col. Conk soaps come in two sizes; the main advantage of the bigger size to me is its accompanying bigger target for the brush to load upon.  I is the same soap, and for reasons only known to the colonel, they don't produce the lime one in the bigger size.

These little ~2.4 x 1.0" (~62x25mm) soap cakes weigh ~2.6 ounces (75g) each, and come in the little plastic blister pack you see above which, while not elegant, could certainly ably carry these things for travelling and working from within.

The Col 400 & 402 Conk Wooden Bowls are ideally sized for, you guessed it, the Col Conk smaller-sized shaving soaps.
The approximate inner diameter's 64mm, with ~31mm below the rim of the bottom portion hollowed out to accept soap.
Outer dimensions are 3.3 x 1.8" (85x46mm) WxH.
Weighs 3.2 ounces (90g).
NOTE:  This does not come with a soap from this shop.

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Colonel Conk Aftershaves / Colognes (4 fl. oz.)

While I'm well aware that you can just go over to the slightly larger "river" and buy this stuff, we've just got to have a Bay Rum in our shaving house, so here we are...besides, samplers are (often, right now having trouble getting USA-made plastic we insist upon) offered here; go get someone to portion you that at the darn river!

The Amber, Bay Rum, and Lime aftershave/colognes are alcohol-based, but the Almond Balm, while containing alcohol, is more of a soothing type and is based upon water.

I've used the Bay Rum plenty, and will hereby argue it's obviously better quality than that more common drugstore/barber shop "Virgin Island Bay Rum" staple that I've always been a fan of as a low price leader...even the wife remarked that it smells 'less cheap', practically a ringing endorsement.

The Almond Balm actually hurts more upon its application than the Bay Rum, or really any alcohol-based aftershave I've tried of late, but after the pain subsides it does a good job of making the face feel 'sealed', and its almondy/amarettoesque scent is decently accurate and pleasant.

"Amber" smells like clean woods, just like the soap.  

AMBER, BAY RUM, and LIME are ALCOHOL-BASED, AND CAN ONLY SHIP VIA PARCEL POST.

Dovo Shaving Creams

Debuting in 2010 & produced by a well-established Italian soap maker, Dovo's 'creams' are extremely economical given the high yield per gram of consumption.

After months of use, a bit of the Kool-Aid that comes with this stuff being "recommended by Dovo's straight razor grinders" has been consumed.  While this stuff's lather is never voluminous, it is nonetheless a short, slick, and dense carpet ride that surely could gunk up many a safety razor with their highly-unnecessary skin guards.  Right at home with a straight, though.

• Densest cream you'll see; cold Jif peanut buttter's thinner
• Craves dense, small, stiff brushes so cream barely tinges tips and stays within tub diameter.  Simpsons Case/Classic/Duke/Wee Scot do well
• Subtle scents, but skin will be aware of the eucalyptus/mint/almond essential oil

Bottom line; Dovo's rather happy about their reputation, and wouldn't debut cream in the market without some serious forethought.  These fit the prototype of Italian performance with the preference for more subtle odor amplitude squarely centered in nature.

We can't hack off samples because of the density of these creams, sorry.  These are 150ml tubs, and a little bit of product goes a long, long way.

Dovo Eucalyptus Aftershave

I'd seen this nearly a year ago when it was still in 'prototype' stage and was duly impressed...same expert N. Italy cosmetics firm for the manufacture as their well-regarded "creams".

Never been as blown away with a toiletry as I was the first time trying The Gentlemens Refinery "The Standard" Aftershave Balm.  Low on the scent amplitude...but in effectiveness, it begins and ends here-a slam dunk.  My family came from the steakhouse business, and in that business they have their own "Michael Jordan of Steak"; there might be dispute outside of the industry, but the heaviest hitters within the industry all conceded the top notch to the same joint...and when it comes to balms (meaning based on water rather than alcohol), here in this little teacup of an industry I'd give the same deferential de facto praise to "TGR".  Don't worry about how light the solution is; it balms perfectly, in spite of its low density, and it is this duality of character that makes it special.  Most good balms out there - Nivea and Proraso to call two out by name - go on much, much thicker.

My sole complaint with this aftershave balm is that due to the creator's extreeeeeme perfectionism, they insist upon an airtight dispenser system, so it tends to explode out of the reservoir.  Cup your hand in as tight a cocoon 'round the nozzle and pump as slowly as you please, but you still ain't gettin' through a whole bottle w/o a mess once or twice...peeps, who's with me?!?  It is silly.

Other brands of toiletries that run circles 'round the volume of "TGR" have gone to great lengths to extol the benefits of their new formulas, which are now free of parabens (preservatives that "may" be carcinogenic), silicons, mineral oils, and artificial colors...well, to their financial detriment they are too classy to shout about it, but TGR "never had none dem, never will".

The unscented versions of both their aftershave balm and shaving cream smell like...nothing.  Can't smell a damn thing.  Are they better than the $$$$ English 'Ultimate Comfort' equivalent for those with terribly sensitive skin?  I don't know.  They seem nearly the same to me, and each enjoy a nearly perfect record for not irritating any epidermis.

The TGR stuff's from 100% natural ingredient concoctions, and are made by a lifetime überbarber collaborating with a chemist.
THE SAMPLERS ARE A PRODUCT WE FILL OURSELVES PERSONALLY

NOTE:  when shipping the aftershave balm internationally, we have to crack open the bottle top and wedge some foam peanuts in there between the pump and the clear lid, and some more in between the reservoir itself and its store-shelf black outer box.  USPS is very sensitive about rattles!

Doing a bit of tongue-in-cheek exaggerating, of course, but it is a truly fine product in this world that can hold their dispensation tightly to chest for all retailers to beg upon, and I'm quite honoured (a little English humor there) that our modest shop can count themselves amongst the Geo's fine distributorhood.  There's an older firm on the little nose, but none better for my money - I've been a big cheerleader in my head for Geo F. Trumper since first whiff and have been an end consumer for their line a good decade now thanks to the privilege of once living in Manhattan as a younger man.  Buying Trumper's is a true slice of the good life for all to enjoy; even those two Google dudes don't have a better product on earth at their more advantaged disposal.

Geo F. Trumper's shaving creams come in either tubes or tubs-the tubs are the bigger ones, and best for sitting at home and dipping the head of your brush directly within.  If you're travelling or prefer to build a lather in a bowl, I think you're better off with the smaller tubes.  The tubes will stand up on the table.

I've used GFT for ~4yrs, blown away with its youthful, mildly citrus complexity, and have used their almond cream plenty over the years, too (all things almond is a standard checklist item for me).

There's no similar olfactory entertainer for me as is "GFT", but it isn't what you'd term having a subtle odor presence-buy GFT to be wowed by scent, or buy another.

I need another month or so becoming friends with all the varietals, but so far I'm most thoroughly impressed by the coconut oil varietal among the non-GFT quintet; the scent smells exactly like getting served a machete-chopped-coconut-with-straw refreshment in the wife's native Guyana, it couldn't be more authentic if it tried, and yet it isn't all about odor first as is "GFT"-instead being something that just won't leave the background experience of that particular shave, like some monks chanting "Co-co-nut,...co-co-nut,..." down the hallway from your bathroom.  I wish they'd take on banana; no other scent comes to mind for me which can be so brilliant when genuine and horrific when synthetic.  Almond's great, too, but other snobby Brit firms offer good almondies galore; ain't nobody else doing the coconut thing.

Company line = 12 months shelf life once exposed to air.

9-gram samples of Trumper creams which we fill ourselves personally.  USA-made airtight plastic container that can become a staple in your travelling life as a dedicated shaver.

FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE (but they CANNOT be ordered alone!).

NO <$10 USA OR <$20 NON-USA ORDERS of these, please.

Geo F. Trumper's shaving soaps come either with or without the little wooden bowl-no bowl means it is a 'refill'.  Some like soaps, some like creams, some match up their brushes to specific applications.  That's pretty silly stuff to me; give me either and I can (eventually) make a great lather, but if it is a soap it takes longer.  I will point out here, however, that in the case of Trumper I find the creams to be superlative to the soaps, and not just because they're easier to work with.

The biggest difference between most ~same soap/creams to me's the soaps' far superior shelf life, no matter what a company's line is about that subject (here Trumper gives 12mos. for both, and while I'd agree their creams definitely dry up and stop working well within that year, I'd easily use their soap long after that ).

The soap cakes are ~85mm in diameter at the top, and ~22mm tall, with a gradual flat-bottomed tapered shape.  The wooden bowls, which are real nice, are ~105mm wide and ~40mm tall.

Geo F. Trumper's aftershaves come in a bunch of flavors, but for us Yanks they don't actually make their most lovely and esteemed older flavors in the plastic bottle, only a beautiful hand-made glass bottle.  Even more curiously, some scents in the Geo line are available both in the more concentrated cologne as well as aftershave, while others merely aftershave(...or merely cologne)  Now that we received the glass ones, though, I think maybe I shouldn't have been pragmatic; it really is a lovely bottle, and makes a far more impressive gift that way.

The lime flavor is the most amazing explosion of effusive, natural odor and tingling I have ever come across in 20+ years of fiddling with these sorts of things.  Be absolutely sure you've used your alum stone first, though; I became a beet for twenty minutes the one and only time I took this amazing liquid directly to the freshly-rinsed shaven face.  Quite unfortunately, the amazing odor show does not last even as long does the flavor in as a piece of Fruit Stripe gum, so you'll have to pony up for their lime cologne if you'd like to smell it 'til mid-day or so (I find their lime the least-enduring of all the GFT colognes/EDTs).  Despite the need for an astringent and the shooting star nature of the stuff, a life lived without trying it is a lesser life to me.

Company line = 12 months shelf life once exposed to air.

THESE ARE ALL ALCOHOL-BASED, & WE MUST SHIP THEM TO YOU VIA PARCEL POST.

NO INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING.  They've just got too pure an alcohol base and are considered hazardous for int'l airmail, sorry.

Geo F. Trumper's colognes/eau de toilettes come in really cool atomizer spritzer bottles, crown-topped old fashioned glass bottles which you shake for a teensy bit, and even occasionally plastic bottles.  Curiously, they do not make every scent in every package...in any case, they are quite fragranty per unit of spritz with the spritzers, though whether that scent has strong legs for a long day varies from flavor to flavor...the "GFT" lasts all day to my little nose, while I could submerge in the amazing odor of Extract of Limes and it ain't gonna stay with more than a few hours.  Such is life in the fragrance world, ya know.

I've used the West Indian Limes and Spanish Leathers many times and consider them each an excellent embodiment of rather classic and well-established scent categories.  Someone saying they've smelled a more 'accurate' lime was either struck by lightning or perhaps more likely just hasn't been to the, ahem, West Indies (wife's family, from Guyana, does still refer to the area that way).

Their Bay Rum's indeed top notch, and seems to last much longer on your shelf and also on your skin than many such concoctions that any old cruise ship and a few hundred bucks can get you via a lap to/from Florida's eastern seaboard and the Bahamas.  I do not find it superior for odor, though, and for sixty-five bucks you can buy one hell of a lot of really good no-name Bahamian bay rum(provided you can get to it).

There's no accounting for taste, but I was thoroughly impressed with the GFT stuff the first time I smelled it and still welcome it in my life today.  Their esteemed marketeers describe it as having "top notes of mandain, bergamot, and lemon...a heart of tarragon, lavender, and cypress, and rests on a musk-like base, with notes of cedar and moss"...I'd love to have such evolved olfactory pleasures, but I'll agree wholeheartedly that this is a very complex odor, something that you can use for a long while and still find something new about it to you.

We've just now (late Oct. '12) imported the whole lineup, and are now sourcing proper little glass vials so we can send out samples that you can try on your body rather than just under your nose with a piece of paper (that, in itself, also affects the odor).  Over the last 3 days I've been playing with the 'Eau de Cologne' and 'Eau de Quinine', and will have more to say all in due time.

Company line = 12 months shelf life once exposed to air.  My most recent bottle of GFT, used ~daily, is about 75% consumed in ~20 months, and still smells great, though certainly has lost a little bit off the fastball.

PERFUMES & COLOGNES MUST BE SHIPPED VIA PARCEL POST., so that's how we mail 'em to you.

USA (APO/FPO is okay, by the way) ONLY; NO INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING.  They've just got too pure an alcohol base and are considered hazardous for int'l airmail, sorry.

You'll get a glass vial with the plastic thingy you use to apply just a bit of scent, or be less frugal and tip it down-the bottles are tiny.  These portions(NOTE; Marlborough/Sandalwood/Spanish Leather/"GFT" = 1 ml) should let you be able to get to know the scent upon you for a few, the cost of packaging about as much as the liquids here.

We use little plastic 'pips' droppers to extract from the larger bottle and get into the tiny glass ones.  Fragrance untouched beyond the dropper's innards.  Only the mind of Trumper knows exactly why they don't offer all the scents in things which can be extracted.

Use the $4 price for the first sample, and thereafter you the lower price for as many of the other scents as you'd wish.  If you're buying other stuff you can always use the lower price, but if you're submitting an order of just samples, the first sample needs to cost $4.  Thanks, & I hope you find a scent you love (...and buy from us, and not a sample vial @ a time!  While the $/ml value's better, in real terms, accounting for the effects of air, your "smelf life"/$ is definitely NOT a better value)!

USA (APO/FPO is okay, by the way) ONLY; NO INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING

LIMIT 1 SAMPLE OF EACH FLAVOR PER PERSON...and that's a lifetime limit, otherwise you could just keep buying these little guys for less per smell.

NO <$10 ORDERS of these, please.

Geo F. Trumper's Skin Food is a before-and-after shaving skin moisturizer and conditioner...rub into the face against the grain before lathering up, and throw on the lightly wet skin right before any aftershave (if you use an alum block, I'd still give that a rub before anything else).  I've always liked the limes version during the summer after the shave and before any sort of heavily-alcohol-based splash.  I'll crack open the other two flavors straight away, and we'll sell sampler bottles of each soon, too.

Geo F. Trumper's neutral "Moisturising" lotion's about as inert a cosmetic as you'll encounter, made in England the same way forever.  Lasts a year after you crack it open; you'll go through it before then.  Smells like a whole bunch of nothing; the Switzerland-style polar opposite of dry.  Quite a soother.

Geo F. Trumper Deodorants come in three flavors; the original (far left above, a sort of mild citrus), GFT (their signature 'new' scent), and sandalwood.  None have alcohol, and the original style's a roll-on while the GFT and the sandalwood are deodorant sticks.

Mühle Organic Shaving Cream (a mid-2013 debut effort) is a Deutschland counterpoint to "The Gentlemen's Refinery", for example.  By all accounts, creation of cosmetics focused on biologically-regulated sources (such as essential oils) and entirely free of synthetic preservatives is the most costly path, but that is what we have here - and within this particular shop, the "TGR" line is the only other similar effort.

On first blush, you get a pleasant and light odor of tart citrus, with a more obvious presence of cucumber.  After it has been fully matured and sits on the beard a bit I couldn't smell anything anymore.  The lather's cushioning, ease of creation, 'skin neturality', and slickness are at or near the par of the TGR's stalwart perch, and unlike that established stuff this cream comes out smooth and not like "lathering with Crisco" (I've remarked with more than a few customers that the only real knock on the TGR cream's its odd consistency before bloom).  More opines to come as the trial tube's pushed through...

Mühle Organic Aftershave Balm just arrived today, and I would suppose is a Deutschland counterpoint to "The Gentlemen's Refinery", for example.

Will play with this weekend, and portion up sampler vials thereafter.

Mühle Shaving Soap's based upon vegetable oil.  You'll get a 65-gram soap cake (62 x 25mm WxH), and the individual soaps are packaged in a waxy box which presumably could stand on its own for a trip or two without breaking down after accepting a somewhat wet soap.

The fine British brands you've probably heard of are a bit squeamish about the editorial style at this shop, preferring only to dole out their lovely shavingstuffs to those whom will acquiesce to their demands for final say of any and all content related to their soaps/creams/aftershaves.  Stubbornly uncooperative in this regard, here we can only offer you Mühle as something that you must knowingly pay extra for a complex/intense odor to enjoy throughout a shave...I don't think they work any better than my old Proraso/Omega standbys, but they're far more interesting for the olfactory dept.

Available in 3 flavors:  Aloe, Sandalwood, and Sea Buckthorn.

Above:  Mühle's shaving soaps can also be delivered in a tasteful wooden black bowl that's made in Germany.

Extremely-complicated formulas of soothing lotions (23 ingredients in the aloe!) with scents matching their shaving soaps/creams.

You get 100ml of aftershave, at least 90 very generous uses by our rough calculation.

I've never before smelled anything quite like Sea Buckthorn; it is a delicious scent, somewhat fruity/citrusy with a feeling like the beach or fresh seagrass or something.  I love it; clearly they've got a winner there.

Note:  All contain (but are not based upon) alcohol.

To the left's the sample container we use, which holds 5ml (enough for ~5 shaves).

Mühle doesn't offer "commercial" samples of their aftershaves - YOU ARE BUYING SOMETHING WE FILL PERSONALLY, done as an over-the-top service for you.

We're picky.  We use good plastic.  The tiny USA-made container's especially inert, and the airtight lid allows enduring freshness.

Selling 1 scent's an absolute killer in shipping/transaction costs; rock-bottom postage to move the thing is $1.71!

Omega Aftershave Balm just arrived here May 29th 2012...I've cracked open a bottle and given it a few days applications, it is a soothing type with a pretty decent level of eucalyptus presence; enough to smell a little something a half hour later, but hardly enough to compete with the typical alcohol-based 'splash' aftershaves.  There's some respectable skin balming going on, and it isn't heavy going on.  Application's a pleasant affair.  This is a good competitor with Dovo's also-Italian-made-and-eucalyptus-based aftershave.  As anyone who's spoken with me on the phone or via email would know, I've always been a big cheerleader of Omega's stuff in the tub as the bang-for-the-buck king, but beyond the value of it I'd also give it serious consideration for my top spot of a lathering product to take to a deserted island.  It is an intense refresher, and while it'll never smell as 'neat' as the English stuff, it doesn't smell medicine-y and its scent's never grown on my nerves.

Comes in a 100ml (3.52 oz) pump bottle, and it isn't pressurized so you can take it on the airplane with you.  Water-based stuff, too, so we can ship it beyond the USA's borders.  Made in Italy.

Try a sample!  NOTE:  While we do not touch the contents in any way, our samplers are FILLED PERSONALLY, BY US!!  We use a commercial food-grade plastic reservoir that's airtight and made in the USA.

The Proraso family of products (from Florence, Italy) are amongst the most respected creams/aftershaves/soaps around.  Everyone owes it to themselves to try Proraso's Pre/Post Cream as well as Proraso's shaving soap/cream.  They also make 2 wonderful aftershaves; a soothing balm which is alcohol-free, and an aftershave 'splash' with alcohol for those with more ardent skin.  I'd consider their products in general as a rite of passage to this shaving-obsessed world of ours, and a "gateway drug" to the stuffs that have more complex odors and higher pricetags.

This one only comes in a tube.  Pretty good sandalwood smell, but I'm a damn tough grader there; it isn't the equal of any of the Brits.  Easy as pie to lather.

Apply Proraso Pre-Shave Cream right after a shower and before lathering up.  Leave it on underneath the other stuff.  Be amazed how pores are shocked ajar as beard stays very moist.  Assuming we've got stock to pimp, this sh*t flies off our shelves, all day every day, like late-90s Manhattan Krispy Kremes or modern "Gangam Style" downloads or even nearly as good as the Edsel always did on Bizarro's home planet...and who can blame them?  Besides Osma's alum stone, it is the only thing on the site I use with every shave every time, and frankly I can't imagine my life without it at this point...really leaves your beard in an ideal state to accept lather for a good solid five minutes.  While I'd be tickled pink for an odorless version (its odor is fine, but not factually or colloquially an "expensive" scent, and I can still smell it for a bit when I break out any of the 'odortainment' latherfuels such as Trumper's "GFT"), that'd hardly stop me from using it; just a perfectionist's nitpick for the record.

Recently reformulated to be free of parabens and the other nasties.  Kinda preferred the crazy kick of the old one myself, but the new one still works great and is apparently less problematic for all.

Vulfix Luxury Shaving Cream

Made in England and, this 'traditional British shaving cream' is high-quality stuff strong on scent.

Given quantity and price, this is the poor man's taste of the complex scents that you pay through the nose for in the famed old established English brands.  Proraso may be their equal in function, but not in odor's delight.

You'll get a 180-gram tub of soft cream perfect for dipping wet brushes directly within.  I get a few months of daily use from a single tub, even from a large cream-eating brush.

Available in Persian Musk, Sicilian Lime, Lavender, delicious Sandalwood, English Rose, and Lavender.  Tremendous viscosity.  Being a 'quaint' company, these are sealed with old-fashioned household tape from the maker, and packed by weight-expect odd cream topography when opening.

These creams vary in density/consistency, and of course by temperature (these observations are based on opening them for sample portioning)...the lime always looks like melted ice cream to me, but it is a huge seller, and everyone's obviously seeing those things as they get 'em and still keep buying them.  Musk's usually firm, rose/lime very runny, lavender kind of between the two, and usually when I see them the Sandalwood's more of a 'cream of wheat' texture.  Stir them with a toothpick and put in the fridge for a bit and they'll firm up, but either way as long as the mixture's well dispersed (not separating as a solution) it'll lather identically as ever.