Cromwell & Cruthers Shaving Oil
Cromwell & Cruthers Shaving Oil
What I like
- virtually no irritation
- comfortable, close shave
- seems to soften and comfort the skin
- small and efficient
What I don’t like
- once applied, it’s completely invisible, so you can’t really tell where you’ve applied it
Overall
- An excellent shaving lubricant. Highly recommended.
Review
Cromwell & Cruthers offers two varieties of shaving oil: their Beard & Goatee detailing formula and their Xtra Sensitive skin formula.
The Xtra Sensitive version is almost entirely clear, while the Beard & Goatee Detailing version has a slightly darker colour. The Beard & Goatee version has a very light, pleasant scent, and the Xtra Sensitive version has almost no scent at all. Neither formula has that ‘menthol tingle’ that some other shaving oils have. If you don’t like scented products, the Xtra Sensitive would probably be a better choice.
I spent a couple of weeks using each, and though I noticed a slightly different ‘feel’ for each of them, I didn’t notice a significant difference in the quality of shave I got, so I won’t distinguish between them in the rest of this review (ie. the comments below apply to both varieties). It’s possible that those with more sensitive skin might notice more of a difference between them, but I can’t comment on it personally.
C&C shaving oils come in 15ml bottles. They look small when you get them, but it’s important to remember that with shaving oils, it only takes a few drops to get a good shave. The package claims it’s good for 100 shaves. That might be a bit generous (especially since us head-shavers have twice the usual area to shave), but you will get a lot of use out of each tiny bottle.
To use shaving oil, you first have to get your face and head thoroughly wet. Put 4 to 5 drops of shaving oil in your palms and rub it into the surface to be shaved. This stuff is like water, so it’s tough to tell where it’s been applied and where it hasn’t, but that usually isn’t a big problem. After the first few uses, you’ll be confident that it’s there and doing it’s job. Just massage it in thoroughly.
Once it’s properly massaged into your skin, get out your razor and shave as you normally would. Since it’s invisible, you can see exactly where you’re shaving. Lubrication is good, and I found it easy to drag the blade across my skin. Nick protection is very good, and protection from irritation is excellent. Shaving is very comfortable and the skin feels good afterwards.
If an area you’re about to shave is drying out, just apply more water to the skin. The shaving oil is still there, and adding water ‘re-activates’ it so you can keep on shaving. This works especially well if you’re shaving in the shower, as you don’t have to worry about the shaving oil getting washed off before you’re done shaving.
C&C Overall, Cromwell & Cruthers is an excellent product that I can definitely recommend to anyone looking for a good shaving lubricant. If you haven’t used shaving oil before, you owe it to yourself to give it a try.
Related Links
Cromwell & Cruthers – Manufacturer’s website.