Product Review: Gentlemen's Tonic, Traditional Shave Cream (£19.00, 125g)

You expect a barbershop to look, feel and smell a certain way. You expect a barbershop in Mayfair to look, feel and smell somehow, well, classier than your average barbershop. Especially when that barbershop is also a centre for luxury (and manly) grooming treatments, massage and therapies such as reflexology. 

This is Gentlemen's Tonic. Located in Hong Kong and Dubai as well as London, this upmarket establishment sells a range of grooming products to tempt any man to part with his hard earned cash.

And I have been testing out the traditional shave cream for the past couple of weeks. 

Infused with babassu oil, to stop the skin drying out during your shave, and manuka honey, to moisturise and dampen any shaving irritation, this is a product aimed at the high-end of the market. (It's also paraben free, which I generally look for.)

Although better applied with a badger hair brush, this cream easily worked into my skin when I've attempted using my fingers. As shaving rash can be both unsightly and uncomfortable, I always tend to be on the liberal side with shaving gels, creams and foams. It's no different for me here. Though as this cream is on the viscous side, liberalism does tend to entail a serious wash-off afterwards to remove the product from the skin post-shave.

If you like to have a squeaky clean finish at the end of your shave, you would do well to check Gentlemen's Tonic out. This product leaves my shaven area feeling toned and fresh (and ready to be balmed). That said, I do find it's almost a shame to apply extra products, as I then lose the delicious bergamot fragrance from this cream as I progress through my morning routine. 

If you wanted to keep that fragrance going there is a babassu and bergamot scented candle for £35.00. I'd certainly be interested. And I'm also waiting for the eau de toilette, which I'm sure must be in the pipeline. (If not then I would of course like to be credited with the concept...)

On this basis I can see Gentlemen's Tonic establishing its name amongst the upper echelons of the "traditional" London men's grooming brands (think D. R. Harris and others). Now I'm just holding out for an invite to test the facilities in store!