Heya folks. Long time no see; sorry I’ve been a bit busy lately, haven’t gotten around to writing up any reviews. But the next on our plate is a cream from one of my favorite artisans; one of Al’s Shaving Products scents of the month: Al’s Spice (pun intended methinks).

If initially asked to describe this scent, I would have told you it’s like a bay rum, without the rum or the bay. It’s got a focus on the spices that often show up as supporting characters to many bay rum scents out there. Here’s what Al has to say about it:

Al’s Spice character is inspired by the Caribbean. Al’s Spice opens with notes of lemon and geranium and coriander. Cardamon, pepper and nutmeg follow in a rampant parade of exuberance. Clove, cinnamon and allspice support the incredible presence of this powerful yet classy offering. Al’s Spice’s scent is reminiscent of your last trip to Grenada (Island of Spice) very spicy with a bracing and invigorating character and a clean refreshing finish.

All in all, that seems mostly accurate, although I will say that the spice aspects of the scent predominate to my nose, with only a faint bit of the citrus and the floral aspects. Overall, I quite liked it. As did the girlfriend, which helps since we’re often in disagreement there!

The strength was also pretty good; it had great staying power, staying at a medium-strong level throughout your shave.

I would have liked just a tiny bit more oomph to it. It’s not strongly scented, but not weak either. Once applied, it does manages to last the shave without much in the way of fading.

The lather was the usual from Al: top notch. A thirsty cream, you’ll want to make sure you’re using enough water. Don’t overdo it on the amount of cream you use, with enough water you’ll get a lot of volume out of just a little bit of cream. Otherwise it’s hard to mess up, with a wide sweet spot for a good balance of glide and thickness, and some nice moisturization to the face as well.

9/10 Scent Pleasantness

8/10 Scent Strength

9/10 Quality of Lather

Overall I’ll say this merits a strong 8/10.

Cost: This sample was provided gratis for the purposes of this review. A 4 oz tub is available for $20.

Gear used:

Ingredients: “The forumula of Al’s Shaving Cream is Triethanolamine and preservative (parabens) free and only contains sodium and potassium salts of fatty acids (stearic, oleic, linoleic, palmitic, myristic and lauric) in addition to water, glycerin and botanicals.”