Ratings:

Price: 2

Lather: 0

Scent: 3.5

Moisturising: 5

Overall: 2.5

I received a sample of Ursa Major Stellar Shave Cream a few weeks back and had forgotten all about it. I found it last night while cleaning out my shaving supplies shelf, and decided to use it today.

I didn’t know anything about Ursa Major or their products so I did some research before using the sample this morning and was disappointed to find that the shave cream is designed to be used without a brush. The item description on the Ursa Major website reads:

This product is NOT meant for use with a shaving brush – it’s best if applied by hand. Try it a few times and you’ll be hooked.

with the directions going further to state that, you are to use a ‘nickel size dollop’ and then ‘massage thoroughly onto skin and whiskers’. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with not having to use a brush, but I will have to admit it is perhaps the element I enjoy most about wet shaving.

The cream doesn’t produce any lather, so when I applied the sample to my face it has more of a face cream sensation than anything else. The smell was quite nice, ginger with a sweet citrusy smell to it. It actually reminds me of a licorice type candy I used to eat when I was a kid – which is a positive.

It did a well enough job in terms of performance – but not great. I felt like I was missing some cushion that I am used to with my other creams and soaps, and although I didn’t experience any razor burn or irritation, I was really able to feel the blade on my face (doesn’t seem to make sense but that is what I experienced). The cream did a nice job in terms of leaving my face moisturized.

The Ursa Major Stellar Shave Cream is an all natural product, which is a positive, but that fact seems to becoming more of the norm, at least in the wet shaving world. If you are not one who is in love with your brush then perhaps you will enjoy this product,or perhaps for those who are cartridge / non “wet-shavers” who are less concerned with the details like lathering and such. I don’t see myself using the product beyond the sample I received.