To follow up yesterday’s QCS Vetiver soap review, I’ve now got the first of the shaving creams I’ve tried from Queen Charlotte Soaps; thus far I like it better than the soap samples. It seems to have a bigger “sweet spot” of water needed for a good combination of lather thickness and lubrication. It used, well, about an average amount for most other creams that I’ve come across. It’s a fairly thick cream, not sticky or goopy, honestly I would almost call it a really soft soap, consistency-wise at least.

As a reminder, I redid the lather quality scoring system, what used to be a 9/10 has been split into 9/10s (former “high 9s”) and 8/10s (former “low 9s”).

The scent, well, it’s menthol and peppermint. I generally like a bit of menthol, and enjoyed giving this cream a sniff.

It’s when I lathered it up and put it on my face that I rather stopped enjoying it. It’s strong. Very strong. “Enough menthol to make my eyes water” strong. I know that’s kinda this cream’s gig, and I should have expected what was coming. I mean, they say outright that “Vostok is a face-freezing blend of ice-cold peppermint and blizzard-like blasts of sub-zero menthol. We do not believe there exists a colder shaving product”. But I was still a bit unprepared for just how much freezing-action hit my face. It was just bloody cold.

If that’s what you’re going for, fill your boots. But I don’t think I’ll be trying this one again any time soon. Maybe to make a bit of superlather if I want to add a bit of a kick to some other scent, making sure not to use too much of course.

8/10 Scent Pleasantness

13/10 Scent Strength

8/10 Lather Quality

This wasn’t really what I consider to be a very pleasant shave. 4/10. Your mileage of course, may vary if you really like the cooling action.

Gear used:

Ingredients: Water, saponified stearic acid, glycerin, saponified tallow, palm oil, olive oil, and coconut oil, aloe vera extract, essential oil(s), kaolin clay, phenoxyethanol (and) caprylyl glycol, vitamin E. Vostok contains menthol crystals.