Al’s Shaving Products has three of their “Scents of the Month” coming out for April, and I was offered a chance to get a sneak peek at two of them. The first would be the Rosebud.

As per usual, Al’s Shaving Products provided a very nice shave. It’s a thirsty cream, so don’t skimp on the water; it’ll be put to good use, and you don’t need to worry much about overshooting the water content, as it’s got a pretty wide sweet spot. Nice and thick, while plenty slick, and leaving the face feeling more and soft and moisturized than most creams do.

The aroma is a floral scent (rose and lavender), with a base of musk and hints of citrus and spice. The florals were tempered nicely by the other scents, avoiding becoming cloyingly sweet. Al says that he was shooting for “a cleaner version of Pierre cardin pour Monsieur [more] oriented for younger audiences, [that] dries with notes that are similar to Old Spice”, if that helps you make a decision on whether or not you’d like it.

The strength is pretty decent. It comes on strongly, and stays that way throughout about half of a pass or so, after which it’ll start fading somewhat. By the end of each pass, it’s definitely still there, but not quite what I’d call strongly so. At the start of the shave, it’s at a 10/10, by the end, about a 8/10, IMHO.

9/10 Scent Pleasantness

9/10 Scent Strength

9/10 Quality of Lather

I’m happy enough to round this one up to a 9/10. If the scent sounds appealing, I suggest getting it while you can.

Cost: This sample was provided gratis for the purposes of this review. The SOTMs are available for $18 for a 4 oz tub.

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.”