Grooming Dept. Pre-Shave Mojito First Use Impressions

Decided to give this product a go since I regularly cause irritation on my neck when shaving. I've improved my technique and that helped, but I wanted a little extra protection so I decided to add the GD pre-shave to my arsenal.

I picked up the Mojito formula. The scent out of the jar is thankfully very mild. I'm quite scent-sensitive and had previously had the Mumtaz soap that was very pungent. It had a distractingly long lasting post-shave aroma. I sold the Mumtaz off to a friend who is enjoying it. The Mojito is thankfully not that.

I showered and then apply a small dollop to my face and started massaging into four days of growth. It did develop a slight foam. I will more fully dry my face next time and only add a few drops of water through the application process as described on GD's product page. I washed my hands did notice they were quite slick, so a good sign!

I used Ariana & Evans St. Bart's K2E soap and a Razorock Bruce synthetic brush in a Timeless bowl. Bloomed soap, loaded brush for eight seconds and worked up a nice lather. I painted it on my face and let it sit for a bit while I pulled the razors out.

My first pass WTG was via a GEM Micromatic bullet with GEM coated blade. The razor movement felt on par with my last shave without the pre-shave. However, once the initial lather was removed, on subsequent movements the razor did have slightly less resistance against my skin. Usually the metal head kinda sucks itself to my skin, but I believe the pre-shave was helping break that surface tension and allowing the razor to more adequately glide.

Second pass XTG, no rinse between, painted on lather, used my Schick I1 with Schick Chinese blade. The razor cap moved pretty well over my face, picking up some straggler stubble. I think a little bit more water in my lather would have increased the slickness and this was pointed out on GD's product page, but I didn't remember to add more.

I washed up and didn't do any post-shave treatment. I wanted to see what if any irritation there was and how the Mojito scent combined with the sun cream-like scent of the St. Bart's soap lingered. Normally I'd splash with witch hazel, but I omitted that for the purpose of experimentation.

My skin was buttery soft and no irritation flare up from the razor or reaction to the pre-shave.

Scent was very faint and I could elicit some limey aroma by feeling up my face. It was quite nice and has lingered into this morning 12 hours later despite having applied some CeraVe moisturizer before bed.

Key Takeaways:

• Next time I need to use less water at the start of pre-shave application so I get more film consistency and less foam
  
• Add more water to my soap lather to amp up slickness
  
• Have a Mojito cocktail at the ready for a post-shave tipple
  
• $18 USD shipped in the USA for a 4oz tub that purportedly has lasted many other users 2 years seems like a great deal for an added boost to protecting ones' face from less than perfect technique with definite moisturizing benefits.
  
• Will try with my GD Pura soap at some point and would expect a levelling off of moisturizing benefits when using some of GD's forthcoming new soap releases.
  
• I'm pleased with the purchase and am looking forward to using it again.
  

I have an unscented Preshave which I enjoy using almost daily. It adds to the slickness and my shaves have been better with it.

On Mumtaz, it's certainly a polarizing scent. When I sniffed it the first time I didn't like it at all tried selling it without giving it a try. Fortunately, it didn't sell and I had to wait for few more days before I made up my mind to finally try it. From there on, it has become a favorite scent for me and I enjoy it a lot. You should revisit it some time.

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jags009 - nope, Mumtaz isn't for me... my wife could smell me from across the couch! Too intense for me. I think the patchouli scent component really put it over the top for me and reminded me of a Yankee Candle store lol

It's a fantastic performing soap, but just not the scent profilt that is appealing in my household.

Thankfully the Pura is effectively scentless and once I finish my two pucks of that I'll ping Mo at that time and see what he has brewing that will be easy on my olfactory

I'm delighted you enjoy the preshave steelwindmachine

Thank you for joining us on DFS

following up now that I've used this pre-shave two more times. I start the application of the concotion to my neck where I've historically have the most irritation. Then I massage it upwards into my face. I add a little bit of water at a time to draw out the film across my skin by dipping my finger tips into water.

So far I've had three shaves with this stuff all using the same A&E soap and I've not had any remarkable irritation like I used to have prior to using it.

Now if I could just meld this pre-shave into my Pura for a all-in-one product that would be awesome

6 months later; GD Pre-Shave Mojito, Pura with RR Bruce brush, Timeless bowl, Schick Type I with Schick Chinese blade and still getting very excellent results.

This combination has effectively rendered my other shave tools to paper weights.

I've been happily using the Schick razors for a year and have little desire to regularly use any of my DEs or other SEs (Feather Artist Club, GEM, RR Hawk). I expect I'll be having a den clearing sale in the near future.