A SKIN SO SOFT shaving saga! (Avon Skin So Soft Soft & Smooth Silky Stay Shave Gel)

Member Name: Wee_Jackie_163

Product:	Avon Skin So Soft Soft & Smooth Silky Stay Shave Gel
Date:	05/10/09 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good value, Good quality...

Disadvantages: See review...

Any regular readers of my reviews will be aware by now that I work as an Avon representative when my poor health allows, and have done so for a number of years now. This means that I have great access to any new products or ranges introduced to the Avon range, and I can take advantage of said offers if and when it suits.

One long-running range from the Avon brand is the 'Skin so Soft' range of toiletries. The range covers everything from bath and body oils to body lotions and sprays.

The skin so soft range has been given a bit of a 'face-lift' recently, and most of the items are now supplied in sleeker looking packaging. I think (from memory) that there are also a few new additions to the range and a few new products can be found lurking amongst some of those old favourites!

One product that caught my eye recently was the 'Skin So Soft' "Soft and Smooth Silky Stay Shave Gel". (Phew... What a mouthful... Try saying that when you've had a few Sherries!)

I was instantly attracted to this product as I knew I needed a shaving gel to take on holiday with me, and most of the other ones I had seen in the shops and drugstores here were supplied in a metal canister, similar to an aerosol. This offering from Avon, however, was supplied in a plastic squeezy tube, which I thought was very appealing, given my limited luggage allowance for traveling and my inability to lift said luggage, I did think that this would be much lighter to carry with me on my travels!

When the tube of shaving gel arrived from Avon, I was quite impressed with the overall look of the packaging. I thought it looked quite sleek and not at all 'cheap and nasty'. Supplied in a sort of off-silver coloured plastic tube, there is a blue rectangular design down the front of the bottle with the brand's logo (SSS for Skin so Soft) across the front. All in all I thought it gave the impression of being a half-decent product.

I thought that the 150ml bottle would be far too much for my 'shaving needs' on holiday, so decided to use a bit of it before I left, to reduce the amount of product in the bottle. I therefore used it for a couple of weeks before I went, and had a good half of the bottle left to take on holiday with me.

The shaving gel itself is bright blue in colour. I thought it was really quite attractive-looking, and it did put me in mind of a shower gel or something similar. The consistency of the product too, was similar to a shower gel, to my mind at least.

The shaving gel had a bit of a 'clinical' scent to it, which wasn't altogether unpleasant, but I did find that the scent was really quite strong. This wasn't a huge problem for me personally, as I always rinse my legs after shaving anyway, and then apply body lotion or something similar to my skin, so any traces of the scent were long gone by the time I had completed my 'shaving regime'!

The best point for this shaving gel in my opinion however, was the amount needed to shave. I did find that I needed to use a LOT less of this product when compared to other shaving gels that I use on a regular basis. I can't really work out why this is, but I do think that the design of the packaging has something to do with it?? I personally find that the 'spray' aerosol gel type shaving gels cause quite a lot of waste, as they generally squirt out of the bottles far too quickly. This wasn't an issue with the Avon Skin so Soft shaving gel as it is supplied in a plastic squeezy tube... This meant that I had much better control over how much of the product I wanted to use.

Furthermore, I found that the product itself was of a slightly thicker consistency than that of the regular gels I have used before. I think that this meant that less of the product was needed on my skin when applying. I found that the thick consistency of the gel meant that it could be spread around quite easily on my legs, which meant that less of the product was required, when compared to other gels. I did find that a blob of the gel that was roughly the size of a fifty pence piece was sufficient to cover each leg with the gel.

In terms of the 'Silky Stay' element to the product's name, I was quite surprised to realize that my legs didn't seem to need shaved as often when I was on holiday. Now, whether this is indeed down to the use of this product, or is just a mere coincidence, I cannot say.

It is worth noting though, that some of the other products in the same brand from Avon have "Hair Minimising" properties. For example, there is a Hair Minimising Body lotion and an Anti-Perspirant deodorant available to buy. Perhaps Avon have included some of their magic ingredients in the "Silky Stay Shave Gel" too? Who knows, but the gel is certainly not marketed as having hair minimising properties!

The 'down side' aspect to the product was rather unfortunately, quite an important one. In my experience, the gel didn't protect my skin as well as other gels do, and I did suffer quite a few little 'nicks' when scuffing my razor across my skin. This does happen from time to time with any gel that I use to be fair, but I did think that the Avon Skin so Soft gel was slightly worse for this, and on more than a few occasions I noticed that I had cut myself. I was really surprised at this, given how thick the consistency of the gel is, but it happened nevertheless.

I tried applying more gel to see if that would alleviate the problem, and I also tried applying slightly less gel, as I had a bit of a theory that perhaps my razor was getting a bit 'clogged up' as the gel is so thick. Nothing seemed to help though, and more or less every time I used the shaving gel I found a little scuff mark on my skin after I had rinsed the product off. Nothing major, in terms of cuts and razor 'nicks', but there was usually a little cut to be found somewhere or other.

Back to the plus-points of the Avon shaving gel, and I did find that my skin was not overly-irritated after shaving with the product. This could not be said for every shaving gel that I use on a regular basis, so was a welcome bonus to this particular product. My sensitive armpit area is generally a bit 'scratchy' after shaving, regardless what product I have used, and I didn't find that the Avon shaving gel made this sensitivity any worse. It didn't make it any better either though!

All in all, I would recommend this product on the whole. The packaging in particular is what made this shaving gel a bit of a winner for me, although the product itself was reasonable enough. I do feel that I need to deduct a couple of stars for the fact that I mentioned earlier about the little nicks whilst shaving, as this is obviously a big consideration when purchasing a shaving gel type product! I'm not sure if this problem is relevant to me only - perhaps my shaving technique is wrong, or the problem is due to my less-than-superb razors? Who knows? Other than this particular problem though, I could not really fault the product, and I would award it three stars.

I purchased the shaving gel in Campaign 14, when it was on a 'half price' offer and I got it for the sum of £1.75, which I thought was really good value considering it lasted for quite a long time.

The Shaving gel can be purchased from your local Avon representative, or alternatively you can buy it online from www.avonshop.co.uk, where the normal price is £3.50.

The Avon 'Skin so Soft' Silky Stay Shave Gel gets a well- deserved three stars from me!

Summary: A three star offering from Avon Skin so Soft!!