My Mum always insists on bringing a little treat for the boys when she visits and sometimes this results in her bringing random objects from her cupboards, if she hasn't had the chance to go shopping, rather than coming empty handed! One week she turned up with a pink bottle marked 'Johnson's' and declared she'd bought some bubble bath for the boys. Closer examination revealed that it was, in fact, Johnson's Silky Skin Shower & Shave Cream.

I'd never tried this product before although I am, obviously, very familiar with the Johnson's brand overall and have used many products from their ranges both for myself and the kids. This particular cream is, essentially, a two-in-one product designed to be used as a gentle body wash as well as an aid to shaving, by helping the razor to achieve a cleaner shave and moisturising the skin to prevent irritation. It's actually aimed at women, rather than children, although my mother's mistake can be understood as the packaging does look similar to Johnson's Baby Lotion, although this comes in a taller bottle with a chunkier flip top lid.

The kids weren't too fussy and didn't even object to the pink bottle as they insisted on having some of this in their bath. I have to admit, for a product that isn't designed to be used as a bubble bath or bath foam of any kind, it actually performed pretty well. It did take some fairly vigourous swishing to disperse it throughout the bath water, as this stuff is a fairly thick cream rather than a runny liquid, but it did manage to produce a decent amount of lather, resulting in a few delicate fluffy bubbles. The bubbles died away fairly quickly which should really be expected given this product's real purpose. What did remain behind was a lovely delicate fresh and feminine fragrance, totally in keeping with Johnson's signature baby lotion smell. The scent stayed in the bath water and on my children's skin and I could smell this lovely fragrance on them as I dried and dressed them.

Given their enjoyment and the lovely scent, I did what any right-minded mother would do and promptly stole the cream for my own use, with the justification that it wasn't a bubble bath. When used for one of its original purposes, this stuff really is lovely. I have dry, fairly sensitive skin and found this thick cream like wash was a pleasure to apply as it felt calming and soothing. When wet, it produced a gentle lather with that gorgeous scent that had struck me the first time. I love how the scent lingers on the skin after use and feel really clean and feminine.

As a shaving aid, this stuff also works well and certainly reinforces my impressions of Johnson's as a quality brand. I find that the cream remains on my wet skin when applied in a fairly thin layer, rather than being absorbed, and it really does help to speed up shaving as 'my' razor (usually one of my husband's disposable Mach 3 razors) glides smoothly up and down my legs. I found that I didn't need to shave the same area more than once as the initial shave seemed so much more effective and didn't miss any of the hairs first time around. I don't tend to use any gels or creams when shaving my legs as I usually do them in a warm bath so I really did see the difference when I applied this cream beforehand. The real advantage is actually after the shave as this leaves my skin feeling incredibly soft and smooth, making me want to rub my hands up and down them! This would be a great product to use before an important date especially as the fragrance it leaves behind is so attractive but still subtle enough only to be detected if somebody gets fairly close.

The only drawback to this shower cream, and the reason that I haven't made a repeat purchase since finishing the bottle is that it isn't very widely available. I've never seen it for sale in any of the more obvious places, such as Boots or Superdrug, nor in any of the major supermarkets. Instead, this is generally sold in the more 'discount' style shops, usually for less than £2 for a generously sized 250ml bottle. My mother bought this from Netto but I have seen it for sale in places like Ethel Austin and I think I saw some in Home Bargains a while ago but, typically, can't find it in there now I'm looking to buy another.

For anybody able to track some down, I would certainly recommend giving this a go. It functions well as both a pampering and gentle body wash and also excels as a moisturising shaving aid so could be a way to save money if you usually buy and use two different products. The scent alone is enough of a reason to try this and it can even double up as a gentle bath foam too, if need be!