Introduction

I work in a job where I must be clean shaven, so as a result I get through a large amount of shaving products. I've tried most brands in all the various formats - foams, gels, oils, soap sticks etc, and the one I keep coming back to in between experimental buying of new products is the Palmolive Classic Shaving Foam.

Description

You only need a small amount of foam in your hand to cover the face, unless you've got a traffic cone nose and Jimmy Hill's chin. The foam is more of a thick whipped cream than a light and airy bubbly foam - very rich and substantial, the sort of white luxuriousness that a Guiness drinker would sell Ireland for to have as a head on a pint of the black stuff.

With this rich foam on my face giving a slight whiff of warm soapyness, I get the feeling that I'm using a quality product. Shaving foam's primary job is to retain moisture on the surface of the skin by trapping it - the thick barrier the foam provides is equivalent to trapping a fly in amber, there's no way the water is escaping. It holds moisture very well which makes shaving less painful and allows the blade to slide over your skin smoothly and not snag.

The foam rubs on very easily and sticks well to the skin. I'm not a chemist, but I think the glycerin in the ingredients helps the way it applies to the skin so readily. Other ingredients which enhance the foam's appeal are aloe extract and palm extract - both of which have moisturising qualities. I've found it to be very effective at moisturising - some shaving products can dry my skin out and make me prone to 'face dandruff', but not so with this foam. Also, I get far less shaving rash when using this foam compared to when I use lower quality shaving foams, like supermarket own brand value products.

Summary

18 years ago at the start of my shaving adventures, I may have thought that products which put substance over form were for old men, and preffered brands named after a swanky London hairdresser or a French word for 'male'. Now in my 30s, I shun the ignorance of youth and it's fickle 'must have a trendy label' tendencies, and now buy products with quality in mind. Palmolive Classic Shaving Foam is, in my opinion, a quality shaving foam that a) does it job superbly, b) is a very tactile and enjoyable experience to apply and use and c) is noticably good for my skin. Because of all this, I award the full five stars.

Price: often available in Poundland. Please don't ask how much for!