New Product: Aubrey Organics

We were more or less in the area yesterday, so Mrs THIT and I stopped by this delightful little treehugger store (I'm sure they'd have a preferable name for it, but you know what I'm talkin' 'bout, yo) called Arbour. This was my second visit, and Christine's first.

Whilst the Mrs was sifting through a number of different items that she found (and I quote) "neat", I made my way over to the men's grooming section. I came across the above (click on the picture) and had my attention drawn. All right, Aubrey (if that's your real name). What's so great about YOUR product??

A fair bit, as it turns out. I tried the shaving cream specifically. It was a bit of a leap of faith, because it's kind of pricy (about $11). I had a three-day growth on me, and figured that would be a decent test.

Here are some claims:

-100% Natural Ingredients
a) Organic avocado oil and wheat germ oil to help razor glide smoothly.
b) Witch hazel (what the hell is that? Research will be required...) to soothe irritation.
c) Camphor (???), menthol and organic eucalyptus to cool and invigorate.

'kay, so off I go.

The first bit of potential weirdness is that this stuff doesn't lather. I used to have lather-free shaving cream and it takes some getting used to, I find, so I don't particularly care but be warned.

Next is the smell. You'll spend most of your shave asking yourself "what the hell does this remind me of??" until it hits you: Vick's Vapour rub. Menthol, see.

And third is when you clean your razor between strokes. This is hard to describe. It's almost like this stuff creates a film that you scrape off. So rather than see individual hairs in your sink, you'll see small clumps in a clear gel. It looks worrisome because you wonder if you didn't slice off a layer of skin (but of course, you haven't). Anyone see Gary Oldman in "Hannibal"? Sort of like that.

But when it's all said and done...damn, I really liked this stuff and I plan on seeing what else Aubrey has to offer. It really was smooth and the menthol thing doesn't bother me. Plus it'll be great to use the next time I get a cold. :-)

The container is recyclable, the product is certified vegan and no animal testing went into its creation. The good far outweighed the not-so-good, so I'm a believer.