Dr. Bronner’s Shaving Cream – Deal Or Dud

Unless you shop at Natural Grocers or Whole Foods, you may not have heard of Dr. Bronner’s. It is a line of organic soaps, cleaners, chocolate, toothpaste and more. I had noticed the bright blue tube with all the writing, but never thought much of it. 

Clickbait?

Then I saw a “clickbait” headline about the founder of Dr. Bronner’s escaping from a state insane asylum. I then wanted to learn more about the company and the guy behind it. His story is quite incredible. So I decided to see how his shave products fared. 

I haven’t had great success with big-name brands and their shave creams. But I figured I’ve never really shaved with anything that is promoted as organic and Fair Trade, so I figured I’d give it a shot.  

I found a tube of spearmint at Green Acres, a local natural food store.  You can also find Dr. Bronner’s Shave Creams on Amazon (Ed. note: Amazon links are affiliate).

One thing I noticed and later found out this is one of the many things Dr. Bronner’s products are known for, is the funky writings all over the container. I’m a fan of free speech so let your freak flag fly! But more importantly, how does it do as a shave cream?

Taking a look at the ingredients, it was a little refreshing to be able to recognize 90% of the ingredients. 

(Organic Sucrose, Organic White Grape Juice, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Palm Kernel Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Organic Olive Oil, Organic Shikakai Powder, Organic Hemp Seed Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Peppermint Oil, Organic Spearmint Oil, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Tocopherol)

Lather?

What I didn’t expect was brown goop to come out of the tube. I think I have been conditioned for years to think that shave cream, no matter what the scent, was white. The color didn’t phase me, though. What did catch my attention, besides the color, was the scent. Wow, this is definitely a peppermint shaving cream. Think York Peppermint Patties, only more powerful. So, the color is…unique and the scent is strong. Let’s look at the lather. 

Since I had already squirted a dollop in my hands, I decided to lather that way first. It quickly lost most of the brownish tinge and created a slick-feeling lather. It did not produce ample amounts of it, but it looked like there was enough for a couple of passes. 

I put about a quarter-sized amount in my scuttle and got to work with my Semogue Owner’s Club brush. It quickly produced lather, but there were some pretty big bubbles. I did not add any water and I had shaken a lot of the brush after soaking. 

These are the biggest bubbles I have ever seen from a shaving cream. I swept the scuttle to get as much on the brush, but it was very airy. 

I continued to work the brush, trying to see how much of this lather it would produce. Not much more. What it did produce was a lot more of the peppermint scent. My bathroom now smelled strongly like peppermint. 

I scooped as much onto the brush as possible and while it stacked high, I felt like it would all pop. 

My Shaves

I used my Rockwell T2 with a new Astra Platinum blade to test out the lather. 

I applied it to my face and could actually feel and hear and feel the bubbles popping. The scent was even stronger and was even tingling my skin. Think of a decent menthol soap or cream, but nothing like Vostok. 

The lather, if it could still be called that, left behind a thin film that provided decent glide but not much protection. I decided to see if I could make more lather from what was left on my face after a first pass. I could and it performed as well as the stuff from my brush. 

While it seems like this is a total no-brainer of a dud, I was impressed by the post shave experience. The scent did not stick nor clash with a scented aftershave. And my skin felt moisturized, probably by the different oils included. 

I have used it a couple of times since in the shower for a quick hand lather and two or three pass shave. It does a decent job of protection and the glide is enough to where it’s not a problem. 

Summing Up

Is it worth the $7.99 I paid for it? I am actually torn a little on this. I like the scent and don’t mind the disappearing lather too much. I can shave fast in the shower. Plus I like the idea of fair trade and organic ingredients. But I can hear many of you saying this product produces poor lather and isn’t worth it. I can see where you’re coming from, but this may be the end result of trying to stay away from chemicals and things we can’t pronounce in the ingredient list. For me, I don’t regret buying it and say that if you want to spend a little dough and try it, you might just like it, especially if you like peppermint.