Whenever my face feels a little beat up from trying so many different products (not to mention the brutal dryness and cold of a Montreal Winter), I usually seek refuge in what I consider to be one of the top-three BEST lines out there…The Gentlemens Refinery. It helps that its developer, Perry Gastis, is a 4th generation master barber, who lives in Vegas and is responsible for some of the great haircuts and shaves sported by both resident and visiting celebrities. His product philosophy is simple: Only the best, natural-sourced, irritant-free ingredients (no parabens)…that actually work!

If you haven’t yet grasped that I really like superlathers…well, this must be your first time visiting this site. What’s truly amazing about the GR Shave Cream (today I used the Black Ice – an ouzo scented cream that smells wonderful), is that it is the only cream I have ever used that actually lathers up like a superlather, but without the need for a separate soap.

The vintage Simpson #10 brush produced a thick, rich, moist lather. I gave the Swedish Gillette another go, and this time it performed beautifully – right up there with Astra Keramic, Trig, Polsilver – but not quite at the Treet Blue Special/Sputnik/Gillette 7 O’Clock level (YMMV).

The finishing pass was with The GR Pre-shave oil (I think Perry missed the boat on this…it should be positioned as a finishing or “solo” shave oil…pre-shave oils are useless IMHO when you have a great lather). The GR oil is excellent, right up there with the TSS, but not as slick as l’Occitane’s CADE.

Post shave, I went Full Monty…The GR Balm, Moisturizer, and (I’m still ashamed to admit it….it’s so “Metro”) the Eye Gel. A splash of Jade East and Wow…a solid 9.8 shave.