Rasoline by Molinard: First Shave

[BeatlesFan]

I'm a big fan of brushless creams. For me, they are actually less likely to make my fussy face red than most lathering creams and soaps. I don't use them exclusively, but I do like them, so I was excited to check out Rasoline, from the storied French firm of Molinard in Grasse.

First, I should just quickly dispose of the purely subjective factors: (A) my own skin's reaction, and (B) the scent. It's never clear to me what will and won't get my skin stirred up (the most friendly brushless cream for my face is an entirely unsung little health food store shave cream from Earthscience called Azulene Moisturizing Shaving Cream -- not an "A" list product by any means but, as I say, you never know what's going to work and that stuff does for me.) Anyway, Rasoline seems pretty skin-neutral, and I'm not seeing any blotchy, irritated red patches. So that's all to the good.

As to the scent, well, subjectively, I prefer pretty much unscented products. This has a mild kind of old-timey scent which is fine, but a tad stronger than I like. Most men here seem much more interested in enjoying the fragrances and scents, so I doubt there'd be a lot of objection to it from other gents at SMF. Interestingly, despite a high almond oil content, the scent doesn't seem almond-like at all.

Now, the performance. I was very impressed. I started with a hot shower, and face-washing. I followed that up with splashing some more warm water on my face at the sink. Then I squeezed a couple of decent-sized dollops in my hands and spread the cream into my beard. I worked it into my beard for a couple of minutes and then shaved.

The cream stayed moist and effective through a pretty thorough close shave. The glide was excellent, as was the protection. My face felt good after shaving, with no rawness whatsoever. With all the almond oil in the product, I'd been wondering about the "rinse" factor, but I found that it rinsed off cleanly, with no greasy residue at all.

I noted from one online review that at least one gent felt that his razor gummed up with this stuff, but I didn't find that (in fact, it rinsed out better than my beloved Azulene cream). Brushless creams are always a bit more prone to leaving creamy debris on your blades. I find rinsing under running water to be a big help, and (if necessary) quickly popping the blade out for a more thorough rinse. Anyway, it wasn't a big deal with this cream, IMO.

All in all, it's definitely a thumbs up for me. I had an excellent first shave with this cream, and will continue to experiment with it. If anyone else is looking for a well-respected brushless cream (also excellent for travel, btw), you might give this consideration. I think I paid $15 at Lee's Razors: not cheap but hardly extortionate.

Recommended (so far). I'll keep you posted if I have further impressions as I continue to shave with it.

[BeatlesFan]

I've continued to use Rasoline in rotation over the last couple of weeks, and it has continued to impress me. It's a great French shave cream: very skin-friendly, seems to work well every time, and it has a very pleasing "old world" scent as well.

I fully realize that most SMF gents prefer lathering shave creams over brushless. Nevertheless, even if you just like to have a brushless in your bathroom cabinet for occasional use (or, again, perhaps for travel), I can highly recommend Rasoline. Very good product, IMO.

[CMur12]

Good information to have in reserve, BeatlesFan. Thank you.

You might add this to the stickied thread at the top of this section for soap and cream reviews. You'll notice that Gary/Brothers did a series of brushless cream reviews awhile back.

I use soaps exclusively, myself, as I just never liked creams in concept. If I were going to use a cream, however, a brushless cream makes more sense to me.

- Murray