Shaving Product Review - L&L Grooming "Mayflower"

Value (Cost, Packaging and Performance)

Lather (Density, Glide and Feel)

Post-shave (Healing, Moisture and Feel)

Scent (Quality, Strength and Longevity)

Perhaps the best new floral software out there... A deep, rich yet "dark" floral - for guys that aren't into floral scents - courtesy of L&L Grooming Mayflower in a #soap and #aftershave combo.

When I think "floral," I tend to think funeral - especially when it comes to a scent. With Mayflower I wanted to design a floral scent for the shaver who doesn’t enjoy floral scents. It may be sweet, but it isn’t sharp. When you shave with it, you will find yourself walking the line, with a rewarding semi-sweetness that provides a nice balance to its (non-funerary) floral notes. This is the perfect scent to celebrate the blossoming of spring all around you while avoiding the same types floral scents that you have grown tired of over the years.

I've done tons of reviews on L&L Grooming products so I won't repeat much about the performance. It's truly amazing and good - top tier. Rather, today I'll focus on two new things; the packaging and this scent, which was recently released.

First, the new packaging... Wins, all around. Oddly, I forgot to cover it in my review of Bandwagon. The labels are now truly water- and aftershave-proof. The prior labels would get fairly sticky with damp fingers and were prone to damage (i.e. water/aftershave spots, abrasions, etc.). The restrictors are now actually useful, and you can dispense the aftershave like you would expect; as a side effect, the caps are also new. The artwork is all-new, with a consistent look and branding - clean and professional. Very fetching! Top caliber packaging that really brings the product line into the top echelon of artisanal offerings.

The headline of this show is the scent. As I alluded to above, it's "a floral for guys that hate florals." No, really. The problem with many florals is they tend to be sweet, often cloyingly so and for lack of a better description, just "too floral." Bright notes of flowers are often considered more feminine, with rose and lavender being some stalwarts among the shaving crowd. This scent has the masculine vibe covered. Officially, Mayflower has notes of magnolia, cananga flower, honeysuckle, vetiver, tobacco and rosewood.

There's still sweetness to be found in the magnolia and honeysuckle and there's also a showing by cananga flower... Which you may know from cananga odorata or cananga tree. No? It's where ylang ylang comes from. This adds a real depth and richness to the floral side of the scent; with varied hints of rubber, custard, jasmine and neroli. The supporting base of vetiver, tobacco and rosewood add a grassy, herbaceous warmth that serves to darken the floral aspect and man it up. Rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora) is also commonly known as Brazilian rosewood or rosewood tree. While it has a slight floral vibe to it, it's also camphoraceous and peppery - further aiding the vetiver and tobacco in taking the edge off of the florals. Overall, while it's unmistakably floral - it's at the same time masculine with a spicy, green, warm base. Truly a wonderful scent! I salute #landlgrooming on this accord. Scent strength is just hitting medium and longevity is long-lasting at 6+ hours.

The #TimelessRazor trials continue. Today I took the "aggressive version" for a ride with a fresh #Gillette 7 O'Clock (black) blade. This is the .95 gap, custom base plate with an open comb on one side and scalloped solid bar on the other with matching top cap, and a RazoRock Halo handle. This resulted in a ridiculously close shave - definitely BBS quality. Between the closeness of the shave and shaving a bit later in the day yesterday, I didn't need to shave this morning. I felt this blade a bit more than my usual PolSilver but the razor smoothed it out for a comfortable shave just the same. I'll try a Feather blade after this run. The #SOC brush is my preferred method of loading L&L Grooming (and the recent Barrister's Reserve) soaps, since they can be a bit goopy. A stiffer backbone, a little more water and a light touch make loading a breeze - and requires a touch less time than usual (no more than 25s).

What an incredible warm weather scent! This is probably one of my favorite florals out there. The chicks will dig it - and so will you. Needless to say, the performance is just top tier across the board in comfort, healing, moisturizing and face feel. It's all good. The new packaging addresses some minor niggles with the former and completely resolves those. I can heartily recommend the entire product line; pick a scent that tickles your fancy and go for it.