Schick Hydro Sensitive Shave Gel review in comparison with the Tabac Soap and Gillette shaving foam

In my 5 months with my encounter with traditional safety razor shaving, I have been alternating between the Tabac soap, Gillette foam and the Schick gel. Had my fair share of nicks and cuts with all 3 and I'm slowly reaching the conclusion that the foam and the gel, the modern evolution of the humble shaving soap, all perform equally well in ensuring a slick and comfortable shave provided that you are able to find out for yourself how best to use it to suit your skin.

In terms of convenience, both the Schick gel and the foam are very easy to apply. Just spray some on your fingers and swirl them on your face. All I need for a 3 pass shave is a small almond quantity. The Schick gel, initially greenish blue in colour will start to turn into whitish foam as you whirl it and become nicely slick to shave with. If the blueish blob is still present, that means that either that you are using too much shaving gel or you haven't got enough water in the mix.When it becomes slightly dry, you just have to splash some water and swirl it a little more. The Schnick gel seems to be made with convenience and ease of use in mind. It is suited for the modern man to get things done quick. So there is no need for a brush to lather up the gel like you would with a shaving cream or soap. In fact, there is no need to shake the can at all. Just press the button and the shaving gel comes out easily.

Yes, wet your face, wet your hand, squeeze out some of that blueish substance and swirl around your face until you get the nice slightly foamy texture.

Smell wise, it has a fresh menthol scent and the icy cool feel of the menthol is invigorating and pleasing. Too bad I only shave at night when I have the luxury of time to get my shave on. Otherwise, it would really wake me up from a sleepy morning.

 That's actually more than what is required. Had to keep mixing more water to avoid getting the dry feeling.

Coming to the shave itself, I'm not sure if the menthol really helps to numb the sensation of the blade on the skin or if the gel is providing a great slick protective layer for my skin. I'm able to go through areas repeatedly to clean it up without having to re-apply more gel. If it does get slightly dry, I just have to splash a little water and swirl that area up once more. This is very different from the Tabac shaving soap where the skin will become "stickily clean" after a single pass if too much water was used. The Schick shave gel is a very forgiving gel and there isn't much to learn in order to obtain a comfortable and close shave.

The only time I didn't had a good shave with this gel was when I tried applying it using a shaving brush as it soaked up much of the gel without giving me much slickness return. This shaving gel is best used without a brush and performs best when your face is really wet, by wet, I mean dripping with water wet. This is when the menthol is not overpowering and the slickness is optimal.

Taking these 3 types of shaving lather as a representative of their type, it seems that all 3 performs just as good as one another provided that you experiment how much water you'll need to bring the best out of the product.