After Shave Cream: Facts On After Shave Cream!

After shave cream has been around for a long time. Ever since man began shaving, the use of aftershave has been there. It is a very common occurrence in all the cultures all over the world. Every man uses after shave cream, be it in the west or the east. The first two commercial brands to market aftershave were Witch-hazel and Bay Rum. In fact, even today, although, Bay Rum is not sold by its original producer, however, it is still manufactured and sold under many different brand names globally. Moreover, Bay Rum is also marketed as soap, perfume etc.

There are many types of after shave cream available today in the market. However, the true aftershaves are the type that only protect and disinfect the skin after shaving. Nevertheless, the types of after shave cream available in the market are,
• Moisturizers
• Astringents
• Designer colognes
As the name suggests, moisturizers are only meant to soften the skin out and nourish it so as to keep it smooth and soft even after shave. Astringents are after shave cream with a pH value or in other words are alcoholic in nature meant to close down damaged pores or cover the razor bumps and cuts. Fashion designer colognes need no description. These are overtly priced after shave cream, made by some other company, and given the brand name of designer brands but are still just basic after shave cream.

Let us see what all is used in these lotions. The initial variants all contained only antiseptic agents such as denatured alcohol or stearate citrate. Since, the prime purpose of aftershaves was to address cuts and wounds after shaving. Some later variants came with menthol in it as it gave a cool and soothing effect to the skin keeping it polished and shining after shaving. Many after shave cream even today use these basic ingredients in their concoctions along with artificial perfumes in there.

Perfumes being added to after shave colognes now-a-days has made it that much more difficult to differentiate from eau-de-toilette or eau-de-parfum. The reason being that both, give off the similar good fragrances and hence, cannot be used together. The thing to remember here is that aftershave is only for the face part while perfumes are for the clothes as well. One can use perfumes on a daily basis but not an aftershave. Moreover, aftershave, when used daily, can cause irritations and what not, but perfumes since, they do not come in direct contact with the skin, do not cause such reactions.

How does one go about choosing a good after-shave lotion? This is a very common question in every man’s mind. The answer is not that simple since all the lotions have the same basic action and only differ in their smell. Therefore, the way to go about choosing the smells is to observe which ones leave a good basic note after a few hours. These after shave cream are worth buying, as their aroma shall remain on the skin for much longer.