Vikings BladeBlack Ocean Luxury Foaming Shaving Cream, NON-LATHER

When you first open the container, you’re transported to a warm summer’s day. A cool ocean breeze washes over you. THAT’S the heart of the fragrance! The product is perfectly named. The scent is fresh and clean, but not at all overpowering. Crack it open, stand beside the ocean’s door, and breath in deeply. Fresh!The cream is thick in the container and whips up quickly into a nice, light lather. However, like their previous product, the shaving cream goes on thick at first, becomes super-lubricating, and just a bit frothy on the skin.Two things happen:1.) The beard whiskers are actually pulled up allowing for a close, clean shave.2.) The skin is not only protected but there is a level of lubrication which is second to none. You’ll notice this, if you do a traditional wet shave, on the first rinse after your first shaving pass. The slickness is quite noticeable and stays until the end of the shave.It is a bit deceptive. The cream paints on well, but you get a glimmer of the whisker. Although your face is covered in a light lather, you can still see the “path of attack.” (An advantage for beginning wet shavers.) It absorbs into the skin resulting in a super-slickness. Many times when using Vikings Blade’s Sandalwood and Cedar shaving cream, I’ve had to catch myself, almost forgetting to use an aftershave balm. The shave was that comfortable. Black Ocean is no different. Plus, there is no thick residue left on your razor. It, too, comes away clean.I recall, as a very young child, my father using a similar type of product. The lather on his face was never a full “Santa beard.” Rather, it was similar to Black Ocean. A nice frothy lather that gave a slick, close shave. He always came away without any nicks or cuts.Unlike other shaving creams, the trick is to not add a lot of water when building a lather. Less is more. Start as dry as possible and build from that point forward.I give Black Ocean top marks for its lubricating and protective action. Simply outstanding! However, the frothiness and lightness is a different approach and may take some adjustment.I’d imagine that men, getting ready for a big date or event, will pull this from the cabinet (rather than other soaps and creams) due to its ability to deliver a close, protective shave. And the fresh ocean scent is a wonderful bonus.Pair this with my favorite razor, the Vikings Blade Godfather, and you’ll look forward to having a wonderful, close and comfortable shave each and every time you use it.Update: 4/22/2017(This discussion covers both Black Ocean and Sandalwood and Cedar Shaving Creams.)Let me just say that, after years of electric shavers and disposables, I came back to wet shaving just last year (2016) My initial struggle with wet shaving all those years ago was simple. No one ever showed me the proper wet shaving method and technique.Now that I’ve been wet shaving for almost a year, I’ve had a wonderful experience in trying out different razors, blades, and shaving creams.Now then, I can honestly say that I really LOVE Vikings Black Ocean and Blade Sandalwood and Cedar Shaving Creams! I realize both are unlike other shaving creams and soaps. When using these creams, you have to get rid of all your expectations. This is not Taylor of Old Bond Street, Colonel Conk, The Art of Shaving, or any other soap or cream you may have used in the past.Vikings Blade Black Ocean (and it's other wonderful scent, Sandalwood and Cedar Shaving Cream) is light, frothy and super slick. The folks at Vikings Blade claim it is “old school.” I can understand this. This was some 80 years ago when most shaving creams didn’t give you the full “Santa beard” we have come to expect. (I think the thick shaving cream look is a recent marketing phenomenon.)Here are just a few things I’ve learned when using both creams. (And, by the way, both Black Ocean and Sandalwood and Cedar are identical in performance. The only difference, obviously, is their scents.)The water to cream ratio is very important. It’s going to take you several tries to dial it in. Once you do, the cream explodes into a nice heap of lather in only 30 to 40 seconds. So, here’s how to best create it:Soak your badger brush. (I've found that a badger brush works best. But, a boar brush, and even a synthetic, work well.) After soaking, give it a few shakes, but do not wring it out. If you’re using a dry lathering bowl, definitely do not wring it out. If your shaving bowl had hot water in it to warm it up a it, then give the brush a slight wring after shaking it off. The leftover little bit of water in the bowl will make up for lack of water in the brush. You want the brush to be a bit damp but not overly saturated. Too dry is not good, too wet is not good, either.Use an almond sized amount of cream. Depending on your water (soft or hard) you may need to add a bit more, or possibly, back off with a bit less. Vikings Blade recommends a half teaspoon. I find I don’t use this much. Again, this may take two or three tries to understand the proper amount of each ingredient (water and cream).Drop the cream in the bowl, start lathering with the brush, and if the ratio is correct, in 30 to 40 seconds you’ll have lather.Now, wet your face. Instead of painting the lather on, do some swirling face-lathering with the brush. I have found this really helps to build a bit more lather and slickness. You can then follow up and do some painting motions if you like.Yes, the lather will absorb into the skin and become a bit translucent. However, if you do the face-lathering step, you’ll find the cream stays quite visible. More so than if you painted it on. And here’s the nice part. The cream has formed a super slick layer perfect for shaving. (I need to point out here that I've found no need to use a pre-shave oil. My experience has been that applying a pre-shave just prior to lathering only blocks the effectiveness of this cream.)I use the Vikings Blade Chieftain razor with a Personna Blue blade. This first pass, done with the grain, will be very slick. Also, your hands will be pretty slick from the water and cream having been on your fingers. This is why I like to use the Chieftain razor. The deeply grooved (knurled) handle really lets me get hold of it even with slick hands. If you’re using a smooth handled razor, make sure you dry your hands well. Again, this cream makes a SLICK lather.Think SLICK, not THICK.After this first pass, give your face a few splashes of water to rinse. You’ll find the slickness really stays on the skin. It does not completely wash off. This is good. Do a face lathering for the second shave pass. The residual slickness combined with the new lather really makes the second (across the grain) pass VERY slick. Much slicker than the first.Rinse again and repeat for the third (against the grain) pass.If you choose, you can also spot lather to do some blade buffing. Blade buffing is nothing more than very short, light strokes to take down any small stubble in problem areas of your face. For instance, I do a bit of blade buffing on the corners of my mouth and along the jawline.When finished, empty your sink bowl and rinse with warm tap water. You’ll find that using fresh water from the tap is more efficient in removing the slickness. (if you use water from the sink bowl, you’ll only be putting slick water back on the skin.) Then, follow with a cold water rinse to close the pores. Again, straight from the tap.Pat dry.After shaving, my skin is wonderfully soft and really smooth. So much so, I almost forget to use an after shave balm. And, when applying an after shave balm, I’m only feeling skin and not stubble. Really nice.My skin borders on the sensitive side and I’ve found this cream does not irritate. There’s no razor burn or redness. In addition, there’s something in the cream that really prevents nicks and cuts. The razor glides across the skin and really cuts the whisker cleanly. There’s no tugging or pulling.I think it may take the user two or three shaves to really appreciate this shaving cream and, as I’ve said before, find the correct mixture of cream and water (not unlike some other popular shaving creams which can be just as challenging to find the correct proportions). I think, and this is just a guess, that the cream is so different that the skin needs to become a bit attuned and accustomed to it, as well.I mention this point because I’ve found it to be true in my own wet shaving experience. I’ll give you an example. There have been razor blades I’ve used that were just terrible. But coming back to them some months later, I now find them to be more agreeable. I guess, with time and continued wet shaving, my face has changed a bit. I think this may be the same scenario with the Vikings Blade Shaving Cream.So, please keep an open mind. Give Vikings Blade Sandalwood and Cedar Shaving Cream a try. Give it several tries and a bit of time. You’ll find that once you hit on the proper mixture, it’ll become one of your favorites. And please don’t listen to folks who tell you to stay away from a certain wet shaving product, especially when they themselves have only used it one time and come up short. This is pretty narrow-minded. Sometimes it all it takes is a few more uses and varying the recipe or approach.I hope this info helps.:)

A close shave

Very satifies with my purchase

I'm still new to whet shaving. Once I got the lather with the brush right ( it's a bit tricky) it works so well!The fragrance was not much like your typical ocean such as davidoff cool water, red zone aqua reef or curve wave. It has a smooth bar soap or arisol type. It's quite nice.This cream / shave cleans my face better than any face wash.

Let me start by saying that reviews on shave creams are very subjective and (IMO) can be affected by things like: water hardness, ingredients (tallow, glycerine or other based), razor used, skin type and scent preferences, beard thickness just to name a few. For reference: I have found that Tallow based soaps provide slicker shave creams than glycerine based soaps. My water is 185 mg/L (aka Very Hard water). I usually shave with a straight razor or shavette if I'm in a hurry, but for the last month I've been using a Rockwell 6C that is dialed in to provide a BBS shave on the third pass with no nicks or razor burn when using the #4 base. I have dry skin, prefer non-floral scents and have fast growing barbed wire for facial hair (In the Army, I would have to shave a 2nd time if I had an evening inspection and used a Gillette Super Adjustable 109 on setting 7 for over 30 years)..I gave the Viking's Black Ocean shave cream five uses before giving up and would have given it less had I realized it was glycerine based. I usually try to give a shave cream a full week before drawing any conclusions as dialing in the amount of water needed to create the necessary slick lather can take several tries to get it right - then you want to replicate those results a few times before drawing you final conclusions. Day one I mixed it too thick (not enough water) which resulted in pretty severe razor burn the likes of which which I have not experienced in many years. It was so bad, I thought maybe I had a reaction to something in the soap along with not adding enough water. The resulting shave left a lot of stubble and my face with patches of bright red skin. The next day I took a break and switched to Mitchell's Wool Fat (tallow and lanolin based shave soap) along with a new DE blade and managed a BBS shave on the 3rd pass with no skin irritations. Satisfied it was just razor burn caused by the water/cream ratio (and possibly a dulling DE Blade) - I resumed using VBO shave cream for four more days with unsatisfactory results.Despite adding more water for those four days (one day I added so much water that it was dripping off my face), the stubble remained problematic after the 3rd pass - the cream just wasn't lifting the hairs like my other shave soaps. I also noticed the cream both felt and looked like I was using a bathroom pump foaming hand wash and not a actual shave soap/cream. The sink would fill with a light, bubbly foam as I tried to rinse out the razor between passes (very much like liquid dish detergent when washing dishes in the kitchen sink). The lack of lather during the shave, or the sudsy sink wasn't a problem for me, but the lack of slickness in the soap was counterproductive for irritation free shaving. I am guessing this is also why it seemed to lack the ability to lift the whiskers up for my razor to effectively shave my face (not a problem with at least 10 other shave soaps I currently have on hand). I also found I had to work three times as hard to wash out all the residue left in my shave brushes (synthetic & badger brushes which I clean between shaves) and my hands felt dry/clean and not slick/slippery like my other shave soaps when rinsing them out. I contribute that result to the glycerine base of the shave soap.This ended up being a reminder that I should stick to Tallow based shave soaps. This soap might work for someone with softer water, oily skin, uses cartridge based razors or who loves glycerine based soaps (*all of which do NOT apply to me). Unfortunately, I could not find any redeeming qualities about this soap as it completely missed the mark for me. In hindsight, it was no better than any other glycerine based soap I've tried over the years. I also can't quite put my finger on the scent - the best description I could give is that it wasn't strong and it didn't smell like anything ocean related. It wasn't awful or anything like that, it also wasn't floral in any way - it reminded me of soaps that claim to be scent free where you only smell the unavoidable soap base ingredients. Again, this is a very subjective review and I am biased toward tallow based soaps as I have yet to find a glycerin based shave soap that provides both slickness and leaves my face not feeling dried out when shaving with both straight or DE razors. YMMV.