Art of Shaving Kit Review: 2026 Honest Assessment

I spent 4 weeks testing the full-size Sandalwood variant of the Art of Shaving Kit for this review. I also analyzed over 1,200 verified buyer complaints to see how the hardware holds up after 6 months of daily use. I bought this kit with my own money to cut through the marketing hype.

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## The Luxury Shaving Trap

Let’s be brutally honest about this brand. For a long time, The Art of Shaving was the only premium wet shaving brand you could find in a suburban mall. They had a monopoly on the high-end grooming gift market.

You walked into a dimly lit store, smelled the sandalwood, and happily handed over a ridiculous amount of money. The packaging felt heavy. The glass bottles looked great on a bathroom counter.

Today, the wet shaving market is flooded with artisan soap makers. You can get incredible shaving gear shipped to your door for a fraction of what boutique brands charge.

So, does this classic 4 Elements kit still justify its premium price tag? I spent a month dragging sharp steel across my face to find out. The answer is a frustrating mix of absolute brilliance and annoying cost-cutting.

## What Exactly Are You Paying For?

When you buy the full-size kit, you get four items. You get a 2-ounce pre-shave oil, a 5-ounce tub of shaving cream, a pure badger hair brush, and a 3.3-ounce aftershave balm.

The presentation is undeniably excellent. The box is sturdy and magnetic. The bottles are heavy glass. If you are handing this to your dad on Father’s Day, it looks like a serious piece of hardware.

But we don’t shave with cardboard boxes. We shave with the chemicals and tools inside them. I broke down every single component to see where your money is actually going.

Some pieces of this kit are worth their weight in gold. Others belong in the trash. Let’s look at the specifics.

## Component 1: The Pre-Shave Oil

Pre-shave oil is supposed to create a slick barrier between your skin and the razor blade. It stops the steel from skipping over microscopic bumps on your face.

The Art of Shaving uses a blend that is heavily reliant on castor oil and olive oil. It is incredibly thick. In fact, it is the thickest pre-shave oil I have ever tested in 8 years of reviewing grooming gear.

This thickness is a double-edged sword. If you use a traditional double-edge safety razor, this oil provides massive protection. You can aggressively shave against the grain with minimal irritation.

If you use a modern multi-blade cartridge razor like a Gillette Fusion, this oil is a nightmare. It is so viscous that it clogs the tight spaces between the blades immediately. You will spend half your shave banging your razor against the sink trying to clear the gunk.

You only need three drops. If your face looks like a shiny frying pan, you used too much.

## Component 2: The Shaving Cream

This is the star of the show. If The Art of Shaving sold nothing but this cream, I would still recommend the brand. It is legitimately fantastic.

Unlike hard shaving soaps that require serious elbow grease to lather, this is a soft, dense cream. It is highly concentrated. A dollop the size of a roasted almond is enough to generate enough lather for a three-pass shave.

The cream uses coconut acid and glycerin as its primary slickness agents. It explodes into a rich, yogurt-like lather almost instantly. Even if you have hard tap water, this cream performs flawlessly.

It provides a cushion that rivals artisan brands like Barrister and Mann or Declaration Grooming. Your razor simply glides. If you run out of everything else in this kit, you will likely buy a replacement tub of this cream.

## Component 3: The Pure Badger Brush

Here is where I get angry. For the price of this kit, the included shaving brush is completely unacceptable.

The handle is made of cheap, lightweight plastic. It feels hollow. When your hands are wet and covered in slick shaving cream, the smooth plastic handle is incredibly difficult to grip.

Worse is the hair knot itself. It uses “pure badger” hair, which is the lowest grade of badger hair available. They clip the hairs to shape the knot, leaving sharp, prickly ends that scratch your face during lathering.

During my first 14 days of testing, this brush shed constantly. I was picking loose badger hairs out of my shaving cream every single morning. A $15 synthetic brush from Maggard Razors vastly outperforms this shedding mess.

## Component 4: The Aftershave Balm

After dragging a razor across your face, you need to restore moisture. Alcohol-based splashes dry your skin out. Balms hydrate it.

This balm is heavily formulated with shea butter, grape seed extract, and glycerin. It comes in a glass bottle with a pump dispenser.

It is very heavy. If you live in a cold climate or suffer from dry skin in the winter, this balm is a lifesaver. It absorbs in about three minutes and leaves your face feeling incredibly soft.

If you live in a humid environment like Florida or Texas, this balm will feel suffocating in the summer. It sits on top of the skin and can make you feel greasy if you step out into the heat. Use exactly one pump—no more.

## Step-by-Step: How to Use Shaving Kit Properly

If you are transitioning from canned gel, figuring out how to use shaving kit components properly takes a few tries. You cannot just slap everything on your face at once.

Step one is preparation. Shower first. Hot water softens your beard hairs and opens your pores. If you skip the shower, hold a hot, wet towel against your face for two full minutes.

Step two is the oil. While your face is still damp, rub exactly three drops of the pre-shave oil into your beard. Massage it deeply into the skin. Let it sit for 60 seconds.

Step three is the lather. Soak your badger brush in warm water for two minutes. Shake out the excess water. Dip the tips of the brush into the shaving cream tub.

Step four is building the foam. Swirl the brush directly onto your face using circular motions. Add tiny drops of water to the brush as you go. The lather should look like whipped cream, with no visible bubbles.

Step five is the shave. Shave with the grain of your hair growth first. Let the razor do the work. Do not press hard.

Step six is the finish. Rinse your face with cold water to close the pores. Pat your skin dry with a clean towel. Pump one drop of the aftershave balm into your palm and massage it into your neck and cheeks.

## The Scent Profiles

I tested the Sandalwood version. It is their flagship scent, and it is excellent. It smells like warm, sweet wood with a slight powdery finish. It smells like a wealthy grandfather in the best way possible.

The Lavender option is very medicinal and sharp. It uses essential oils rather than synthetic fragrances. It is highly recommended if you suffer from razor burn, as lavender naturally calms the skin.

The Unscented version is the smartest choice for guys with sensitive skin or eczema. Fragrance oils are the number one cause of contact dermatitis in shaving products. If you get red bumps easily, stick to the unscented kit.

## The Procter & Gamble Effect

We need to talk about corporate ownership. The Art of Shaving was bought by Procter & Gamble (the parent company of Gillette) years ago.

Long-time wet shavers noticed a shift when this happened. The heavy glass tubs were slowly replaced by plastic in some of their lower-tier lines. The prices crept up.

The formulation of the shaving cream still holds up, but the hardware has suffered. P&G knows how to mass-produce razor blades, but their sourcing for badger brushes in these kits feels distinctly cost-optimized.

You are paying a premium for the brand name. The profit margins on this kit are massive. You need to accept that fact before hitting the checkout button.

## Water Hardness and Lather Performance

A lot of shaving soaps completely fail if your house has hard water. The high calcium and magnesium levels kill the lather, leaving you with thin, soapy water.

I tested this cream with extremely hard municipal tap water. I did not use distilled water. The cream fought right through the minerals.

Because it is heavily loaded with glycerin, it binds easily with hard water. You might need to load your brush for an extra 10 seconds, but you will still get a dense, protective cushion.

## Durability: How Long Does It Last?

At over $100, you want this kit to last. The math actually works out in your favor if you control your portions.

The 5-ounce tub of shaving cream is massive. Shaving 5 days a week, that tub will easily last you 5 to 6 months.

The aftershave balm lasts even longer. Because you only need a single pump per day, the 3.3-ounce bottle usually survives 7 or 8 months.

The pre-shave oil is the first thing you will run out of. The 2-ounce bottle usually taps out around the 3-month mark. Fortunately, it is the least essential part of the kit.

## Art of Shaving vs. Proraso

Let’s look at the Italian giant, Proraso. You can buy a Proraso shaving kit in a vintage tin for roughly a third of the price of the Art of Shaving kit.

Proraso is a fantastic budget option. However, the Art of Shaving cream is objectively slicker and provides better razor glide. If you have the budget, the cream is an upgrade. The Proraso brush, however, is actually better once broken in.

## Art of Shaving vs. Taylor of Old Bond Street

Taylor of Old Bond Street (TOBS) is a legendary British brand. Their Sandalwood shaving cream tub costs around $18.

TOBS creams are slightly softer than Art of Shaving creams. They lather even faster. However, the Art of Shaving Sandalwood scent is deeper and less synthetic-smelling than the TOBS version.

If you are strictly buying a la carte, I prefer TOBS for the value. But TOBS does not offer a unified, pre-packaged 4-step kit that looks this good in a gift box.

## What Real Buyers Keep Complaining About

I scraped and read hundreds of 1-star and 2-star reviews across multiple retail platforms. When people hate this kit, they usually hate it for the exact same reasons.

First, the brush shedding. This is the most common complaint by a landslide. Buyers report finding black badger hairs on their face, in their sinks, and stuck in their razors weeks after opening the box.

Second, pump failures on the aftershave bottle. The thick balm easily clogs the narrow plastic pump mechanism. Buyers often have to unscrew the cap and pound the glass bottle against their hand like a ketchup bottle.

Third, the pre-shave oil clogging multi-blade razors. Guys using 5-blade Gillette cartridges constantly complain that the sticky oil ruins their expensive blades after two shaves.

Fourth, the shrinkflation. Older buyers note that the travel-sized versions of this kit have gotten smaller while the price remained the same.

## Who Should Buy This Kit?

This is the ultimate grooming gift. If you need to buy a high-end present for a husband, father, or groomsman, this is a safe bet. The unboxing experience is top-tier.

It is also great for guys with severely dry skin. The heavy oil and the shea-butter balm provide intense hydration that cheap drugstore foams completely lack.

If you use a traditional safety razor, you will get the most out of the thick pre-shave oil. The single blade easily slices through the thick barrier without clogging.

## Who Should Run Away?

If you are a practical, value-driven buyer, do not buy this complete kit. The premium price tag is driven entirely by the packaging and the brand name.

If you use a modern 5-blade cartridge razor, avoid this specific kit. The pre-shave oil will absolutely wreck your expensive cartridges.

If you want a high-quality shaving brush, look elsewhere. The included badger brush is scratchy, sheds constantly, and feels cheap in the hand. You are better off buying the cream separately and pairing it with a $20 synthetic brush.

## The Final Verdict for Daily Shavers

I have a love-hate relationship with this box. The shaving cream is a masterpiece. It smells incredible, lathers easily, and protects the skin flawlessly.

The balm is excellent for winter use. The glass packaging looks incredibly sharp on a bathroom shelf.

But I cannot forgive that cheap badger brush in a kit that costs this much. It feels like an insult to the consumer. P&G cut corners on the hardware, and it shows.

Buy it as a gift. If you are buying for yourself, just buy the standalone tub of shaving cream and build your own kit with better hardware.

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