I have never been one for name brand products. Especially when it comes to skin/shave care. My wife first convinced me to try shave products after college. I had always just used the standard shave cream and razor you can pick up from any corner store or grocery store. In my new endeavor, I select The Art of Shaving Lavender - Full Size Kit - Pure Badger Black Brush. I made sure to set aside some personal time to truly enjoy my first shave using the new product. It was something magnificent. I felt so manly. So pure. So rugged. I felt like putting on a black suit with black tie and pouring myself a two finger glass of scotch. Ever since this first shave, I have never turned back. No more $5 shaving cream from Wal Mart or Target. I was hooked on high performance name brand product. I soon ran out of the shave lather and needed some more. I had been using Jack Black shower gel and had learned that they too make a shave cream. So I took the plunge and bought Supreme Cream Triple Cushion® Shave Lather with Macadamia Nut Oil & Soy 8oz jar. After a couple shaves, I was in a pickle. Which one did I like more? Do I have to decide? At some point in time every man has a choice. So which brand offers the right upper hand? Keep reading and let us see if we can't find it out.
The Basic Product
Each brand offers us an amazing entry set for a man wanting to make the most out of his shave. For the purpose of this article, we will analyze the top of the line kits.
Jack Black offers us the Ultimate Skin-Friendly Shave™ Super Set. This set includes:
+ MP 10™ Nourishing Oil, 2 oz.
+ Face Buff Energizing Scrub, 3 oz.
+ Double-Duty Face Moisturizer SPF 20, 1.5 oz.
+ Supreme Cream Triple Cushion® Shave Lather, 8 oz.
+ Shave Brush
+ Double Edge Safety Razor
+ One double edge safety razor blade
The Art of Shaving offers us the Lavender Full Size Kit - Silvertip Badger Brush. This set includes:
+ Pre-Shave Oil (2 fl. oz)
+ Shaving Cream (5.0 oz)
+ After-Shave Balm (3.3 fl. oz)
+ Pure Badger Black Shaving Brush
The first comparison I want to note is price. Jack Black's kit is $235 while The Art of Shaving kit is only $115. Noting a price difference is difficult in this cross examination because you do get a razor with your kit when choosing Jack Black. The brush and razor are sold for $125 each from Jack Black, so you are basically getting everything else for free. Jack Black isn't the only company with a pricy razor. The Art of Shaving sales razors ranging from $75 to $200 as well. The Art of Shaving Brushes range from $55 to $250. With the brush you get in the kit with the Art of Shaving, you are basically getting all the product for free as well. There is also a strong difference in product. You get more after shave product with Jack Black and more pre-shave product with the Art of Shaving. So what extra product do you get with Jack Black: Nourishing Oil, Face Scrub, and Face Moisturizer. However, you do miss out on aftershave and pre-shave. You could I suppose use the Nourishing Oil, Face Scrub, and Face Moisturizer as an aftershave combo. Either way, Jack Black seems to offer you more of a skin care after shave kit than a true shave kit like you get with the Art of Shaving. You can buy more Jack Black shave product that are not mentioned or provided in this specific kit like: Beard Lube™ Conditioning Shave with Jojoba & Eucalyptus and Post Shave Cooling Gel with Aloe, Sage & Lavender. The Art of Shaving kit comes with all that The Art of Shaving has to offer in terms of shave product, but they do offer a wide variety of razors and razor handles you can't find in stores for sale separately. You also have a different color scheme with the kits. Now for many of you men, this probably doesn't matter. However, if you are married like me and your wife has a certain way she wants your bathroom counter to look like like my wife, then this does matter. Jack Black's kit is 95% blue in color with a little bit of silver and black thrown in. I personally like the look of the Jack Black kit since I like both the color blue and conformity. The Art of Shaving kit offers you a variety of black, green, and white. The reason you get these colors is because the pre-shave is a green opaque bottle and the after-shave bottle is clear. I haven't used Jack Black's full kit like I have The Art of Shaving. I want to make this disclaimer. That being said, I would go back and choose the Jack Black set. It is a more complete set giving you a more authentic razor. Don't be fooled though, both vendors offer sales of the individual product within the sets as well. Along with what I described throughout this section, I also suggest to my readers the Jack Black set. If you feel it necessary to have a pre-shave, you can always buy the pre-shave individually from The Art of Shaving. I would suggest the Ocean Kelp Pre-Shave Gel. It is truly a one-of-a-kind. If you are like me and indecisive, I would suggest buying products individually from each company. This will allow you to decide for yourself, while showing off you personal grooming expertise. So which brand or products will you buy?
Jack Black offers us the Ultimate Skin-Friendly Shave™ Super Set. This set includes:
+ MP 10™ Nourishing Oil, 2 oz.
+ Face Buff Energizing Scrub, 3 oz.
+ Double-Duty Face Moisturizer SPF 20, 1.5 oz.
+ Supreme Cream Triple Cushion® Shave Lather, 8 oz.
+ Shave Brush
+ Double Edge Safety Razor
+ One double edge safety razor blade
The Art of Shaving offers us the Lavender Full Size Kit - Silvertip Badger Brush. This set includes:
+ Pre-Shave Oil (2 fl. oz)
+ Shaving Cream (5.0 oz)
+ After-Shave Balm (3.3 fl. oz)
+ Pure Badger Black Shaving Brush
The first comparison I want to note is price. Jack Black's kit is $235 while The Art of Shaving kit is only $115. Noting a price difference is difficult in this cross examination because you do get a razor with your kit when choosing Jack Black. The brush and razor are sold for $125 each from Jack Black, so you are basically getting everything else for free. Jack Black isn't the only company with a pricy razor. The Art of Shaving sales razors ranging from $75 to $200 as well. The Art of Shaving Brushes range from $55 to $250. With the brush you get in the kit with the Art of Shaving, you are basically getting all the product for free as well. There is also a strong difference in product. You get more after shave product with Jack Black and more pre-shave product with the Art of Shaving. So what extra product do you get with Jack Black: Nourishing Oil, Face Scrub, and Face Moisturizer. However, you do miss out on aftershave and pre-shave. You could I suppose use the Nourishing Oil, Face Scrub, and Face Moisturizer as an aftershave combo. Either way, Jack Black seems to offer you more of a skin care after shave kit than a true shave kit like you get with the Art of Shaving. You can buy more Jack Black shave product that are not mentioned or provided in this specific kit like: Beard Lube™ Conditioning Shave with Jojoba & Eucalyptus and Post Shave Cooling Gel with Aloe, Sage & Lavender. The Art of Shaving kit comes with all that The Art of Shaving has to offer in terms of shave product, but they do offer a wide variety of razors and razor handles you can't find in stores for sale separately. You also have a different color scheme with the kits. Now for many of you men, this probably doesn't matter. However, if you are married like me and your wife has a certain way she wants your bathroom counter to look like like my wife, then this does matter. Jack Black's kit is 95% blue in color with a little bit of silver and black thrown in. I personally like the look of the Jack Black kit since I like both the color blue and conformity. The Art of Shaving kit offers you a variety of black, green, and white. The reason you get these colors is because the pre-shave is a green opaque bottle and the after-shave bottle is clear. I haven't used Jack Black's full kit like I have The Art of Shaving. I want to make this disclaimer. That being said, I would go back and choose the Jack Black set. It is a more complete set giving you a more authentic razor. Don't be fooled though, both vendors offer sales of the individual product within the sets as well. Along with what I described throughout this section, I also suggest to my readers the Jack Black set. If you feel it necessary to have a pre-shave, you can always buy the pre-shave individually from The Art of Shaving. I would suggest the Ocean Kelp Pre-Shave Gel. It is truly a one-of-a-kind. If you are like me and indecisive, I would suggest buying products individually from each company. This will allow you to decide for yourself, while showing off you personal grooming expertise. So which brand or products will you buy?