Luxury Shaving at Mr Cobbs

The Old'e English shaving shop also runs a separate shop, Mr Cobb's The Barber where for a modest fee a gentleman can get a genuine, old fashioned barber shop experience.

This is more than just a haircut and a shave - the barber shop is decorated in period style with antique barber shop chairs and an ambience to match.

Our reviewer went for a shave and here's what he found.

The shop at Mr Cobb's the Barber is immaculate and richly decorated with ornate mirrors and barber shop chairs. The lady who is to shave me seats me, makes sure I am comfortable. She explains every step of the shave to me as she does it.

Firstly my face was cleansed with a calomine and coconut face wash. The barber told me that this face was contains no soap and therefore gives a feeling of super-cleanliness. Also, because the calomine and coconut face wash is soap free, no grease would be rubbed into my skin.

Next she gently massages Mr Cobb's Pre-shave special treatment into my face. The effect is immediately soothing. She explains that this will soften my beard before shaving.

Now my face is wrapped in a steaming hot towel which gently opens my pores and steams my face, allowing the pre-shave to penetrate deeply into my skin.

Next she froths up some Sandalwood Shaving soap into a rich shaving lather and spreads this across my beard. The aroma of this shaving soap is subtle and delicate and I can feel the quality of this shaving soap on my skin. Completely unlike the cold canned shaving foam I usually use.

Next she holds up a razor to show me that she is about to shave me with a brand new Gillette Mach 3 razor blade in a striking razor unlike any I've seen before.

Then she begins to shave. The razor blade glides smoothly over my bears, even though I have allowed several day's growth of hard stubble to emerge. She is expert at this, and with smooth and even strokes she soon has shaved my whole face.

But the shave is not ever. She rubs some more shaving balm on me and this is followed by a second shave, this time using the shaving balm.instead of the shaving soap.

This time the shave is closer and she is more meticulous and works the razor blade in all directions across my beard. I enquire about this because I have always thought that one should shave in one direction only, in the same direction as the beard grows.

She tells me that the soothing shaving balm and shaving foam have softened my beard sufficiently to shave in all directions.

This is followed by a second application of a steaming hot towel. Absolute bliss. This second steaming leaves the skin claen, soft and ready to accept moisture in the form of the after shave herbal cream and shaving balm.

The feeling as Mr Cobb's After Shave herbal cream is applied to my skin is a superb sensation and my sensitive skin immediately drinks in this nourishing herbal after shave cream. I wonder if its my imagination as I feel the after shave cream nourishing my skin.

As a final touch she offers me a spray of alcohol free after shave. I accept and in contrast to the brash stinging I often feel when applying my own after shave, this perfume seems to settle gently and without discomfort on my face.

I stand up, run my hand over my skin and am startled ith just how smooth a shave I have. My skin feels baby soft, supple and I feel refreshed and ready to go.

Reflecting on the experience of this shave I am left wanting to do this for myself. Shaving is usually a chore and I find myself wandering over to the Old'e English Shaving Shop to investigate what it would take to give myself an old fashioned barber shop shave.

Related Reading

• Shaving tips and advice
• Our shaving products
• Shaving Razors
• Shaving Razor and Shaving brush sets
• Shaving Balms
• After Shaves
• Shaving Soap