la toja piel sensible (sensitive skin)

PRICE;
10/10. for 4.95 euros ($7.37), i feel la toja sensitive is a decent bargain. many foreign creams (among them, arko, pre de provence, institut karite, godrej, dettol, old spice, erasmic and ingram) at twice this pricepoint deliver a third or more less. when stacked in your den, la toja looks like a motherlode. even next to the proraso. well, not the 500ml proraso...

QUALITY;
8/10. based on my six shaves with la toja sensitive, each time out its had this uncanny property that allows it to be useable for a good (if not great) shave mixed down to a more thin coat or kept at a beautiful rich, thick mixture. my experience is that lesser creams aren't so much fun when stretched thin. this means that la toja sensitive can serve as a great cream to experiment with your lathering technique on without sacrificing an effective shave. it more than holds its own with any of the above mentioned foreign creams (although i've not tried provence and karite). i did cut two points off as it seems like it is easy to over lather. it takes just a bit of attention to keep it thick and cushion like.

SCENT;
10/10. i'm generally not into fragrances in skincare so much. however, look out. i mean look out! la toja sensitive has the most intoxicating scent, to me, of any cream i've ever used. it's a mild and understated hybrid of old spanish babershop spice and la toja (the hydrothermal resort after which its named) salty air. it's clean and crisp and slightly edgy with quality to spare, without being overpowering in a way that i think most folks around here would really appreciate. oh how i wish they made an eau de toilette. in the meantime, the asb works beautifully.

LATHERABILITY;
9/10. i kind of covered latherabilty above in 'quality', but to be more clear, la toja sensitive lathers very well. maybe too well. it has a tendency to go a wee thin if you're not careful with either your technique or your mix ratio. by about the third shave, i was able to readily achieve a perfect froth heavy mix that delivered a cream as thick as any of the competition. however, if i didn't work at it, i'd be tempted to write it off as simply too thin. that fragrance, along with excellent skincare, kept me going.

EFFICACY;
9/10. la toja sensitive shines. even from the very first shave, i got a great mutli-pass bbs shave with virtually no irritation. the cream, even when less thick, adhered to my beard with no run or further thinning. the thicker and more frothy my mix became, the better the shaves became.

MOISTURIZING PROPERTIES;
8/10. the la toja line is so named for the spa/hydrothermal resort town in galicia (northwest) spain that is renowned for the restorative and healing powers of its waters. the la toja line apparently takes qualities from the area waters and thermal salts and applies them for skincare. real or imagined, what isn't debatable is how mild and kind this cream has been to my fragile skin. however, if i had written this review before i got ahold of some fraser's, i'd probably rate the moisturizing properties a 9 or 10.

PACKAGING;
10/10. it comes in a 150ml metal tube, sans key, sans any superfluous packaging. what could be more simple?
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some footnotes i feel are important to add are;

* i've been a wetshaver for over 20 years.

* although i own eight vintage gillette double-edge razors, i mostly use a couple different single-edge gems and occasionally a european wilkinson or american bic single blade disposables (when traveling) as they treat my sensitve beard mildly (and yet still allow me a good multi-pass bbs).

* before assessing the skincare or moisturizing properties of any cream, i not only lather a batch up and leave some to dry on the inside of my wrist, i also wash my face with it for a minimum of two evenings to determine its residual effect on my, yep, sensitive beard.

* la toja doesn't seem to be a topic of too much conversation around here, other than the odd post about its shaving sticks, but i think its creams are great values and even better performers. and oh, that fragrance...!