Pros: wonderful scent, excellent performance, subjectively great post-shave sensation, easy to lather
Cons: pricey
Musgo Real is a brand owned by the Portuguese group Claus Porto, a company that has been producing quality personal care products since 1887.
Introduced in 1920, the Musgo Real line is geared exclusively towards men care and includes products like shaving creams, aftershave balms and soaps.
In this review we are going to take a look at the Musgo Real shaving cream in the Classic Scent variant.
Packaging
I was always fond of the Musgo Real packaging due to its colonial, unique style. And this one is no exception, with the distinctive dark green color scheme and graphic elements.
The shaving cream comes in a 3.4 oz metal tube that looks pretty basic and old-school. Same goes for the cardboard box. The price per ounce comes is rather high for this shaving cream.
Lathering
While this cream definitely likes more water, it lathers quite effortlessly and a small amount of product is more than enough. As usual, I started with a drier brush and progressively added a few drops of water until I was satisfied with the consistency. The resulted lather is thick and creamy, with wonderful peaks forming early in the process as you can see in the pictures below.
Scent
The scent of the Classic Musgo Real shaving cream is hard to put into words. It is masculine, subtle, spicy, warm, and relaxing. It has that classic, barbershop scent that to me is absolutely intoxicating. As far as fragrances go, this is one of my personal favorites.
Once lathered, the scent becomes spicier, soapy, and even has a hint of lavender to my nose. Regarding the strength, it is still on the mild side and will not clash with your cologne. As I said, I enjoy the scent quite a lot.
Performance
So far so good, but let’s see how it actually performs. For this review I used my trusty Edwin Jagger DE89 razor, a basic Edwin Jagger best badger brush and a brand new Hi Stainless Feather blade to compensate for the mildness of the DE89.
Bowl lathering was a breeze and I was ready for the actual shave.
The Musgo Real Classic shaving cream provides excellent slickness for the razor to glide. Shaving was very smooth and comfortable and the blade never felt rough on my skin, even when shaving sensitive areas like the neck. I was really impressed by how easy the blade was cutting the stubble. Even though I was using the DE89, a very mild razor, the closeness of the shave was great and I can only attribute this to the cream. There was enough residual slickness — it does contain lanolin — and the lather didn’t dry out during the three passes. The post-shave comfort was also excellent and the skin felt well hydrated.
Overall, the shaving performance of the Musgo Real Classic cream was top notch.
Alternatives
I would definitely recommend the Musgo Real shaving cream for its uniqueness and performance despite the higher price. With that said, there are cheaper alternatives that perform equally well, even though they do not exhibit the appeal and quirkiness of this Portuguese cream and they are almost dull in comparison.
The Nivea Classic Shaving Cream is a fantastic performer that costs a lot less. Compared to Musgo Real, it is dirt cheap. What is not cheap is the performance of this German shaving cream. It shaves just as close, but for a fraction of the price. However, at least to me, the scent, while pleasant, is not anything special or exciting. But I can let it slide for the excellent value for money it offers. You can read our full review of the Nivea shaving cream here.
Another great alternative is Speick, a ShaveGazette’s all-time favorite. Again, while the scent won’t leave you in awe, the comfort and closeness of the shave will. And all of that for a much more reasonable price.
As a conclusion, if you’re not put off by the higher price, you’re in for a real treat with the Musgo Real Classic Scent shaving cream.