Product review: Cornerstone – Razor Blades & Men’s Shaving Supplies

And now for something completely different…shaving!

We found out about Cornerstone shaving via a flyer in our beer52 pack way back in November and they kindly provided us with a starter park to review but it’s taken a while for me to get around to this, mainly because I only shave about once every 2 weeks but over the last 6 months+ I have only been using the Cornerstone shaving kit and no other shaving products to give it a thorough going over with multiple blades and shaves so I am now nearing the end of my supplies…

My initial Cornerstone kit was all neatly packed away in a box which opens like a drawer, containing a tube of pre-shave scrub, 1 razor, 6 razor blades, 1 tube of shaving gel and 1 tube of post-shave balm, so everything you need for a shave (and the scrub, gel and balm are all designed for use on sensitive skin).

Up until November I’d been a Gillette user for years (Mach 3 then Fusion) but the German-engineered Cornerstone razor has a firmer, sturdier handle than what I’m used to which is much better for gripping so it’s never slipped out my hands during a shave unlike the thinner Gillette ones.

Stage one is to give yourself a good scrub with the Cedarwood & volcanic sand (so perhaps from a Canarian beach and not the volcano that cancelled our flight in 2010!). The ash pieces are small so only mildly abrasive, I’ve never needed to use a lot and it seems to work well as a mild scrub causing me no irritation but it will leave a bit of a grey mess in the sink (which washes away no bother).

The ginger & eucalyptus gel smells fresh & clean and is similar to the gels I usually use (once described by someone we know as “clean man smell”). You don’t get much of a lather with the gel – like with other gels it provides a noticeable but thin coating on your skin but if you’re used to foam then you might use more than you really need to.

After that it was on with the shaving, there are 5 blades on each razor blade and I have to say that every shave has taken no time at all despite a fortnight’s “stubble” on each occasion and I’ve had no serious cuts like I have had with other razors on the market.

I was going to post pictures of my lovely pre and post shave face but it may have scared children or broken the server or something so you can use your imagination for that!

The mint & honey post shave balm is cooling and pleasant. Aroma-wise I didn’t detect any mint, only honey – which reminded me of royal jelly honey balm.

So I’ve now just about finished my first pack of Cornerstone supplies and would I sign up for more? Yes, absolutely, I preferred the razor to ones I’ve used previously though the blades did seem to get blunt a bit earlier than the Gillette blades I’ve used but you do get 6 in a pack, of which I still have two unused after six months. I’ve also had no irritations or cuts so they seem pretty safe and I definitely prefer the whole package to what I’d been using before – having everything you need for a shave delivered to your door and stored in one box is a good from a practical point of view and ensures that you don’t need to worry about buying anything else separately.

Overall we found the Cornerstone kit to be a good package with quality contents so we would recommend it. As for the subscription I usually shave once every fortnight and it’s taken me 6 months to trial this box so the “1 box every 24 weeks” subscription would suit me best. If you shave more often then you can choose to have a new box delivered every 6 or 12 weeks instead and you can customize what arrives in each pack; you can also personalise the razor’s handle should you feel so inclined (perhaps as a gift for someone). It costs £30 (inclusive of delivery costs) for a kit identical to what we received (pre-shave scrub, shaving gel, 6 blades, post-shave balm and a razor in your first pack) but you can de-select anything your don’t want and pay less. Given how expensive it can be for replacement blades this is actually a pretty good deal – have a look on their website: www.cornerstone.co.uk to pick a subscription/box that suits.

TL;DR
+ Sturdy razor and good blades for a quick, safe shave (I haven’t cut myself once in 6 months!)
+ All the ingredients for shaving in one handy box  (scrub, razor, blades, shaving gel and post-shave balm)
+ scrub, gel and balm designed for use on sensitive skin and none irritated me
+ Subscription can be tailored to your shaving needs

– Blades may go blunt earlier than other blades on the market but then I was shaving a fortnight’s worth of “stubble” on each shave (and I still didn’t cut myself!)

Cornerstone provided us with one shaving kit to review and we consider this to be a fair and balanced review.