Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars If Not for Product Inconsistency and Bad Packaging
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2022
I would give this product five stars for the beard wash itself. I've tried both the pine and pine tar scents, and they're both great. Pine is probably more for everyone and has a really nice pine scent — pretty much what you'd expect a pine-scented beard wash to smell like (which is a good thing because I hate surprises with scents). Pine tar is also awesome once you try it a few times and get used to it; it grew on me after several uses. But it definitely smells like freshly laid tar with pine trees mixed in, if that's your thing. Both scents lather very nicely and leave my beard feeling clean with a nice yet subtle lingering scent that isn't overpowering.
My issues with this brand, however, lie with product consistency and packaging. What I mean by the former is that the first couple bottles were fine, but the third one I purchased had absolutely no scent at all to it. It was just scentless goop and smelled sort of like Cetaphil face wash with no pine scent at all. I panicked because I thought I had the Rona, but my fiancée couldn't smell any pine either. I sent it back and got another bottle, which was good again and smelling like Christmas. I'm not sure if the factory forgot to mix in the scent or what, but hopefully there aren't too many bottles out there like that.
As far as the packaging goes, there are two problems I have experienced. The first problem echoes what others are saying about the poor lid design. It clogs constantly, forcing me to jam sharp objects in the lid hole to unclog it. Maybe this happens because the beard wash has some pine sap in it, and therefore hardens over time? Whatever the reason, it's annoying, and this happens every few DAYS, which is a real bummer. I started leaving a toothpick in the shower for a quick declog sesh when needed.
The second issue with packaging is with the bottle's label. After a couple weeks, the moisture from daily showering caused the label's ink to drip down the bottle. I grabbed the bottle off the shower shelf one night to find a blue ink ring on the shelf from where the ink ran down. Never had this happen with a shower product before, but it's definitely another unnecessary annoyance.
If the product were more consistent and the packaging better, then I'd definitely give this beard wash five stars. I'll keep buying it because of Amazon's good return policy, but otherwise I'd be wary. If you buy, just keep in mind that you may get a bum bottle.
