Thread: Possibly the best shaving cream ever...

If it works for your face that's wonderful. If you have super sensitive skin that can only tolerate that type of cream or similar I feel slightly sorry for you as you are missing out on a world of incredible products- most products we appreciate in this hobby are made with the use of exotic EOs, scent oils and ingredients- if you are sensitive this stuff could be off limits. Thankfully I fall in to the tough skin, thick beard category so I don't have to short change my experience.

If you didn't have sensitive skin you may agree with the bay Sayers. Dermatologist or not the gentleness of the product is only a benefit if you are not tolerant of other ingredients. If you can tolerate EOs and other ingredients then I would need to say there have got to be more exciting products out there... Again JMO, but the fact it's gel and comes from a can is kind of a taboo endorsement when confronting a traditional wetshaving community. Though free speech is welcome and appreciated you can't help but expect people to disagree.

Dermatologist or not praising canned shave gel in a wet shave forum is sort if like going on a Chevy board and saying how Fords are the best car ever.

And for the record whipping up cream with your brush out of canned shave gel and making a lather with a puck of soap or a snurdle of creme are two different things. If ur gonna use gel why not just rub it on you're face like every one else who uses the stuff? At that point the brush is useless!

Again JMO- YMMV greatly.

Wow guys! So a member of this forum comes on here, states his credentials, and endorses a cream that allows him to shave comfortably because of his highly sensitive skin. He shares this information in the hopes if helping someone else with very and sensitive skin. What do we do? We get all up on him because of the container that the product comes in! Then to boot we tell him that using a brush is a waste of time!!! The dude has super sensitive skin so is very limited in his choices of cream/soap products but maybe, like us, he ENJOYS using the traditional wet shaving equipment, like brush? No one needs to use any of this equipment, we could all grow beards. We do it because it elevates what was once a chore to a passionate hobby. But I think we need to make sure our passion doesn't get the better of us to the point where it pushes people out.

To the OP: although my skin isn't terribly sensitive and I enjoy a wide range of shaving products, I understand that others are not so fortunate. Thank you for suggesting something for other sensitive skin folks to try. Even though your limited in shaving soap/creams its good to see you using a brush and going as traditional as possible. Your experience in dermatology is a great asset to many folks here as we, like everyone, are bombarded by "information" whether that be fact or fiction in regards to ingredients.

Just about everyone on this forum has said, or had said to them, "your mileage may vary" I think this is one of those cases. If the OP likes aveeno in a can and it gives him a great shave and he thinks that others will get one too then that's that, just another member trying to help other members, it's what we are all about, right?

Originally Posted by Ryan82

I'm not a doctor or chemist, but I do play both on T.V.

Yes, that's exactly what happens, which causes the dryness I was eluding to above.

Yes but once the product reaches atmospheric pressure the volatile gasses leave the product. What's more, the propellants are not organic solvents and therefore should not dissolve the free fatty acids, triglycerides and cholesterols naturally found in the sebum that is secreted onto the skin by your sebaceous glands.

I ordered up some Proraso Red formula and tried it this am - it's comparable to the Aveeno! I also ordered some Mitchell's shaving soap but haven't tried it yet.

The point I'm trying to make is that just because a product comes in a can doesn't mean it's bad. I feel like I'm posting about the latest Ferrari on a classic car forum and no one wants to hear about it because they're all stuck in the past.

John

Originally Posted by driftwood

Wow guys! So a member of this forum comes on here, states his credentials, and endorses a cream that allows him to shave comfortably because of his highly sensitive skin. He shares this information in the hopes if helping someone else with very and sensitive skin. What do we do? We get all up on him because of the container that the product comes in! Then to boot we tell him that using a brush is a waste of time!!! The dude has super sensitive skin so is very limited in his choices of cream/soap products but maybe, like us, he ENJOYS using the traditional wet shaving equipment, like brush? No one needs to use any of this equipment, we could all grow beards. We do it because it elevates what was once a chore to a passionate hobby. But I think we need to make sure our passion doesn't get the better of us to the point where it pushes people out.

To the OP: although my skin isn't terribly sensitive and I enjoy a wide range of shaving products, I understand that others are not so fortunate. Thank you for suggesting something for other sensitive skin folks to try. Even though your limited in shaving soap/creams its good to see you using a brush and going as traditional as possible. Your experience in dermatology is a great asset to many folks here as we, like everyone, are bombarded by "information" whether that be fact or fiction in regards to ingredients.

Just about everyone on this forum has said, or had said to them, "your mileage may vary" I think this is one of those cases. If the OP likes aveeno in a can and it gives him a great shave and he thinks that others will get one too then that's that, just another member trying to help other members, it's what we are all about, right?

I like this. Well said.

I have used the Nivea and the Aveeno. Both before and after I started wet shaving. My opinion of it before I started wet shaving was awesome. That Gillette and barbasol canned crap would burn my face up. I have used the aveeno recently, but only because I was traveling. And my opinion of it after wetshaving for a while now is slightly less than before but not because of the performance but because I like the fact of making lather from a soap. And I like making my own soaps so I can have whatever smell I can think of.

I thinking being "stuck in the past", for me anyways is a large part if the fun. With straights I love the fact that I own a TOOL where if I take the time to care for it, cares for me (and vise versa). I like spending the time to build a good lather that protects me. This is why I do t use canned stuff anymore. I don't think the members here avoid canned products BECAUSE they are "modern" but because they have discovered the joy of taking the time to do something that works best for them, much like you use a brush with Aveeno.

I feel like I'm posting about the latest Ferrari on a classic car forum and no one wants to hear about it because they're all stuck in the past.

John

I agree. For all general purpose this is a traditional shaving forum, and all of us here use a shaving system which has generally been considered antiquated for the last 100 years.... So yes, dr. I believe we may be living in the past. :-)

Remember you chose to name the tread 'possibly the best shaving cream ever' not 'a sensitive skin alternative. If you are claiming for something to be the best in your opinion, you should expect that people are going to disagree, since what best is subject to opinion.

Again this is generally a wet shave forum, wet shaving prides itself in not using the product you describe. If you are saying in an open forum that a product we have pride in NOT using is possibly the best, you may have some bay Sayers..... Fwiw I think everyone's been respectful of you opinion. If they agree or not is another story.

Originally Posted by JoeLowett

I agree. For all general purpose this is a traditional shaving forum, and all of us here use a shaving system which has generally been considered antiquated for the last 100 years.... So yes, dr. I believe we may be living in the past. :-)

You're not though. Just rediscovering something that worked well for hundreds of years. Tell me there's no state of the art technology being discussed in the honing forum? I have amassed (at my wife's ire) an extensive collection of old and new straights that I maintain myself. I love honing - it relaxes me and it's satisfying to put an edge on a piece of steel that blows away the best surgical blades. At the same time I'm amazed that Gillette can manufacture blades with just as good of an edge by the millions. I started shaving with a straight razor because I get a closer more comfortable shave than I did with disposables. Why can't you mix the new with the old? Why not use a product that was developed by a big Pharma company by scientists that know a lot more about skin than you do?

John

May of us probably did us the "modern" products, razors and canned foam. Like you we also discovered satisfaction in the traditional. How far you take "traditional" is an individual choice. Your right modern meets traditional very well on the honing side of things (film, synthetic stones, pastes, etc).

But I agree with the others, Aveeno is likely the best cream for YOU, but for others not so much. The title of the thread may have been miss leading, but I think this is getting a little not picky.

Originally Posted by ocelot27

You're not though. Just rediscovering something that worked well for hundreds of years. Tell me there's no state of the art technology being discussed in the honing forum? I have amassed (at my wife's ire) an extensive collection of old and new straights that I maintain myself. I love honing - it relaxes me and it's satisfying to put an edge on a piece of steel that blows away the best surgical blades. At the same time I'm amazed that Gillette can manufacture blades with just as good of an edge by the millions. I started shaving with a straight razor because I get a closer more comfortable shave than I did with disposables. Why can't you mix the new with the old? Why not use a product that was developed by a big Pharma company by scientists that know a lot more about skin than you do?

John

Not a problem using new tech gear for me. As you mention, with honing I use Naniwa homes and a most favourite shave brush is a Muhle synthetic silver tip. From sad experience I have not found anything to date that came out of a can that was good shaving cream. From that experience I would be shy of trying it again but then times change and Aveeno might just be an exception. That is mitigated by no real need to try it being very satisfied with the soaps and creams I already have. Basically for mr it is a slution to a none existent problem. For others with very sensitive skin it might be a solution to a problem.

Bob

Regarding pharmacy scientist who design these products who 'know' more then I do......

The scientist work for corporations to design products for a population, the likes of which I do not relate to on the subject of shaving. Those scientist don't reflect my or most any other wetshaver's interest. They reflect the gel in a can the quicker you can tear a whisker off your face the better, treat to ingrowns after they come in mentality that caters to the greater majority of men world wide. The are the same guys who tell society that you need 5 low quality blades in a cart to shave your face well. The equation is simple- more money, more sales pitches etc.... I'm not against all if this, this is capitalism. But the scientist who 'knows' has failed to create a product the suits MY needs, so what does he really KNOW? I'm sure I'm a company was willing to pay him the same to make a great traditional product with the same benefits as the product you describe we would be in business- but they won't because the market isn't there.

I'm not knocking aveeno, or you review of it.. But the best shaving cream is made by castle Forbes and Xpec. In not even sure that's an opinion, to me it's a fact- I think other in this community may agree. Then again it's all about knowing you audience to get your point accross effectively.