My Castle Forbes Lime Essential oils shaving cream has gone waxy

Hi all,
I try and order my shaving supplies in a timely fashion so that I don't run out of the products I use on a daily basis. About 2 years ago my Canadian supplier informed me that they were no longer carrying it Castle Forbes product line. I found a very good shaving supply shop in California and have been ordering from them ever since. However it may have happened I doubled up on a tub and it has now been sitting for a year while I used up what I currently have open.

I opened it today and much to my dismay the usually soft and creamy consistency of the shaving cream had all turned waxy like and or like sticky taffy. I tried stirring it up but that didn't work. I tried heating it a bit and that didn't work either.

If anyone has ever experienced this and has a fix to make it pliable/lather-able again it would sure be appreciated. I can't even get it to lather up when I put it in my shaving cup and work it with my badger brush.

Thank you in advance.

CB

Try adding a little water to it and giving it a stir. You'll do it no harm and should restore it to its former glory.

Could try a little glycerin. That Castle Forbes stuff is too expensive to let go to waste :dropjaw:

I have encountered the consitency you speak of to some extent in older CF creams(and other brands as well) but I have not experienced any dryness to the extent you describe. While I have refreshed them with a little water and had no problem yours may have dried a bit
to long. Good luck.

That's odd, makes me wonder how long the vendor had it. The reason I say that is, I'm a soap/cream whore. I must have near 100. Castle Forbes, I have Lime, Cedar and Sandalwood, and Lavendar. The C&S has to be at least 4 years old. It's remarkably the same as the day I bought it. A little goes a long way, and I have so many to use.

I have had two creams seperate on me. Alraz's Bomb Calypso or the Bay rum scent turned to a soup, and TOBS Avacado did the same. The Tobs Avacado I only had 6 months, and the vendor happily replaced the product. The other I'm sad to say was not replaced.

To me it sounds like there was a breach in the seal. Air dried it out.The same thing happened to me with a new tub of Trumpers Rose cream. It got all dry and sticky and when I use it and I still use it cause I'm cheap, it gets clumpy on my brush. Adding a little water helped but it never reverted back to the fluffy state.
So tighten all those lids gents.
Darl (Tarkus)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tarkus

To me it sounds like there was a breach in the seal. Air dried it out.The same thing happened to me with a new tub of Trumpers Rose cream. It got all dry and sticky and when I use it and I still use it cause I'm cheap, it gets clumpy on my brush. Adding a little water helped but it never reverted back to the fluffy state.
So tighten all those lids gents.
Darl (Tarkus)

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Makes sense to me.....

A couple thoughts....

Lathering products technically have an expiry date. IMO this doesn't mean that they become unusable, just that they will not appear as they would when "fresh" and the scent may not be as potent. Did the OP try to use the product? It may still be highly latherable, it might just take a bit more effort.

A couple years ago I bought a tub of very respected English shaving cream from a vendor a few hours away. By the time I opened my tub I was at home and discovered that the cream had hardened. And I mean like a soap. I thought about softening it, and perhaps tried a couple times to do so, but gave up. The truth is that by treating it as a soap, not a cream, it is still an outstanding product that lathers easily. My point is that consistency doesn't matter nearly as much as quality. Sometimes it just takes some experimentation to get there.

My other thought is to not bother trying additives like glycerin or water, you may end up doing more harm than good.

I've had CF turn hard like soap also. I found it still performed exactly as before just that I treated it more like soap.

Thanks folks for all your input. I think I will just use it as it is. As already mentioned it might just take more effort to get a lather.

Thanks again
CB

Lather it as a soap in the tub itself. It should be fine after a few swirls with a slightly wet brush. Don't worry, it can't have gone bad. If it really old, worst thing is the scent would disappear but the performance shouldn't change.

What they said on "just use it", you might try a stiffer brush first few times as a super soft silvertip may not have enough umph to get the soap to load.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I've had CF turn hard like soap also. I found it still performed exactly as before just that I treated it more like soap.

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+1. I've only bought one tub of the stuff and that was a few years ago. Listed as a cream it was like a puck of soap. The cedar and sandalwood flavor. I used it as I would a puck and it was so good it is long ago used up.

I've had a big tub of CF Lime and the sample sizes of lavender and cedar. They all came in a harder, more soap like consistency. Like others have said, just use it like a soap and they work work great!

I just got a new tub of CF lime and it was quite soft like other creams I have owned. I actually thought they might have changed the formula, because I was so used to getting it in a drier state.