Wit & Wisdom "Shaving Cream" - Dollar Tree

[Bookworm]

I knew of the mentions here that it was a bad product, but I really had to find out for myself.

First - It's a supposed "New York" shaving cream, imported from China. That's like those picante sauces from New York City (get a rope). Second, it's supposed to be 'Spiced Cedar'. I'm not sure what a spiced cedar would smell like, and I've cut a lot of scrub cedar down. Third - it's from a dollar store.

Okay - now for the information.

List of ingredients.

Water, stearic acid, glycerin, mineral oil, glyceryl stearate, PEG-100 stearate, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, sodium polyacrylate, C13-14 isoparaffin, trideceth-6, propylparaben, methylparaben, fragrance, phenoxyethanol.

Sounds nasty, doesn't it. Oh - every ingredient was With Capitals On Every Word.
Let's see.

Water - most lethal liquid on the planet. Kills thousands every year by accidental inhalation.
Stearic acid - saturated fatty acid. Used for saponification, like tallow. Not a big deal.
Glycerin - viscous liquid
Mineral oil - exactly what it sounds like.
Glyceryl stearate - byproduct of stearic acid and glycerin. In other words, a side effect.
PEG-100 stearate - water soluble ester of polyethylene glycol and stearic acid.
hydroxypropyl methlcellulose - a cellulose that's water soluble and used as a lubricant. Variants are used as artificial tears.
Sodium polyacrylate - sodium salt also known as 'waterlock', used in super absorbent diapers. Not sure why it's used here, apparently its an emulsion stabiliser.
C13-14 isoparaffin - emolient and thickening ingredient
trideceth-6 - polyethylene glycol ether. Surfactant and emulsifier. (this may be what causes the burning feeling)
propylparaben - preservative
methylparaben - preservative
fragrance - here's a portmanteau word. It covers everything.
phenoxyethanol - preservative

So, there's really NOTHING in this thing that could be considered a 'shaving cream' as such. You'd get better effect from mixing mineral oil and glycerin and rubbing it on your skin. This is basically a _hand lotion_ - with THREE preservatives, and everything else is just there to make sure that the white water stays thick and shiny. The cellulose is probably the 'white'. There's absolutely no odour that could be considered 'spicy' or 'cedar-like'.

I rubbed some on the inside of my wrist to see what happened. It was absorbed within a minute or two, and after 10-15 minutes, I started to feel a very mild burning sensation - no redness, however, so maybe it's psychosomatic. Nothing on my fingers, so this will be fine for rubbing into the hands or feet, just not on really thin skin. I'm not even going to TRY to put it on my face and run a blade or brush through it.

I may save the tub and use it for Arko or williams after thorough fumigation. The jar is pretty good on its own.

Hopefully this helps other people that run across it in the store, better than the "It's terrible! Don't buy it!" variety of posts. (I do wonder. If glycerin is so terrible in a shaving soap, why do face latherers insist on adding a few drops of it when they're lathering?)

 

[John Rose]

(I do wonder. If glycerin is so terrible in a shaving soap, why do face latherers insist on adding a few drops of it when they're lathering?)

Because . . . it's . . . not terrible in a shaving soap?

propylparaben - preservative
methylparaben - preservative

Parabens are getting a bad rap these days and a lot of manufacturers are bragging that they don't use parabens. I know The Body Shop changed their formula a few years back and eliminated them.

To their credit, there's a lot of it in the tub, and there is no silicone. I'm suspicious of silicone in soaps and creams.

 

[Bookworm]

My concern was that there were THREE separate preservatives, not that there were parabens. That's rather unnecessary, especially in a cheap product, unless they're cheap fillers. Nope, no silicones. Burning sensation went away after 30 minutes or so, and never got to the point beyond a mild irritation that was easy to ignore.

It's even thinner than Lubriderm

 

[Snurgblat]

The burning had me concerned.

 

[Bookworm]

It was short lived. I'd put it as similar to what you feel when you put on a muscle rub. There was no reddening of the skin (and I'm sensitive to a lot of stuff - lots of allergies), and it went away within 30 minutes. No burning on the fingers where I scooped it up before rubbing on my wrist. Well, technically the soft skin on the arm just past the wrist. I put it there specifically BECAUSE it's one of the most sensitive areas on the body - more so than my face.

I'd vote this as being useful for hand cream if you happen to buy it, but there are better containers for that use. I or my wife will use it up on our feet or hands, and then I'll re-use the container to hold Blue Willy or Arko.

 

[Shaveathon]

Wit and Wisdom Shaving Cream is like an all natural artisan cream compared to the Nivea Men's Cream that some use on Youtube as an aftershave balm. Check these ingredients. You might as well mix some alcohol, Vaseline, and mineral oil:

NIVEA - NIVEA MEN CREME

Water, Glycerin, Mineral Oil, Alcohol Denat., Stearic Acid, Petrolatum, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Hydrogenated Coco-Glycerides, Stearyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Fragrance, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylparaben.

​

 

[Heron]

My concern was that there were THREE separate preservatives, not that there were parabens. That's rather unnecessary, especially in a cheap product, unless they're cheap fillers. Nope, no silicones. Burning sensation went away after 30 minutes or so, and never got to the point beyond a mild irritation that was easy to ignore.

It's even thinner than Lubriderm

Before most companies eliminated parabens from their products a few years ago, many contained 3 or 4 types of parabens alone in addition to other preservatives. And they weren't dollar store products; they were the ones popular with people on this forum.

 

[MntnMan62]

As soon as you said it is made in China, I had no reason to read any further, even though I continued to read the rest of the thread. I apologize for bringing politics into a scientific discussion but I will not buy anything made in China if I can help it. Sometimes it is unavoidable. But the times it is unavoidable have become quite rare indeed.

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

My concern was that there were THREE separate preservatives, not that there were parabens. That's rather unnecessary, especially in a cheap product, unless they're cheap fillers. Nope, no silicones. Burning sensation went away after 30 minutes or so, and never got to the point beyond a mild irritation that was easy to ignore.

It's even thinner than Lubriderm

Preservatives can and often are combinations of chemicals to perform the task required. They come blended together and are purchased and used as such as each individual chemical has a specific purpose in that blend. There is nothing unusual or out of the ordinary about the preservative used in this product or how it is listed or the fact that there are three chemicals that make up that particular preservative. The fact that "fragrance" is inserted in between the preservative can indicate that the company producing this knows the exact percentages of the ingredients and are properly listing them according to F.D.A. regulations.

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

Wit and Wisdom Shaving Cream is like an all natural artisan cream compared to the Nivea Men's Cream that some use on Youtube as an aftershave balm. Check these ingredients. You might as well mix some alcohol, Vaseline, and mineral oil:

NIVEA - NIVEA MEN CREME

Water, Glycerin, Mineral Oil, Alcohol Denat., Stearic Acid, Petrolatum, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Hydrogenated Coco-Glycerides, Stearyl Alcohol, Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Fragrance, Carbomer, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylparaben.

​

If you were to mix those three all together they would not combine or stay together that's why there are emulsifiers like Hydrogenated Coco-Glycerides and fatty acids and fatty alcohols used to aid in the combining and to give the product the proper consistency and characteristics for usage.

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

The important thing to do when considering a purchase, whether it be in the store or online, is to read the ingredients list. In this instance, there aren't any soap based ingredients in it and with the emulsifiers and fatty alcohols and fatty acids in it would indicated that it is a non-lathering shaving cream. It may be fine if that is what you are looking for. The ingredients list is fairly short compared to other products in this category so that is a bonus but for many the use of parabens would make it a nix.

Wit and Wisdom Shaving Cream is hardly an artisan cream as most artisans would go for a soap-based product for shaving and the Nivea Cream mentioned and pictured is a face and body cream so that doesn't really compare with either so comparing these is a moot point. Cosmetic Chemistry is a very complex science and just because you read that a certain chemical may have a certain function in a formula doesn't mean that it is being used for that particular purpose in this formula! One ingredient in the product in question here is listed as a surfactant but also as an emulsifier when you look in up. In this case it is being used as an emulsifier so that can just add to the confusion when examining a product list. The best thing to do is to familiarize yourself with the ingredients lists of products you know and are comfortable with and look for those ingredients in your new purchases!

 

[Bookworm]

Preservatives can and often are combinations of chemicals to perform the task required. They come blended together and are purchased and used as such as each individual chemical has a specific purpose in that blend. There is nothing unusual or out of the ordinary about the preservative used in this product or how it is listed or the fact that there are three chemicals that make up that particular preservative. The fact that "fragrance" is inserted in between the preservative can indicate that the company producing this knows the exact percentages of the ingredients and are properly listing them according to F.D.A. regulations.

Cosmetic Labeling Guide

Anything under 1%, which is generally fragrance and similar, has no particular order requirements according to the FDA. I suspect that everything after 'Mineral Oil' is under 1% (generally by weight, but it might be volume for liquid) of the contents. So the order is meaningless.

It's still a lousy product for shaving, but should be okay for lotioning your feet.

 

[BSAGuy]

Sounds like very little of either wit or wisdom. Thanks Bookworm for sacrificing your body in the name of shaving science and your fellow B&B'ers.

 

[emwolf]

I bought some Dollar Tree shave cream and it was a lotion. Also, the new Clubman Cream in the jar instead of a tube is also a lotion like these. Not too good for shaving.

 

[Deltaboy]

Made in China all I needed to know .

 

[YKMV]

On the UPSide.. the label is bi-lingual...

 

[MilfordNJGuy]

Cosmetic Labeling Guide

Anything under 1%, which is generally fragrance and similar, has no particular order requirements according to the FDA. I suspect that everything after 'Mineral Oil' is under 1% (generally by weight, but it might be volume for liquid) of the contents. So the order is meaningless.

It's still a lousy product for shaving, but should be okay for lotioning your feet.

I am well aware of the 1% rule of the F.D.A. and follow it religiously. The F.D.A. ingredients are listed by weight in descending order and not by volume. Mineral Oil appears 4th on the list and knowing the typical usage rates of the stearates and the other things, that 1% would be further on down the list. Every ingredient counts as does its' usage rate and you can find out more you can go directly to the F.D.A. gov site:

Fragrances in Cosmetics

This product may work for some but it isn't anything I would ever purchase! LOL!

 

[Bhugo]

As soon as you said it is made in China, I had no reason to read any further, even though I continued to read the rest of the thread. I apologize for bringing politics into a scientific discussion but I will not buy anything made in China if I can help it. Sometimes it is unavoidable. But the times it is unavoidable have become quite rare indeed.

+1. Who knows what else was mixed in for filler.....

 

[D1dad]

That's a funny story. I received a set for Xmas as a gift that came from to to max or somewhere like that, brush , cream and AS balm. The shave cream had no lathering ability at all so I have no clue what the brush was for and it made my lips so numb I thought I was having a stroke. Yeah I pitched the whole thing.