Item Description
Price:
In the USA, this cream is sold exclusively at shaveabuck.com. It costs $6 per 100g tube there on its own, or you can buy a tube of LEA shave cream with a bottle of aftershave balm for $10. The cream comes in regular lather, menthol, and brushless version. Just make sure you don't get the brushless version if you want to whip it up with your shaving brush!
Quality:
This is a quality product for it's price range. It should rate an 8 for quality but I have to doc it a point because it contains boric acid. On the plus side, there appears to be more glycerin in this cream that most typical European drugstore creams and it doesn't contain any SLS.
Ingredients are as follows:
Aqua, Stearic Acid, Glycerin, Coconut Fatty Acids, Potassium Hydroxide, Parfum, Boric Acid, Citral, Eugenol, Geraniol, Isoraldeina, Lyral, Linalol, Salicilato Becilo.
Scent:
It basically smells like a slightly floral bath soap you'd find at the supermarket. It's completely inoffensive and pleasant. The scent didn't seem to cause any problems for my skin.
Latherability:
It lathers as easily as any other cream in it's class. If you've use tube creams like this before, whipping up a nice lather should be very easy.
Efficacy:
This product works very well. The lather is thicker and slicker than a budget cream like Arko and the blade cuts through the lather and my facial hair with no problems. The lather holds well and doesn't evaporate or dry out faster than it should. One thing I didn't like is that like other creams of this type, the boric acid included for antiseptic properties stung my skin a little on the third pass. It did not cause any lasting irritation or redness after the shave though. I've noticed this with other creams I've used that have this ingredient, so it may be that I'm a little sensitive to it. My guess is it won't pose any problems for most guys. Also, like other tube creams of this type, it takes a bit more effort to rinse off compared to the more expensive creams I've tried. You definitely want to rinse it all off, especially if you have acne prone skin. No big deal, I actually enjoy the extra warm water rinse followed by a cold water rinse.
Moisturizing:
Even though this cream contains no "extra" moisturizers or healing type ingredients, it works just fine in this department. My skin felt soft and hydrated throughout the shave and didn't feel dry when the shave was done, before I put on my witch hazel and ASB.
Packaging:
Nothing special here. It comes in a paperboard box with the logo in big bold letters. Inside you get a metal tube with a plastic screw top. One minor complaint is that this tube did not have a foil seal you have to tear off or a metal seal you need to break to get at the cream. I would prefer that, but it's not a huge deal.
Overall, I recommend this cream without hesitation. It's inexpensive and works well. I'd especially recommend it for new wetshavers or anyone else who wants an alternative to Proraso that doesn't contain menthol or eucalyptus.
Discussion thread for this cream is here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1705747#post1705747
In the USA, this cream is sold exclusively at shaveabuck.com. It costs $6 per 100g tube there on its own, or you can buy a tube of LEA shave cream with a bottle of aftershave balm for $10. The cream comes in regular lather, menthol, and brushless version. Just make sure you don't get the brushless version if you want to whip it up with your shaving brush!
Quality:
This is a quality product for it's price range. It should rate an 8 for quality but I have to doc it a point because it contains boric acid. On the plus side, there appears to be more glycerin in this cream that most typical European drugstore creams and it doesn't contain any SLS.
Ingredients are as follows:
Aqua, Stearic Acid, Glycerin, Coconut Fatty Acids, Potassium Hydroxide, Parfum, Boric Acid, Citral, Eugenol, Geraniol, Isoraldeina, Lyral, Linalol, Salicilato Becilo.
Scent:
It basically smells like a slightly floral bath soap you'd find at the supermarket. It's completely inoffensive and pleasant. The scent didn't seem to cause any problems for my skin.
Latherability:
It lathers as easily as any other cream in it's class. If you've use tube creams like this before, whipping up a nice lather should be very easy.
Efficacy:
This product works very well. The lather is thicker and slicker than a budget cream like Arko and the blade cuts through the lather and my facial hair with no problems. The lather holds well and doesn't evaporate or dry out faster than it should. One thing I didn't like is that like other creams of this type, the boric acid included for antiseptic properties stung my skin a little on the third pass. It did not cause any lasting irritation or redness after the shave though. I've noticed this with other creams I've used that have this ingredient, so it may be that I'm a little sensitive to it. My guess is it won't pose any problems for most guys. Also, like other tube creams of this type, it takes a bit more effort to rinse off compared to the more expensive creams I've tried. You definitely want to rinse it all off, especially if you have acne prone skin. No big deal, I actually enjoy the extra warm water rinse followed by a cold water rinse.
Moisturizing:
Even though this cream contains no "extra" moisturizers or healing type ingredients, it works just fine in this department. My skin felt soft and hydrated throughout the shave and didn't feel dry when the shave was done, before I put on my witch hazel and ASB.
Packaging:
Nothing special here. It comes in a paperboard box with the logo in big bold letters. Inside you get a metal tube with a plastic screw top. One minor complaint is that this tube did not have a foil seal you have to tear off or a metal seal you need to break to get at the cream. I would prefer that, but it's not a huge deal.
Overall, I recommend this cream without hesitation. It's inexpensive and works well. I'd especially recommend it for new wetshavers or anyone else who wants an alternative to Proraso that doesn't contain menthol or eucalyptus.
Discussion thread for this cream is here:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1705747#post1705747
