Men-Ü Ultra Concentrate Shave Cream

I purchased this product in my never ending struggle to find a brushless cream that provides a good shave. I have to travel often, and sometimes my travel takes me to airports in far flung places and cities overseas where I never know what to expect. Because of this I have tried and tried to find a brushless cream that I like enough to use on my face for a week or two when I am away from home. So far I have come up snake eyes. When I travel in my car, I take my C&E brush and a tube of Nivea Mild, or some other inexpensive but good cream. However, when some guy in Istanbul is throwing my bag around underneath an airplane, I don't want to take the chance that I will have an exploded tub or tube of shaving cream in my dopp bag, or even worse, a dopp bag containing a prized cream that is lost with the rest of my luggage.

For this reason I search and search for that elusive perfect travel cream. Yes I said cream, not stick, what am I a savage? That search brought me to men-u. I love all things British when it comes to shaving, so I had high hopes for this "new" type of cream. I went to their website and saw that they had won all these awards for several years (well done gandy dancer) but I also saw that they were pushing their new synthetic brush. Their attack on my beloved badger made me skeptical, but since it was a perfect travel size cream (being super concentrated and whatnot) and since the site said it could be applied without their synthetic brush, I decided to take the plunge. However, instead of going full monty, I got the small little trial size pack with facewash and all in one aftershave balm/moisturizer.

I am glad I went with the smaller size. I put a pea sized amount into my damp hand and started massaging. Nothing happened. In fact it felt like the product was disappearing. So I put a little more in my hand and started to rub it on my face. I saw nothing. I mean nothing. It looked as though I hadn't even put anything on my face, my whiskers stared back at me as though they were as astonished as I was. However, I knew that I had rubbed it into my face so I began to shave. I will say this, the smell was pleasant, minty but not too minty. Also, the blade glided and there was nary a skip or tug. However, I just couldn't get over the fact that it looked like I was dry shaving. It also didn't give a whole lot of cushion. A second pass found my face stinging.

I finished by applying the aftershave balm/moisturizer to this thoroughly unsatisfying shave. The aftershave was one of those that actually dries you out more than if you didn't use it. I should have taken a better look at the ingredient list to find out why.

Anyway, for the price and the performance, I won't be visiting their website again. I mean, I understand that some people are enraptured with whatever new product comes around, but doesn't there have to be something satisfying about the shaving experience? I will leave this to the new breed of grooming enthusiasts who like this type of stuff, it is just too new school for me. If this were an SAT question, I would say that men-u is to shaving as Axe bodyspray is to cologne. No thanks.

I use this with a men-u hog bristle brush. Only needs a little bit of water in the brush to get a good lather quickly. I use a pea-sized dollop (as recommended on the bottle) and I get about 3 passes. Big thumbs up for the concentrate which means one bottle will last for ages!

I love the scent! It's a modern minty smell that is not overpowering which is a big plus for me since I don't like strong perfume scents.

Can't say it's super moisturizing, but my face doesn't feel sandpaper dry after shaving either. I also finish the shave with Thayer's Witch Hazel toner and the Men-U Matte Moisturizer, so moisture loss for me is not so big a deal.

In terms of glide performance and skin protection, I would say its adequate but not outstanding. Also noticed that if you leave it for a bit, the lather starts to lose its body.

I love the small profile bottle and the locking dispenser. Very thoughtful and portable packaging that doesn't take up much real-estate in the bathroom (a plus if the missus takes up space with her cosmetics!).

Free with a wonderfull brush, brush better than cream, did not get on with it at all.