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.

This cream reminds me of Proraso white with mint. It's a great shaving cream. I have to congratulate Men-U for making a smaller tube allowing me to try the product a good dozen times. If I have a sample that last 2-3 shaves I have an idea on the product, in this case, 12 shaves, I know if I want it again or not. I think this product is great. It smells nice, perform well and didn't cause any problems while shaving. I do not think that I will keep this product in my rotation as I am trying to finish my stash of creams and soaps before I buy some more. Having this little tube is perfect for travelling. It's good to know that I can get a product like this out there. I would buy this product again, but next time, I will buy the full size bottle. Also, I had the conditionner by Men-U and both products have the exact same scent.

Bottom line: Recommended!

I started out slow with very little water in the brush...was dry...added more...still dry...kept going...fell to pieces. Was shaving with it at each stage and the blade was skipping across my face.

I did enjoy the scent though. By the end of the shave I lathered up some Proraso to finish up...the Men-u was not even in the same ballpark.

Just had first full Men-U routine this morning: wash, shave and moisturiser.

Love the smell and the zing - good for waking you up, and good for warmer weather. Probably wouldn't use this in winter though, but hell, why not, if your house is warm!

Think this cream is designed to perform best with the Menu-U brushes (they don't hold as much water as badger). As another poster has said, it's very easy to overdo the water if you're not careful! Start with a nearly dry brush and gradually build. You hit the sweet spot after a teaspoon or two!

Shave was very smooth and comfortable using Feather blade and HD. Not quite as close as I've had in the past (forgot to record my best combo yet) but this could be blade or my technique....

Overall very good - this would be a great functional product for every day, or travel (great small packaging for all three products).

I wouldn't class the experience as "luxury" though - that would be achieved by the three Ts!

Still, the facewash and the moisturiser are my favourites so far.

For me, this cream is mediocre. It works OK. It doesn't lather like many of the other creams on the market, and they advertise this. It's not as slick as I'd like too. It gives my razors a little drag compared to a lot of other products I've used. What I do like is to use the cream along with the facial wash and the aftershave balm. For me the sum is definitely greater than each individual product.




==Tom

Firstly, I'm going to start with the pros - I like the packaging, it has the "cool" modern look to it - for those that prefer the "gillette image" - as opposed to the more traditional packing and brand appearance of companies such as the 3T's

The pump action bottle is great too - one pump is usually sufficient - for those that love a LOT of lather - two pumps with have the bowl overflowing!!!

Also for those that prefer minty fragances...it has a cool/minty/fresh scent

However, here are the cons...for those that have sensitive - stay away from this product!!!!! This is really not much different to "canned goo"...so it really is true to the "gillette image" - the men-u shave cream

[1] contains ALCOHOL &
[2] contains MENTHOL

alcohol dries the skin - menthol cools the skin, thus closing the pores - the idea of a wet shave in my opinion is using plenty of hot water - to open the poors and lubricate the skin - the cooling effect completely counters the copious amounts of hot water I used and my pre-shave preparation to open the pores and moisturise the skin

Hence my resulting shave was AWEFUL - dry, red, irritated skin - in fact I got a worse shave using this, than the days when I used to use palmolive sensitive shaving foam FROM A CAN!!!

In terms of price...it's pretty expensive too - at £10 for 100ml - that's in the range of C&E products, and is more expensive than Truefitt & Hill!!

I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of men-u's products - however, the pure bristle boar brush is not a bad starter brush...lathers very well and not too badly priced...considering it also comes with a stand and a sample-size bottle of their shaving cream (enough for 20 shaves) - I've written a review on this particular product too - check it out!

Hope this review was useful!

Again; a YMMV product

but this was the first shaving cream I used that was not a gel, or canned goo.

This is amazing; I love the scent; the product lasts FOREVER; because you only need so little on the brush.

I guess it does not lather as well as say my new QED soap; but it provides a nice slick surface for the razor

Nice easy to use shaving cream.

No mess no nonsense cream.

The one thing I dont like about this cream is the "feeling" it does to my face. I dont know if its a minty thing or if its some menthol or what, but my face doesnt feel right when using it.

Dont get me wrong its good none the less and certainly worth a look.

Pierce

+1 definately part of my rotation. Most of the time I use this cream together with a shaving soap, it gives it a good smell in the mornings. Also perfect size for travelling 100ml.

You can get this shaving cream pretty much in any Boots store here in the UK (and I believe it is available in the US as well). It costs around £10, and comes in a cool dispenser.



This is what I would call a "modern" approach to shaving cream. The cream is quite 'liquid', not thick like normal shaving creams (such as Taylor, Speick, Palmolive, etc). I have attached a picture below of what it looks like on my brush.



The dispenser suggests the use of 1-1.5 shots of cream, however, this is aimed at people who will probably only do 2 passes maximum with a multi-blade razor. If you are going to be using a safety/straight razor, I would highly recommend the use of 2-3 shots for sufficient lather. Furthermore, I would like to issue a slight warning here: Don't use to much water! Too much water will result in 'dry' lather, which will practically disappear once applied to the skin. This cream is designed for use on their boar brushes, which will not hold as much water as a good badger brush. As such, if you try to use this with a fully soaked brush, you will not get very good results. Either just hold the brush under flowing water, or just shake it more than usual, if you do decide to soak it.

Here is a picture with my loaded brush in my shaving mug.



It will give a nice thick lather, and great glide for your razor. Also, I actually like the scent a lot. It is a minty...'modern' scent. I do like it. It is certainly not a bad smell. While I do think £10 is a little steep, it is a great cream, which will remain part of my rotation.