The Maine Shave System
The Maine Shave products come packaged in heavy lined cardboard boxes and heavy walled tub and bottles. The caps and pumps are of high quality and function well.
The labeling is printed on heavy stock and is water resistant.
This is what the Maine shave website says;
Experience the whole ritual from start to finish. Start with our deep cleansing Natural Gentle Daily Facial Cleanser. Use our All-Natural Intensive Moisturizing Shaving Cream for the smoothest shave of your life. Use our Facial Toner to close the skin's pores and bring skin back to its natural pH. Finish the ritual with our Natural Daily Facial Moisturizer to keep your skin looking and feeling healthy.
I decided to use the “system” for a week straight then take a few days off, then revisit the system for a few more shaves.
The first step in the system is the Natural Gentle Daily Facial Cleanser
This was a nice surprise; the soap has a creamy balm consistency, extremely gentle and effective. It is a low suds formula; I felt no drying or tautness on my face after using this product.
19.00 ~6 ounces
Step two of the system is the All-Natural Intensive Moisturizing Shaving Cream
A word about my beard and skin- I have very dry skin and a heavy coarse beard that grows in many directions; I require many passes to get to a glass smooth shave.
I did get some great shaves with the Maine Shave Cream.My skin was left super soft and super supple. The cream provided a slick and smooth barrier to the razor with zero razor drag and irritation. My face just felt good after using it. Herb at Maine Shave recommends that you lather directly on your face after dipping your brush in the tub of cream. Another option Herb suggested is to use it brushless.
I used this product a total of 12 times - with lather built in a bowl, and several times lathered directly on my face. Finally I used it brushless,
I think the effectiveness of this cream is that it is super fatted. I did not have to follow up my shave with a balm or heavily emollient rich lotion after using this cream, which I normally would.
Sounds great right?
Well I have a few reservations and caveats for you that I would like to share.
Lather-it has none to speak of in comparison to a traditional soap or shave cream; the emulsion that you can create, collapses and disappears after a couple of minutes. I had just enough time to make two quick passes. I do make multiple passes so I was reloading my brush 2 or 3 times per shave.
As a brushless the Maine Shave cream was effective but wasteful. I needed a pretty full heaping teaspoon of cream per pass and at five or 6 passes I was using a lot of product per shave.
My personal shaving Zen involves thick, rich, meringue-like hot lather, the Maine Shave cream failed utterly on these counts.
This photo above shows the typical coverage that the cream worked in a bowl provides. I tried 6 different brushes and varied the water and cream ratios over the 12 shaves and the results were no better than shown.The emulsion was effective none the less.
This is the product applied directly to my hand or "Brushless" I needed hot soapy water to remove it.
I did make a super lather for one shave with a good shaving soap (HBS) and The Maine Shave Cream and the results were outstanding. I got a great shave with it.
So what’s the bottom line?
I liked it, but I would not buy it –As is, it was just too much work to use. I would definitely characterize this product as brushless. This might be a good product for someone with problem skin, who makes one or two passes and/or prefers a brushless formula.
I would eagerly revisit this product if it was reformulated to be lathering.
20.00 ~ 3.75 ounces
Step three is the Facial Toner
This is the star of the show! I love it!
I am adamant about following up my shave with a witch hazel, Da Vinchi water or a homemade potion of plant hydrosols. I apply my after-shave balms or creams right over these products and feel that doing so has contributed greatly to my skins' healthy appearance.
This toner is loaded full of antioxidants and plant extracts, it leaves my skin feeling terrific and refreshed. The toner has a great citrus scent that fades away quickly.
I decanted this into an atomizer which I find more effective.
18.00 ~6 ounces
Step four is the Natural Daily Facial Moisturizer.
I don’t feel that I have been able to put this through a complete test yet.
My skin is coming out of my shave with the above products in such fine shape that I have only used a small amount of this moisturizer. I did get some light burning with it, which lasted a few minutes.
The cream has a whipped consistency and goes on easily and then just melts into your skin. The scent is of fresh herbs that fade quickly away.
25.00 ~2 ounces
Conclusions;
The Maine Shave system is well prepared,well packaged and is formulated with high quality natural ingredients. The cost is on the high side at 80.00 for the four items in the system, Excepting the shave cream, they are comparable to many other luxury products from the three T’s, QED and others. The fact that these products are “all natural” is something not many of the big names can claim and adds weight to my choices and purchases. I hope many more vendors and manufacturers will follow suit as well and move in that direction.
Discussion tread located HERE
Happy shaving!
The Maine Shave products come packaged in heavy lined cardboard boxes and heavy walled tub and bottles. The caps and pumps are of high quality and function well.
The labeling is printed on heavy stock and is water resistant.
This is what the Maine shave website says;
Experience the whole ritual from start to finish. Start with our deep cleansing Natural Gentle Daily Facial Cleanser. Use our All-Natural Intensive Moisturizing Shaving Cream for the smoothest shave of your life. Use our Facial Toner to close the skin's pores and bring skin back to its natural pH. Finish the ritual with our Natural Daily Facial Moisturizer to keep your skin looking and feeling healthy.
I decided to use the “system” for a week straight then take a few days off, then revisit the system for a few more shaves.
The first step in the system is the Natural Gentle Daily Facial Cleanser
This was a nice surprise; the soap has a creamy balm consistency, extremely gentle and effective. It is a low suds formula; I felt no drying or tautness on my face after using this product.
19.00 ~6 ounces
Step two of the system is the All-Natural Intensive Moisturizing Shaving Cream
A word about my beard and skin- I have very dry skin and a heavy coarse beard that grows in many directions; I require many passes to get to a glass smooth shave.
I did get some great shaves with the Maine Shave Cream.My skin was left super soft and super supple. The cream provided a slick and smooth barrier to the razor with zero razor drag and irritation. My face just felt good after using it. Herb at Maine Shave recommends that you lather directly on your face after dipping your brush in the tub of cream. Another option Herb suggested is to use it brushless.
I used this product a total of 12 times - with lather built in a bowl, and several times lathered directly on my face. Finally I used it brushless,
I think the effectiveness of this cream is that it is super fatted. I did not have to follow up my shave with a balm or heavily emollient rich lotion after using this cream, which I normally would.
Sounds great right?
Well I have a few reservations and caveats for you that I would like to share.
Lather-it has none to speak of in comparison to a traditional soap or shave cream; the emulsion that you can create, collapses and disappears after a couple of minutes. I had just enough time to make two quick passes. I do make multiple passes so I was reloading my brush 2 or 3 times per shave.
As a brushless the Maine Shave cream was effective but wasteful. I needed a pretty full heaping teaspoon of cream per pass and at five or 6 passes I was using a lot of product per shave.
My personal shaving Zen involves thick, rich, meringue-like hot lather, the Maine Shave cream failed utterly on these counts.
This photo above shows the typical coverage that the cream worked in a bowl provides. I tried 6 different brushes and varied the water and cream ratios over the 12 shaves and the results were no better than shown.The emulsion was effective none the less.
This is the product applied directly to my hand or "Brushless" I needed hot soapy water to remove it.
I did make a super lather for one shave with a good shaving soap (HBS) and The Maine Shave Cream and the results were outstanding. I got a great shave with it.
So what’s the bottom line?
I liked it, but I would not buy it –As is, it was just too much work to use. I would definitely characterize this product as brushless. This might be a good product for someone with problem skin, who makes one or two passes and/or prefers a brushless formula.
I would eagerly revisit this product if it was reformulated to be lathering.
20.00 ~ 3.75 ounces
Step three is the Facial Toner
This is the star of the show! I love it!
I am adamant about following up my shave with a witch hazel, Da Vinchi water or a homemade potion of plant hydrosols. I apply my after-shave balms or creams right over these products and feel that doing so has contributed greatly to my skins' healthy appearance.
This toner is loaded full of antioxidants and plant extracts, it leaves my skin feeling terrific and refreshed. The toner has a great citrus scent that fades away quickly.
I decanted this into an atomizer which I find more effective.
18.00 ~6 ounces
Step four is the Natural Daily Facial Moisturizer.
I don’t feel that I have been able to put this through a complete test yet.
My skin is coming out of my shave with the above products in such fine shape that I have only used a small amount of this moisturizer. I did get some light burning with it, which lasted a few minutes.
The cream has a whipped consistency and goes on easily and then just melts into your skin. The scent is of fresh herbs that fade quickly away.
25.00 ~2 ounces
Conclusions;
The Maine Shave system is well prepared,well packaged and is formulated with high quality natural ingredients. The cost is on the high side at 80.00 for the four items in the system, Excepting the shave cream, they are comparable to many other luxury products from the three T’s, QED and others. The fact that these products are “all natural” is something not many of the big names can claim and adds weight to my choices and purchases. I hope many more vendors and manufacturers will follow suit as well and move in that direction.
Discussion tread located HERE
Happy shaving!
