Summary
- Cremo Original Shave Cream (in the white and red tube) was optimized with my usual process of using an initially dry synthetic-hair brush and bowl lathering precise amounts that were varied from shave to shave in finding the best combination of cream mass, water mass, and lather-building time
- Cremo Original isn't really made for building lather with a brush, as opposed to Cremo Lathering (in the jar), but I optimized it with respect to doing so
- The water-to-cream ratio was varied from 2 to 4 and lather-building time was varied from 75 seconds to 180 seconds. It took more time to build up some structure, but the structure was limited, especially with more hydration when the lather was too loose.
- The highlight of Cremo Original is its slickness, which is generally excellent, but the downsides are its lather's lack of structure and the cream's residual buildup on the blade and the face
- Ranking tests were conducted after optimization. Proraso Single Blade shaving cream beat Cremo Original because of better post-shave moisture and comfort, better structure, not having Cremo's residual buildup problem, and producing a closer shave, which made me think that Cremo's film results in less closeness. The ranking test between Barrister and Mann and Cremo Original was very close, but in the end, I had to give the higher ranking to B&M because of its better balance and easier shave. Placing Cremo above Oleo was done based on previous results.
Optimum Lather Overview
Sheen is very good. Lather is a little airy with some visible small bubbles. Lather has little structure, weak peaks, and some good yogurt-like behavior of stringiness. Lather density is great as proven by the coolness felt upon application. Adhesion is pretty good and application is okay or pretty good, but a little choppy. The scent is not really noticed. Slickness is excellent, only good or very good at its worst above the lip and on the chin. Cushion/protection is good. Post-shave is good with respect to moisture and pretty good with respect to comfort because of a little low-level irritation that develops. Rinsing can take longer because of buildup on top of the blade that happens with more time between razor rinsing. Face rinsing after each pass takes longer because of residual film.