L'Occitane Cade Shave Cream

[JamesBlades]

I'm a soap guy. I started with creams and enjoyed the performance but as soon as I discovered MWF, Valobra, and others, I turned from my creams and now use soaps probably 6 times a week.

However, I'm no newbie to fine creams. I've used entire tubs of some of the mostly highly thought of creams - TOBS Avocado, GFT Coconut, AoS Sandalwood - all fine creams. I did not find their performance, or the performance of any cream, on the same level as some of the finer soaps though, so I've been primarily a soap guy over the last year.

That is, until someone included a partially used tube of L'Occitane Cade Shave Cream along with a brush I bought off the B/S/T. I'm very thankful he included it because I would have never bought this cream myself. It smells fantastic and, for me, the performance is on the same plane as MdC or any other soap. It may even have taken my number 1 spot overall.

I feel that it's absolutely fantastic but I don't see it getting much love on here. For those who have used it, how do you feel it compares to the other big names in the cream world? For those that have not tried it yet, you must! It's expensive but worth every penny!

 

[wallacmb]

I find L'Occitane sings in the slickness...they are a lotion co. The aftershave balm is almost curative in how great the performance is. The cream is fantastic. I would put truefitt and hill as a cream to try if you like Cade and have not tried T&H. It is slightly different in application. Cade is versatile as it performs just as good bowl lathered as face lathered. Not all creams can say this. Glad you found them. The cream specifically is surprisingly underutilized it seems

Max

 

[driftwood]

I love the Cade cream. It was my first "expensive" cream. The smell and performance are awesome.

 

[sarimento1]

personally, i found the cade cream from the tube, to be a little thin. perhaps, I did not use enough cream or i did not lather it properly. the IK cream, imo, way out-performed the cade.

on the other hand, their howell mtn estate grown cabernet is marvelous.

 

[driftwood]

Are we talking about the cream in the tube or the "rich lather" in the tub? I was speaking about the tub.

 

[sarimento1]

I was referring to the tube cream. I've not tried their tub cream.

 

[NCJack]

I got the new Cade "rich" cream after a few good reviews here, and it lived up to expectations. From the tub (jar) just a slight dip gives me four pass lather, very slick.

 

[5savages]

Are we talking about the cream in the tube or the "rich lather" in the tub? I was speaking about the tub.

They're the same cream, according to L'Occitane.

 

[Larsson_Power]

They're the same cream, according to L'Occitane.

I've heard that they are not the same.. I had a quick look at the ingredient list (I have both the tub and the tube) and while I can't sit all day and look for differences on the two I clearly saw some differences!

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

They're the same cream, according to L'Occitane.

They're definitely different. I'm at a loss to provide ingredients to back up my claim, but I was just at L'Occitane today, and there's no question in my mind that they're two different formulas. For one, the smell of the two creams is quite different: the tube cream smells almost exactly like the a/s balm; the tub cream is fresher smelling, with more top notes, and less sweetness. Also, the consistency is different: unusually, the tub cream is actually lighter in consistency, whereas the tube is denser. Finally, the tube cream has been around for years, whereas the tub has been (relatively) newly created in tandem with Plisson. Whereas the tube has been largely panned by the traditional wetshaving crowd, the tub has been highly praised in the few reviews I've read on it here. I'm tempted to give it a go, but at $34 for a 200ml tub, it's almost up there in Castle Forbes price territory, which has kept me from pulling the trigger. I'm sure it's only a matter of time, though, before I do.

 

[xillion]

For comparison, here are the ingredients listed on the tube.

Aqua/Water/Eau (Water), Stearic Acid, Glycerin, Lauric Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) (Shea Butter), PEG 7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Perfume (Fragrance), Dimethicone, Sodium Hydroxide, Tocopherol (Natural Vitamin E), Tetrasodium EDTA, Juniperus Oxycedrus Wood Oil, Bisabolol (L-Alpha), Fusanus Spicatus Wood Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Extract (Rosemary), Glycine Soja Oil (Soybean), Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil (Rosemary), Helichrysum Italicum Extract, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Hydroxyisohexl 3 Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Linalool, Butylphenyl Methlyproprional, Limonene, Citronellol, Coumarin, Hexylcinnamal, Alpha Methyl Ionone

And the Rich Cream tub.

Image by Niko_P

View attachment 387692

 

[5savages]

Whereas the tube has been largely panned by the traditional wetshaving crowd, the tub has been highly praised in the few reviews I've read on it here.

You must have missed the news that the tube formula was reformulated about a year ago. While the formula before then was widely panned, I've not heard one bad review from anyone who has tried the new formula. I have a tube of the new formula and it's fantastic.

The only basis for m statement that they're the same is some correspondence that someone here or on The Shave Nook received from L'Occitane stating as much. Of course, I can't find that now.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

You must have missed the news that the tube formula was reformulated about a year ago. While the formula before then was widely panned, I've not heard one bad review from anyone who has tried the new formula. I have a tube of the new formula and it's fantastic.

You're right - I missed the announcement, and other than looking at the current tube in the store, I have not tried it. My usage experience is all based on the older tube. That said, when looking at and smelling them in store, they seemed different to me. Comparing the lists Xillion provided for us above, there is no question that the two sets of ingredients are different. However, I am unable to confirm whether the tube ingredients he posted are current, or of the older formulation. Since you have a current tube, are you able to compare the ingredients with what Xillion posted?

The only basis for m statement that they're the same is some correspondence that someone here or on The Shave Nook received from L'Occitane stating as much. Of course, I can't find that now.

That's OK - I'll assume L'Occitane said that. Even if they did, that doesn't mean it's right. The various shaving forums are rife with examples of "official" correspondence from companies that turned out to be wrong. It's also a strange statement for them to make, given that L'Occitane actually gives the products two different names: the stuff in the tube is "Cade Shaving Cream," whereas the tub is "Cade Rich Shaving Cream."

 

[niko_p]

Definitely different. If you've used the tube in the past, you'll notice the difference the moment you open the tub.

 

[EmreMusovi]

A 200 ml bowl will last how long with daily shaving? Any ideas?

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

A 200 ml bowl will last how long with daily shaving? Any ideas?

That really comes down to how much a given person uses, per their own preferences. Since the Cade is very light in consistency, I would expect a person would go through it at about the same rate as, or slightly faster than, they go through a standard soft cream, adjusting for differences in the size of the tub.

CF tubs also hold 200ml. However, given that CF is so much denser, it's a good bet a person will go through the Cade faster than they would the CF.

 

[julian0808]

I, or, believe it or not SWMBO bought me a tub in December and despite waiting for my non arrival of MdC, I was forced to pull the Cade off the subs bench and swing it into action and wow, what a slick lather. Very impressed by its moisturizing properties and overall it's a damn good shave, the tub says its a rich shaving cream and it is just that. I do remember having a tube of Cade many moons ago and as I wasn't really a B&B disciple I knew very little about what defines a good and bad shaving cream. I do rembember however that the Cade from this morning and the Cade from yesteryear are in no way related.

 

[Eamrein]

How to tell the old formula from the new??
I have a tube I picked up before the holidays. Haven't used it yet, trying to clear out some other creams.
Think I need to try it tomorrow..

 

[5savages]

How to tell the old formula from the new??
I have a tube I picked up before the holidays. Haven't used it yet, trying to clear out some other creams.
Think I need to try it tomorrow..

That's the new formula. The old formula hasn't been made in, I'd guess, 2 years or more. I have a tube that's a year and half old at least, and it's the new, awesome, formula.

 

[IDvsEGO]

I stopped in a L'Occitane store last night to get a Plisson brush and smelled the tub stuff. I liked it. I am trying to stay budget oriented but I may take advantage of a sale and grab some of this. The AS balm is on my list now too.