Runny Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet cream?

[segnod]

I just got one of the famous jars of Blenheim Bouquet shaving cream. When I opened the package and removed the jar from the box, there was leaked cream inside the box that also covered parts of the jar and most of the lid. I spent a half hour cleaning up the mess. This stuff is so thin, it'll literally pour from the jar. I'm not sure what I would call it, but I wouldn't call it cream. It has a consistency closer to dishwashing soap than shave cream.

After getting everything cleaned up I tried building a lather just to see what it would do. That was disappointing. I didn't use a lot of it because I wasn't going to shave, but it was enough to shave with using any of my other creams. It made a thin, unusable lather that wasn't thick enough to even make a white film on my face. Ha! I just realized I didn't clean that off my right cheek where I was testing it. That's how inconspicuous the lather was. This stuff is going to be even more expensive than I thought if a tablespoon of it is needed just to build a lather. The scent is nice, but I practically have to stick my nose in it to smell it. It's certainly not what I expected from the glowing praise I read about its wonderful scent. I might suspect it was tampered with, but the box had what appeared to be untouched, factory cellophane on it, and nothing looks out of order except for the leak.

Is this typical of BB and am I now the proud owner of an expensive fancy jar containing thick water, or did I get a bad batch? Thanks for any replies.

 

[mistercitizen]

This happened to me as well. Contact your vendor and get a new jar. It's not supposed to leak and if it had arrived damaged/leaking all over then the vendor should do something to make it right. I'm not sure it this is a regular problem or what, but I know of another member who have received a tube of BB cream and it was runny as well. I got a replacement jar from my vendor and the cream in the replacement was definitely a different consistency...... more like a cream than a runny mess.

Ben

 

[mistercitizen]

Here's the story of mine: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...rmyn-St-and-Penhaligon-s-Endymion-How-Similar

Ben

 

[segnod]

This happened to me as well. Contact your vendor and get a new jar. It's not supposed to leak and if it had arrived damaged/leaking all over then the vendor should do something to make it right. I'm not sure it this is a regular problem or what, but I know of another member who have received a tube of BB cream and it was runny as well. I got a replacement jar from my vendor and the cream in the replacement was definitely a different consistency...... more like a cream than a runny mess.

Ben

Thanks for the reply, Ben. At least I know it's not just me. Interesting how similar your experience was to mine. We could almost swap stories. But I have an almost pathological distaste for boxing stuff up and taking it to the post office. Before starting the process of returning my BB, I thought I should at least give it a try. So, for my evening shave I shoved my Simpson Keyhole 3 about a quarter inch deep into that goop and pulled it out with enough product on it to give me three shaves with any other cream I have. I proceeded to whip it into a real nice lather and had an excellent shave with a brand new razor I'd never used before (a Cadet open comb three piece). I got a nice shave with an unfamiliar razor that I thought was pretty aggressive. When I was done, I squeezed the remaining lather out of the brush to see how it felt in my hand. There was a lot of it, and it was really slick between my fingers and thumb. I do that regularly, and this was as slick as anything I've used.

I think this stuff is worth using. I'll use it up, and when the jar is empty, I'll either put some other cream or soap in it or order a tube of BB and squirt into the fancy jar. Either way, I'll get some good shaves from it and have a nice jar when I'm done. At least the label on my jar wasn't stained by the leak like yours was. You know, this kind of thing is inexcusable to me. It's like buying a Rolls Royce and finding out the lights don't work or something. When you pay top dollar for a luxury item, you expect it to be top notch, and you don't want to have to spend your time and effort getting it corrected because somebody screwed up. Thanks again for your reply.

 

[brucered]

I had a runny tube and Pens had terrible communication and it took 6 months and 29 emails to work it out....yes, 29 emails of miscommunication and them just dropping the ball time after time. It was pathetic on their part.

it is the last Pens product I will buy as I have heard others with runny products too. It's good, but not worth the risk or price and the terrible customer service was was turned me off the most.

the tubes seem to be hit or miss in terms of consistency and I don't know why.

 

[graysonhenryrussell]

You sir are a real nice guy!

 

[segnod]

I had a runny tube and Pens had terrible communication and it took 6 months and 29 emails to work it out....yes, 29 emails of miscommunication and them just dropping the ball time after time. It was pathetic on their part.

it is the last Pens product I will buy as I have heard others with runny products too. It's good, but not worth the risk or price and the terrible customer service was was turned me off the most.

the tubes seem to be hit or miss in terms of consistency and I don't know why.

Unbelievable! That's one reason I almost refuse to try to return stuff. It's usually not worth my time and frustration to try to fix somebody else's screwup. I hate to hear that the tubes have had a similar problem. That makes buying a tube to refill my jar a crapshoot.

 

[brucered]

Lets just say, I was not impressed with the entire process. My cost to send back then I got hit with an invoice from FedEx after the fact and it was going to collection as I was not going to pay for a defective return that should have been labelled a Warranty Return (and they admitted that) long after it was signed for. If I had known an invoice would follow well after the act, I would have never signed or sent it. It wasted way too much of my time and effort.

they kept saying it was looked after and I kept getting invoices, phone calls and collection notices from FedEx. Even after talking to Pens on the phone, they still kept screwing it up and couldn't resolve the invoice from FedEx. They would say "it's taken care of and you won't get any more calls or bills from FedEx"....but I kept getting them, over and over. FedEx was involved, Pens was involved and they were useless in resolving it.

A far cry from dealing with the B&B vendors and artisans who take care of things in hours if not minutes.

 

[rxonmymind]

Man Bruce that sounds brutal. You certainly went to the mat with them.

 

[segnod]

Lets just say, I was not impressed with the entire process. My cost to send back then I got hit with an invoice from FedEx after the fact and it was going to collection as I was not going to pay for a defective return that should have been labelled a Warranty Return (and they admitted that) long after it was signed for. If I had known an invoice would follow well after the act, I would have never signed or sent it. It wasted way too much of my time and effort.

they kept saying it was looked after and I kept getting invoices, phone calls and collection notices from FedEx. Even after talking to Pens on the phone, they still kept screwing it up and couldn't resolve the invoice from FedEx. They would say "it's taken care of and you won't get any more calls or bills from FedEx"....but I kept getting them, over and over. FedEx was involved, Pens was involved and they were useless in resolving it.

A far cry from dealing with the B&B vendors and artisans who take care of things in hours if not minutes.

Wow! Kind of validates my general aversion to trying to return/replace/get refunds for stuff. It has be a really high dollar item or I have to be really steamed to make me start that tortuous process. This is disappointing, because I had such high expectations for the BB cream. I need to just stick with Tabac and Harris! But I'm new to this huge world of wet shaving products, and my curiosity forces me to try out all the things that get rave reviews.

 

[brucered]

Man Bruce that sounds brutal. You certainly went to the mat with them.

I gave them plenty of opportunities to make it right and they kept saying it was taken care of...but it wasn't.

Again, this is just my experience and maybe others have glowing dealings with them.

My dealings with the customer service fiasco was with PENS USA, not the UK based location.

 

[bigxnyc]

The problem with the cream may have been heat during shipping. Is it still hot where you are? I have a tube of Pen's Opus 1870 that was fine when in arrived in March. I took it to the beach over the summer and ever since the car ride it has been runny. Still works fantastically and smells like a dream, but runny.

 

[brucered]

^ mine was shipped in the winter and temps should not have played a factor. it also does not excuse the poor customer service after the fact.

 

[mistercitizen]

Thanks for the reply, Ben. At least I know it's not just me. Interesting how similar your experience was to mine. We could almost swap stories. But I have an almost pathological distaste for boxing stuff up and taking it to the post office. Before starting the process of returning my BB, I thought I should at least give it a try. So, for my evening shave I shoved my Simpson Keyhole 3 about a quarter inch deep into that goop and pulled it out with enough product on it to give me three shaves with any other cream I have. I proceeded to whip it into a real nice lather and had an excellent shave with a brand new razor I'd never used before (a Cadet open comb three piece). I got a nice shave with an unfamiliar razor that I thought was pretty aggressive. When I was done, I squeezed the remaining lather out of the brush to see how it felt in my hand. There was a lot of it, and it was really slick between my fingers and thumb. I do that regularly, and this was as slick as anything I've used.

I think this stuff is worth using. I'll use it up, and when the jar is empty, I'll either put some other cream or soap in it or order a tube of BB and squirt into the fancy jar. Either way, I'll get some good shaves from it and have a nice jar when I'm done. At least the label on my jar wasn't stained by the leak like yours was. You know, this kind of thing is inexcusable to me. It's like buying a Rolls Royce and finding out the lights don't work or something. When you pay top dollar for a luxury item, you expect it to be top notch, and you don't want to have to spend your time and effort getting it corrected because somebody screwed up. Thanks again for your reply.

The vendor I bought mine from never asked me to return it. I sent them an email with pictures of the mess and they simply sent me a new one. I think they realized that they would not be able to do anything with the damaged one and it would cost them too much to pay to have it shipped back, so they just said "keep it and here's a replacement". Incidently, I use what's left of the runny stuff in the damaged jar and it lathers just fine. I have not even got into the good jar I got from them. Still, like you say, when you pay that kind of money for a top of the line luxury item, you expect it to be perfect..... right down to the packaging. Let's face it, that's part of what you're paying for. I didn't have as difficult of an experience as brucered did, but he got his from a different vendor from what I remember.

Ben

 

[mistercitizen]

The problem with the cream may have been heat during shipping. Is it still hot where you are? I have a tube of Pen's Opus 1870 that was fine when in arrived in March. I took it to the beach over the summer and ever since the car ride it has been runny. Still works fantastically and smells like a dream, but runny.

Mine was shipped in December as well. Came from California though originally. In my case, I think that the damage happened before shipping and the guy in the warehouse couldn't tell that there was a mess on the inside of the box..... especially since they are wrapped up in cellophane. The guy in the warehouse probably looks at it and if the cellophane looks all sealed up he probably figures it's good. Meanwhile, inside the box of mine there was cream all over and staining of the jar label..... just a real mess.

Ben

 

[Mick]

All of my Pens creams in jar have been thick and airy. Too hot or too cold can effect consistency. I guess I have been luck in this respect as the only runny cream I have ever had was a tube of TOBS sandalwood. It seemed to be completely separated and I had to shake it every time before I could use it. PITA and I am glad it is gone. I do realize it was an anomaly and it has not set me off of other TOBS products. Stuff happens sometimes.

 

[segnod]

The vendor I bought mine from never asked me to return it. I sent them an email with pictures of the mess and they simply sent me a new one. I think they realized that they would not be able to do anything with the damaged one and it would cost them too much to pay to have it shipped back, so they just said "keep it and here's a replacement". Incidently, I use what's left of the runny stuff in the damaged jar and it lathers just fine. I have not even got into the good jar I got from them. Still, like you say, when you pay that kind of money for a top of the line luxury item, you expect it to be perfect..... right down to the packaging. Let's face it, that's part of what you're paying for. I didn't have as difficult of an experience as brucered did, but he got his from a different vendor from what I remember.

Ben

Well shoot. I didn't even think about taking a picture before cleaning it up. But I didn't realize how runny it was until I'd already cleaned up the mess. I figured the lid was just loose and I'd clean up the jar and be in business. Oh well. Another lesson learned. By the way, is the scent on yours extremely faint? I like the scent a lot, but I wish I could actually smell it without pressing my nose into it! Have you opened the replacement, and is its scent any stronger? One more thing - do you (or anybody who wants to chime in) think there's at least a little resemblance between the scents of BB and Harris Windsor?

 

[segnod]

All of my Pens creams in jar have been thick and airy. Too hot or too cold can effect consistency. I guess I have been luck in this respect as the only runny cream I have ever had was a tube of TOBS sandalwood. It seemed to be completely separated and I had to shake it every time before I could use it. PITA and I am glad it is gone. I do realize it was an anomaly and it has not set me off of other TOBS products. Stuff happens sometimes.

Hmmm. I'm gonna put my runny BB in the fridge and see how it firms up. I'll give it another test drive tonight. Although, loading a brush with something the consistency of ketchup sure is easy!

The thought of it being separated occurred to me after seeing how loose it was on top. So I used a butter knife to stir the contents of the jar. It didn't seem separated, as all of it from top to bottom looked the same.

 

[mistercitizen]

Well shoot. I didn't even think about taking a picture before cleaning it up. But I didn't realize how runny it was until I'd already cleaned up the mess. I figured the lid was just loose and I'd clean up the jar and be in business. Oh well. Another lesson learned. By the way, is the scent on yours extremely faint? I like the scent a lot, but I wish I could actually smell it without pressing my nose into it! Have you opened the replacement, and is its scent any stronger? One more thing - do you (or anybody who wants to chime in) think there's at least a little resemblance between the scents of BB and Harris Windsor?

The scent on mine seemed fine.... the same as the replacement jar. Like I said, it lathers just fine as well. I just have to dip the tip of my brush in it like it's paint and I face lather away.

IMO, there is a resemblance between the Pen's BB scent and the D.R. Harris Windsor scent..... but they are not the same. To my nose, Pen's BB is a lemony pine scent, where D.R. Harris Windsor is an orangey vetiver scent. Both citrus/woods...... but different.

Ben

 

[sarimento1]

I've had maybe four pens creams, three tubes and one jar, plus four pucks. Each has been excellent. Not to mention several frags.

i recently got a ceramic jar of MWF and the lid was warped. I sent a photo to the US vendor and they dispatched a full replacement to me in two days without having to return the defective lid. I then put the extra item on a PIF.