brushless creams

ok so I've tried 3 so far and I'll arrange them in the order best to worst:

1) King Of Shaves MagnaGlide Kinexium Gel - Unscented, allows me to be very aggressive with the blade. Has menthol which is a downside for me. Allowed me to shave with my Futur on setting 3.

2) Proraso Cutting Edge Shave Gel - Scented and it stays with you throughout the day. The scent is a little bit feminine for me but some guys could like it. The gel does warm your face up when you lather but I got some irritation from it. Futur setting 3 ripped my face apart with this gel, I had to lower it down to 2-1 to get the decent shaves.

3) St. James of London Brushless Mandarin & Patchouli Cream - It smells fantastic, but you wouldn't expect less from a company that makes perfumes too. The lather doesn't protect as well and is very foamy. It has to be used with the water running to wash it off the razor because it sticks to it quite a lot.
 
Somersets is pretty nice actually and works well. The original version is much better than the sensitive skin variety.

My wife sells a shave cream on her site which pretty nice by "Laid Back" It doesn't lather (which is why I don't use it often), but it's very slick any leaves my face feeling wonderful.
 
The Molton Brown lemon Leaf shave wax is an interesting, but expensive, brushless product.

I found the Somerset shaving oil to be bloody awful; I haven't used it since.

I recently tried the Pecksniff shaving gel - I can't tell the difference between it and the shower gel. It's fine for a light beard or an evening shave before you go out - assuming you've already shaved that morning of course. Smells great though.

I think Musgo Real can be used brushless if required - apologies if that's already been mentioned.
 
i had tubes of the Pecksniffs shower and shaving gel, the shower gel was good and smelled nice but the shaving gel has gone walkabout?

didn't give it to the old man but can't find it anywhere?

i suspect she's given it away as a present to someone but is denying it :roll:

Ratty - the old boy received the cream thanks!
 
Magicpixie said:
I found the Somerset shaving oil to be bloody awful; I haven't used it since.
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Yeah, me too. I loved the AOS pre-shave oil and anthony logistics (not anthony sport) pre-shave oil always (used it 4 x) gives me a top shave.

i keep thinking the whole pre-shave oil thing is a big con and that proper prep (hot towel with cream, and plenty of hot water) should suffice for even the toughest beards.

Only problem is I have about 5 big bottles of premium shaving oil (from the top brands), each one costing between £15-£20. Not worth selling as you can just about get half price you paid for them, so i end up use them! At the rate I am going, i have enough pre-shave oil for the next 5 years.
 
I do have shaving oil and can use it but I much prefer lather for shaving, perhaps if I stuck with it I would like it more. It does give a decent shave, just a personal preference.

I also have a few brushless creams but still use the brush, I don;t know if this makes me an old fart stuck in his ways but there is nothing like nice hot lather applied with a brush.
 
pbroddi said:
Somersets is pretty nice actually and works well. The original version is much better than the sensitive skin variety.

My wife sells a shave cream on her site which pretty nice by "Laid Back" It doesn't lather (which is why I don't use it often), but it's very slick any leaves my face feeling wonderful.
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I've tried the "Laid Back" and got a good shave with it. Bought it online and the site stated that it could be used with a brush but I havn't tried that yet.
 
jangozo said:
ok so I've tried 3 so far and I'll arrange them in the order best to worst:

1) King Of Shaves MagnaGlide Kinexium Gel - Unscented, allows me to be very aggressive with the blade. Has menthol which is a downside for me. Allowed me to shave with my Futur on setting 3.

2) Proraso Cutting Edge Shave Gel - Scented and it stays with you throughout the day. The scent is a little bit feminine for me but some guys could like it. The gel does warm your face up when you lather but I got some irritation from it. Futur setting 3 ripped my face apart with this gel, I had to lower it down to 2-1 to get the decent shaves.

3) St. James of London Brushless Mandarin & Patchouli Cream - It smells fantastic, but you wouldn't expect less from a company that makes perfumes too. The lather doesn't protect as well and is very foamy. It has to be used with the water running to wash it off the razor because it sticks to it quite a lot.
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My wife got a tub of ST. James of London brushless. Smells the best :D Unfortunatly, if clogs and doesnt go far. No plessure in brushless creams, maybe its just me
 
Make it yourself (although my cosmetics handbooks actually confirm the drawbacks already mentioned:
Brushless Shaving Cream
Brushless shaving creams are o/w emulsions based on soap showing a pH in the range of 7.5 to 8.5. They are rich in emulsifying agents and oils, hence they are nonlathering creams showing many similarities to normal skin care creams. Owing to their high content of emollients and their relatively low pH, compared to pH 10 of lathering shaving creams, they are less irritating to the skin. The thick film of lubricants perfectly protects from nicks and cuts, but has the drawback that the beard-softening action is slower and less effective compared to aerosol foams. Also, the rinsability from the face and the razor is somehow difficult. Probably for these reasons the popularity of this product type is steadily declining.
The following example was suggested by Henkel Corp.(14):

Brushless shaving cream (%) Wt.%
Stearic acid 18.00
Coconut fatty acid 2.00
Propylene glycol dipelargonate 3.50
Lanolin oil 0.50
Dow Corning F-157 wax 1.00
Water deionized 60.65
Propyl paraben 0.03
Glycerin 6.00
Borax, USP 0.50
Potassium hydroxide, pellets 0.20
Sodium hydroxide, pellets 0.15
Triethanolamine 0.40
Water deionized 7.00
Methyl paraben 0.07
Perfume and color q.s.
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If forced at gunpoint to go brushless, I'd pick Clinique M-Gel (or whatsit called? - the blue scentless stuff in the grey dispenser). I remember it was pretty decent. Still, no comparison to a good soap & brush.
 
hando said:
so to conclude

if you want to use a brushless cream, get a good normal cream and use your fingers instead of a brush
the other options i have yet to try are Pecksniffs gel and the Proraso version
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In fact, if you really don't want to use a brush, 'canned goo' is probably the way to go - it really is the next best thing. And in fact, canned goos are basically classical shaving soaps with some added ingredients to make them foam instantly upon exiting from the can's nozzle. There's really not much scary chemistry associated with them. Their main drawback is not their contents but just their 'instancy' so to speak. By having ready-formed foam and applying it in that form to your chops, you're missing some of the effects a shaving soap should have - it should thoroughly wet your beard hairs and degrease and soak them - which in fact, takes time. Instant foams promote instant shaving, and thus only act as a lubricant but not as a beard prep. Instant foams are a bad idea precisely because time is needed to prep your beard for shaving.

If you decide to use instant foams, you'll have to prep your beard separately before that (and you will lose the time gained by using that instant foam...). The best prep is taking a shower...
 
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