Tom's of Maine - "Refreshing Mint" Conditioning Shave Cream

[Kyle]

This thread is for discussion of this review.

I would like to give credit to Joel, and all of the other B&B members from whom I stole formatting ideas for this review.

[Austin]

Kyle, amazing amounts of lather. Was it thin?

Thanks for the review.

[Kyle]

Not at all. It was every bit as "healthy" a lather as I've ever made with Taylor's Rose or Avocado. Very creamy, meringue-like lather.

[caloy24]

Our local Grocery Outlet store in Brookings, Oregon has Tom's "Refreshing Mint" shaving cream for $1.69 per tube (46.9 cents per ounce). Obviously, an even better price than Kyle mentioned in his review. They still have many tubes in stock, so get some while the gettin' is good!

According to the Tom's of Maine website, their Honeysuckle shave cream is the one that they are discontinuing, the website didn't mention anything about discontinuing the Mint cream. I would have liked to try the Honeysuckle cream, but the Grocery Outlet store doesn't carry it.

I like the cream as much as Kyle does, that's why I bought eight tubes of it!

[Kyle]

That is a CRAZY good deal. The $5.99 price that I listed is from an upscale grocery store, and while I was sure that the product could be found cheaper, I wanted to use a worst case scenario.

[Kyle]

I gave this cream the ultimate test today and used it while shaving with my slant bar. The result - fantastic!

This product is truly a diamond. I used it in combo with the Proraso pre-shave cream and whattatingle!

[roughrider]

Sounds like great stuff Kyle. I have to pick some up when I get a chance. On a sidenote, that show on TLC called "Made in America" did a segment on Tom's of Maine. They showed the factory, products, and talked about the history of the company. It was interesting.

[Kevin]

I went to the grocery store today which carries Tom's of Maine deodorants, but much to my dismay, no shaving cream.

The local search continues.

Kevin

[rtaylor61]

I went to the grocery store today which carries Tom's of Maine deodorants, but much to my dismay, no shaving cream.

The local search continues.

Kevin

I've only been able to find toothpaste. Still looking!

Randy

[mrob]

Went to the local "granola" shop and found 2 tubes of the Tom's--snatched them up based solely on this review.

My take? Wow--very cooling and nicely tingly, too--if that's a word! Much like Proraso, maybe even more dramatic in its effect? And at the price, a steal.

Thanks for the tip.

Mitch

[Kyle]

It really is good stuff. Every time I use it, I like it more and more.

[PoshRichM]

Mine arrived today. I'm itching to try it tomorrow.

-Rich

[Kyle]

I'm curious to hear your opinion.

[MJB]

Quick question--

As I entered into the world of wet shaving I was attracted to an AOS starter kit which included a book. In the book mint, menthol, and other tingly producing substances are discouraged. Reason being--the tingling is local anesthetic--which makes perfect sense to me. The local anesthetic then allows deeper shaving without realizing that you may be damaging the skin.

I certainly do value Kyle's experience but curious how you respond to the above-mentioned point made by the folks at AOS.

MJB (aka Marc)

[PottyDoctor]

Kyle,

I have never been able to use menthol shaving products due to a sensitivity to menthol. Much to my surprise, I have been able to use Nancy Boy shave cream which contains peppermint. I feel the same way about NB Shave Cream as you do the Tom's Shave Cream...I just keep going back to the stuff...I love it! I really enjoy the peppermint scent and feel, but the best thing about the NB Cream is that it is so luxuriously creamy and lubricating; more so than my beloved Taylor's Rose [gasp....I can't believe I said that].

My question is, if you have tried Nancy Boy Shave Cream, how does the Tom's Cream compare, both in peppermint scent and in the rich & creamy department? I certainly hope someone can make do a comparison review of these two.

Thanks for the great review

[Kyle]

Marc,

Good question. As the AOS book is somewhat of a teaching primer, I can see their point. If you are not yet an adequately accomplished shaver, I suppose that you could rough yourself up a little bit before realizing it (with the tingle creams). Once you have been shaving for a couple of months, however, I don't see this as a real issue. The biggest contributors to razor burn are razor angle, razor pressure and shaving naked (no cream) areas. If you have a handle on these issues, I don't think that a Proraso, a Tom's of Maine, or a Nancy Boy cream would give you any noticealbe issues. Also, while they tingle, I don't believe that I have ever experienced any noticable face numbing.

Ron,

Unfortunately, I have not yet tried the Nancy Boy shave cream. I am sure, however, that at least a few of our members have, and will respond to this post.

[woodbane]

This carries on from from my other thread here, on where to find this great product.

I also am now a BIG fan of this product. For the price, it offers an amazing shave with a really nice, refreshing feeling. I shaved with it this morning and was really surprised at the quality of the shave.

As I mentioned in my other post, I felt the only slight drawback was that it seemed to dry out slightly quicker than my Body Shop cream. However, this could have been my fault in not using enough cream, my dollop was somewhat smaller than Kyle used in the review. I'll try again tomorrow! (Isn't that just half the fun ).

Just a word on the whole peppermint vs menthol debate. They are two very different ingredients that achieve a similar effect, that is to say they are cooling.

Peppermint is a natural product that gives a wonderful, cooling sensation with the aroma of mint but usually without irritation.

Menthol on the other hand, does have more local anesthetic properties and more people seem to have reactions to it (myself included - it makes my skin red and eventually erupt into little spots). I feel this could be partly attributed to the reasons given above,
i.e. the anesthetic properties may cause a slight numbing that means you are more likely to use more pressure and therefore damage the skin by being too aggressive with your shave.

Peppermint seems to be a more natural choice and gives a wonderful, fresh feeling when used. Maybe some of the guys that don't react well to Menthol could try Peppermint and see if the fare any better with it?

Anyhow, enough rambling....Tom's gets a big thumbs up from me!

[teamacacia]

For the guys in Oklahoma or anyone else who has an Akin's Healthfood Store, I found the T.o.M. SC at the local Akins while picking up the Thayer's Rose WH. I didn't pick up the Tom's but will venture back to pick some up tomorrow at $5-6 per tube.

[cooncatbob]

Went to Tom's website and used their locator, it show Rite-Aid drug store carry the shaving creme.
It's on my shopping list.
Checked out Riteaid.com $3.39 a tube.

[cooncatbob]

I went to Rite-aid and they didn't have it. Had to go to Whole Foods, the Yuppie store, paid more but got 2 tube and some Thayers Witch Hazel.