I ordered the I Coloniali Delicate Shave Cream thinking it was like their Rhubarb Shave Cream but with a different/neutral scent and branded for sensitive skin. I got my scuttle and brush all ready, loaded up my Merkur HD 34C with a brand new Lord SS blade out of a sampler pack..... but when I opened the tube and squirted the cream into my scuttle I was surprised. It was more like a runny balm or a liquid cream rather than a cream that you would lather. I grabbed the box the tube came in.... in search for instructions on what to do with this stuff. Nothing about prep on the box or tube.... just a list of ingredients and a description of what the product does.... but nothing about how to use it. It did say that the product does not contain soap like a typical shave cream. Finally I just set my brush aside and scooped it out of the warm scuttle and applied it to my face. I had already put on some Floid Sandolor preshave gel and few minutes before. I rubbed this stuff around on my face.... through my beard.... waiting for something to happen. Nothing.... no lather at all..... just something more along the lines of a preshave gel. I took my razor and went to it. First pass WTG. Very slick but not much cushion. It went very well actually so there must've been enough cushion. The slickness was incredible though. It took a little more of a deliberate effort to rinse the cream off my razor as I shaved.... but I could see what I was doing and how my blade angle affected how well my blade was cutting the hair on my face. I did three subsequent passes with this stuff (XTG, XTG, and ATG). The result was the best shave I've had in a very long time. No razor burn at all. No weepers or nicks. Very little irritation. The alum block did not sting nearly as much as it does when I use traditional shave cream. The shave was close but not BBS (I never achieve BBS anyway). So far, the next day, no ingrowns or razor bumps. I am not very prone to ingrowns, but razor bumps are fairly common for me.
So, what did I learn by using the I Coloniali Delicate? First, I learned that I need to work on either my lather building technique with traditional shave creams or my blade angle as I shave or both. Most likely a little bit of both. Using this cream allowed me to see what I was doing better.... and I adjusted as I could see what I needed to do.... and that resulted in a better shave. I could see using this as a way to perfect my shaving technique as far as how to hold the razor and what blade angle to use. Second, I found a product that is different than most traditional shave creams.... definitely another option and will add variety to my rotation in the future. Since I've only used it once.... the jury is still out as to how this cream would perform if I used it daily. I'm tempted to use it daily though given the results I achieved last night. I guess my only other observation about this cream is that it left a very oily kind of feeling on my face at the end of the shave. Not in a bad way.... more like you could tell it was providing moisture and protection throughout the shave.... but when you're done it takes a little more rinsing to feel like you got all of the residual cream off.
I'm thrilled with the product and the results. Is there anyone else out there who uses this or has any more information on it? It's a bit pricey ($20 for a 100 ml tube).... but compared to many of the other products we use here, the price is not so bad. I'd be interested to hear any other opinions or experiences from you guys regarding this cream.
Ben
So, what did I learn by using the I Coloniali Delicate? First, I learned that I need to work on either my lather building technique with traditional shave creams or my blade angle as I shave or both. Most likely a little bit of both. Using this cream allowed me to see what I was doing better.... and I adjusted as I could see what I needed to do.... and that resulted in a better shave. I could see using this as a way to perfect my shaving technique as far as how to hold the razor and what blade angle to use. Second, I found a product that is different than most traditional shave creams.... definitely another option and will add variety to my rotation in the future. Since I've only used it once.... the jury is still out as to how this cream would perform if I used it daily. I'm tempted to use it daily though given the results I achieved last night. I guess my only other observation about this cream is that it left a very oily kind of feeling on my face at the end of the shave. Not in a bad way.... more like you could tell it was providing moisture and protection throughout the shave.... but when you're done it takes a little more rinsing to feel like you got all of the residual cream off.
I'm thrilled with the product and the results. Is there anyone else out there who uses this or has any more information on it? It's a bit pricey ($20 for a 100 ml tube).... but compared to many of the other products we use here, the price is not so bad. I'd be interested to hear any other opinions or experiences from you guys regarding this cream.
Ben