Nivea may be the first "bad" cream I've ever used

I know it's an inexpensive cream, and more widely available in the US, but if it weren't for the fact I have been using a Trac II to do a one-pass shave, I think this cream would be near-unusable. The lather starts breaking down on my face real fast. So fast I can't even finish a pass in some cases.

I am sure if I had soft water, Nivea Sensitive would work much better. The lathering issues are very similar to Williams Mug Soap. I believe only the extra emollients like olive oil in the cream save it from being harsh.

It doesn't compare well to Arko Sensitive, except for its availability.

Was you're brush maybe not wet enough? I have very, very hard water and have no trouble at all with Nivea. Been using it most of the week actually. I'm not sure I've heard anyone compare it to Williams? Miles above the Arko anyway.

I don't have any problems with it either. Try a different technique to see if that helps.

I have been using a horse brush. I soaked the brush for a couple of minutes while I washed my face, then wrung it out.

I've never tried it with a synthetic brush but I suppose that will be my next step.

Well, don't know how the softness of the water influence this specific cream, but i use regular Nivea cream, the blue one, not sensitive, and, i must say, that i'm getting great lather out of it. Used horse brush and boar, with great results.
Now, i saw that this particular cream does not require a lot of water, like other creams do. So, try adding less water, see how that's going on for you.

I've never had a problem with Nivea Sensitive cream. I've used it with boar and badgers brushes, as well as just rubbing it onto my face with my hands, and it's always worked well for me.

Does it require more cream than other products, or about the same?

I tried again today with the same brush and got the same results. It works OK, but nothing special. It's a little unnerving to have it look so patchy and thin, though it seems slick enough. I might try a bit less water and more cream. I'm using about a small almond sized amount for enough lather for two passes, and I'm adding a little extra water to the brush.

I'm using indian PII cartridges, they are basically Trac II's without the lube strip. They do require plenty of lubrication because if you overlap at all, there is no lube strip and the molding is a little rough, not completely smooth. Honestly I think I prefer the lube strip, but this particular cartridge was free.

Here he seems to use about the same amount of cream as I do...

The badger in that video seems to make better lather. Did you notice that? The boar brush's lather looked watery and weak.

I saw the title of this post and I thought you were talking about the balm. I know ymmv is the rule, never the exception, but my first reaction was to break in and scream "YOU'RE WRONG!" Turns out, I would have been overreacting.

I picked up a tube of Sensitive cream earlier this year. I generally apply it brushless, but I have used it with both boar and badger for testing purposes, and it works well in all cases. It does like to soak up a lot of water, but I' haven't had any trouble with it drying out on my face prior to finishing the pass. If it does, no problem, I just splash on a little more water.

True, it doesn't provide a lot of lather, but that doesn't stop it from giving a good shave.

Its not the best cream I have, but for a drugstore product it does well. I think it ranks slightly below Nivea's Sensitive aerosol gel and a lot below C.O. Bigelow's Proraso if you want to compare its performance to off-the-shelf shaving creams.

But I like the fact that it is inexpensive, with a neutral aroma and can be used any time of year. That alone will elevate it to a staple item in my shave den from now on.

I do like the fact its a sensitive skin product, causes me no irritation, almost needs no aftershave due to the chamomile and witch hazel, and it lathers with a traditional shave brush. I would say its better than the drugstore soaps I have tried that aren't as kind to my skin, but that's faint praise.

Ok... I tried this cream with a Pur-Tech Chinese Brush. It works fine now. The brush made all the difference, which surprised me a lot. The horse hair brush seems to be performing a lot like boar hair, in that it uses a lot of soap or cream.

FireDragon76 said:

The badger in that video seems to make better lather. Did you notice that? The boar brush's lather looked watery and weak.

Click to expand...

He used a little less product with the boar brush. I think an extra dab would have made better lather. It's an interesting video for me because I happen to have the exact same two brushes that he uses in the video. Nivea performs way above it's price. Not my favorite cream but a very affordable option.

FireDragon76 said:

I know it's an inexpensive cream, and more widely available in the US, but if it weren't for the fact I have been using a Trac II to do a one-pass shave, I think this cream would be near-unusable. The lather starts breaking down on my face real fast. So fast I can't even finish a pass in some cases.

I am sure if I had soft water, Nivea Sensitive would work much better. The lathering issues are very similar to Williams Mug Soap. I believe only the extra emollients like olive oil in the cream save it from being harsh.

It doesn't compare well to Arko Sensitive, except for its availability.

Click to expand...

My favorite creams are AOS, but I do like Nivea.

I like the Nivea as well and have no problems with lather... Good stuff, cheap and you can find it anywhere..