Tom's of Maine Discontinuing Calendula and Mint Shave Creams

I just got off the phone with a Tom's of Maine representative who confirmed that the company is discontinuing their calendula and mint shave creams which are not currently listed on the Tom's of Maine website. This is my favorite shave cream and my favorite product of the entire Tom's of Maine line. My disappointment is huge. Perhaps a grass roots calling in from the faithful might save the day?

JimT

I sent in a very polite email. We'll see...

This is not good. Their calendula cream is the base for most of my superlathers.

I just sent this to Toms:

Greetings-- I have just learned that you are considering discontinuing your line of shaving creams. I am dissapointed to hear about this, as I think your shaving creams perform very well when they are used with a shaving brush. I have even featured the product in a very popular YouTube "how to shave" video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjhIy9rgWQU at 3:10 into the video). I hope you will reconsider. Thanks for your time.

Click to expand...

mantic said:

I just sent this to Toms:

Click to expand...

Thanks Mantic. I would be very disappointed if this product were discontinued. It's easily accessible (for now) and hard to beat for the price. Not to mention it works really well and has a host of skin healing goodness too.

Meh, I always thought this stuff was very average, at best.

I've never had the chance to try the calendula. And I haven't used the mint in maybe over a year... but it's still sad news. I almost bought the calendula when it was on special on amazon.com. I guess almost buying a product almost keeps it in production.

That is sad news, because I just bought some from the local Whole Foods market, and I like it. I bought the Calendula, but that was the only flavor that I saw. Other than mint, what flavors do they have? If these are gone, will they have other flavors or will Tom's be gone completely.

I also like Kiss My Face and that is also at the market in 5 or 6 flavors.

NOOOOOO

This is my daily use cream

Will they be making others in different scents at least?

Regarding Tom's of Maine Mint Shaving Cream.

I just checked the product line on their home page. No mention of shaving cream. I guess they couldn't maintain a market position with it. I know it was a nice quality product. But I guess if it's not making money, they had to dump it. When I first read about it on the shaving forums, I went to a local health food store and got the mint. Used it a couple of times, liked it just fine, and then something happened to it. I didn't use it every day, and the last two times I tried to use it, I squeezed the tube and nothing came out. I squeezed real hard and out came this petrified worm about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. The second time it happened, I took it and got my money back. About that same time I read their website where it stated that they were discontinuing the "honeysuckle" version, but they still had calendula and mint. That wasn't that long ago. Selling shaving cream that gets hard in the tube if a guy doesn't use it every day is going to be bad for business. I wasn't the only guy on the forums that experienced this, and one of the other guys said the only way he could use his Tom's was to soak it in hot water for a few minutes. That's not going to create new and return customers. What can I say?

I'm going to have to make a trip to my local health store and buy their whole stock!

While I'd probably agree with Chris that it isn't the *best* cream I've ever used, I do think Tom's value proposition is huge, especially if you order from drugstore.com or amazon, where it runs for $4ish a tube.

I think Tom's performs pretty well (if not stupendously) and that it's a great option for all those for whom Tom's natural approach matters. Put another way, I don't think Tom's users have to sacrifice solid performance to be consistent with the values that make Tom's attractive to them. (Contrast to Burt's Bees...)

SilverKarn said:

I'm going to have to make a trip to my local health store and buy their whole stock!

Click to expand...

Just to emphasize from my previous post, 4 tubes from Amazon runs about $15; it's $6.00/tube at my Whole Foods.

This is sad, sad news to me!!!

Tom's was the first shave cream that I fell in love with, and to this day quite possibly remains my favorite! Having aquired a fairly well rounded collection of soaps and creams, Tom's still seems to treat my face the best, or if not the best, right up there with its much more expensive cousins. I remember when they discontinued the Honeysuckle, which at the time spurned me to write to the company to praise their product and beg them to reconsider. I guess its time to write another letter, although I doubt it will help at this point.

As for the hardening problem, I've never had that problem. But I have experienced the oils separating a bit from the cream, which made the cream a little hard to squeeze out, and then the oils would dribble out separately. I've only had this happen recently, and I've been using Tom's for years, so I don't know why its all of a sudden happening. And I DON'T shave every day. Every other day at best.

Thanks for the heads up...I think i'll do the same and buy out my local Co-ops stock!

I wish I had an opportunity to sample the honeysuckle, but it's a moot point now.

The mint was one of my first tube creams as well. I got it from drugstore.com. I feel it works every bit as well if not better than Proraso. I've always soaked the tube in the bowl with my brush while I shower and have never had any trouble with it squeezing out. One tube is over a year old. I guess this is all academic at this point anyway.

Glad i bought a 4-pack of the mint. They were selling the 4-packs on amazon last summer. Very nice cream. I might search out a tube of calendula at whole foods.

The response to my email came back saying that the ingredients they use have risen in price to the point that they don't think consumers would be willing to absorb the increase. An understandable, straightforward decision, though given that some people are willing to pay for CF Lime, perhaps underestimating the shaving community.

brothers said:

I wish I had an opportunity to sample the honeysuckle, but it's a moot point now.

Click to expand...

Honeysuckle > Mint. I never understood why they replaced the honeysuckle with calendula. Never tried the calendula and never replaced the mint. I may go but a tube just to give it shot. Maybe.

From TOM's....

Dear Mike,

Thank you for contacting us! Unfortunately it is true that we are discontinuing our shaving cream line. Due to the rising cost of some of the ingredients it is becoming too costly to produce without a price increase beyond what consumers would be willing to pay. I'm sorry!

Sincerely,
Tina Payeur
Consumer Dialogue & Services Representative
www.tomsofmaine.com
800-775-2388