Think back to olden times, when Lance Armstrong was still beloved and gravel bikes hadn’t been invented. I’m thinking especially of that era when Rapha could put their name on a pair of shoelaces and sell them for $40 … and not be able to keep them in stock. The product line they offered went as deep as a QAnon conspiracy and tickled the sybarite’s fancy like no other brand in cycling.
Back then, they offered a Shave Cream that went for what an entree at a good restaurant commands, and while the price drew blood from most bank accounts, there was no denying that it was far and away the nicest shave cream I had ever used. They sent me two tins of it and after every shave my face felt perceptibly softer. Babies’ butts envied me.
The Rapha Shave Cream felt creamy like the finest cake icing I’ve ever eaten and it carried a beguiling fragrance sounding notes of mint, rosemary and lavender that somehow maintained a masculine sensibility. It was all I could do not to eat the stuff.
As I neared the end of my second tin, I began to ration the stuff, saving it only for date night. I never actually finished that second tin, which is why it’s in this photo. That I didn’t finish it is less a statement about date night than the fact that I lived in a household with two kids under the age of five.
But as I neared the bottom of that oh-so-British can I began hunting for its replacement, something that felt as nice, even if it didn’t smell as handsome. Credit card receipts will show I searched both far and wide, going to such extremes as to bring stuff home from Taiwan and France. And nothing, absolutely nothing touched this stuff.
Then I was in Target, yes, that Target, a couple months ago and grabbed a tube of the Cremo Shave Cream in Coconut Mango. I was looking for something that I could use on both my face and legs and after popping the cap, concluded I’d enjoy moving through my day trailing notes of coconut and mango. At the time, I missed the fact that this was purported to be a women’s product, something I learned in the course of visiting the Cremo website as I was writing this review. I’m sharing that with you in case that sort of thing matters.
The first time I squeezed some onto my finger, I stopped and marveled at the concoction on my finger. A herald of angels sang, the heavens opened, dogs bayed and babies giggled. At long last, my search was over.
This stuff moves from shower to sink, depending on what I’m shaving, and that, Dear Reader, is a first in my life. And if you, like me, shave your legs, you’ll like how this stuff makes your skin feel. I’ve never been a spa person, but this seems like my version of a spa day, but in an affordable tube form.
I’m aware that sourcing most factory-produced products is much like printing a magazine. You go to a printer, select the weight of paper you want, choose a binding you want and decide on a page count and trim size and then hand over your files. Powdered drinks, toaster pastries and, yes, shave creams are all offered in similar ways by distributors. This is why I’d been hopeful of finding the Rapha Shave Cream under a different brand, if also a different scent.
At just $8.99 for a 6-oz. tube, I can attest that I won’t buy anything else unless I can’t find this stuff. Given the general ubiquity of Target, I’m not concerned about availability. Also, online ordering direct from Cremo is an option. Their suite of scents includes Almond Bloom, Bourbon Vanilla, Cooling, French Lavender, Heritage Green, Palo Santo, Sage & Citrus, Sandalwood, Vanilla Orchid and Vanilla Tonka. Most of these flavors scents I haven’t seen on shelves, so an online order may loom in my future.
Final thought: They make cologne and deodorant as well. I don’t use the former, but certainly I use the latter; I’m so in love with the shave cream I’m thinking of trying the cologne.