Coate's Limited Edition Shaving Cream

[IanM]

I have only had one previous experience with Coates creams, and that's with an old tub of Sandalwood which I still have. It's nice stuff and lathers very well. I have also heard nice things about the Tea Tree version, so I was quite excited when I heard that Coates was being resurrected, and the first new 'flavour' was to be Tea Tree.

Packaging

Comes in a nice navy blue and cream coloured box that reminds the user that he's contributed a quid to the British Legion. Usual tub. The same type as used by Trumper and Taylor. The only real disappointment is that the screw-on lid has a paper label on it, instead of the logo etc being printed directly onto the lid like the old tubs, but it does match the box. Having said that, the label is nicely printed and looks like it might be pretty resilient to the usual rigours of shaving.

Scent

Nice mixture of the almost astringent Tea Tree, mixed with something sweeter (it says Rosemary on the box but I won't pretend that I can recognise it). The scent, overall, is fresh and pleasant.

In Use

This is where the scary stuff starts. The instructions read "dip the very ends of the brush bristles into the cream". The cream is very soft, much softer than the (slightly dehydrated) Sandalwood version that I have. As a result of this, I slightly over-cooked it, and almost had to send for the fire brigade to pump the lather from my bathroom and rescue me. It lathers like nothing else I have ever used. I have yet NOT to have had TOO MUCH lather. You only need a small amount of cream, and BOOM, it's everywhere!

The lather is nice and protective, slick, and it leaves my skin nice and soft. What more could you need?

Conclusion

Not cheap, but not the most expensive cream. Well worth a go if they produce a scent that you will like. I ordered 2 tubs, and I'm glad that I did!

 

[NatJag]

I'd like to add my comments on this cream.

First I should add what my experience is with creams and soaps so others can compare or disregard my writings. I really like trumpers products. Coconut and sandlewood cream, T&H didn't do it for me, at least from the sample pack. Palmolive shave stick is great value but the smell isn't great and Nannys citrus is good, I'd prefer a cream to soap. I also tried Olivia's cream and currently I'm on Penhaligons Opus 1870, oh and shave shacks blue beard revenge. I don't own many because I want to use them up before replacing them. I only purchased the Coate's as it was a limited edition and I didn't want to miss out.

Packaging
I prefer tubs that I can dip my brush into. My only negative was that when I received my pot, most was on the lid due to transit. Stuck on label or printed. I'm not fussed. I can identify from one pot to the next. It doesn't look cheap, thats the main thing.

Scent
If I'm honest, I didn't know what to expect when I ordered it. Tea Tree; I'd never smelt it in the past. Its not the best smell to me. It's washed off when you finish and preferable to the palmolive shave stick scent.

Performance
This is the most important part
Probably one of the best I have tried. Even when I had a poor lather and beard prep (ie not after a bath) I'd had a better shave than I would normally. As already mentioned, slick, protective. I like to dip my brush in creams, in-fact with penhaligons opus 1870 I transfered it from the tube to an empty trumpers tub for that reason. I think you need to use less this way. I used a travel brush, which is not the largest and it created enough lather for 3 passes with extra just to do one for the enjoyment factor.

My only negative comment (which isn't really negative) is the claim on the box that the is enough for approximately 100 shaves, which is a little over 3 months. I reckon you can get much more use than that, probably 6 months, based on previous experience with a similar sized tub and amount used daily. Of course if you get into lather city you will get less. You really don't need much. Just a covering on your bristles.

I'm waiting for other scents to be introduced into the market place. Highly likely I will replace one used soap or cream with coates in the future.

Edit:- Someone on another forum suggested the tubs were the previous original Coates tubs. I pulled the label off to see