I read so many glowing reviews for this product that I was sure my husband would love it. Unfortunately, as soon as he applied this cream to his skin and started shaving, he told that it caused an unpleasant tingling sensation, which soon turned into a mild burning.
I decided to use this "crema da barba", made in Italy to shave my leg. The cream is very smooth and lathers well, but I didn't like the smell at all: it was too strong & too cheap. Obviously, scent is a very personal thing, so please don't concentrate on this part of the review too much.
I didn't feel any tingling - just a little bit of a cooling effect on my legs. While shaving legs, I accidentally touched my face with my hand, and right away I felt what my husband was describing before. I washed the cream away within seconds. I also looked at the ingredients used in it, and I believe that menthol can cause this irritation. Unfortunately, the label doesn't indicate the percentage used, so it is difficult to say for sure which component may have caused this unpleasant tingling. Also, because menthol has an ability to quickly penetrate the skin layers, it can carry other chemical compounds with it. One of the components in this shaving cream is sodium borate, which is safe for use in cosmetics up to a specified concentration limit (in concentrations less than or equal to 5%), but as I mentioned earlier, the % used is not specified on the label, so at this point we can only guess. At 5% and higher boric acid should not be used on infant or injured skin as it causes irritation.
If you don't have a sensitive skin, give it a try, but my husband will have to go back to "Cremo Cream" & "Art of Shaving" creams.
