What am I doing wrong with Esbjerg Shaving Cream?

So here is what happened. I've read hundreds of reviews all over the Internet of wet shaving consumables and I have come to the following conclusion. Sure, the YMMV acronym works. I understand that. But one thing holds as well and that is crowd sourced opinions from large sample sizes are usually spot on. There is a reason hundreds or thousands of people who have tried a product never have anything bad to say about products that are at the top of the heap. In this thread http://damnfineshave.com/thread-a-seriou...am-reviews I wanted opinions on why I rarely read negative reviews. So last year I read an "award" given by another forum on a certain shaving cream. I was naive. So I tried it and found it wanting. I then questioned the criteria on how the "awards" were handed out and that went poorly as in no answers were forthcoming. I do not do well getting chastised for asking questions.

There was a warning there as this same shaving cream is never mentioned elsewhere as being a top tier product. I don't need to mention other names as you all know what they are. Pick some of the creams/soaps at the top of your lists and you simply WILL find many, many positive reviews about them and rarely anything negative. There is a reason the more obscure stuff is not raved about across the Internet and its not rarity. It's not unicorn hair. In todays world you can find about anything unless its discontinued. I read a handful (not dozens) but just a few reviews raving about this shaving cream. So I figured I'd give it a shot and bought a tub, a lesson I will not repeat unless is falls under the purview of being raved about universally (and you know which ones those are).

So I tried it again today following the advice I was provided here (THANK YOU), and maybe its just me but - it was like a creamy yogurt. It sure smelled great but it did not lather like others. You all know the others. Some creams you barely look at and they explode in lather. Some require minimal effort. This  was just a mess and simply did not "feel" right on my face. And I have soft water.

So I will just chalk this up to me. My fault. I couldn't get it to do what I wanted it to do. It simply did not feel right to me and if it required too much work, then there are others out there that take far less effort and worked better "for me". It might be better for you. I'll set it aside and come back to it some months in the future. There is actually a date on in of sometime in 2018 so its not like its going to go bad next month. So I learned something.

Thank you for the help.

grim fair enough, that's all you can do. Some brands just don't perform the same for everyone, but at least you tried.

I saw Esberg hyped recently on another forum. I'm always suspicious of hype campaigns that look strangely coordinated. That's not to say that it's automatically a bad product, but it's important to read impressions with a critical eye. If 50 people on a certain forum suddenly praise a product to high heaven after a certain retailer begins carrying it... Well, caution is warranted.

From what I've read of more credible reviewers though, I didn't get the impression that it was a top tier product like XPEC or SMN.

I guess you have to determine who the users are and how they tend to relate to your experience with various products. I know that sometimes there is a heard mentality and there will be a lot of people that suddenly try a product because someone else mentions it worked well for them. This wouldn't be a coordinated effort just something that happens, but it does take a few weeks or months to build up an interest on the grass roots level.

There are certainly a lot of products that get rave reviews that I'm not particularly partial too and others that rarely get mentioned or denigrated that I love. Guess it's all part of learning how things work and being a wary consumer.

I saw Esberg hyped recently on another forum. I'm always suspicious of hype campaigns that look strangely coordinated. That's not to say that it's automatically a bad product, but it's important to read impressions with a critical eye. If 50 people on a certain forum suddenly praise a product to high heaven after a certain retailer begins carrying it... Well, caution is warranted.

From what I've read of more credible reviewers though, I didn't get the impression that it was a top tier product like XPEC or SMN.

I guess you have to determine who the users are and how they tend to relate to your experience with various products. I know that sometimes there is a heard mentality and there will be a lot of people that suddenly try a product because someone else mentions it worked well for them. This wouldn't be a coordinated effort just something that happens, but it does take a few weeks or months to build up an interest on the grass roots level.

There are certainly a lot of products that get rave reviews that I'm not particularly partial too and others that rarely get mentioned or denigrated that I love. Guess it's all part of learning how things work and being a wary consumer.

True. Being a wary consumer is essential. But I do think there is a difference between genuine grassroots excitement and manufactured hype. I'd have thought the latter was extremely rare before getting into this hobby. I was wrong.

Esbjerg is a cream that I don't own nor have ever tried. Sounds interesting but I would agree with others that combining little coverage from a feedback perspective along with limited distribution and I can hold off.

I would say that if I take the time to write up thoughts or reviews on things, they are generally positive. More along the lines of "Hey, I tried this. Pretty good and here's why you should know about it" type of thing.

Negative experiences, I don't make the time but typically contact the vendor with some constructive feedback via quick note and, if asked, respond with honest thoughts online. Not a hype thing but more a time management thing which biases my feedback/posts to the positive as a rule.

Regardless, appreciate the insight into your experience grim as well as the tips from others that have used. May come in handy some day!

If anyone wants a cheap pot of Esbjerg cream go to Shavingstation . co. uk
They sell Verbena and sensitive for just under £9 for a full pot. I bought a spare Verbena

I find Esbjerg to be an excellent cream. After reading this thread I was inspired to use it this morning. Another excellent shave with a great product.
The cream in my tub looks much different when compared to yours grim. Mine is much more firm. In my opinion this cream is just as good as current XPEC and AdP. The only fault I find with Esbjerg is I need to use more product to get the lather like I want. I find it to perform beautifully though.

Hmmm, interesting. Hold old is yours?

Hmmm, interesting. Hold old is yours?

Approximately 1 year.

I think part of Grim's problem might be, that - as Merkur Man says - Esbjerg is a cream, that you need to use 50% extra of it compared to say Xpec and Acqua di Parma to get the same nice results and lather quailty.

Once you get this right, Esbjerg in my opinion is right up there fighting with the best.

On a good day, where I find the perfect ratio with Esbjerg, it even surpasses St. James cream and is on par with my Xpec.

On less fortunate, less focussed days, where I may not be in the 'zone' or perhaps is a bit stressed for time, I might not find the optimum ratio and balance, but I still will get a fantastic lather from my Esbjerg creams. I own all 5, all 5 are less than 8 months old, and I just bought an xtra Vebena, that was on sale at a shop for £9, and will use that this upcoming week.

Will report back there with my findings with this new cream, but I expect it to peform great as my other 5 Esbjerg creams do.

I would rate Esbjerg a 9.5/10 - it's a TOP performer for me

FYI I have rock hard water.

I take a lot more time building my lather, than guys with soft water.

If I have the time, I enjoy face lathering for 5-10 minutes to get the optimum balance between water, air and cream/soap to build the best lather possible.
Esbjerg takes a bit more effort to make the lather for a cream, than say the the 3 T's do, but it's well worth the time in my opinion.