High-quality skincare products for cyclists, but they'll cost you
There’s a huge proliferation of companies doing chamois cream these days, with even most large clothing brands now having their own versions, including the likes of Castelli and Rapha. What there are fewer of, though, is skin-friendly salves, oils and ointments that cover other elements of the cyclist’s daily life.
Enter VeloSkin, with a core range of three products (chamois cream, soothing gel and shave cream), plus a daily moisturiser and post-shave balm recently added to the stable. We tested the brand’s Sportive Pack, which combines those three core products. VeloSkin’s products, made in the UK, are designed to keep your skin in good conditions through the sun, wind, rain, hail and snow we ride through.
“VeloSkin is a British brand with a British supply chain,” says the company’s founder, Chris Bairstow. “Our lab and factory is based in Yorkshire, where a significant cascade of elite and pro riders have come from over the decades. It’s grim up north and performance is a must, hence why a significant amount of testing was carried out there.
Veloskin’s Sportive Bundle includes a shave cream, soothing gel and chamois cream
“The area also experiences typically British weather from cold to wet, windy to icy, as well as the occasional hot outburst. It really gave us a spectrum of weather to ensure our technical products worked for the the rider and provided maximum protection.”
Soothing gel
I got on brilliantly with VeloSkin’s soothing gel and it’s the star of this line-up. Intended for use post-ride, the substance is very runny, with a little bit of a minty afterburn on contact with the skin – which put me in mind of Original Source shower gel. After
the not-unpleasing tingling sensation subsides, though, the product really does its best work. In the month of intensive riding I’ve been doing to put this collection to the test, it was the days where I forgot to apply the soothing gel after a ride that were the most uncomfortable.
Chamois cream
My initial impression of VeloSkin’s chamois cream was that it looked very thick and paste-like – more like a hair styling product than a chamois cream. Still, once applied, it did the job, and had a pleasing but unobtrusive fragrance to go along with the expected chafe-reduction properties.
Shave cream
I had a few difficulties with the shaving cream to begin with, finding it to be a bit runny and unable to get it to adhere to my skin long enough to shave a whole leg. I wondered if there was something I wasn’t getting, so contacted the makers to see if they could advise. It turns out you have to give the cream a good old lather when applied to wet skin, allowing some time to work it up into a proper thick cream. After that all was hunky dory.
VeloSkin’s range has been designed to protect your skin in all conditions
Packaging
It’s a small thing, but the packaging VeloSkin sent out the Sportive Pack in was really quite lovely, with carefully considered branding, bringing a sense of occasion to what is ostensibly the arrival of gooch cream.
“We have used a small Yorkshire based print house for all our print materials, boxes and mailing boxes,” said Bairstow when we asked about the importance of attention to detail. “They were able to work with us to ensure wastage was mitigated and to provide a really great looking packaging. Our tins were designed and made to our specific requirements by a firm based in Derbyshire near to the Peak District. We wanted a really quality finish.”
Conclusion
Veloskin have clearly put a lot of time and effort into their product, with careful branding and some nice packaging adding to the sense that something special has arrived in the post. While the shaving cream took a bit of getting used to, the soothing gel and chamois cream worked exactly as expected. It’s a very congested market, but with a British backstory and new products being added to the range, Veloskin has a good chance of making an impact.
Pros
Top quality product
The soothing gel will become a real post-ride favourite
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