Mitchell & King 'Lily'

Cost:  £600 for 200ml

Date of Review:  12th July 2020

The Sales Pitch from Mitchell & King:

Lily, the ultimate in gloss.

The Story

Lily started life as a request by a collector, his sole request was to make the most glossy wax available, he wanted the best.

So, we delved into our recipe book and scoured for natural oils which had a 5-star rating for gloss. This also gave us an opportunity to sample some of the most expensive ingredients we have ever used. Available in such small numbers that we only produce 1 of these per year.

After much testing and prototypes, we decided on a long list of ingredients, each and every ingredient was active and had a specific job.

Knowing The Cars

As an enthusiast myself and with a long list of notes, I constantly referred to them, ensuring we were producing our very best. The process was purposely slow and measured.

The Blend

Lily is the most elegant wax we offer. It is made wholly with natural ingredients and is displayed within the most prestigious enclosure we have ever added.

The ingredients are certainly some of the most luxurious available and we have ensured that when you use this wax that you are completely blown away.

The Summary

If you require one of the glossiest and luxurious waxes available, Lily would be my choice.

Your new wax is complemented with a full range of our liquids with the 400ml wax.

Application & Tips 

Less is more…

Spritz microfibre pad with QD to ensure pad isn’t dry, apply wax to 1/3 of the pad, do not saturate pad.

Apply to whole car with microfibre applicator pad (you will receive one with your order)

Leave to cure for at least 30 minutes

Apply Two layers if possible to enhance effects

Boost longevity and gloss with Wax+

What You Get:

An aluminium flight case to hold your wax securely. There are to latches that are lockable if you need to with a small padlock. Lightweight and a sturdy feel with a comfortable handle.

Inside the case is a custom cut foam surround to hold the rosewood box. The box is customised to me as it’s the only wax of this pour size of the batch in 2019. The inside of the wooden box is revealed by a brass button on the front. White suede material and polished brass hinges completes the luxurious experience.

A heavy black glass jar holding 200ml of the hand blended wax.

You also get a top quality microfiber application pad to apply the wax.

Product Description:

This is a top of the range hand blended and a unique pour each year. The wax uses the best ingredients and some of them are very rare to make this wax do and perform how it does. This product is aimed at the very top end of the market to give you a gloss like no other. Its price point is based on the quality of the ingredients, and I appreciate that this is an incredible amount of money to rub onto the paintwork of your car.

Instructions:

I am going to assume that the car is clean, sealed, glazed etc. and ready for the wax application(s) of course. The rule of thumb for a wax paste application is little and often. This product is no different, less is definitely more.

For a start the product doesn’t feel like a normal off the shelf hard paste. The wax is white white a slight creamy look to it. Like I said above, this feels like a chilled butter block in the jar. You can tell this wax (and other top quality waxes like it) are oil based and very high levels of natural carnauba. The wax does not smell of artificial chemicals, it just smells natural and fresh, with a little watermelon fragrance barely noticeable and certainly not strong at all. I can’t think of a way to describe the scent other than that. Subtle I would say.

I would recommend leaving this to warm up a little in the sun (with the lid on to stop contaminates falling or flying into it. Cold or warm the product is a dream to apply, literally like smearing a fine layer of butter.

Spritz the applicator with a quick detailer to moisten the surface prior to taking the pad to the wax. This avoids a dry fibres micro marring the paint. Apply a small amount of the product onto the pad around a third of the pad, do not saturate the applicator pad. Apply to the paint using fingertip pressure.

At least two applications of the wax is recommended, with three being the normal. This wax can be layered no problem at all.

Application:

With the wax warmed up a little (completely optional, it doesn’t have to be warm up), rub a third of the pad into the jar to load the applicator with the product. Using circular overlapping motion apply the wax. You are not ‘working’ the wax like a compound, this is to apply a layer to the paint, the wax doesn’t need to pressed into the paint.

Here you can just about see the application of the wax by the distortion of the light.

Cover the complete car with the wax and then start the clock. A absolute minimum of thirty minutes for the wax to bond to the surface.

On discussions that I have had with Mitchell & King; they recommend the longer you can leave the wax on the car the better. two to three hours is good, six to ten hours is great, if you can leave overnight that’s the best. This is of course weather and atmosphere permitting. Don’t leave the wax on the car if it’s kicking up a sand storm or leave the car under a tree etc. Common sense please, like keep the car clean in a garage to protect it from the elements.

The application like I said before is spreading butter once it’s warmed up and it can be difficult to see where you have been.

Removing:

The usual way to test if paste wax is ready to be buffed is swipe a finger to see if the paste wipes away. If it does then you are ready to go. With this product that doesn’t work. It’s all about time and cure or bonding time. The product doesn’t evaporate in effect.

Removing the product is a breeze. Spritz a nice super plush microfibre with a quick detailer to make it slightly damp so no dry fibres are on the paint.

These pictures are after the second layer which was left on for a couple of hours.

The third layer was added a couple of weeks later and left for seven hours, on a cloudy and sunny day. After the day of the curing the wax just buffed straight off. No hard work to remove it. I turned to a new section of the microfibre after each panel.

There was no streaks, no chalking (white powder when buffing), no residue in the gaps, no hard bits. The product buffed to a shine with almost a single wipe of the cloth.

Frequent turning of the cloth or even two cloths makes for a silky smooth buffing.

Results:

After the third layer was buffed up these photos were taken just as the sun was late in the sky.

The depth of reflection goes as far as you can or want to see in the paint.

The slight metallic flecks in the paint absolutely popped. The gloss was there with crystal clear clarity. The car looks wet.

I even applied it to the chrome bumpers as well for a single coat and they look amazing. The stone chip’s reflection from the drive seem to appear on the car everywhere.

Just simply stunning.

Rating: 10 out 10

I can’t find a reason to knock it back marks, apart from the price maybe. It applies easy, it buffs of even easier.

The secret to a great gloss is the preparation. Like painting a wall, if you sand down the walls to be smooth then the results are going to be much better. The same principle here with wax. If you are to apply this to faded and marred paintwork, yes it will make it shiny to a degree, but it won’t make it a show car.

If you have a nice gloss on your car (like I thought I had), then this will take it to another level. With the sun on this car now it just looks like it’s still wet from the paint shop.

Ease of use – 10 out 10

Finish – 10 out 10

Conclusion;

I just love this wax.

It’s a faultless product and the best wax I have used to date, and I have used pretty much all of them. You will get the best out of the product by what you put into it. Preparation is the key to the product being its best it can be for that ultimate shine.

I did a comparison of waxes here for the ‘luxury off the shelf’ brands including their top of the range products, including an entry level hand blended wax. I couldn’t see much difference in shine apart from the warmth of the odd product on the paint. That was big name brand stuff. I still stand by that conclusion. But when you step up again a few runs on the wax ladder, there is indeed a difference. This review shows that difference.

Price! Yep, this is a silly amount of money, but it has taken Mitchell & King years to perfect this formula for the ultimate in gloss. The 200ml pour of wax is estimated to give you approximately 45 applications. So lets call it forty or so (for the sake of argument). So a cost of £600 for 40 applications is £15 each time you wax the car. It doesn’t seem so bad when you look at it that way does it? Will this product be in a sale? I haven’t seen it in a sale I must admit. But keep looking, you never know.

Longevity? Gloss is the most important thing here and being a natural product it’s not enhanced with silicon to make it last longer. So it won’t last as long. But if you are using this wax on a car – it’s not for a daily driver, unless you are loaded with surplus cash. Myself, I wax the car every few car shows anyway so it doesn’t matter to me the longevity. However there is an answer to make it last longer. An application of Mitchell & King’s ‘Wax+’ which will add the longevity coating to this top wax.

There are some waxes out there that cost £2000 or so for a pot. Would that wax be better than this? I can’t see it somehow as the gloss can only shine so much.

Would I recommend it? Oh Yes!

Would I buy it again? Yes. But, I would have to wait for a birthday or Christmas present maybe.