I rarely use chamois cream. If your bicycle is set up properly and you've got a good saddle, you greatly reduce your need for creams.
I do still use it if it looks like a good portion of a long, long ride is going to be in the rain. The skin gets more fragile when soaking wet.
I used to use it if it looked the ride was going to be extremely hot, but I don't do that anymore. Instead I use a roll-on antiperspirant.
And I do carry Ozonol (or something similar) if I need to deal with a particular painful spot ... again, quite rare.
I tested a bunch of different creams over the summer back in 2003 when I was preparing for the PBP, and discovered that for the most part, they made matters worse. I didn't particularly like any of them.