I too bought renovateur early on. I see now that it's not all that necessary. Creme is more beneficial. It nourishes and recolours.

Renovateur would be useful if the leather is seriously dry, something I've never let happen to my shoes.

Unless you have many different colours of shoes and are on a budget, then the colour neutral renovateur makes sense as a first buy.

Good to know that you're looking to take care of your shoes more, it makes a lot of difference to its longevity.

If you're going the cream route, then you'll need a cleaner. As creams build up in the leather, you'll need a cleaner to remove old cream, otherwise new application of cream may not reach the leather to nourish them.

Then it comes to the point why a conditioner is needed. Depending on the cleaner you use, cleaners usually dry out the leather and hence, needing a conditioner that moisturises the leather better than cream.

Shoe care is a routine. If you wear them often, a few times a week, you may want to do the routine once a month. If once a week or lesser, you can stretch it to once every 3 months.

For my shoes, I'll clean, conditioner, cream and wax to a high shine. If got time, I'll mirror shine.