I bought a TOBS sampler back that has 16 of their highest selling scents. Each mini tub had 4-7 shaves worth in it, and I always do a three-pass shave. I’m going to place each product that I tried into 1 of 4 categories. Excellent, Good, Bad and Yuck. Along the way additional categories of ‘meh’ and ‘wrong’ were added. If a slash is separating two categories then I think it fits in both depending on mood OR it is in-between these two categories. Naturally, the key factors that determine where the product ranks are scent, performance and post-shave feel. Obviously, each of these is subjective so take my review as you will. My review is sorted alphabetically and is otherwise in no specific order.
General:
TOBS shaving creams are in my opinion extremely easy to use. Take an almond sized amount from the tub and place into/onto your wet brush. Begin face lathering on wet face and in a few moments you have thick, slick, cushioning lather and lots of it. It doesn’t feel sticky on the face like Proraso Green sometimes does and adding too much/too little water didn’t seem to really affect the overall quality ever. It doesn’t feel like it clogs the razor even when you’ve made a thick lather, rather it fills up underneath the razor plate. The scents of these creams usually run on the sweeter end as opposed to the ‘sportiness’ of most supermarket shave foams/gels and the neutral, clean scent of Proraso Green. There isn’t really any ‘edge’ to their scents, they’re largely gentle and if you like the scent; will be inoffensive but present. They don’t tend to linger very long either which is a plus for me, because cologne is the only thing that I wear for its scent. I don’t really discuss the scent notes in any meaningful detail, just perhaps a light explanation of what they smell like to me. If you want that info, look up the creams and their ingredient list. Overall, all of the creams make great lather, you can’t go wrong. The main distinguishing factors are scent and post-shave feel, the latter is often identical across the board except for in maybe 5 of the selection. Performance is almost always identical; I’ll tell you when it isn’t.
My Methodology:
I do a three-pass shave with a Merkur 33C. I face lather exclusively.
Reviews:
Almond:
Tier: Yuck
Wow does this smell and taste horrific. It is a ghastly scent in my opinion. I expected it to have an almond oil scent but instead it leans heavily into an ‘off marzipan’ almost medicinal scent. Like if Dimetapp and other cough syrups could expire, this is what this product would smell like to me. SinatraLennon, I wanted to like this stuff, I did. But wow, this is just terrible (at least for me). I have no idea how some people equate this to having a cherry scent. There is no fruitiness or freshness to this at all. I didn’t feel any positive effects to having almond in the formulation. It isn’t particularly more moisturising or slicker to my feel. That being said, it works like a TOBS product and lathers beautifully. I’m never, EVER buying this again and cannot recommend it at all to basically anyone.
Aloe Vera:
Tier: Excellent
Fantastic product! Love the fresh and light Aloe Vera scent. Not too strong, not too weak, just perfect imo. Definitely smells like the succulent with the mix of Aloe gel. This was one of, if not the only TOBS product that felt like there was an addition to performance from the aloe vera. It was way more hydrating and after rinsing my face after shaving my skin still felt like it had a lot (like a LOT) of slickness to it. It felt smoother, it shaved smoother, felt and looked like the lather was richer and was amazing. I loved it. Would absolutely recommend trying this product out to anyone. There is no way, you will dislike the scent as it’s pretty neutral and fresh and the performance is better than the average TOBS product in my opinion. Finishing off a shave and feeling my face afterwards, I definitely felt that it was better than usual. Obviously, I know what my face usually feels like before/during/after a shave and this was superior in my experience.
Avocado:
Tier: Bad, Wrong
Although, I place this in the bad and wrong tiers, I like the product. It has a fresh, waxy scent and works well on my skin. BUT, it has an unmistakable cucumber scent and not avocado. Maybe the rind of a really unripe avocado but there is no way, none at all that if you used it without knowing what it was called that you would identify it as avocado. The formulation for this product as far as I can tell also has no avocado in it at all and that makes this lose points for me. Like I said, I actually like the scent…it just isn’t avocado and there isn’t anything special about it other than that. Just typical TOBS (which is good but still….)
Cedarwood:
Tier: Excellent
I love this scent. You can be certain that the main scent is Cedarwood. It's Woody, musky, earthy with subtle hints of freshness, this scent really does it all as far as a ‘wood scented’ shave cream should imo. It felt a little more drying than other TOBS creams, but the intensity of the scent is a delight and outweighs its slight drying. Better than Sandalwood for me. If they made Sandalwood more like this then I’m sure I’d love their Sandalwood! Performed as expected but was a little drying in my experience. Loved it. It’s not simple, not overly complicated. If you want a masculine, woody shave cream try this one.
Coconut Luxury Shaving Cream:
Tier: Good
Thank God this doesn’t smell like coconut oil but rather a mix of coconut husk and coconut flesh. Personally, coconut oil is a smell that I really can’t tolerate in large doses and quantities and if it had that specific scent for a lather I probably would have washed it off and never used it again. It feels really nice on the skin, more moisturising than hydrating in my use. Using my boar brush made it feel like I was lathering with some coconut husk which I thought was pretty cool and added to the experience. I liked the scent. Great for summer, its beachy but not salty, not pina-colada-esque and not pungent. Performs a touch above most TOBS creams but not to the same extent as Aloe Vera in my use. Can recommend. It’s definitely not the fatty, rich coconut oil/milk scent that I expected but rather a medium weight coconut flesh and husk scent.
Eton College:
Tier: Good/Meh
This is a nice citrus scented shave cream with a mild bark undertone. It’s more a mix of deep orange and a hint of lemon with a bit of non-descript wood added in. It’s again let down by its sweetness which makes the cream feel a little too ‘warm’ when lathered onto the face. Nice scent but not refreshing or particularly relaxing. It’s just an ok enjoyable scent. TOBS performance is as expected. Unlike Grapefruit there isn’t a bitter tang to it at all, so there isn’t complexity to the scent. It’s just lots of orange, less lemon and even less bark. Good, definitely not great. Can recommend if these scents are for you but they aren’t for me (at least compared to others in the line-up).
Grapefruit:
Tier: Good
I’m a big citrus guy, I love eating the fruit, I find that I love the zesty tang that they provide and love the smell of them in general. Grapefruit isn’t meant to be a sweet fruit, but the shaving cream is arguably too sweetly scented for grapefruit. It’s not orange scented either and doesn’t have its dense citrus ‘flavour’ so it is clearly grapefruit and fills up the bathroom for the short while that you shave with it. There are actually oil extracts from grapefruit that is used in the formulation, which is nice, but I don’t feel that translate to enhanced performance, slickness or post-shave feel compared to baseline TOBS. Good overall. Not my favourite but certainly up there. If you like fruity, zesty scents and flavours this will be right up your alley.
Jeremyn Street Collection for Sensitive Skin:
Tier: Excellent
This product has a neutral, relatively weak but present scent that will not irritate your skin at all unless you are allergic to any of the ingredients. It basically mixes some of my favourite scents by adding in the goodness of aloe vera, coconut, cacao butter and allantoin which should help keep your skin moisturised, hydrated and protected during and after the shave. It’s one of the few neutral sweet/creamy leaning scents in the TOBS range and is one of my favourites. It’s creamier in scent like a floral/plant mixed with chocolate. Having all of the extras added into the formulation through extracts, acids and oils and not just fragrance is a big plus for me as well. Works well and definitely left an improved post shave feel compared to a lot of other TOBS creams. I have somewhat sensitive skin but not to the point that it is an issue usually. Keep that in mind if you do have very sensitive skin. I like the feel, scent and performance of this one. Can recommend.
Lavender:
Tier: Bad
I like my floral scents. Lavender, Rose, lily’s, geraniums, whatever. This doesn’t have a typical lavender scent, at least not what Australian grown lavender tends to smell like. Muskier and even spicy from my use. It has a darker scent pattern that I just couldn’t grow to like. I hoped for more of a mid-ranged deep lilac-lavender semi-perfume as opposed to this. It is still clearly lavender though, but too earthy for my taste. I just didn’t like it as much. It does however have lavender oil in it, but it doesn’t smell like lavender essential oil, so you don’t smell like your grandmother! It also comes in a purple colour which is very cool and looks really nice. It lathers white or maybe off white though. Typical TOBS performance in a scent that just wasn’t for me. Maybe it would be nicer to try shaving with it at night though? It was a rather relaxing feeling and scent...perhaps I'll test it another time.
Lemon & Lime:
Tier: Yuck
This is wayyy too sweet for me. Far sweeter than any other cream from the TOBS line-up that I tried. To me, it feels as though sugar has been added in during the manufacturing process. Like rubbing your face with a lolly. Hate it. Extremely sweet, more lime than lemon. Doesn’t feel citrusy at all. The tang and zest is enveloped by the sweetness. Bad. Hated it. Don’t recommend. Performed as TOBS performs though and it does have lemon and lime extracts in its formulation though like grapefruit the ingredients don’t add any benefit compared to TOBS which is just fragranced (baseline).
Mr Taylors:
Tier: Bad
This really just has a ‘meh’ incense scent to it. More of a weak, ashy wood than anything else really. Still sweet and like the rest of the wood scents, is somewhat more drying to me. It has average TOBS performance, but the scent is just not good imo. You’re better off buying cedarwood or sandalwood over this one. In fact, this is like a poor mans mix of both. Don’t recommend at all.
Peppermint:
Tier: Good/Bad (depends on my mood I guess)
Scent and flavour is akin to a peppermint candy cane. Best way I can sum it up. If you’ve had one of those, it is extremely similar BUT it doesn’t feel sugary. There is a minty, mentholated feeling that is not overpowering at all and provides a pleasant but noticeable cooling sensation both as you shave and as you rinse. Not quite as fresh as I’d like a mint scented shave cream to be but all TOBS as I said seem to lean ‘sweeter’ than ‘crisp’. Performance was TOBS standard and it is the only cream which leaves a menthol cooling sensation. Can’t really say it’s good for my taste but it’s not bad. Maybe seasonally I would like it? Around Christmas time this would be really fun, but I prefer my Proraso green for a mentholated and refreshing product over this one.
Platinum Collection:
Tier: Good/Meh
It’s basically watered-down ‘Mr. Taylors’ with what smells like a hint of talcum powder added in. It actually smells a little bit metallic and so the name, ‘platinum collection’ actually kind of makes sense. It’s a nice neutral scent (one of the only non-overly sweet scents in the TOBS range) that makes it a good change of pace but ultimately is nothing special. It is slicker and creamier than baseline TOBS though, so performance is noticeably better...Just a shame that the scent isn't great imo.
Rose:
Tier: Excellent
One of my favourite offerings from TOBS. A nice rose scent that is very botanical, floral, fresh and clean. The accompanying scents add a lightly spiced, earthy and woody base that is just subtle enough to add to the overall experience instead of taking away from the rose. It is still a masculine scent and since it is a shaving cream you aren’t going to be smelling of it for long anyway. Stop and smell the roses, this is fantastic! Formulation contains rose extract too, but performance is standard for TOBS. Love this scent, love how its slightly pink (makes it fun from the bland white creams). Not too sweet, but stereotypically correct for a nice, healthy rose.
Sandalwood:
Tier: Bad
Coming from a cultural background which extensively uses sandalwood (both the physical wood and its scent) I was disappointed by the scent profile of this specific shave cream. I personally love the scent of sandalwood; it reminds me of family and many holidays and good times. TOBS Sandalwood lacks the punch that I wanted. I expected it to be crisp, sharp, earthy and wooden. Instead it’s a hollow, ashy, sweetened scent that’s more akin to musk lollies than sandalwood. It’s not an off-putting scent hence why it isn’t in “yuck”, but I wouldn’t buy it again. It works well but considering this seems to be the holy grail of TOBS both by their own admission and the communities I found it underwhelming. Personally, the scent just doesn’t do it for me. Works well of course, as all of TOBS shave creams do but isn’t the sandalwood that I wanted.
St. James:
Tier: Meh
This smells like high-end shave gel to me. Its got a ‘sporty moss’ kind of vibe. It is sophisticated and has different layers to it but at the end of the day it is a rather simple scent. Kind of citrusy, kind of mossy with some musk and wood but really it smells like high end shave gel to me. Lathers like TOBS should and doesn’t have any different post shave feel. If you love standard shave gels from brands like nivea (at least scent wise) then you’ll like this one. Clean and sporty are the buzz words if I haven’t said it enough.
General:
TOBS shaving creams are in my opinion extremely easy to use. Take an almond sized amount from the tub and place into/onto your wet brush. Begin face lathering on wet face and in a few moments you have thick, slick, cushioning lather and lots of it. It doesn’t feel sticky on the face like Proraso Green sometimes does and adding too much/too little water didn’t seem to really affect the overall quality ever. It doesn’t feel like it clogs the razor even when you’ve made a thick lather, rather it fills up underneath the razor plate. The scents of these creams usually run on the sweeter end as opposed to the ‘sportiness’ of most supermarket shave foams/gels and the neutral, clean scent of Proraso Green. There isn’t really any ‘edge’ to their scents, they’re largely gentle and if you like the scent; will be inoffensive but present. They don’t tend to linger very long either which is a plus for me, because cologne is the only thing that I wear for its scent. I don’t really discuss the scent notes in any meaningful detail, just perhaps a light explanation of what they smell like to me. If you want that info, look up the creams and their ingredient list. Overall, all of the creams make great lather, you can’t go wrong. The main distinguishing factors are scent and post-shave feel, the latter is often identical across the board except for in maybe 5 of the selection. Performance is almost always identical; I’ll tell you when it isn’t.
My Methodology:
I do a three-pass shave with a Merkur 33C. I face lather exclusively.
Reviews:
Almond:
Tier: Yuck
Wow does this smell and taste horrific. It is a ghastly scent in my opinion. I expected it to have an almond oil scent but instead it leans heavily into an ‘off marzipan’ almost medicinal scent. Like if Dimetapp and other cough syrups could expire, this is what this product would smell like to me. SinatraLennon, I wanted to like this stuff, I did. But wow, this is just terrible (at least for me). I have no idea how some people equate this to having a cherry scent. There is no fruitiness or freshness to this at all. I didn’t feel any positive effects to having almond in the formulation. It isn’t particularly more moisturising or slicker to my feel. That being said, it works like a TOBS product and lathers beautifully. I’m never, EVER buying this again and cannot recommend it at all to basically anyone.
Aloe Vera:
Tier: Excellent
Fantastic product! Love the fresh and light Aloe Vera scent. Not too strong, not too weak, just perfect imo. Definitely smells like the succulent with the mix of Aloe gel. This was one of, if not the only TOBS product that felt like there was an addition to performance from the aloe vera. It was way more hydrating and after rinsing my face after shaving my skin still felt like it had a lot (like a LOT) of slickness to it. It felt smoother, it shaved smoother, felt and looked like the lather was richer and was amazing. I loved it. Would absolutely recommend trying this product out to anyone. There is no way, you will dislike the scent as it’s pretty neutral and fresh and the performance is better than the average TOBS product in my opinion. Finishing off a shave and feeling my face afterwards, I definitely felt that it was better than usual. Obviously, I know what my face usually feels like before/during/after a shave and this was superior in my experience.
Avocado:
Tier: Bad, Wrong
Although, I place this in the bad and wrong tiers, I like the product. It has a fresh, waxy scent and works well on my skin. BUT, it has an unmistakable cucumber scent and not avocado. Maybe the rind of a really unripe avocado but there is no way, none at all that if you used it without knowing what it was called that you would identify it as avocado. The formulation for this product as far as I can tell also has no avocado in it at all and that makes this lose points for me. Like I said, I actually like the scent…it just isn’t avocado and there isn’t anything special about it other than that. Just typical TOBS (which is good but still….)
Cedarwood:
Tier: Excellent
I love this scent. You can be certain that the main scent is Cedarwood. It's Woody, musky, earthy with subtle hints of freshness, this scent really does it all as far as a ‘wood scented’ shave cream should imo. It felt a little more drying than other TOBS creams, but the intensity of the scent is a delight and outweighs its slight drying. Better than Sandalwood for me. If they made Sandalwood more like this then I’m sure I’d love their Sandalwood! Performed as expected but was a little drying in my experience. Loved it. It’s not simple, not overly complicated. If you want a masculine, woody shave cream try this one.
Coconut Luxury Shaving Cream:
Tier: Good
Thank God this doesn’t smell like coconut oil but rather a mix of coconut husk and coconut flesh. Personally, coconut oil is a smell that I really can’t tolerate in large doses and quantities and if it had that specific scent for a lather I probably would have washed it off and never used it again. It feels really nice on the skin, more moisturising than hydrating in my use. Using my boar brush made it feel like I was lathering with some coconut husk which I thought was pretty cool and added to the experience. I liked the scent. Great for summer, its beachy but not salty, not pina-colada-esque and not pungent. Performs a touch above most TOBS creams but not to the same extent as Aloe Vera in my use. Can recommend. It’s definitely not the fatty, rich coconut oil/milk scent that I expected but rather a medium weight coconut flesh and husk scent.
Eton College:
Tier: Good/Meh
This is a nice citrus scented shave cream with a mild bark undertone. It’s more a mix of deep orange and a hint of lemon with a bit of non-descript wood added in. It’s again let down by its sweetness which makes the cream feel a little too ‘warm’ when lathered onto the face. Nice scent but not refreshing or particularly relaxing. It’s just an ok enjoyable scent. TOBS performance is as expected. Unlike Grapefruit there isn’t a bitter tang to it at all, so there isn’t complexity to the scent. It’s just lots of orange, less lemon and even less bark. Good, definitely not great. Can recommend if these scents are for you but they aren’t for me (at least compared to others in the line-up).
Grapefruit:
Tier: Good
I’m a big citrus guy, I love eating the fruit, I find that I love the zesty tang that they provide and love the smell of them in general. Grapefruit isn’t meant to be a sweet fruit, but the shaving cream is arguably too sweetly scented for grapefruit. It’s not orange scented either and doesn’t have its dense citrus ‘flavour’ so it is clearly grapefruit and fills up the bathroom for the short while that you shave with it. There are actually oil extracts from grapefruit that is used in the formulation, which is nice, but I don’t feel that translate to enhanced performance, slickness or post-shave feel compared to baseline TOBS. Good overall. Not my favourite but certainly up there. If you like fruity, zesty scents and flavours this will be right up your alley.
Jeremyn Street Collection for Sensitive Skin:
Tier: Excellent
This product has a neutral, relatively weak but present scent that will not irritate your skin at all unless you are allergic to any of the ingredients. It basically mixes some of my favourite scents by adding in the goodness of aloe vera, coconut, cacao butter and allantoin which should help keep your skin moisturised, hydrated and protected during and after the shave. It’s one of the few neutral sweet/creamy leaning scents in the TOBS range and is one of my favourites. It’s creamier in scent like a floral/plant mixed with chocolate. Having all of the extras added into the formulation through extracts, acids and oils and not just fragrance is a big plus for me as well. Works well and definitely left an improved post shave feel compared to a lot of other TOBS creams. I have somewhat sensitive skin but not to the point that it is an issue usually. Keep that in mind if you do have very sensitive skin. I like the feel, scent and performance of this one. Can recommend.
Lavender:
Tier: Bad
I like my floral scents. Lavender, Rose, lily’s, geraniums, whatever. This doesn’t have a typical lavender scent, at least not what Australian grown lavender tends to smell like. Muskier and even spicy from my use. It has a darker scent pattern that I just couldn’t grow to like. I hoped for more of a mid-ranged deep lilac-lavender semi-perfume as opposed to this. It is still clearly lavender though, but too earthy for my taste. I just didn’t like it as much. It does however have lavender oil in it, but it doesn’t smell like lavender essential oil, so you don’t smell like your grandmother! It also comes in a purple colour which is very cool and looks really nice. It lathers white or maybe off white though. Typical TOBS performance in a scent that just wasn’t for me. Maybe it would be nicer to try shaving with it at night though? It was a rather relaxing feeling and scent...perhaps I'll test it another time.
Lemon & Lime:
Tier: Yuck
This is wayyy too sweet for me. Far sweeter than any other cream from the TOBS line-up that I tried. To me, it feels as though sugar has been added in during the manufacturing process. Like rubbing your face with a lolly. Hate it. Extremely sweet, more lime than lemon. Doesn’t feel citrusy at all. The tang and zest is enveloped by the sweetness. Bad. Hated it. Don’t recommend. Performed as TOBS performs though and it does have lemon and lime extracts in its formulation though like grapefruit the ingredients don’t add any benefit compared to TOBS which is just fragranced (baseline).
Mr Taylors:
Tier: Bad
This really just has a ‘meh’ incense scent to it. More of a weak, ashy wood than anything else really. Still sweet and like the rest of the wood scents, is somewhat more drying to me. It has average TOBS performance, but the scent is just not good imo. You’re better off buying cedarwood or sandalwood over this one. In fact, this is like a poor mans mix of both. Don’t recommend at all.
Peppermint:
Tier: Good/Bad (depends on my mood I guess)
Scent and flavour is akin to a peppermint candy cane. Best way I can sum it up. If you’ve had one of those, it is extremely similar BUT it doesn’t feel sugary. There is a minty, mentholated feeling that is not overpowering at all and provides a pleasant but noticeable cooling sensation both as you shave and as you rinse. Not quite as fresh as I’d like a mint scented shave cream to be but all TOBS as I said seem to lean ‘sweeter’ than ‘crisp’. Performance was TOBS standard and it is the only cream which leaves a menthol cooling sensation. Can’t really say it’s good for my taste but it’s not bad. Maybe seasonally I would like it? Around Christmas time this would be really fun, but I prefer my Proraso green for a mentholated and refreshing product over this one.
Platinum Collection:
Tier: Good/Meh
It’s basically watered-down ‘Mr. Taylors’ with what smells like a hint of talcum powder added in. It actually smells a little bit metallic and so the name, ‘platinum collection’ actually kind of makes sense. It’s a nice neutral scent (one of the only non-overly sweet scents in the TOBS range) that makes it a good change of pace but ultimately is nothing special. It is slicker and creamier than baseline TOBS though, so performance is noticeably better...Just a shame that the scent isn't great imo.
Rose:
Tier: Excellent
One of my favourite offerings from TOBS. A nice rose scent that is very botanical, floral, fresh and clean. The accompanying scents add a lightly spiced, earthy and woody base that is just subtle enough to add to the overall experience instead of taking away from the rose. It is still a masculine scent and since it is a shaving cream you aren’t going to be smelling of it for long anyway. Stop and smell the roses, this is fantastic! Formulation contains rose extract too, but performance is standard for TOBS. Love this scent, love how its slightly pink (makes it fun from the bland white creams). Not too sweet, but stereotypically correct for a nice, healthy rose.
Sandalwood:
Tier: Bad
Coming from a cultural background which extensively uses sandalwood (both the physical wood and its scent) I was disappointed by the scent profile of this specific shave cream. I personally love the scent of sandalwood; it reminds me of family and many holidays and good times. TOBS Sandalwood lacks the punch that I wanted. I expected it to be crisp, sharp, earthy and wooden. Instead it’s a hollow, ashy, sweetened scent that’s more akin to musk lollies than sandalwood. It’s not an off-putting scent hence why it isn’t in “yuck”, but I wouldn’t buy it again. It works well but considering this seems to be the holy grail of TOBS both by their own admission and the communities I found it underwhelming. Personally, the scent just doesn’t do it for me. Works well of course, as all of TOBS shave creams do but isn’t the sandalwood that I wanted.
St. James:
Tier: Meh
This smells like high-end shave gel to me. Its got a ‘sporty moss’ kind of vibe. It is sophisticated and has different layers to it but at the end of the day it is a rather simple scent. Kind of citrusy, kind of mossy with some musk and wood but really it smells like high end shave gel to me. Lathers like TOBS should and doesn’t have any different post shave feel. If you love standard shave gels from brands like nivea (at least scent wise) then you’ll like this one. Clean and sporty are the buzz words if I haven’t said it enough.
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Thanks for spending the time to do this.
