I was super excited when I opened the mailbox to find the sample pack I ordered from Trumpers waiting for me...just in time for today's shave. I tore into the package to find a nice linen drawstring bag. Packed inside were about 1/2 dozen colognes, along with a small sample of Rose, Violet, Almond, and Lime, shave creams plus Coral and Lime Skin Food samples.
Excitedly, I began opening the various creams to see which one I would get to shave with today. First the Rose...big sniff...hmmmmm...smells like roses. Instantly brings back memories of my early childhood when I would play with my grandmother's empty Avon bottles. Not an unpleasant smell, in fact, quite the contrary, but I don't want to smell like my Grandmother, either!
I had a similar reaction to the Violet...IMO a very feminine scent. The Almond, smelled like almonds...not bad, and the Lime was like Key Lime pie. Not the homemade kind that my mother used to make, but the frozen kind you get at the grocery store.
Since we are in the middle of this North Eastern heat wave, I thought the lime would be just the ticket. So I soaked my Tweezerman, put an almond sized chunk of cream in my shave mug, gave my brush a few shakes to get the extra water out, and began to work up the lather. And when I say work, I really had to work at this stuff to get the lather going. I found I needed to add more water than I expected to get it to bloom. I didn't want to put too much water in, so it was 3 drops, swirl-mash-swirl, 3 more drops swirl-mash-swirl, etc.
After about 5 minutes of working at it, I finally had a lather that seemed just right. I brushed it on my face, and it went on relatively thickly and smoothly. Gave my face that first pass, and instantly noticed that the slickness I have been getting from the German Palmolive shave stick I've been using for the past couple of weeks wasn't there. With the Palmolive, I'll lather up, do a pass with the razor, and my face will still feel slick. With this cream, I didn't get that. First pass WTG wasn't particularly close, either. 2nd pass, 3rd pass, same thing. For the 3rd pass, I added a bit more water to the brush and got more foamy lather, though not as thick as the first two.
Went for my touch-up run on my neck, and there was barely enough lather for one touch up pass on some of the problem areas of my neck. Instead of the BBS shaves I've had the last few times with my shave sticks, I was left with a DFS/CCS.
The Lime Skin Food was better. The scent was a little richer and spicier, and it felt really good on my face, but after the fact, my face doesn't feel as hydrated as it usually does with the cheapo Gillette ASB I've been using.
Maybe it's my humble, middle class, outlook on life, but I'm not sure I'm worthy of Geoff Trumper!
Excitedly, I began opening the various creams to see which one I would get to shave with today. First the Rose...big sniff...hmmmmm...smells like roses. Instantly brings back memories of my early childhood when I would play with my grandmother's empty Avon bottles. Not an unpleasant smell, in fact, quite the contrary, but I don't want to smell like my Grandmother, either!
I had a similar reaction to the Violet...IMO a very feminine scent. The Almond, smelled like almonds...not bad, and the Lime was like Key Lime pie. Not the homemade kind that my mother used to make, but the frozen kind you get at the grocery store.
Since we are in the middle of this North Eastern heat wave, I thought the lime would be just the ticket. So I soaked my Tweezerman, put an almond sized chunk of cream in my shave mug, gave my brush a few shakes to get the extra water out, and began to work up the lather. And when I say work, I really had to work at this stuff to get the lather going. I found I needed to add more water than I expected to get it to bloom. I didn't want to put too much water in, so it was 3 drops, swirl-mash-swirl, 3 more drops swirl-mash-swirl, etc.
After about 5 minutes of working at it, I finally had a lather that seemed just right. I brushed it on my face, and it went on relatively thickly and smoothly. Gave my face that first pass, and instantly noticed that the slickness I have been getting from the German Palmolive shave stick I've been using for the past couple of weeks wasn't there. With the Palmolive, I'll lather up, do a pass with the razor, and my face will still feel slick. With this cream, I didn't get that. First pass WTG wasn't particularly close, either. 2nd pass, 3rd pass, same thing. For the 3rd pass, I added a bit more water to the brush and got more foamy lather, though not as thick as the first two.
Went for my touch-up run on my neck, and there was barely enough lather for one touch up pass on some of the problem areas of my neck. Instead of the BBS shaves I've had the last few times with my shave sticks, I was left with a DFS/CCS.
The Lime Skin Food was better. The scent was a little richer and spicier, and it felt really good on my face, but after the fact, my face doesn't feel as hydrated as it usually does with the cheapo Gillette ASB I've been using.
Maybe it's my humble, middle class, outlook on life, but I'm not sure I'm worthy of Geoff Trumper!
