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Taylor of Old Bond Street- Shaving Cream for Sensitive Skin (Review)

Greetings, everyone. This is the first in a series of product reviews which I intend to post over the coming days/weeks.
Ever since I started wet shaving, Taylor of Old Bond Street is a name that has popped up very frequently, especially when the discussion is about the finest and most luxurious shaving products in the world. I always wanted to get my hands on one of their products. So, I cannot be blamed for having very high expectations when I ordered a tub of their Shaving Cream for Sensitive Skin (The Jermyn Street Collection). I am aware that their Sandalwood is far more popular and is the original variant, but the general consensus seemed to be that the Sensitive Skin cream was their best. I think I saw a YouTube video once, where the manager of Taylor of Old Bond Street himself claims that the SS cream is his personal favourite.
Now, a bit of context. For me, spending 1350 Rupees (~$20 or 16 British Pounds) on a shaving cream is a huge deal, especially in a country where creams in shops are generally sold for 65 Rupees (~$1 or 0.77 British Pound). I usually cannot afford something like that, so this was a special treat for me.
The first thing that I noticed when I opened the tub was, of course, the scent. Oh, what a wonderful scent it is! It is a complex, sophisticated and an extremely pleasant fragrance. I detected mild notes of citrus, vanilla, and so many other things. In an inexplicable way, it almost smells of luxury, and I fell in love with the scent almost immediately.
Next comes the actual performance of the cream. This is where I found the cream to be lacking. I took a small amount, and it lathered up really quickly and beautifully, creating a thick and voluminous lather. But, unfortunately, volume does not equal slickness. When I finished my first pass, I realized that the cream was really dry. I hoped that it would get slicker with the subsequent passes, but it did not. It gave me a proper amount of protection during the shave, but not much residual slickness after it, meaning that the post-shave feel was dry and mostly devoid of moisture. I have heard a few people complaining that the cream dissipated on their faces, but that certainly did not happen with me. I believe the lather is intrinsically quite dry, and it does not need to dissipate to "achieve" dryness.
Overall, the fact that most of my locally bought mass-manufactured creams are slicker than this is a bit of a disappointment. A pro is that the tub contains 5.2 ounces/147 grams of cream, so it will last you quite a while, provided that you can bear with its disappointing lack of slickness. It is not a bad product by any means, but it is certainly not up to the mark. What it certainly is is a "luxury" product, as advertised, because it is presumably aimed primarily at those who can afford to buy expensive creams only on the basis of scent, and not much else.
Overall ratings (on a scale of 1-10):
Protection and cushion- 6
Slickness- 3
Ease of lathering- 8
Scent- 9.5
Value for money- 5
MEAN SCORE- 6.3/10
 
I haven't tried the Sensitive Skin version of TOBS yet, but the ones that I have tried have been decent performers. Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you.
 
That lavender dissapates on my face. How to lather it and how much to use? Bowl lathering do not help either.
Never had a problem with that. You could have gotten a dried out, old and bad tub. You should have a fresh strong scent as well. I shave in the shower and face lather. Couple of dabs on the face and then wet the brush and shake the water off and then start the lather. Your cream should be mostly soft and not hard like a paste. I have ordered some TOBS samples that were old and hard and were not good. The scent was faint as well telling me these samples were old and stale.
 
Greetings, everyone. This is the first in a series of product reviews which I intend to post over the coming days/weeks.
Ever since I started wet shaving, Taylor of Old Bond Street is a name that has popped up very frequently, especially when the discussion is about the finest and most luxurious shaving products in the world. I always wanted to get my hands on one of their products. So, I cannot be blamed for having very high expectations when I ordered a tub of their Shaving Cream for Sensitive Skin (The Jermyn Street Collection). I am aware that their Sandalwood is far more popular and is the original variant, but the general consensus seemed to be that the Sensitive Skin cream was their best. I think I saw a YouTube video once, where the manager of Taylor of Old Bond Street himself claims that the SS cream is his personal favourite.
Now, a bit of context. For me, spending 1350 Rupees (~$20 or 16 British Pounds) on a shaving cream is a huge deal, especially in a country where creams in shops are generally sold for 65 Rupees (~$1 or 0.77 British Pound). I usually cannot afford something like that, so this was a special treat for me.
The first thing that I noticed when I opened the tub was, of course, the scent. Oh, what a wonderful scent it is! It is a complex, sophisticated and an extremely pleasant fragrance. I detected mild notes of citrus, vanilla, and so many other things. In an inexplicable way, it almost smells of luxury, and I fell in love with the scent almost immediately.
Next comes the actual performance of the cream. This is where I found the cream to be lacking. I took a small amount, and it lathered up really quickly and beautifully, creating a thick and voluminous lather. But, unfortunately, volume does not equal slickness. When I finished my first pass, I realized that the cream was really dry. I hoped that it would get slicker with the subsequent passes, but it did not. It gave me a proper amount of protection during the shave, but not much residual slickness after it, meaning that the post-shave feel was dry and mostly devoid of moisture. I have heard a few people complaining that the cream dissipated on their faces, but that certainly did not happen with me. I believe the lather is intrinsically quite dry, and it does not need to dissipate to "achieve" dryness.
Overall, the fact that most of my locally bought mass-manufactured creams are slicker than this is a bit of a disappointment. A pro is that the tub contains 5.2 ounces/147 grams of cream, so it will last you quite a while, provided that you can bear with its disappointing lack of slickness. It is not a bad product by any means, but it is certainly not up to the mark. What it certainly is is a "luxury" product, as advertised, because it is presumably aimed primarily at those who can afford to buy expensive creams only on the basis of scent, and not much else.
Overall ratings (on a scale of 1-10):
Protection and cushion- 6
Slickness- 3
Ease of lathering- 8
Scent- 9.5
Value for money- 5
MEAN SCORE- 6.3/10
I've had similar problems with well regarded european creams/ soaps.
Both my Tabac cream & my Truefitt& Hill luxury soap are sub par performers when compared to Godrej & especially the Biotique cream. The European products smell great, but that's all they have going for them.
 
I've had similar problems with well regarded european creams/ soaps.
Both my Tabac cream & my Truefitt& Hill luxury soap are sub par performers when compared to Godrej & especially the Biotique cream. The European products smell great, but that's all they have going for them.
"Maca Root"
That is pretty funny, especially considering the price difference.
 
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Next comes the actual performance of the cream. This is where I found the cream to be lacking. I took a small amount, and it lathered up really quickly and beautifully, creating a thick and voluminous lather. But, unfortunately, volume does not equal slickness. When I finished my first pass, I realized that the cream was really dry. I hoped that it would get slicker with the subsequent passes, but it did not. It gave me a proper amount of protection during the shave, but not much residual slickness after it, meaning that the post-shave feel was dry and mostly devoid of moisture. I have heard a few people complaining that the cream dissipated on their faces, but that certainly did not happen with me. I believe the lather is intrinsically quite dry, and it does not need to dissipate to "achieve" dryness.

I would encourage you to keep at it. I can assure you that if that was your experience, you probably haven't fully coaxed maximum performance out of it yet.

I started this hobby two years ago with a tub of Jermyn St, and totally finished it. I then went on to try many other good soaps and creams, including MWF, a couple pucks of Fine, Sudsy Soapery, several pucks of Stirling, Castle Forbes, Godrej shaving round, St. James of London, etc. By coincidence, I'm working through another tub of Jermyn St again (have been for two weeks now), and today I could barely feel the razor it was so slick, and post shave feel was moist and excellent. Definitely a top notch product, and I have very sensitive skin so I'm pretty picky.

My method is influenced by the Marco soap lathering method and works well for TOBS. Maybe if I share it it will help you:

1. Soak brush in mug while showering.
2. I swirl my finger in the tub to get a large snurdle of product, like a very large almond (you said you used a small amount; I recommend you use more like what I just described).
3. Pull brush out of mug, with bristles aimed up. I don't shake the brush out and leave it very wet as per Marco method.
4. Place snurdle of cream into center of brush bristles.
5. Face lather.
6. I find my brush, despite being wet, doesn't always get me there in terms of moisture, because some of the water can run away down my face while face lathering. I ended up having to dip the tips in the mug once and continue lathering, and then dip a second time and lather more to get the lather moist enough. While you can get a decent looking "bloom" of lather without doing this, it will be too dry to fully protect your face, and will leave the post shave too dry. I think from your description this may have happened to you.

So I recommend both more product and more water, and be consistent about using it exclusively for a few weeks to really gain experience with it and get it dialed in. I still think you will end up getting your money's worth out of it.
 
That is pretty funny, especially considering the price difference.

In the world of shaving products, I have found that price does not necessarily equate to performance.
Individual preference counts for more.
I suppose that is the basis for YMMV.

In the case of the Tabac cream, while it is quite slick on my skin, & smells great, I have trouble getting it to lather.
I usually use it like a brushless cream, & used so, it performs well enough.
I have read on this forum that Tabac soap is better than the cream & does not have the same lathering problems.
Perhaps I'll try it later, but with the creams performance in mind, it wont be any time soon.
Maurer & Wirtz are essentially perfumers, not shaving product manufacturers. Their 4711 is my favorite AS.

In the case of the T & H luxury soap, it is a decent performer, but not great.
Both the Tabac & the T&H have their place on my shelves, but not in my daily rotation.
I have found the Italian Palmolives to be the best performing of my European creams, & both of them are great.
Both have a place in my daily rotation, although I have a slight preference for the mentholated one.

I should mention here that I have a system for shaving creams & products: -
Those that are not "good enough", I PIF, usually to my nephew, brother etc.
What does not suit me may suit someone else & so far they have liked the stuff.
Those that are good enough find a place on my shelves.
Those that are great find a place in my daily rotation.
There are 6 products in my daily rotation: -
The Biotique, the two European Palmolives, the two Dettols, & Godrej Menthol. (The Biotique is the best.)
I use these on working days, unless I am in a hurry, in which case it has to be Gillette/Nivea gel applied brushless from a tube & a 3 blade cart. (I'll never use the cans again.)
On Sunday I select one of the other products from my shelves at random.
Since there are quite a few, it's going to take a long time to use them up.
 
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In the world of shaving products, I have found that price does not necessarily equate to performance.
Individual preference counts for more.
I suppose that is the basis for YMMV.

In the case of the Tabac cream, while it is quite slick on my skin, & smells great, I have trouble getting it to lather.
I usually use it like a brushless cream, & used so, it performs well enough.
I have read on this forum that Tabac soap is better than the cream & does not have the same lathering problems.
Perhaps I'll try it later, but with the creams performance in mind, it wont be any time soon.
Maurer & Wirtz are essentially perfumers, not shaving product manufacturers. Their 4711 is my favorite AS.

In the case of the T & H luxury soap, it is a decent performer, but not great.
Both the Tabac & the T&H have their place on my shelves, but not in my daily rotation.
I have found the Italian Palmolives to be the best performing of my European creams, & both of them are great.
Both have a place in my daily rotation, although I have a slight preference for the mentholated one.

I should mention here that I have a system for shaving creams & products: -
Those that are not "good enough", I PIF, usually to my nephew, brother etc.
What does not suit me may suit someone else & so far they have liked the stuff.
Those that are good enough find a place on my shelves.
Those that are great find a place in my daily rotation.
There are 6 products in my daily rotation: -
The Biotique, the two European Palmolives, the two Dettols, & Godrej Menthol. (The Biotique is the best.)
I use these on working days, unless I am in a hurry, in which case it has to be Gillette/Nivea gel applied brushless from a tube & a 3 blade cart. (I'll never use the cans again.)
On Sunday I select one of the other products from my shelves at random.
Since there are quite a few, it's going to take a long time to use them up.

Nice. I ordered some Biotique last week and have been curious about how it performs. Godrej red has found it's way onto my shelves and I've been very impressed with it. I like the scents of T&H but have not been thrilled with it's performance thus far.
 
Nice. I ordered some Biotique last week and have been curious about how it performs. Godrej red has found it's way onto my shelves and I've been very impressed with it. I like the scents of T&H but have not been thrilled with it's performance thus far.
I saw earlier on another thread that you'd pulled the trigger.
Don't use less of the Biotique initially, as some have done, or you'll be disappointed. Use as much as you would expect to use from any decent cream.
The smell is very mild. Almost, but not quite, unscented. I like it, but some may prefer stronger scents.
The cream is made of all natural ingredients without chemicals, so it does not always travel well, & has a tendency to separate. But if it does, all you have to do is stir it thoroughly with a fork & let it settle for a couple of days.
 
I saw earlier on another thread that you'd pulled the trigger.
Don't use less of the Biotique initially, as some have done, or you'll be disappointed. Use as much as you would expect to use from any decent cream.
The smell is very mild. Almost, but not quite, unscented. I like it, but some may prefer stronger scents.
The cream is made of all natural ingredients without chemicals, so it does not always travel well, & has a tendency to separate. But if it does, all you have to do is stir it thoroughly with a fork & let it settle for a couple of days.

I almost always overload product, so no worries on that score lol.
I usually like stronger scents, but I enjoy some with mild to no scent on occasion. It makes it easier to pair with any aftershave/fragrance combination. Thanks for the info on the separation. I'm really looking forward to trying this cream.
 
If the lather is "dry", are you sure you're using enough water? I like my lathers to be on the wet side because I want slickness. Especially if you're overloading the brush, you'll need lots of water.
 
If agree EternalBachelor. I find that if I have trouble lathering, I add more product. If it ends up drying on my face, I didn't use enough water. Each soap and cream has their own characteristics and you have to experiment with each one to see what works for that particular product. For instance, I find that TOBS Lemon & Lime is more difficult for me to work a slick lather than say their Sandalwood. I just have to work at it a little longer.
 
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