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Taylor's Almond Review - LOTS OF PICS

Things have been quiet in the shave cream forum, so I thought I would share my reactions to Taylor's Almond. For some background, I am a huge Taylor's fan. Probably >50% of my shaves are with their creams. I find their scents and shaving qualities to be superb for my skin.

Here is the tub among my SOTD stuff:
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When I got the tub, it was quite soft, to the point where it would begin to flow if you tilted the tub. Figuring hot weather was the cause, I put in the fridge for an hour or so. It didn't make much difference, and I decided "what the heck" - just leave it alone. I am sure if I left it in overnite it would harden up, but I thoought I would use it soft and see how it goes.

You can see the texture (kind of) in the picture. My finger trail hangs around in it, but it is very soft compared to my other tubs:
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Getting the Savile Row good and warm in the mug warmer:
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Shaking out the water:
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Grabbing some cream:

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and shoving it in the brush:
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Ten swirls in the bowl:
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20 swirls:
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And final lather:
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And brush ready for action next time:
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OK, enough pictures, let's talk about the product!

Aroma:
In the tub, this stuff smells fantastic. It is the bakery sweetness of almonds, with a strong cherry note. In fact, my 6 year old stuck his honker in the tub and immediately said "maraschino cherries!". When lathered, the almond smell is extremely light, combined with a typical soapiness. I would actually prefer a stronger scent in the lather itself, but oh, well.

Lather:
Very interesting stuff. All Taylor's has great lathering and lubricity qualities. I can actually detect (I think) small differences in the lather characteristics between the various Taylor's products. The lavender produces a fairly airy, light lather that goes well with its floral nature. At the other end of the spectrum is the Avocado, which is a very thick, emollient cream. The Lemon/Lime is somewhere in between. For the Almond, it has a very moist character to it that I haven't seen before. The lather is exceptionally shiny and moist, and feels utterly fantastic. Perhaps you can get the sense of this from the pictures.

The shave:
I always get a good shave from Taylor's, but I would classify this as a GREAT shave. There is something about the lather that really pleased my face. It was close, completely irritation-free, and I had that amazing "glowing" feeling to my skin afterward that felt absolutely wonderful. Top notch stuff. I would rank this stuff as high or higher than the Avocado for "feel good" qualities. The Avocado, however, is more moisturizing to the skin relative to the Almond.

Overall, on a scale of 1 to 5:

Aroma: 5 in the tin, 3 in the lather
Lather: 5
Closeness: 4.5 (with 5 being a soap)
Skin friendliness: 4 (could be slightly more moisturizing, but still excellent)

All in all this is a really great product that I can recommend highly.

Enjoy!
 
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I agree that the Taylor's Almond is a great shave cream. I actually like it better than the Avocado, which seems to be a common favourite. Scotto, you are exactly right about the aroma, there is a definite cherry note that smells very nice.

I have not tried the Almond cream offered by the other Ts, but I would be interested to hear how they compare to the Taylor's if anyone can offer such an opinion.
 
The trumper and T&H versions have the same almond scent, however it is stronger with the Trumper and T&H versions - so if you feel the Taylor is lacking, might want to look in that direction. DR Harris Almond is also quite nice, however for the $ - I think there are better options. Coates also makes a nice almond - with more of a "true" almond scent than the latter - however I am not such a fan of the efficacy of the Coates cream - I gave all of my coates away.

My favorite almond is Col Conk Almond shave soap... superb stuff!
 
While I seldom use creams, Taylors creams are one of my three top choices, but when it comes to almond oil shave preps, I really enjoy Crabtree & Evelyns Almond Shaving Soap. It smells like fresh Marzipan and shaves closer than close.:shaving:
 
Marzipan.
Ron,
I was trying to think of how to describe it myself, thanks-the C&E almond does not smell like the same almond scent as Trumper/Truefitt/Taylor.
Marzipan.
thanks. The description was defying me until now...
John P.
 
Ive never had the oppurtunity to use taylors yet :frown: ...nice reveiw though........Im so happy with my proraso I have not bought more cream lately.
 
JohnP said:
Marzipan.
Ron,
I was trying to think of how to describe it myself, thanks-the C&E almond does not smell like the same almond scent as Trumper/Truefitt/Taylor.
Marzipan.
thanks. The description was defying me until now...
John P.
While this may sound silly, I absolutely have to be careful to not drool when I use the C&E Almond... :o16: It washes the lather off around the corners of my mouth.
 
Nice review Scotto!
I also enjoy Taylor's shaving creams. For some reason I was drawn to my Taylor's Almond today.
 
Scotto, I may as well tell you Taylors almond is my number one favorite! I love it, it's a delicacy as far as shaving creams are concerned. I think I'll shave with it again tomorrow morning.

Jeff
 
smoothfacejeff said:
Scotto, I may as well tell you Taylors almond is my number one favorite! I love it, it's a delicacy as far as shaving creams are concerned. I think I'll shave with it again tomorrow morning.

Jeff


Jeff,
If you are a big almond fan - if I may, I suggest you give DR Harris, and Coate's almond a go. They are both the "Creme de la Creme" (pun intended) of the almond shave cream... at least in my eyes. The scent of those two are quite different, and in my opinion finer than other almond scents!
 
Joel, funny you should mention it---I have DR Harris almond and it's great also. I'll eventually get some Coates. Another one I like very much is Crabtree & Evelyn's almond cream. It's right up there with Taylors or Harris. Nice smell, lather and feeling.

Jeff
 
I recently got a tub of T&H Almond, and I think it ranks up there with the Taylor's. Similar lather and shaving characteristics, and perhaps a tad more intense in scent.
 
By the way, since this thread got bumped to the top again, one thing struck my eye. Take a look at the original picture of my shelves:
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Now notice how things have changed in three months:
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This doesn't include the new overlflow which fills an entire drawer as well. It really is an obsession! :eek:
 
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What I find amusing is that in the before shot, there was room for the blue dragon, and in the after shot, it's been booted from the shelf.


-Nick
 
Got some Taylors Almond for Christmas!.....and Lavender ....and Rose....and St James. I am in Shavers Heaven!

The Almond is realllllly nice!

Regards
Brian
 
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