The Sandalwood Shaveoff

[paintflinger]

Day 3,

I loaded my gold flake essential boar from the tub. Lather was awesome, but end result with a '13 R41 was DFS+ with irritation. Feather blade had 4 previous shaves on it and I finished Fine L'Orange Noir.

 

[paintflinger]

Lather



After first pass



Shave photo

 

[Fordfather]

Great pictures! Great reviews! Keep up the good work, Gentlemen!

 

[emwolf]

Day #4
I changed some things up again. Today I stayed with the Parker 26c using a Nacet blade. I switched to a LS Synthetic brush and went with bowl lathering again (since this synthetic is very adept at creating a lot of lather). I also used a pre-shave oil mix of Castor and Avocado.

I wasn't disappointed by the quantity and quality of lather. Enough for 4 passes probably, but I confined myself to my standard 2.5. The lather was very thick and cushioning and with the addition of the pre-shave oil the razor went very easily over the skin, or so I thought. After the 2nd pass I did a manual feel around the scalp and found lots of stubble remaining. I didn't want to press harder to I tried several additional "mini" passes, but I was still left with some stubble, particularly on my left side (I'm left handed).

With that experiment I'll be going back to face lathering tomorrow. I will also switch up to a more aggressive razor. The benefits of bowl lathering have been the scent and the quantity, but the main benefit of the face lathering has been the efficacy of TOBS.

 

[hydro-magic]

Shave #4 - I switched to a Progress with Polsilver SI blade today and got a pretty good shave. I sort of knew from previous experience that lots of razors in my arsenal were likely to give me a bit of a rough shave with this cream given its mediocre slickness. The Progress, just like an injector, is usually one I can count on though. After the shave, I splashed on some Clubman Special Reserve at the end just to check and did get some very mild stinging. Not enough to call it irritation but still my favorite shaves are the ones where I don't get any stinging at all from the after shave. The Body Shop balm should fix it up just fine. We'll see if the 2nd shave on the Polsilver gets smoother. Sometimes that does happen.

 

[redrako]

I've been away from B&B since Sunday, but had used the TOBS sandalwood twice since sunday.

SHAVE 2

Once again I bowl lathered, this time with a Shavemac D01 silvertip with excellent results. The D01 is a dense brush, so I used more product than I did with the first shave's less dense Shavemac finest fan. I enjoyed the same very good results as SHAVE 1

SHAVE 3

This morning I mixed it up picking up an inexpensive, Frank Shave silvertip - a much less dense brush (but still a very good brush) swirled the bulb-shaped knot in the cream and built lather on my face. A few dips in very warm sink water and I had a fine lather.

Although I really consider TOBS's sandalwood to be a scented, fougere rather than a sandalwood cream, I've warmed to the scent in these subsequent shave since my initial ambivalent reaction. In all three shaves so far, performance has been excellent resulting in easy BBS shaves.

My next shave, I'll spread some cream on my face and lather and give the other cream face lathering technique a try.

 

[horvy]

Shave 3 is in the books. I used the same setup from shave 2, but instead of the Omega 49, I used my RazoRock badger.

The slickness hasn't gotten any better, but it hasn't gotten any worse either.

I did get a bit of irritation today, but I think it was because I was in a hurry to get out of the door. Aside from that it was still a DFS.

I'd still give this a 7.25/10.

Also note that the scent is really growing on me more and more, SWMBO, well, let's just say we're a bit of polar opposites in that regard. Oh well, I enjoy it, so I'll definitely keep using it

 

[parastang]

My usual: I shower and then shave each morning, as many here do. I lather in a warm scuttle. My routine is to shave WTG on pass one and XTG on my face and ATG on my neck for pass 2. I lather my whole face, shave one half, related the other side and then shave it. I use a Universal shavette most of the time and I switch hands for each side of my face. I warm water rinse and them put on aftershave. I will be using Wilkinson Sword blades in all of my razors during this shave off.

Shave 1: I was in Vegas so I brought along my travel brush, a Simpson Case in best and instead of the scuttle I used a large coffee mug to lather. I also opted for a Merkur DE in the interest of ease and time while on vacation. I have used this cream several times before (my wife bought me a tub several months ago) but in the weeks leading up to this event I purposely avoided any sandalwood creams or soaps. The scent to me have a synthetic undertone to it. I'm not sure why. I do have to point out that AoS was my first exposure to this scent so it naturally serves as my benchmark, right or wrong, for all sandalwood scents. I like the TOBS scent. It just has a "rougher" feel to it than AoS. There is a faint hint of herbyness in the background but a spicy middle note is what I get mostly. Sandalwood is in there but not the star. The scent does linger for a little while after a shave. It isn't overpowering though. This is a cream I know well so to make things a little more even with the other testers I changed my loading method so I had to start from the beginning as well. I used my finger to scoop the cream out and add to my preheated scuttle. I whipped the cream by itself for about 30 seconds and then started adding water a little at a time while continuing to mix the lather. This cream is very easy to make a nice, stable lather with. It can tolerate a fair amount of water and still stay together. After getting my desired consistency, I squeezed out my brush and then worked the lather for a few seconds. Time to paint my face. I always put on a layer of lather and then swirl the brush on my face for about one minute before finishing off with painting strokes to even out the lather. I enjoyed the sandalwood scent in the air as I anticipated my shave. I have not used this cream with a DE so this was a new treat for me. The Merkur slide down my face with no issues or protest. There was a nice amount of cushion and glide. I want to note that I make my lather thicker when using a DE then when I use a shavette. My first pass completed, I re-lathered and then went in for pass 2. If I am going to get any irritation, I'll get it on this pass. No irritation or problems at all. I never strive for BBS shaves so I won't start now. I attained a very good shave that was about 2 small notches below BBS with no irritation. I had brought along Cade ASB and I thought that the scents complemented each other. I thought I could still detect a faint whiff of the TOBS cream even after lunch. Shave 1 was just what I have experienced with this cream in the past.

 

[AbbyW2]

TOBS shave #3
Georgetown G20 Scuttle
Rooney Victorian Heritage Super Badger
Razorock Stealth Slant v2 aluminum
Fresh Gillette 7OC Superstainless Green
John Allan SlickWater pre-shave

Switched to the very mild Razorock for a change of pace

Loaded brush heavily again:


Added a few drops of glycerine in the scuttle, which gave an even moisten, richer lather after 60 whips.





Extremely thick, lubricating and cushioning on the face. I worried that the razor would have trouble even engaging the stubble-- but it did the job.



Brush was was quite full after first pass and almost the same for the third after a bit of whipping back in the scuttle.






DFS

Tomorrow, full überlather. Probably Ikon Shavecraft 101

 

[edwinhmcbride]

TOBS Sandalwood SOTD #4:

Today was a good clean shave but there was some irritation involved, more on that later.

Gear for this shave:

Razor - '62 Slim
Blade - Personna Blue (1st shave)
Brush - Simpsons Case Best Badger
Cream - TOBS Sandalwood
Aftershave - Gabels Bay Rum

I am still using my Case Best Badger but today I loaded from the tub rather heavily.



I bowl lathered today (my preferred method) and was able to generate a nice thick luxurious lather. Plenty of lather for multiple passes. Bowl lathering really disperses the fragrance throughout my den nicely. It stills smells like it after coming home from work.



The lather painted on my face nice and easy with an even coat and that nice yogurt like consistency. This the brush after the first application.



The first WTG pass was very easy going but I noticed the irritation starting. After the first pass I rinsed and reapplied. This is the brush after the second application. Still plenty of lather.



During the second WTG pass the irritation became significantly more pronounced. Normally I would have stopped here but it was another early morning and 2 passes will not hold back the shadow with at least a little clean up. I removed the lather from the brush to conduct my cleanup passes.



During the XTG/ATG cleanup the irritation really got to me. I really don't think the irritation is from the lather. I believe it is either from the fresh blade in the razor (which is odd as these blades agree with my face) or it is from the fact that I recently polished my razor. I am leaning towards the polish on the razor as this is not the first time the polish has irritated my face. Maybe after polishing I will soap and water wash my razors and not just rinse them.
The Gabels Bay Rum really had that let you know you're alive sting this morning and honestly as painful as it is I love that feeling. My father taught me "that's how you know its working son" .

A good shave all around, a little irritation never killed anyone.

 

[tankerjohn]

Shave #4

Razor: Gillette Red Tip
Blade: Astra-first use
Brush: Simpson The Colonel
AS: Stirling Exec Man

I'm on the road today, so no time for pics. Sorry bout that. Also no time for a shower before my shave this morning, so I just prepped with a face wash and I let the lather sit a bit longer than I normally do. I swirled the tips of the brush in the cream this time and face lathered. Lather was perfect. I think The Colonel does very well with this cream, at least I've gotten the best lather with The Colonel so far. The Red Tip rocked it, as usual. The cream had plenty of protection and slickness. Shave came out great, even with sub-par prep. Not bad. No sting from the AS (which doesn't sting much anyway). Again, I liked the pairing of the Sandalwood with the Exec Man.

The little TOBS tub turns out to be great for my travel kit. It'd be worth hanging on to when I'm finished with the cream just for that. Except for the irritation issues, I do like this cream. I think I might like a different TOBS scent better that doesn't irritate my skin.

Same setup tomorrow. Its a good setup too, probably the best for me so far in this test.

 

[JaredB]

SOTD: Day 4 TOBS

Razor - RazoRock Babysmooth w/Personna Red (1)
Brush - Muhle Black Fiber Synth
AS - Stirling Sandalwood splash and balm

I was finding that my face (lower neck) was a little sore. Sore is even a bit extreme, but it just felt a bit off. I normally shave every day, and this is not a common occurrence. I don't know if this can be attributed to the protectiveness of the creme, dialing in a lather, or an ingredient in the creme. I stepped down just a hair to a milder razor and went with my RRBS. I went back to the bowl today and mixed lather, using a bit less cream. A big scoop from the bowl:



It actually felt just a little bit dry, so, I finished it on my face with just a little water on the brush. Maybe this creme has a sweet spot, and I haven't hit in four days, but I just can't find the slickness I am used to with my favorite soaps. The post shave feel was a little bit raw, so,I finished the whole works with a balm. One thing I've noticed, not overly important, is that this creme seems to leave a residue on everything that I'm not used to. It cleans off easily enough, but if you don't make the effort, a quick rinse will leave you some messy gear.

SOTD:

 

[parastang]

Picture time!

This is all of the hardware and software I plan to use for this weeks shaves.

I forgot to put my scuttle in the other picture.

 

[TheVez2]

Didn't find the time to post yesterday, so here goes.

TOBS Review # 3

It was time to set up a trial for strict face lathering. Since my daily driver (Fatboy) is enroute to [MENTION=90101]tankerjohn[/MENTION] for a test drive, this gave me the chance to put into use some poor neglected razors. In honor of tankerjohn's new found love of vintage, I chose his new favorite... The red tip.



I scooped out a nice dollop onto my brush...


And went to town lathering up on my face. This provided the best lather consistency to date. Exactly halfway in between my two previous lathers. As expected for face lathering, It was ideal.



Surprisingly, the scent was not as strong lathering in this manner, and I can't quite figure out why. It wasn't any better, just less offensive.

I didn't use the TOBS this morning. So tomorrow will bring review #4.

 

[whiteweed]

Day 3:

Today we had some boar action with the Semogue 830. I have always been impressed with the ability of this brush to build the best lather and it did. Painted a nice picture of lather on and had a nice shave. Wished I could remember which blade I preferred in the Parat. Maybe other things than the blade due to the many changes, but the Parat has always been picky about blades. I had it in the travel case and had not used it in a while.

Tomorrow some head to head with other TOBS creams, to check out the slickness of the others in comparison.

 

[paintflinger]

Day 4,

A quick review, fantastically slick. Loaded directly from the tub and painted on a little bit of water. Cremo type slickness. Hopefully tomorrow is a repeat.

 

[Parjay]

Day 4,

A quick review, fantastically slick. Loaded directly from the tub and painted on a little bit of water. Cremo type slickness. Hopefully tomorrow is a repeat.

View attachment 613039

Does this mean you didn't "build" the lather?

 

[paintflinger]

Not really,pretty much tub, get on face with a bit of swirling, looked dry so I splashed some water on the knot and painted it on. Worked out nicely.

 

[tankerjohn]

Nice looking Red Tip, Vez! Hopefully your Fatboy is waiting for me when I get home. I'm looking forward to giving it a spin in the sandalwood.

On the TOBS - I also noticed a diminished scent as well when I scooped out the cream instead of swirling. I'll try at that way again tomorrow and see if I get the same results.

 

[TheVez2]

Nice looking Red Tip, Vez! Hopefully your Fatboy is waiting for me when I get home. I'm looking forward to giving it a spin in the sandalwood.

You should get it in a couple days.

My red tip is kind of a beater. Some missing paint, and no end caps.... But it's my father's birth year razor, so it's special to me.