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TOBS Told me Not To Buy Soap

I was in London last week and stopped at Taylor's on Jermyn Street. I have been using Trumper's creams but decided to try TOBS creams since they are so well reviewed here. The store clerk was very helpful and I purchased several containers of creams as well as their AS balm. I told the clerk I had never used shaving soap before and asked if he could suggest one for me to try. He said, "you don't want to go with soap, stay with the cream." I thought that was a strange thing for a store clerk to say, but I did not purchase the soap. Now I am beginning to regret that decision.

While I am enjoyng the TOBS creams, especially the Avocado, I am wondering what the difference is in shaving with a soap versus cream. Your advice is appreciated.
 
... I am wondering what the difference is in shaving with a soap versus cream. Your advice is appreciated.

Buy some and try it. Popular ones are:

  • Tabac - A triple milled soap. Mitchell's Wool Fat is an alternative to this.
  • Cella - An Italian soft soap. Many like Proraso which is, I think, also an Italian soft soap but it is mentholated which I don't personally like so never tried it.
  • Col Conk - A glycerin based soap. Many scents available. Van Der Hagen Glycerin is an alternative to this. So are many of the "boutique" soaps available from various on-line-retailers. I don't want to name any because I'm sure I'll leave one out! Maybe someone can fill this in for you.
That covers the three main variations of soaps. Of course there are many other soaps, some of which will probably not fit into those categories, but the above should give you an idea of the range of soaps available. None of the above are really very expensive. Well, the Mitchell's is fairly expensive.
 
Well, the Mitchell's is fairly expensive.

It's not too bad when you take into account how long it lasts. I've used mine fairly regularly for almost 2 years and can hardly see a dent. I also skipped the ceramic dish option. That saves a bundle all by itself.
I have a few TOBS creams but no soaps, so I'm useless there.:lol:
 
R

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I was in London last week [...] I told the clerk I had never used shaving soap before and asked if he could suggest one for me to try. He said, "you don't want to go with soap, stay with the cream." I thought that was a strange thing for a store clerk to say, but I did not purchase the soap. Now I am beginning to regret that decision.

Pretty 'normal' advice from the staff in there if you ask me. Most of them are all on another planet. You should have stuck to Trumper's while you still can!! Only bad thing about Trumpers' stores is that they close too early.

Nonetheless, mparker's advice isn't bad either. You're not missing much from the Taylor's soaps. They are like sandpaper against your face and the scents are not that imaginative.
 
This is the advice I get whenever I frequent an AOS store. The clerks tell me that it not nearly as moisturizing, and it will dry out my skin. It does blow my mind why they would not recommend products in their own store.
 
good grief!

you can forgive people at most shops for not knowing any better, but the person at the actual TOBS shop!
 
This is the advice I get whenever I frequent an AOS store. The clerks tell me that it not nearly as moisturizing, and it will dry out my skin. It does blow my mind why they would not recommend products in their own store.

Ridiculous. I have dry skin, even in the summer. Soaps, in general, dry me out way less than creams. There are exceptions, of course, but on the whole, soaps work a lot better for me.

-Andy
 
Interesting.. I know they make good creams but never tried their soaps.. could someone that has tried their soaps chim in and tell us what you think of them??
 

OldSaw

The wife's investment
This is the advice I get whenever I frequent an AOS store. The clerks tell me that it not nearly as moisturizing, and it will dry out my skin. It does blow my mind why they would not recommend products in their own store.

They make more money on their creams, which is presumably what they're recommending over their soaps.

That's probably mostly because the AOS clerks just don't know any better from what I hear, as their soaps are very good.

LetterK at West Coast Shaving has recently lowered his prices on MWF.

$35 for a puck in the ceramic dish
$13 for a refill puck

:w00t:

You're tempting me. I just bought one, but I really want one of those MWF ceramic dishes.
 
I asked about soap in Trumpers. I had just bought a couple of tubes of cream and the salesperson suggested that in his experience people tended to either be cream people or be soap people, as the two products were so different. I have tried soap since and found this advice spot on.

I don't think he was knocking his own product, he could have gone for a sale, but he tried to give his customer some good advice. Fair enough in my opinion.

I have got advice from staff in Trumper, TOBS, T&H, Maitlands (RIP) and Fortnum & Mason. My experience was that they all knew their stuff, were not pushy and were helpful and friendly.
 
This is the advice I get whenever I frequent an AOS store. The clerks tell me that it not nearly as moisturizing, and it will dry out my skin. It does blow my mind why they would not recommend products in their own store.

That's the same advice I got the one time I went into an AOS store. They probably have problems with returns on soaps, so they don't recommend them. They should at least be honest and say "Our soaps are excellent, but unless you're familiar with how soaps work it is harder to get the lather right compared to the creams." That would be enough to move inexperienced wet shavers toward the creams.

But, this goes to show you that their salespeople don't really know the products, they just spit out whatever they've been told. I figure corporate wouldn't want them to say that about the soaps though, so I doubt it's a canned response they've been trained to say. It's a "I want to protect my sales margin" response.
 
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Interesting.. I know they make good creams but never tried their soaps.. could someone that has tried their soaps chim in and tell us what you think of them??

I have the TOBS Sandalwood and I am not too keen now that I have compared it to Mama Bear and Palmolive. I think I continue to use it out of nostalgia/allegiance, as it was the first shaving soap I bought!! :redface:

I would not recommend to others as there are better soaps for less money out there.
 
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