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TOBS vs Trumper vs Castle Forbes

I haven’t used GFT, but have used TOBS and Castle Forbes.
Both lather well, with ease and provide great cushion. But that’s where the similarities end

Castle Forbes is almost like an artisan made shaving cream while TOBS feels mass produced. CF is very concentrated (almost a croap), beautifully and naturally scented, with a much better slickness and post shave feel in my opinion. Castle Forbes’s lather feels like silk on my face.

Of course with the price of a Castle Forbes tub you can buy 2 TOBS and get some change, so there’s that. TOBS also offers many more scents

I expect GFT to be similar to TOBS, as they are made by the same manufacturer as far as I know, but other members can confirm. I own and love several GFT fragrances and can imagine the respective creams to be wonderfully scented
 
In terms of lubrication and post-shave, I'd say CF and GFT are rather comparable.
But TOBS leaves a bit to be desired: lather dries relatively quickly (compromising residual slickness), and post-shave isn't as good, vs CF/GFT, ime.


P.S. TOBS and DRH are no longer made by Creightons (i.e. the company which still makes GFT and T&H).
 

Eben Stone

Staff member
Yep CF is the clear winner IMO.

I've tried a sampler of CF lime, samplers of all the GFT scents, and a fullsize tub if TOBS Jermyn St. It's possible my experience was tainted because I was using samplers of CF and GFT.

I like the CF lime, great scent and good performance.

GFT seems noticeably more difficult to lather compared to the other two. The Eucris scent is amazing. Performance is average.

TOBS Jermyn St is the worst smelling and worst performing soap I've tried. I know scent is very subjective, but its scent made me feel like it could be used as a punishment for bad behavior. Apparently the scent is rather popular, but it made me feel nauseated.
 
C.F. is quite superb in every respect. Taylor's isn't the best cream but trumpers was very good. I loved the rose and lavender. CF would be my choice.
 
IMHO, Castle Forbes is slightly superior to the other Brit shave creams, which are still excellent.
CF seems a bit 'richer', thicker; he uses only essential oils as well.
But you really won't regret just about any of the 'established' UK shave creams.

castle forbes lime simpson emperor bacchus symmetry penhaligon june 12 2015.jpg
 
Haven't tried the CF, but find TOBS quite a bit superior to GFT. Much better "residual slickness". I like Rose and Grapefruit.

Not mentioned here is D.R. Harris. I had a couple of samples of that - and maybe the problem was that I just had sampler tubes - but it was terrible. I ended up throwing them both away after a couple of shaves.
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
A tub of Castle Forbes arrived today...a nice barbershop scent...1445. Will use it tomorrow.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I haven't tried Castle Forbes, but Erasmic and St James of London creams are vastly superior to Trumpers and Taylors in my opinion. I can get a thinner and slicker lather with both, whereas Trumpers and Taylors had to be lathered far too richly in order to get any decent slickness.

Do bear in mind however, that I consider "protective" lathers to be detrimental to a great shave. Slickness and post shave feel are what I look for. Dense lathers mute shave feel, and lead me to make errors that I wouldn't otherwise make with something that allows full awareness of what's happening. Heavy handed shavers may wish to take a different approach to me...
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I've used all three back in my cream days (and please don't ask why I only use soap now because I'd be hard pressed to come up with a reasonable answer). I found CF to be quite a step up from the other two. It's more expensive to buy but lasts quite a bit longer, so I'm not sure of the actual price comparison.
 
I really like TOBS creams and still use them a fair bit, but CF is indeed clearly superior in terms of ease of lather and performance. TOBS has a great range of fragrances and performs more than fine, though, so still a fan. I have only tried GFT once, so I don’t have a reliable opinion on that one.
 
at European pricing, CF Wins overall because of the rich scents and somewhat classy 200ml tub, however, I get the same shave from either CF or TOBS, and I would take TOBS Sandalwood cream over all because I like the scent that much and the lather is just as bountiful, slick, and protective as any CF lather. GFT was never high on my list, but a good cream that will provide you with a great shave.
 
TOBS Eton College was my first jump from canned gel to proper wet shaving. At the time my lather game was weak as hell and hardly used a smidge of cream to lather just because I didn't know what good lather should feel like. If it just made a white foamy goop that was enough for me. It was better than shaving gel but not by much. I saw on Youtube a guy used a pathetic amount of TOBS to lather with and I copied that. I have way more experience now and better gear and I just revisited TOBS Eton College a few hours ago. With the proper amount smooshed into the ridges of my apothecary mug and the right amount of water it might a really solid lather that had the right sheen and thickness. My old thin lather would dissipate quickly and I'd hardly have residual slickness, but with the proper technique i got a robust lather with no significant dissipation and a good amount of residual slickness.

So to sum up, TOBS feels like a mass produced soap, and to me artisan soaps give more residual slickness, hydration to skin, and better post-shave feel, but TOBS still holds it's own in all those categories. I do feel like most tallow-based soaps would edge it out in terms of just lather. But Eton College is one of my favorite scents, and people love TOBS Sandalwood too, so their fragrance might make up for where it doesn't perform as good.
 
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