In my quest to find as near a perfect scent/performance match in both soaps and creams, I have always regarded Truefitt and Hill’s 1805 cream as fulfilling this honour. Whilst the cream is excellent all-round, the scent is just sublime. So, on a recent visit to London, I could not help myself with more!
This time though, I thought I would try the shaving soap as I had plenty of cream left and I have always preferred soaps. T&H’s soaps have never really acquired quite the same praise here as their creams and I was curious to see if this would be my experience too. It was a chance purchase but I did know that if anything, the fragrance would at least make me happy.
So, it was with some trepidation that I began testing this soap – after-all, it is a premium product on the pocket! Now, one thing I have learned in this hobby is not to make a judgement on your first or even second shave with a new soap. Get to know the soap and its individual characteristics before passing judgement. Soaps all are different, require different amounts of water and loading techniques. And, importantly, they change (and usually improve) with regular use and hydration.
So I experimented with a few initial shaves. Here are my test impressions:
First off, the box – or actually out of the box – this is a beautifully packaged soap. Lovely wooden bowl, smart box design befitting the pedigree. Lid on the soap was a little loose just because the puck itself seemed a little too full. It will settle with use over time.
Now to the shave. This is one super-hard soap. So hard that I chose my trusty Semogue 620 and also added a layer of water to the top surface of the soap for about a minute before I started loading up. I had already figured that the hardness of this soap required more loading than I was used to – but the layer of water was just right to get it performing.
The 1805 lathered superbly well. I was ready for a long-ish load of at least 45 seconds but a brisk 30 seconds was quite sufficient for my shave of two passes. I smoothed the excess foam off the puck on my face as a pre-coating and began to lather up over that on my face. The soap created a beautiful, rich lather that was more a luxurious coating then voluminous cotton-candy style.
Now, some might like the lather porn as often depicted here. The 1805 no doubt is capable of that, but IMHO, the lather coating that it supplied was a lot more effective. The lather clung to my face almost like a facial mask. It was super-stable and provided a casing-effect as I started the shave. For more lather, just load more and take the extra 20 - 30 seconds to get your porn fix!
The effects were excellent all round. The slickness and cushion were outstanding. The first pass was fantastic – one of the closest and most effective I have had with any soap recently. The blade glided over my face with such ease, that I had to keep checking to see if the stubble was being removed! And the residual slickness (one of my favourite attributes) was impressive.
Of course, the scent – my beloved 1805 – was there as well although I somehow felt that the cream was a little more powerful in the fragrance department and as a result, the weaker fragrance is my only real criticism. Having said that, this a problem for most soaps whose scent just resides during the shave itself. Post-shave was above-average and a balm might help those with drier skin – especially the accompanying 1805 balm which is one of the best out there.
Apparently, this soap was reformulated just over a year ago. It is clear that T&H have done an excellent job of making their soaps match their creams in performance. I will be looking forward to their Apsley soap in the near future which is part of their latest range. Apsley is another contender for my favourite fragrance award so I am excited about that. In the interim, I can report that IMHO, the T&H soap is a super product and worthy of the provenance the brand has cultivated for itself.
This time though, I thought I would try the shaving soap as I had plenty of cream left and I have always preferred soaps. T&H’s soaps have never really acquired quite the same praise here as their creams and I was curious to see if this would be my experience too. It was a chance purchase but I did know that if anything, the fragrance would at least make me happy.
So, it was with some trepidation that I began testing this soap – after-all, it is a premium product on the pocket! Now, one thing I have learned in this hobby is not to make a judgement on your first or even second shave with a new soap. Get to know the soap and its individual characteristics before passing judgement. Soaps all are different, require different amounts of water and loading techniques. And, importantly, they change (and usually improve) with regular use and hydration.
So I experimented with a few initial shaves. Here are my test impressions:
First off, the box – or actually out of the box – this is a beautifully packaged soap. Lovely wooden bowl, smart box design befitting the pedigree. Lid on the soap was a little loose just because the puck itself seemed a little too full. It will settle with use over time.
Now to the shave. This is one super-hard soap. So hard that I chose my trusty Semogue 620 and also added a layer of water to the top surface of the soap for about a minute before I started loading up. I had already figured that the hardness of this soap required more loading than I was used to – but the layer of water was just right to get it performing.
The 1805 lathered superbly well. I was ready for a long-ish load of at least 45 seconds but a brisk 30 seconds was quite sufficient for my shave of two passes. I smoothed the excess foam off the puck on my face as a pre-coating and began to lather up over that on my face. The soap created a beautiful, rich lather that was more a luxurious coating then voluminous cotton-candy style.
Now, some might like the lather porn as often depicted here. The 1805 no doubt is capable of that, but IMHO, the lather coating that it supplied was a lot more effective. The lather clung to my face almost like a facial mask. It was super-stable and provided a casing-effect as I started the shave. For more lather, just load more and take the extra 20 - 30 seconds to get your porn fix!
The effects were excellent all round. The slickness and cushion were outstanding. The first pass was fantastic – one of the closest and most effective I have had with any soap recently. The blade glided over my face with such ease, that I had to keep checking to see if the stubble was being removed! And the residual slickness (one of my favourite attributes) was impressive.
Of course, the scent – my beloved 1805 – was there as well although I somehow felt that the cream was a little more powerful in the fragrance department and as a result, the weaker fragrance is my only real criticism. Having said that, this a problem for most soaps whose scent just resides during the shave itself. Post-shave was above-average and a balm might help those with drier skin – especially the accompanying 1805 balm which is one of the best out there.
Apparently, this soap was reformulated just over a year ago. It is clear that T&H have done an excellent job of making their soaps match their creams in performance. I will be looking forward to their Apsley soap in the near future which is part of their latest range. Apsley is another contender for my favourite fragrance award so I am excited about that. In the interim, I can report that IMHO, the T&H soap is a super product and worthy of the provenance the brand has cultivated for itself.
