Truefitt & Hill - in another league for me

[Klingelnberg]

Well, I'm still very new to DE shaving, but so far so good. All of my shaves to date have been acceptable, but some far better than other's. To date I've tried four different blades (Merkur, Wilksonson Sword, Astra, and Feather) and four creams/soaps (Nivea Extra Moisture cream (tube), Razo Rock Fresco, Speick stick, and now T&H 1805 cream (tub)). The T&H is leaps and bounds ahead of the others in my opinion. I like the Speick and I like the Razo Rock, but I love the T&H. I can only describe it as feeling luxurious and the scent is wonderful to boot. It's unfortunate that I have such an affinity to the $30 product, but in this case, the higher cost also came with higher performance for me. I'm hoping to find a cheaper product that performs/smells equally excellent (maybe Tabac (only cheaper because I expect the soap to last longer), maybe Cella, maybe a Razorock artisian...?).

My first shave with the T&H was using a Feather blade and I got my first nick-free shave. Wonderful. Unfortunately my second shave with the T&H was using a Merkur and I can already say I'm not terribly fond of those blades. They're a little too dull for my stubble. I ended up with 3 or 4 small nicks and irritation. Ouch. Feather blades may be a touch too sharp. Now I need to find a middle of the road blade. I do like the Astras but want to experiment more.

I wonder how much of our impressions are based on price. There may be a psychological influence at play here. On the other hand, I'm very confident that T&H's performance is real.

 

[Shutterbug57]

I did not see Tabac on your list. It is about half the price and a great performer. You may want to try it when you run out of T & H.

 

[Mick]

Well, I'm still very new to DE shaving, but so far so good. All of my shaves to date have been acceptable, but some far better than other's. To date I've tried four different blades (Merkur, Wilksonson Sword, Astra, and Feather) and four creams/soaps (Nivea Extra Moisture cream (tube), Razo Rock Fresco, Speick stick, and now T&H 1805 cream (tub)). The T&H is leaps and bounds ahead of the others in my opinion.

Did you mean to post this in the Shaving Cream forum? 1805 is a cream (darn good one too).

All of the T&H creams are top shelf with me. Grafton leads the pack because I like the scent better than the others but some days it is a toss up between Grafton, 1805, and Trafalgar. All are some of the finest performing creams on the market.

If you want to try another cream that is in the same class grab some Trumpers coconut oil cream. It can stand toe to toe with the T&H creams

 

[ricardo9505]

yeah I'd put my tallow based D.R, Harris against T&H anyday.
may great soaps out there. Hell I like arko and at $2 a stick ain't that cheap.
people complain about razor burn and many times blame the product rather than their technique. I find over time that with each product I have to adjust. TOBS cream vs Harris soap. TGN Finest badge brush or pure badger omega, crystal blade vs derby (I have to be firmer).
did i load enough product and get the lather right to justify judging this soap or cream? I disliked some soaps/creams that I later found to be great. and vice versa, loved some I later hated

 

[Klingelnberg]

Yeah, this should have gone into the cream section.. Sorry. My next soap will probably be Tabac. I may give the Palmolive stick a shot too. If I do get the stick, I'll grate it into a bowl.

Will

 

[Bill R]

Yeah, this should have gone into the cream section.. Sorry. My next soap will probably be Tabac. I may give the Palmolive stick a shot too. If I do get the stick, I'll grate it into a bowl.

Will

Don't grate the palmolive stick into a bowl straight away Will, do try it as a stick first and face lather with it. You may be surprised at just how good it is.
It's incredibly cheap over here too but it performs way above its price bracket.

Cheers

 

[sarimento1]

the t&h creams are superb. here's lavender from this morning.
yes, i suppose this should be in the cream category.

i tried the lavender cream today, just to see my reaction after reading greg's so-so impression from yesterday.
to my much-less-trained skin, i found the lavender to lather just fine, about same as the lime and others.
great lubrication, richness. held up well.
scent was subtle but nice.
i don't think you'll go wrong with any of their creams.
i'm using the merkur razor and blades, it took a couple shaves for me to get the angle and pressure right, but now i like them.
let us hear more impressions.

 

[neilyasno]

Indeed T&H is some high quality stuff. Along with TOBS and others. However, recently I've found myself gravitating more towards artisan soaps and creams like Mama Bears, Mikes, and Queen Charlottes Soaps. Look up some threads, they all lather beautifully, are cheap compared to other products, and they support American Vendors. On top of that you can buy sample sizes to try out performance and scents. Also look up Garry's Sample Shop. Garry sells samples of high end products so you can buy a little bit of tabac for only a couple of dollars and try it out without buying the whole thing and ending up wanting variety or not liking it.

 

[Wildalaska]

Keep using T&H, life is too short to scrimp

 

[tezza]

+1 Agreed! I love the scent of the 1805. And if you use it as a pre-shave lather for a couple of minutes and massage it into those tough whisker areas around your chin, etc,, it really does a good job of softening them up. Your razor will just wipe em away. Also, Kling, try Wilkinson blades they're plenty sharp and a lot more comfortable and forgiving than Feather, and give a great, close shave without an aggressive edge. I love them.

 

[Renato1]

I've got the Truefitt& Hill Luxury Soap 1805 tub too. Beats me how much Crabtree& Evelyn costs where you live, but I'd go for a puck of that, or a L'Occitan Cade puck if you have a boar brush (I find it hard to lather with a badger brush), or a Kent puck, or a Proraso tub. No need to buy the expensive wooden or aluminium tubs for the pucks. If you look around you'll find little plastic salad tubs with screw tops (I pay $1.25 for mine, and most pucks fit them).

I haven't had much success with Tabac and E-Shave pucks, they just aren't as good on me as the one's I've mentioned.
Thats said, applying alum after shaving with the lesser soaps fixes most nick problems.
Regards,
Renato

 

[njpaddy]

If I had bought the T&H sample pack when I first started, instead of waiting several years, I would have saved myself a lot of money buying creams I didn't like. The only negative with T&H creams is that I don't like most of the scents, so the sample pack is a must buy. I use mostly soaps these days, but I always keep a Rose cream on hand. When my favorite TOBS Rose is gone, it will be replaced with T&H.

 

[maxman]

Oddly enough I've never tried a T&H cream or soap.
I've only tried their fragrances.

 

[Songwind]

I haven't tried the T&F creams yet, though I've been eyeing the sampler. That said, there's nothing quite like finding a product that just really works for you.

 

[dpittman70]

If I had bought the T&H sample pack when I first started, instead of waiting several years, I would have saved myself a lot of money buying creams I didn't like.

How many shaves/lathers can you get out of a single sample of T&H? Thanks.

 

[petr]

I love the lavender scent of T&H soap, but performance is not my favorite. Glad you're enjoying it!

 

[sterno]

How many shaves/lathers can you get out of a single sample of T&H? Thanks.

I find I've been getting about 3 per sampler, but I've been generous with myself. Love the stuff, and have had the best shaves of my life with the Rose cream for some reason.

 

[Klingelnberg]

Oddly enough I've never tried a T&H cream or soap.
I've only tried their fragrances.

The T&H aftershave is way out of my price range. Wow. $75 is steep even for cologne, but an aftershave that only lasts a couple hours? I was lucky enough that my fiance got me a tub of T&H 1805 as a gift.

 

[Macbreezy]

You should try the Gillette 7 O'clock Sharp Edge blades. They come in a yellow packaging. I didn't know how DE shaving was supposed to go until I tried these blades. Cut right through my beard and was very smooth about it. Just got 100 of them from Chicagoshaving.com for $23 bucks. I think that it pretty affordable. I also had trouble with the Merkur and some of the other more dull blades. Back to my shaves: At first I thought it was my shaving creams so I bought a bunch of different kinds. I found that some lathered better than others but didn't really change the shave. Now using these Gillette sharp edge blades I can enjoy all of the different creams that I have all the while getting a great shave. The Taylor of Old Bond Street creams I think lather easier and better than anything I've tried so far. I started with the Art of Shaving sandalwood, then switched to Proraso Green, then TOBS Sandalwood, then GEO F. Trumpers Violet. The Trumpers is an expensive cream like the T&H but I feel like TOBS lathers better and is less than half the price. Good luck, hope you can find what your looking for.

 

[Klingelnberg]

You should try the Gillette 7 O'clock Sharp Edge blades. They come in a yellow packaging. I didn't know how DE shaving was supposed to go until I tried these blades. Cut right through my beard and was very smooth about it. Just got 100 of them from Chicagoshaving.com for $23 bucks. I think that it pretty affordable. I also had trouble with the Merkur and some of the other more dull blades. Back to my shaves: At first I thought it was my shaving creams so I bought a bunch of different kinds. I found that some lathered better than others but didn't really change the shave. Now using these Gillette sharp edge blades I can enjoy all of the different creams that I have all the while getting a great shave. The Taylor of Old Bond Street creams I think lather easier and better than anything I've tried so far. I started with the Art of Shaving sandalwood, then switched to Proraso Green, then TOBS Sandalwood, then GEO F. Trumpers Violet. The Trumpers is an expensive cream like the T&H but I feel like TOBS lathers better and is less than half the price. Good luck, hope you can find what your looking for.

Shaving is such a subjective endevour, but I think what you say about blades is likely correct. I'm very curious to try the Gillette 7 o'clock blades. I really shouldn't complain about the cost but how do you think the Gillette yellows compare to the Astra SP? Astra SP are around $10/100, less than half the price... Hmm.