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Truefitt & Hill vs. Taylor's Rose Cream - a face off

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Well,

While not my intention, I'm sure this will step on someone's toes. I will give you the conclusion up front, and then you can read the rest if you are interested.

While there is more than a nickel's worth of difference in price, there is not a nickel's worth of difference in performance. These two creams are excellent, top of the shaving cream food chain, IMO, and absolutely equals in all regards. (For the non-Americans here, "not a nickel's worth of difference is a phrase which is meant to indicate two things are nearly indistinguishable.)

Background:

I am an experienced wet shaver, just over three years since I entered this madness and I rarely take a day off shaving, maybe one or two days a month. I am an expert latherer (yes I can lather modern Williams, I used it for a decade before coming here to find out it is 'no good' :001_smile ). I will say this, there are things I can distinguish between now that I could not have distinguished between after six months, even a year of wet shaving. It was almost two years before I could start to reliably form opinions between very similar products, but I am at that stage now where you can rest assured this is not the opinion of a guy who just does not know any better.

I am an unabashed rose cream fan, I love the stuff. I have my fall/winter stuff and my spring/summer stuff, but rose cream is one thing that is always in my rotation year round. Usually on a lazy weekend day I'll pamper myself with a rose cream shave with my favorite TGN Silvertip restore.

Now, I am definitely not touting a winner here. So why am I doing this? Well, (this is just my reading experience) it seems that the Taylor's rose fans simply say, "Great cream!" "Always in my rotation!" "Great value for the money!" That sort of thing. On the other hand, some (certainly not all) of the T&H fans tend to go overboard with the hyperbole saying things like, "T&H rose is the winner hands down!" "No contest between these, T&H is the undisputed king of the hill." "No comparison!" So I anxiously awaited finishing my second tub of Taylor's rose so I could order the most wonderful rose cream in the universe, Truefitt & Hill! :w00t:

I like it! But all that hyperbole is just that. Hyperbole. I gave you my experience so you could judge the reliability of my opinion, because at 6 months I would not have been a reliable witness. Now I fully get the YMMV thing and I fully understand that someone may prefer T&H (or Taylor's), and they may really be a fan of either product. I will tell you that nobody is going to find a (for example) VDH-Martin De Candre type of difference here. It is just not possible, and anyone who thinks there is a vast gulf between these is either a noob or deluding themselves. These are both incredibly good and incredibly similar creams, and a preference is going to be just that. Don't buy any hype about huge differences.

The comparison: I am intimately familiar with Taylor's rose cream, so when the T&H came, after making a test lather to feel it out, I disciplined myself to shave the next morning with the Taylor's to dial it in in my mind. The next 3 days I shaved with the T&H, then Taylor's again. I simply could not tell the difference. So last day, I lathered both in separate bowls (I was face lathering till then) using a 22mm TGN Silvertip fan with one and a 22mm TGN Finest bulb with the other, both very good brushes. Then I did a half/half face shave on a Saturday and made it a true 4-pass BBS shave on a Gillette Black (3rd shave). I really achieved the elusive BBS and had ZERO irritation. Splashed on a very liberal amount of The Veg (known for that wonderful burn :001_smile ) and it was sublime. Very comfortable, extremely close, no irritation BBS and my face felt wonderful all day.

I.
Could.
Not.
Tell.
Any.
Difference.

These are both at the pinnacle of rose creamdom, but I cannot declare a winner. Both lather very easily, if you can't lather these you need to go back to canned goo. Both offer a dense, protective barrier that won't break down during the shave. While neither feels as slick as some other products I've used, they are both equally slick and provide fantastic glide, as evidenced by my 4-pass, no-burn BBS results. I won't even comment on scent because it is such a personal experience. I will say this, my wife has cultivated about eight six-foot high rose bushes by our back deck and I know rose and I like both of these. Both smell like roses, if I would note one difference it would be that the Taylor's seems to be a slightly fuller, bigger scent (not overpowering, just relative to the T&H) and the Truefitt is a little lighter. But I like both. If you have the good fortune to live near a store like Merz, in Chicago, I'd go stick my nose into a tub of each several times. Here is where you are likely to find a difference you may care about, because you won't likely find any difference in the shave.

Not only is the shave with both of these creams wonderful, the after-shave face feel is superb. I remember reading a post by Kyle (moderator emeritus) some time ago where he opined that the after shave feel with Taylor's rose cream was darn close to that of their famous avocado. I am guessing rose has some soothing/healing properties like avocado or coconut do, but I don't know. I do know I agree with his opinion.

OK, I could not care less which cream I am using, so what are the economics? Well, using a shipped price for a tub of Taylor's (150 g) and T&H (190 g) from Amazon on the same day I have a representative sample for comparison. That is not to say you could spend more or less on either of these, but it's what I found with a quick Amazon search.

I found a Taylor's for $15.99 and the larger T&H for $41.57, delivered. Taking into consideration the amount of product, the Taylor's was 10.7 cents per gram and the T&H was 21.9 cents per gram. Looked at another way, if you applied the Taylor's price/gram to the T&H sized tub and vice versa, 190 grams of Taylor's would cost $20.25 and a 150 gram tub of T&H would cost $32.82.

There is certainly not that MDC type lofty price difference here, but neither is it trivial. I think the Truefitt is great, great cream, but when I finish this tub, I will likely go back to Taylor's simply because they shave exactly the same for me.

So, there you have it. Am I bashing the T&H? Not at all, I love it! Am I saying it's not worth the price difference? Well, I suppose so, but if one liked the scent of the T&H better and felt they got a slightly better shave from it, it is not so expensive that I think that's not a good buy. Use either, be happy! :001_smile

But if you've been using Taylor's rose cream, don't expect the heavens to open up and hear angels singing when you crack that first tub of T&H. It was sort of what I was expecting from the hype. It didn't happen. I have absolutely not a hint of a whiff of a difference in my opinion about either of these creams and the shave I get from them. I will probably get the Taylor's because, well, if I can't tell any difference why pay more. And I slightly prefer the slighlyt bigger scent in the Taylor's, which, of course, could go just the other way with you.

Both of these get 9/10 stars from me for latherability, density/protectiveness, glide, scent, closeness of shave and post-shave face feel


$9stars.jpg


Taylor's gets 10/10 stars for value while Truefitt & Hill gets 8/10. Equal performance, roughly 100% difference in price dictates that this must be so. However, T&H is so good and not so expensive as to make it a bad value at all. It's just not as good as for the Taylor. That's where I may step on some toes, however, as I said at the beginning, that was not my intention. Use either of these and enjoy your rose shave!
 
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Marco

B&B's Man in Italy
John, what a superb and passionate write-up! I can almost smell Roses around me in this moment! I was considering a good Rose cream for myself and will certainly take this thread in consideration before pulling the trigger.

P.S. Could you provide the current ingredients list for both creams, please? Many thanks, my friend.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Sure, Marco.

From my box of T&H

Water, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Parfum (fragrance),Triethananolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylparaben, Propyparaben, CI 15510, CI 17200, CI 42090, CI 60725.

Whew! Let me recheck that for spelling .... Yep, check.


From my tub of Taylor's


Water, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Triethananolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, CI 17200. (Parfum contains: Citronellol, Geraniol, Cinnamyl, Alcohol, Linalool, Citral, Limonene).


Yikes. My fingers hurt. I thought of doing that originally, but decided not to due to sheer laziness. But since you asked so nicely. :001_smile


P.S. I suspect both of these are available near you, please do stick your nose in both tubs, Marco. Honestly, after that many shaves, even the half/half, I really could not come down on one or the other as being better. Even when I thought I could sense differences, I was honest enough to realize I was stretching for one. Both are superb products, and if you like the scent of roses you just cannot go wrong with either.
 
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I got a sample of TOBS Rose a while back, it had an old lady powdery smell to it. I wasn't impressed by the smell. I like the scent of rose, but not the powdery aroma. YMMV.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Enjoyed your words and discipline, John!
but don't stop yet...there's GFT, DRH, Coates, Salter, Klar, more!
Thanks!


Yep, more to explore! That 190 gram tub will last a while, though. I like to get near the end before trying the next one so it will be a while. I want to try that Rose of Bulgaria cream, too, it's inexpensive, maybe I'll get a small tube while working through the T&H.

I seem to be hooked on Rose, though, been a solid week and I feel like using the T&H again tomorrow. I'll have to break my addiction! :lol:



It may be worth mentioning at this point that the T&H costs nearly twice as much as the TOBS.

Still, if you adore the scent, price doesn't matter so much.

Um, did you read my post?? :wink2:
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
@graysonhenryrussell

Is it because you like the scent better? Or can you feel a difference in the shave? Sometimes I thought I could tell a difference, but it was so slight, and I was so wanting to be blown away by the T&H, I became convinced it was psychological on my part. The half/half 4-pass shave finally made me throw in the towel trying to tease out differences.

I honestly do like it a lot, I like them equally. I'd love to have someone make the lather for me to do a blind testing, but I suspect I'd know the scent difference, and I'd still not feel any differently about the shave. I have no doubts people have favorites, but I really don't. I could flip a coin and be happy with either of these creams.

I'm really getting the itch now to try other rose creams. Which I'm not sure I'm happy about. :blink: I have my den under some semblance of control and I feel a buying binge coming on. :001_rolle
 

Marco

B&B's Man in Italy
Sure, Marco.

From my box of T&H

Water, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Parfum (fragrance),Triethananolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylparaben, Propyparaben, CI 15510, CI 17200, CI 42090, CI 60725.

Whew! Let me recheck that for spelling .... Yep, check.


From my tub of Taylor's


Water, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Triethananolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, CI 17200. (Parfum contains: Citronellol, Geraniol, Cinnamyl, Alcohol, Linalool, Citral, Limonene).


Yikes. My fingers hurt. I thought of doing that originally, but decided not to due to sheer laziness. But since you asked so nicely. :001_smile


P.S. I suspect both of these are available near you, please do stick your nose in both tubs, Marco. Honestly, after that many shaves, even the half/half, I really could not come down on one or the other as being better. Even when I thought I could sense differences, I was honest enough to realize I was stretching for one. Both are superb products, and if you like the scent of roses you just cannot go wrong with either.

Between the two Taylor's has the better ingredients list, since contains no parabens. I'm really tempted to buy a tub now! And another cream I have my eyes on is the new Simpsons Vanilla & Rose, which has true Rosa Centifolia Flower Extract and is boosted with both glycerin and shea butter. :thumbup1:
 
Between the two Taylor's has the better ingredients list, since contains no parabens.

No, it's not that simple. The T&H seems to be an old cream, still with Parabens, while the Taylor's new formula substituted Parabens with Isothiazolinone. In that case I'd rather take Parabens.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Frankly, I've never understood the parabens issue. Living in the U.S. I am a convinced that if parabens were an issue we would have a class action lawsuit against it the blood-sucking lawyers would be making a killing off of. They've done it before over stuff that was flat out not dangerous. If they are not suing in the U.S., parabens are not an issue in my mind.

The T&H seems fresh, very soft and smells great. Did they reformulate it?
 
Well,

While not my intention, I'm sure this will step on someone's toes. I will give you the conclusion up front, and then you can read the rest if you are interested.

While there is more than a nickel's worth of difference in price, there is not a nickel's worth of difference in performance. These two creams are excellent, top of the shaving cream food chain, IMO, and absolutely equals in all regards. (For the non-Americans here, "not a nickel's worth of difference is a phrase which is meant to indicate two things are nearly indistinguishable.)

Background:

I am an experienced wet shaver, just over three years since I entered this madness and I rarely take a day off shaving, maybe one or two days a month. I am an expert latherer (yes I can lather modern Williams, I used it for a decade before coming here to find out it is 'no good' :001_smile ). I will say this, there are things I can distinguish between now that I could not have distinguished between after six months, even a year of wet shaving. It was almost two years before I could start to reliably form opinions between very similar products, but I am at that stage now where you can rest assured this is not the opinion of a guy who just does not know any better.

I am an unabashed rose cream fan, I love the stuff. I have my fall/winter stuff and my spring/summer stuff, but rose cream is one thing that is always in my rotation year round. Usually on a lazy weekend day I'll pamper myself with a rose cream shave with my favorite TGN Silvertip restore.

Now, I am definitely not touting a winner here. So why am I doing this? Well, (this is just my reading experience) it seems that the Taylor's rose fans simply say, "Great cream!" "Always in my rotation!" "Great value for the money!" That sort of thing. On the other hand, some (certainly not all) of the T&H fans tend to go overboard with the hyperbole saying things like, "T&H rose is the winner hands down!" "No contest between these, T&H is the undisputed king of the hill." "No comparison!" So I anxiously awaited finishing my second tub of Taylor's rose so I could order the most wonderful rose cream in the universe, Truefitt & Hill! :w00t:

I like it! But all that hyperbole is just that. Hyperbole. I gave you my experience so you could judge the reliability of my opinion, because at 6 months I would not have been a reliable witness. Now I fully get the YMMV thing and I fully understand that someone may prefer T&H (or Taylor's), and they may really be a fan of either product. I will tell you that nobody is going to find a (for example) VDH-Martin De Candre type of difference here. It is just not possible, and anyone who thinks there is a vast gulf between these is either a noob or deluding themselves. These are both incredibly good and incredibly similar creams, and a preference is going to be just that. Don't buy any hype about huge differences.

The comparison: I am intimately familiar with Taylor's rose cream, so when the T&H came, after making a test lather to feel it out, I disciplined myself to shave the next morning with the Taylor's to dial it in in my mind. The next 3 days I shaved with the T&H, then Taylor's again. I simply could not tell the difference. So last day, I lathered both in separate bowls (I was face lathering till then) using a 22mm TGN Silvertip fan with one and a 22mm TGN Finest bulb with the other, both very good brushes. Then I did a half/half face shave on a Saturday and made it a true 4-pass BBS shave on a Gillette Black (3rd shave). I really achieved the elusive BBS and had ZERO irritation. Splashed on a very liberal amount of The Veg (known for that wonderful burn :001_smile ) and it was sublime. Very comfortable, extremely close, no irritation BBS and my face felt wonderful all day.

I.
Could.
Not.
Tell.
Any.
Difference.

These are both at the pinnacle of rose creamdom, but I cannot declare a winner. Both lather very easily, if you can't lather these you need to go back to canned goo. Both offer a dense, protective barrier that won't break down during the shave. While neither feels as slick as some other products I've used, they are both equally slick and provide fantastic glide, as evidenced by my 4-pass, no-burn BBS results. I won't even comment on scent because it is such a personal experience. I will say this, my wife has cultivated about eight six-foot high rose bushes by our back deck and I know rose and I like both of these. Both smell like roses, if I would note one difference it would be that the Taylor's seems to be a slightly fuller, bigger scent (not overpowering, just relative to the T&H) and the Truefitt is a little lighter. But I like both. If you have the good fortune to live near a store like Merz, in Chicago, I'd go stick my nose into a tub of each several times. Here is where you are likely to find a difference you may care about, because you won't likely find any difference in the shave.

Not only is the shave with both of these creams wonderful, the after-shave face feel is superb. I remember reading a post by Kyle (moderator emeritus) some time ago where he opined that the after shave feel with Taylor's rose cream was darn close to that of their famous avocado. I am guessing rose has some soothing/healing properties like avocado or coconut do, but I don't know. I do know I agree with his opinion.

OK, I could not care less which cream I am using, so what are the economics? Well, using a shipped price for a tub of Taylor's (150 g) and T&H (190 g) from Amazon on the same day I have a representative sample for comparison. That is not to say you could spend more or less on either of these, but it's what I found with a quick Amazon search.

I found a Taylor's for $15.99 and the larger T&H for $41.57, delivered. Taking into consideration the amount of product, the Taylor's was 10.7 cents per gram and the T&H was 21.9 cents per gram. Looked at another way, if you applied the Taylor's price/gram to the T&H sized tub and vice versa, 190 grams of Taylor's would cost $20.25 and a 150 gram tub of T&H would cost $32.82.

There is certainly not that MDC type lofty price difference here, but neither is it trivial. I think the Truefitt is great, great cream, but when I finish this tub, I will likely go back to Taylor's simply because they shave exactly the same for me.

So, there you have it. Am I bashing the T&H? Not at all, I love it! Am I saying it's not worth the price difference? Well, I suppose so, but if one liked the scent of the T&H better and felt they got a slightly better shave from it, it is not so expensive that I think that's not a good buy. Use either, be happy! :001_smile

But if you've been using Taylor's rose cream, don't expect the heavens to open up and hear angels singing when you crack that first tub of T&H. It was sort of what I was expecting from the hype. It didn't happen. I have absolutely not a hint of a whiff of a difference in my opinion about either of these creams and the shave I get from them. I will probably get the Taylor's because, well, if I can't tell any difference why pay more. And I slightly prefer the slighlyt bigger scent in the Taylor's, which, of course, could go just the other way with you.

Both of these get 9/10 stars from me for latherability, density/protectiveness, glide, scent, closeness of shave and post-shave face feel


View attachment 453203


Taylor's gets 10/10 stars for value while Truefitt & Hill gets 8/10. Equal performance, roughly 100% difference in price dictates that this must be so. However, T&H is so good and not so expensive as to make it a bad value at all. It's just not as good as for the Taylor. That's where I may step on some toes, however, as I said at the beginning, that was not my intention. Use either of these and enjoy your rose shave!
This does not surprise me, TOBS is excellent value for money, T&H is nearly twice the price but imo is not better than TOBS just different, they are both great creams
 
John,

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with these two wonderful creams. I have been contemplating my first Rose Cream purchase and this has definitely helped formulate my decision. It is knowledge and passion like this that makes this forum such a great resource.

Thanks for sharing.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
It's fun! And I may be about to come into a few other varieties to feed my rose addiction. :thumbup:
 
I prefer T&H creams over ToBs. T&H doesn't dry your skin, like ToBs, IMO. Richer lather, better smell, better face feel, more glide. Just my 2 cents.
 
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