Trumpers & their darn chemicals

[honed]

I recently got the Trumpers sample pack.

I've given the various stuff a couple of spins & I like most of the colognes, the skinfood is great & the creams, well, they smell superb! Just lovely, all of them (Violet, Lime, Almond & Rose)
But they perform miserably

Performance is after all a YMMV thing, some love them & that is great.
But the chemicals
They are shock-full of everything, color agents, preservatives & cheap scenting stuff like linalool & limonene that belongs in drugstore aftershaves, not a high-class product that calls them self's "perfumers" & charge a good money for their stuff.
Same thing with many of the colognes, not just alcohol & frag, but a bundle of other, cheap, 100% synthetic stuff.

As comparison, The Real Shaving Company's cream, that basically is the same stuff, made by Creighton in the UK, perform a bit better & have a "normal" amount of chemicals & stuff that is good for you, like cocoa-butter& tea tree oi in itl.
Not one single ingredient besides the cream-base, in the Trumpers is good for the skin!


This is just sad

 

[goby]

Interesting post. I love Trumper. In fact, I might be one of the few who prefers Trumper's Lime to Castle Forbes Lime.

With that said, I'll check out the chemicals on my shaving stuff. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[pezdaddy]

I would largely concur. I got the sample pack of violet, rose, almond, and GFT. The only one I could get a decent shave out of was the violet.

 

[BladeRunner001]

Hi Honed,
Interesting post.

As for shaving with Trumper's:
I have the Violet, Sandalwood and Lavender and I get fantastic lather and shave out of ALL of them...no problems to date. No drying, no flaking, no lack of cushion, etc...

As for the chemicals and what's good or bad:
I think there is a misconception here. It depends how you wish to define "chemicals". You and I are made up of 100% chemicals...even water is a chemical. Now, the question is that of nomenclature and whether it's naturally occurring or man made.

linalool (or IUPAC nomenclature - 3,7-dimethylocta-1,6-dien-3-ol) is is a naturally-occurring terpene alcohol "chemical" found in many flowers and spice plants.

Limonene is also natural and comes from the rind of the lemon, which contains considerable amounts of this compound (that's where you get the lemony smell). Limonene is a chiral molecule (a type of molecule that lacks an internal plane of symmetry and has a non-superimposable mirror image), and biological sources produce one of the enantiomers: the D-limonene, which is the principal source in citrus fruit. D-Limonene is obtained commercially from orange peel by extraction with liquid CO2.

Tea tree oil, which is natural sounding) is also a chemical...in fact many chemicals:
Terpinen-4-ol (1º active ingredient)
Y-terpinene
alpha-terpinene
1,8-Cineole
alpha-terpinolene
alpha-terpineol
alpha-pinene
p-cymen

I think just because something sounds like a chemical should not automatically be considered a synthetic and as such, bad for you.

Science has made strides into synthesizing naturally occurring compounds that have potent effects. Trumper's are no different. The stuff is mostly natural (whether man made/synthesized or naturally extracted).

Even the Parabens that most considered synthetic occur naturally in nature...The blueberries that we so enjoy eating are a good source of methyparabens

I hope I made sense in this post and got my point across. At any rate, at the end of the day, it is just my 2 cents,

So, when you say "Not one single ingredient besides the cream-base, in the Trumpers is good for the skin!"...which ingredients were you thinking of, exactly???


Cheers,
Robert

I recently got the Trumpers sample pack.

I've given the various stuff a couple of spins & I like most of the colognes, the skinfood is great & the creams, well, they smell superb! Just lovely, all of them (Violet, Lime, Almond & Rose)
But they perform miserably

Performance is after all a YMMV thing, some love them & that is great.
But the chemicals
They are shock-full of everything, color agents, preservatives & cheap scenting stuff like linalool & limonene that belongs in drugstore aftershaves, not a high-class product that calls them self's "perfumers" & charge a good money for their stuff.
Same thing with many of the colognes, not just alcohol & frag, but a bundle of other, cheap, 100% synthetic stuff.

As comparison, The Real Shaving Company's cream, that basically is the same stuff, made by Creighton in the UK, perform a bit better & have a "normal" amount of chemicals & stuff that is good for you, like cocoa-butter& tea tree oi in itl.
Not one single ingredient besides the cream-base, in the Trumpers is good for the skin!


This is just sad

 

[beginish]

I had a fantastic shave from the Trumpers Violet cream just this morning, and previously had used it for every shave for a full year, with no ill effects.

 

[pauls51]

I find Trumpers to be one of the best performing creams on the market, but again YMMV. Especially love my Lime and coconut!

 

[Kevan]

I disagree, but YMMV.

Trumper's creams lather as well as anything I've ever tried, with badger, boar, and synthetic hair brushes. I have no complaints.

 

[global_dev]

Hi Honed,
Interesting post.

As for the chemicals and what's good or bad:
I think there is a misconception here. It depends how you wish to define "chemicals". You and I are made up of 100% chemicals...even water is a chemical. Now, the question is that of nomenclature and whether it's naturally occurring or man made... sounds like a chemical should not automatically be considered a synthetic and as such, bad for you.

Science has made strides into synthesizing naturally occurring compounds that have potent effects. Trumper's are no different. The stuff is mostly natural (whether man made/synthesized or naturally extracted).

Cheers,
Robert

Great discussion point. I also think quite frequently certain companies try to enhance the marketing of ingredients by calling it by its scientific name and "small batch artisans" will dumb it down so it sounds more natural...

 

[BladeRunner001]

Great discussion point. I also think quite frequently certain companies try to enhance the marketing of ingredients by calling it by its scientific name and "small batch artisans" will dumb it down so it sounds more natural...

Global_Dev...absolutely right on the money . Companies do what regulations dictate...and those are constantly moving targets. In this regard, regulations are both complex and lax (if that makes sense ). However, in my view, part of the problem is the public's perception of "ingredient lists" and chemical names.

For example, I can list the following on two products I want to sell:

1) alpha-tocopherol or Docosahexanoic acid (DHA)
2) Vitamin E or Omega-3 fatty acid

I bet you that 9 out of 10 will deem product (1) as synthetic and chemical, hence bad for you. The kicker is that they are EXACTLY the same thing. α-tocopherol is Vitamin E and DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid.

What complicates things as far as the regulatory bodies are concerned, how do you capture the numerous names that chemicals are known as...i.e., do you list it by the chemical name, by the natural name, etc...Companies can hide behind this facade and easy market their products to target demographics (at least, that's my view of it) and there's no way to regulate this.

Other complicating factors can play a role too...Let's take Trumper's as an example. What you see listed on their bottles is not necessarily ALL the components that are in it...by regulation, they are only required to list those at or above certain concentrations (or %) and/or those whose "reactions" have been documented. But, they probably have some proprietary "stuff" that they won't be putting on their labels...that is their secret ingredient, after all.

Cheers,
Robert

 

[Drubbing]

Yes, "Natural" and "Handmade" and using the common, as opposed to scientific names, infer a particular set of assumptions to a certain consumer.

Not everything natural is good for you, and not everything chemical is bad.

THe standard around the world is pretty much to label ingredients by concentration, that is, in descending order of volume. The stuff down the bottom could make up less than 1% of the total volume, but law dictates it must be listed anyway. There will be some country specific requirements, so it makes economic sense for global sellers to keep their labels as 'generic' as is possible, whilst meeting all requirements.

 

[ctr]

I like Trumpers products - a lot. We all die of something, might as well lather away.

 

[MichaelG]

I respectfully disagree. I love Trumpers products, specifically their shaving creams. I get fantastic shaves from their products and after trying various soaps and creams, Trumpers creams are my favorites. I love the Almond, Coconut, Limes and GFT creams - they always provide a cushioning, lubricating shave for me.

I like their aftershave products as well - specifically their Skin Food products - the Sandalwood and Limes products - as well as their Spanish Leather Aftershave.

 

[duderdo]

Hi Honed,
Interesting post.

As for shaving with Trumper's:
I have the Violet, Sandalwood and Lavender and I get fantastic lather and shave out of ALL of them...no problems to date. No drying, no flaking, no lack of cushion, etc...

As for the chemicals and what's good or bad:

awesome stuff

I love posts like this... Keep up the good work!! I really appreciate having the opportunity to learn about what's in my soap, without making assumptions (no offence OP)

 

[DavyRay]

Great stuff in soaps. See the following:

Linolenic Acid
Sodium stearate
Sodium tallowate
Stearic Acid

They sound bad, don't they? You win the quiz if you know which two are actually the same substance!

 

[kingfisher]

Great stuff in soaps. See the following:

Linolenic Acid
Sodium stearate
Sodium tallowate
Stearic Acid

They sound bad, don't they? You win the quiz if you know which two are actually the same substance!

I'll play.

Sodium stearate is the salt of Stearic acid, and thus essentially the same substance?

 

[BladeRunner001]

Is that a trick question Davy??

For a biochemist, that's an easy one, but rather than spill the beans, I'll let the post run its course. .

Clue: the fatty acids in Cocoa Butter and Shea butter which we love so much (and is good for skin) consist of ~30-50% of this stuff

Cheers,
Robert

Great stuff in soaps. See the following:

Linolenic Acid
Sodium stearate
Sodium tallowate
Stearic Acid

They sound bad, don't they? You win the quiz if you know which two are actually the same substance!

 

[Drubbing]

From a site selling fair trade, natural stuff - and good to see this sort of info provided, and referenced from peer reviewed journals.

"Shea butter does contain a high percentage of unsaponifiables, such as phytosterols (campesterol, stigmasterol, beta-sitosterol , and alpha-spinosterol) and triterpenes (cinnamic acid esters, alpha- and beta-amyrin, parkeol, buytospermol, and lupeol), and hydrocarbons such as karitene"

Oo, that all sounds nasty. But...

"Shea butter is composed of five principal fatty acids: palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and arachidic. The fatty acid composition is dominated by stearic and oleic acids, which together account for 85-90% of the fatty acids"

 

[Sue]

Interesting post. The word "acid" in some ingredients conjures up images of bad stuff when it isn't.

I have a couple comments ~

The correct ingredient name (whether it is natural or chemical sounding) is the INCI name (international nomenclature). Most aren't pick and choose unless you are choosing to fall under the 'drug' category with "active" ingredients or "cosmetic".

Ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance.

I'm more concerned about the steroids and pestifcides used in the food I eat than something that stays on my skin a few minutes. Of course, I might be wrong.

When my kids were growing up and I was cooking every day for a family, I'd have to cut up two or three chickens for fried chicken dinner, they were so small. Now those birds are huge! I don't think they've been pumping iron.

And how about those stawberries? Three bites to eat just one and they are perfect. But if you don't eat them that day they are ruined the next.

Sue

 

[Drubbing]

Interesting post. The word "acid" in some ingredients conjures up images of bad stuff when it isn't.

True. Cocoa butter contains fatty acids as mentioned above. Prime ingredient in...


Chocolate.

Sue, here in Aus we have big chooks too, and steriods and hormones are banned across the industry, as they are in the US. Chickens are getting bigger probably becasue fewer are free range. Caged birds and barn fed are more predominant, so they are less likely to be small - they don't have the activity they once did.

But birds are fed a diet that optimses their growth, and this leads to the resilience of the myth that illegal practices are used. I'd suggest hormones and steroids cost far more to administer (and cover up) than relying on advances in feed science.

 

[Gustav]

I worked myself through 21 samples from the three T's and whilst I will admit that some were very good such as Trumper's cocunut and T&H lavender, there are IMO creams that are even better still. I ended up not buying any of these creams because apart from being inferior to other creams I also find some of them overly perfumed and worst of all overly coloured. Trumpers is by far the worst in this area, some colouration might be alright but it beats me why on earth a cream has to be bright pink or deep mauve. Does it improve the overall quality of the shave?