Trumpers Vs. Williams

[OldSaw]

Other than the scent I can't tell much difference.

Anyone who's been around any of the Williams threads knows that I am not a fan of modern Williams, not in the same league as Michiganlover but you get the idea. I used my GF Trumper violets again today and while it performs better in my new house than it did in my old place (different municipal water supplies) it still doesn't give me the kind of shaves that I expect from a premium priced product. I lathered it right on the puck like I would do with Williams and like Williams it produced a very similar lather and was very slippery, just like Williams. However, just being plain old slippery isn't quite good enough, my skin just didn't feel very well protected and the post shave result showed it. I had a few weepers and even now my face still feels a little bumpy/irritated.

Perhaps I'm just allergic to it. I have had this happen before. L'occitane Cade really made my face break out in red bumps. Maybe this is just a milder case of the same thing.

Anyone else have similar or opposite experiences with the new formulation of Trumper's shave soaps?

 

[k2clones29]

Are you comparing the old Williams or the new Williams? I've never tried the old Williams, but the new one is terrible!

 

[OldSaw]

Are you comparing the old Williams or the new Williams? I've never tried the old Williams, but the new one is terrible!

No comparison there at all, the old works much better. It's modern Williams vs. modern Trumpers.

 

[auk1124]

I have a puck of Trumper Coconut from a couple years ago that is light years ahead of modern Williams. Maybe you got a dud puck of Trumpers?

 

[dreadpirate]

Although Trumpers is not one of my favs, I will also say I do not think it is in the same league as Williams (i.e. Trumpers is a refined, high end soap).

 

[OldSaw]

Although Trumpers is not one of my favs, I will also say I do not think it is in the same league as Williams (i.e. Trumpers is a refined, high end soap).

Well, that's what it is billed as and what it is supposed to be. However, the new formulation leaves me very disappointed.

 

[Rivguy]

I have several GFT soaps and they perform very well for me. I am not sure of the date of the reformulation, but my current lot ranges from two to three years old. Those are purchase dates of course not production dates. GFT violets happens to be one of my favorite GFT soaps and it performes wonderfully. Perhaps you have a bad one as someone else suggested. I hope that you can get it resolved. I have no history with either vintage or modern Williams so I can not comment on that.

Regards,

Doug

 

[AABCDS]

I agree with OP. Modern Trumper's is pretty bad.

 

[Seraphim]

I akways suspected TOBS soap to simply be Williams with some added fragrance.

Only used pre-reformulated Trumpers, which was awesome.

 

[Rivguy]

TOBS soaps are great performers with wonderful scents. I have them and would rate them very high. I think that they do perform better than some of the GFT soaps. Their shave sticks are outstanding and are among my favorites.

Regards,

Doug

 

[OldSaw]

I akways suspected TOBS soap to simply be Williams with some added fragrance.

Only used pre-reformulated Trumpers, which was awesome.

I wish I had the old formula. Looks like I waited too long to finally get some.

The soap in question is not a recent purchase, but it is still the new formulation without tallow.

 

[lt114]

I've heard the old formula was top notch. Not so much for the new stuff.

 

[SliceOfLife]

The old formula of every soap was top notch. Back in the days when barbers actually used this stuff and it wasn't the guy doing the lathering deciding if something was acceptable, there was a standard of quality to lather. Now people review "shaving" soaps that are honestly worse than bar soaps, give them glowing reviews and post pictures of bubbles going "look at this amazing lather". Even a horrible reformulation is a quality product when people have forgotten what quality means.

If you want to rage, google something along the lines of "How to make great shaving lather". There are so many experts out there with lathering guides with pictures of lather they are proud of that one glance at makes me want to yell at the screen. "No... My god why would anyone DO that to themselves." Lather shouldn't look like bubble bath. Volume of lather has NOTHING to do with quality. Oh your lather "exploded"? That's unfortunate. I hope you didn't lose too much blood. But so many people would rather see their lather appear instantly as an easy, measurable value to judge a product by. If you want that, go with shaving cream. Fast lathering shaving creams are FAR better than fast lathering soaps. I almost wonder if reformulations weren't to cut costs but because people actually complained that the old product didn't lather well because it could actually be agitated without "exploding" into bubbles. So they pulled all the Stearates out and replaced them with Laurates and Myristates so their soaps could "explode" with crap.


Williams though?

They're their own thing. I think they just don't care. It's like dollar store beef jerky. Sure it tastes like someone peppered the inside of the cows rectum and is 95% MSG... but someone's gonna buy it just because it's on the shelf and it's only a buck. Such a shame. They were cheap even back in the day. And available. And possibly the best. Now they're... Williams. Sadly, even Williams can be made to work. There are far worse soaps out there.

 

[OldSaw]

The old formula of every soap was top notch. Back in the days when barbers actually used this stuff and it wasn't the guy doing the lathering deciding if something was acceptable, there was a standard of quality to lather. Now people review "shaving" soaps that are honestly worse than bar soaps, give them glowing reviews and post pictures of bubbles going "look at this amazing lather". Even a horrible reformulation is a quality product when people have forgotten what quality means.

If you want to rage, google something along the lines of "How to make great shaving lather". There are so many experts out there with lathering guides with pictures of lather they are proud of that one glance at makes me want to yell at the screen. "No... My god why would anyone DO that to themselves." Lather shouldn't look like bubble bath. Volume of lather has NOTHING to do with quality. Oh your lather "exploded"? That's unfortunate. I hope you didn't lose too much blood. But so many people would rather see their lather appear instantly as an easy, measurable value to judge a product by. If you want that, go with shaving cream. Fast lathering shaving creams are FAR better than fast lathering soaps. I almost wonder if reformulations weren't to cut costs but because people actually complained that the old product didn't lather well because it could actually be agitated without "exploding" into bubbles. So they pulled all the Stearates out and replaced them with Laurates and Myristates so their soaps could "explode" with crap.


Williams though?

They're their own thing. I think they just don't care. It's like dollar store beef jerky. Sure it tastes like someone peppered the inside of the cows rectum and is 95% MSG... but someone's gonna buy it just because it's on the shelf and it's only a buck. Such a shame. They were cheap even back in the day. And available. And possibly the best. Now they're... Williams. Sadly, even Williams can be made to work. There are far worse soaps out there.

I like the beef jerky comparison.

 

[SliceOfLife]

We all get hungry from time to time and think, "How bad could it be".

 

[OldSaw]

We all get hungry from time to time and think, "How bad could it be".

Oh, it be bad... very bad. My wife bought a bunch when we were out on the road and she "let" me have all of it. It took weeks to finally finish that stuff off. When I was done I could have softened an igloo full of mukluks.

 

[Tim_McD]

The recent release of Trumper's soap is utter rubbish. I bought a puck of the Rose and while it smells great - the lather it produces will kill you. The razor skips, the lather breaks down and dries out quickly.

I am a big fan of the Trumper's creams, but I will never again purchase any of their soaps. Damn shame, too, as I would love it if their Violet, Rose and Limes soaps were worthwhile.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I thought it was just me...I have the GFT Violet soap (it would be the reformulation) and I don't like it much at all. It is the only puck soap in my current rotation, and it has basically turned me off soaps. I find it produces an inconsistent irritating lather.

Even shaving dry is better...

 

[Beezerpuppy]

I purchased a puck of GFT Eucris a bit less than a year ago, and was really disappointed. It's the most expensive soap I've bought, and wouldn't crack my top 10. Even my Palmolive stick makes a far better lather. The Eucris smell is amazing, but the lather is thin fluff that has very little cushion or slip, and collapses quickly. There are too many other great soaps out there for me to spend any more money on GFT soap (MFW, DR Harris, Cella, Mike's all blow this stuff out of the water).

 

[OldSaw]

I thought it was just me...I have the GFT Violet soap (it would be the reformulation) and I don't like it much at all. It is the only puck soap in my current rotation, and it has basically turned me off soaps. I find it produces an inconsistent irritating lather.

Even shaving dry is better...

Don't give up on soaps just because of this one brand. Try some Tabac for less $$ and enjoy a great shave in which aftershave is purely optional.