Which fabled products let you down?

[TSWebster]

There are a bunch of very hyped products out there that get a lot of love on this board and whenever they don't work for someone shock is often the reaction. So what fail safe items DIDN'T work for you?

For me:

Red Pack Personnas (Plus Crystals and pretty much all the Israeli blades) - Gave me a poor shave and messed up my jawline badly every time.

Gillette Fatboy - Easily got some of my worst DE shaves from this thing. It looks amazing and is probably Gillette's pinnacle in design but for me its useless.

Col Conk/VDH (apparently the same thing) - Never could produce a lather worth shaving with.

MWF - Had the same problems getting a lather with this one but it was very early on in my experimenting with soaps and brushes so I have a new puck on order to try it again.

Penhaligon's English Fern - Now firstly I LOVE Blenheim Bouquet I am not a Pen's hater. But something with my body chemistry reacts with this stuff, every time I walked in a room people asked 'who farted' I smelt really, really bad I had to go and take a shower after about 2hrs because I couldn't take it anymore but it lingered in my car and clothes for a week, even after washing them.

 

[Mark1966]

There are a bunch of very hyped products out there that get a lot of love on this board and whenever they don't work for someone shock is often the reaction. So what fail safe items DIDN'T work for you?

For me:

....

Penhaligon's English Fern - Now firstly I LOVE Blenheim Bouquet I am not a Pen's hater. But something with my body chemistry reacts with this stuff, every time I walked in a room people asked 'who farted' I smelt really, really bad I had to go and take a shower after about 2hrs because I couldn't take it anymore but it lingered in my car and clothes for a week, even after washing them.

LOL - will give that one a wide berth - but will those outside Oz understand the reference.

Red Personnas for me to -very underwhelming

 

[mretzloff]

I did not enjoy Penhaligon's shaving soaps (old formulations) and MWF. I got decent lather out of the Penhaligon's shaving soaps and could never get a nice one from MWF, even after trying for days.

 

[Timmy Dee]

I'll speak out in staunch defence of the Personna Reds....I love 'em.

However I can sympathise with a cologne that smells like garbage when put onto your skin. Mine is Bulgari Aqua - luckily mine was a MUCH cheaper blind buy mistake than yours.

Feathers I find to be over-rated - they just don't seem as smooth as the other super sharp DE blades (Kai, Iridiums).

My Gem G-Bar is a bit of a letdown. The design is wonderful, and I look at it wanting it to give me a better shave, however it's very tame and doesn't hold a candle to the mighty 1912.

 

[Luc]

There are a bunch of very hyped products out there that get a lot of love on this board and whenever they don't work for someone shock is often the reaction. So what fail safe items DIDN'T work for you?

For me:

Red Pack Personnas (Plus Crystals and pretty much all the Israeli blades) - Gave me a poor shave and messed up my jawline badly every time.

Gillette Fatboy - Easily got some of my worst DE shaves from this thing. It looks amazing and is probably Gillette's pinnacle in design but for me its useless.

Col Conk/VDH (apparently the same thing) - Never could produce a lather worth shaving with.

MWF - Had the same problems getting a lather with this one but it was very early on in my experimenting with soaps and brushes so I have a new puck on order to try it again.

Penhaligon's English Fern - Now firstly I LOVE Blenheim Bouquet I am not a Pen's hater. But something with my body chemistry reacts with this stuff, every time I walked in a room people asked 'who farted' I smelt really, really bad I had to go and take a shower after about 2hrs because I couldn't take it anymore but it lingered in my car and clothes for a week, even after washing them.

Is that the new or old car?

I have to say, Feathers. I was expecting a lot sharper than that...

Tabac, can't do it, the smell isn't for me at all!

In the straight, Thier Issard, I was expecting a better shave for a 6/8...

Lately, Valobra, it almost smells like nothing and I was disappointed with the lather.

All I can think of for now...

 

[michiganlover]

Current formulation Williams.

 

[rm71]

Feathers
Arko Soap

 

[MaxJ]

I just never got along with Proraso. Not an awful shave, but I found it kind of finicky and never really enjoyed the results.

 

[CoachClassRow13]

Count me in the group of people wronged by Feathers.
Lilac Vegetal seems to let me down every time I try it.

 

[elveeskee]

For me it was ToBS Rose Shaving Cream in the tube and Provence Sante Shave Soap. The soap to me was nothing special and the ToBS Rose smelled like band aids?!?! Definitely YMMV

 

[Luc]

Feathers
Arko Soap

Forgot Arko soap... Good performer but the scent...

 

[SpyvSpy]

Tabac- lathers very good, but the smell is what threw me off.

C&O Bigelow- lathers great, the menthol smell was a major turn off for me, smells like being in a doctors office.

 

[MohawkAngel]

Mc Donald ...never expected it to be so laxative

Seriously I got one if i can remember some Wilkinson sword blades and it was sharp for half of my face the other half i had to change the blade. I have what i call "metal grinding" hairs.

 

[13th Duke of Wymbourne]

Swedes, just didn't do it for me, average at best.
GFT Rose cream, ok shave but hated the scent.

 

[prettyuglyfoxymoron]

I bought the Israeli Red Personnas during my initial foray into wetshaving, a period when I treated Corey Greenberg's blog as the shaving bible - where the Feather blades were considered brutally sharp & unnecessary -&- where the Israeli Red Personnas were considered as solidified liquid metal nectar.

However, after a few months of using them, the Red Personnas are the worst blades that I have tried -&- I don't even have one of those alpha male titanium strength beards which can be used to impale anyone I run into after two days of growth. The Feathers have been the best blades that I have used till now, even when I use a slightly carefree speedy technique 'sometimes'.

For people worried about inflicting gruesome injuries on their beautiful faces: Cuts from the Feather are no worse -or- no more painful than cuts by other blades.

Trumper's Almond & Sandalwood shaving creams: I don't know what it is, but the almond cream is not made of almonds & has a smell reminiscent of Cella cream, which does not irritate me - since they do not advertise it as almond cream & the sandalwood cream is not one of my favorites. I would gladly donate the extract back to the sandalwood tree it came from....but I'll try using it again.

Trumper's Violet shaving soap: I really like the sweet smell of the cream, which I think is really subdued in the soap.

Arko shaving stick - not that it offends me too much, it gives a great cream, but it feels like putting a freshly peed on - urinal sanitation puck on my face....but I'm not sure whether Arko falls into the category of a "fabled product"

MWF - Had the same problems getting a lather with this one but it was very early on in my experimenting with soaps and brushes so I have a new puck on order to try it again.

I've had great results with Mitchell's Wool Fat soap - with the least effort using both badger & boar brushes. Try using "Zach's technique" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIsj58fqVjY] with a Semogue 2000 boar brush (broken in - which will take atleast a week of daily use - though it will give great results with the MWF from the first day itself). The technique seems wasteful, but it's not - just about 20 seconds of swirling on the puck should give you fantastic results. The video is 7 minutes long - but it's not like he lathering on the puck for 7minutes!.

 

[Barbash]

Feathers dissapointed me with how few shaves I can get out of one.

 

[auk1124]

The mighty Osage Rub was a letdown for me. Not the Blast of Icy Menthol Nirvana that I was expecting, and did nothing for my face except break it out.

 

[rm71]

Forgot Arko soap... Good performer but the scent...

I like the scent, just not happy with the performance.

 

[TSWebster]

Keep them coming guys

I forgot Feathers as well, they always seem rough, I never get a comfortable shave with them.

 

[LordTyranus]

Feathers : don't give a shave as close as a standard Gillette Bleue Extra

Derby : not smooth at all ! sometimes even rough and painful. No consistency.

Martin de Candre : sometimes gives me some kind of burn at the end of the shave.

Proraso pre-post : seems useless pre, and too greasy to be used after.

Gillette Fatboy : disappointed by how long it took me to achieve a good shave without irritation all along the jawline.