Product review: Taylor of Old Bond Street

Product review: Taylor of Old Bond Street

Taylor of Old Bond Street is one of those old school traditional men's grooming company's. Founded in 1854 in London, Taylor of Old Bond Street is one of those company's whos product do all of the talking. They are also known in the shaving world as one of the "3 T's". The 3 T's are the 3 big London shaving company's known as Geo F. Trumper, Taylor of Old Bond Street, and Truiffit and Hill. While their products are just as good as it's competitors, one of the best things about TOBS is the price, seeing as how they come in at about half as much as the others.

 

 

 

TOBS's products are high up on my list because they are some of the best shaving creams I've ever used. I've got a few of their creams and their lavender scent is exceptional.

TOBS comes in a hefty tub filled with 150 grams of cream. The screw top tub is wonderful for many reasons. It's simple. No fancy curves or graphic designs. Looks and feels big and hefty like a man's product. Also, the design of the screw top lid makes it great for not leaking all over your other products, and with it being air tight, there no chance of it drying out and getting old and sticky. And since it's in such a large tub, you get plenty of shaves with it and should be able to make it last for a long time.

Not only does it comes with a screw top lid, it also comes with a plastic air seal lid inside for added protection.

 

 

 

The cream itself DOES contain dye's, which I'm not a fan of. However, its very light. At least it's not neon purple or blazing bright.

 

 

 

The cream itself is rich and light. Almost fluffy, I would say. And the scent is wonderful. I wouldn't say it's faint, but I also wouldn't say that it's really strong. I think it's got a fair amount of scent to it, but not enough to knock you down or make you question if it's got a scent at all.

I would say it smells like...well...lavender! lol Not too sweet and floral. Think of the smell of saltwater taffy and you're getting close to the scent. It's great and has a wonderful smell that I find extremely relaxing.

Like the other TOBS creams I've used, it also has no problem with building a great lather. Whether you face, hand, or bowl lather with a badger brush, you'll always come out with a great slick and protective lather which helps against your razor blade dragging against your skin. You CAN use it without a brush, but we all know about the benefits of using a shaving brush, so just don't go there a'ight?!

I haven't tried the whole range of scents like I have with the Trumper's samples, but the few I have make it on par or better than those. And again, the best thing about TOBS products is the price! Coming in at around $12-16 a tub, it'll last you a LONG time. I would even venture to say that using it every day, you could probably get 6-8 months out of it (...it's just a guess people). Unfortunately, I won't have the patience to try that theory out, seeing as I have other products that I enjoy encorporating into my rotation.

If Taylor of Old Bond Street looks so good that you just have to try it, hit up my man John over at West Coast Shaving and order you some! I got my tub for $14.

Thanks for reading!

Bluebeard's Revenge

"Designed by a real life Blue Beard who was bored to death with being a Desperate Dan look-alike, The Bluebeards Revenge™ is a paraben free, premium quality shaving cream with added ingredients like Decelerine ™ to specifically combat tough stubble. It has been formulated to our unique specification in one of the UK's premier male cosmetics laboratories who are renowned experts in the field of shaving cream."

- Courtesy of Bluebeard's Revenge Website -

So as I mentioned in my earlier blog post, the wonderful people over at Bluebeard’s Revenge were awesome enough to contact me via Twitter and ask if I would like to do a review on my blog if they sent me a tub of their shaving cream. I, of course, was much obliged.

When receiving the cream in the mail, I was VERY excited to use it. As you can see, their packaging is like no other; a pleasure to read and quite humorous. Both the box and the jar definitely have the best packaging and branding of any other product I’ve used or seen. I mean, just look at it! It’s got a skull and crossbones on it for crying out loud! Wicked awesome!

Bluebeard’s Revenge is, "The Ultimate Shaving Experience for Real Men". A Paraben free high quality shaving cream. However, it does contain a decelerine ingredient that claims to slow down and reduce the growth of hair. I’ve only been using the cream for a few short weeks, so I can’t attest to this claim. Me personally, I’m not patient enough to wait 60 days to test out the results, but it’s an interesting claim, none-the-less. Some have been hesitant about putting such a “chemical” on their face. If I’m being honest, as long as I don’t start growing an ear or extra limb on my face, I could care less about the extra chemical.

Of course the packaging is cool, but what about the smell? You can’t enjoy something that’s going to make you turn up your nose. THIS, however, wasn’t the case with Bluebeard’s Revenge Shave Cream. I can’t really put my finger on the scent. It’s just got a “zing” to it. It’s not a strong scent but very subtle. It’s a classic barbershop smell with a hint of clean powdery citrus (or so I think). Once you lather it up, the scent intensifies, but not enough to choke you. It’s a very pleasant clean smell. I really enjoyed the scent. It made the shave that much more enjoyable.

Now down to business. How was the lather… Honestly, the lather was one of the best, if not the best lathers I’ve ever used. Seriously, it only took just a small amount to create a wonderful lather. At first, I was swirling my wet badger brush directly into the jar to pick up the cream and face lathering. While I did this initially, I found it to be overkill and produced WAY more cream than I needed. I also dipped some out with my finger and "bowl lathered" as well. And just to try it out, I used my hands a time or two. It only took a very small amount and adding a little H2O at a time to produce a LOT of lather. It was thick and cushioned my face with ease. Think after-school snack Fluffernutter and you get the idea. The “latherability” definitely gets an A+ in my book.

Once lathered, the shave was incredible. I used both a DE razor and a cartridge razor for the shaves. The cream had no problem holding up for a 2 pass shave and some touch up. I had plenty left over. The lather protected my face from razor burn and any irritation and was very slick. I tend to have slightly sensitive skin, so I was concerned about how the “decelerine” might affect me. The result? A clean, well shaven, irritation-free shave. I was impressed how great of a shave I got with this cream. I even went against the grain on some portions of my neck (gasp!) to see how well it protected me. It did WONDERS! I personally can’t shave against the grain that much because of irritation. Some men can and some just can’t. However, I was able to do a single one swipe ATG pass on my neck with Bluebeard’s Revenge... Impressive. The razor glided across my face with ease without any skipping or dragging.

After shaving, the cream and residue rinses off cleanly and leaves no soapy feeling. It’s wasn’t “hot” or dry at all, and didn't leave me feeling greasy. It did, however, leave my face feeling moisturized and soft. I followed up with my regular after shave routine of Alum and Witch Hazel or sometimes an Aftershave splash and didn’t notice any effect on my skin (other than the soft and moisturized part).

The Verdict

I want to personally thank Bluebeard’s Revenge for sending me a tub of their wonderful cream. I can’t speak to the claim of reducing hair. However, the packaging is cool, the lather smells great, and it really did give me one of the best shaves I’ve had in a long time. Even though I was sent a complimentary tub, I can guarantee that when I run out, I will be purchasing more. A google search looks like the cream cost around $20-25 US dollars. This may be pretty pricey for shave cream, but for the amount of lather you get out of so little cream and the quality of it, I would highly recommend picking up a tub of Bluebeard’s Revenge.

Argghh!

Cyril R Salter Indian Sandalwood Shave Cream Review

I've got lots of pictures on this post!

A lot of the higher quality shaving products come from England or somewhere in the UK. Cyril R Salter is one of those brands. For as best as I can tell, London is the headquarters to some of the most popular and well established barber shops and shaving companies. Most of your better products will probably originate from London. We Americans have sold out to those big shaving companies... Look where that's got us... pitiful shaves.

Anywho, this shaving cream was a GREAT purchase. This fantastic cream lathers, hydrates, and performs just as well as the mighty "3T's" products and at half the price! The first thing you notice is the LARGE sturdy blue tub it comes in.

The cream itself is a velvety and rich cream. When you open the lid, you are immediately met by the wonderful aroma. The smell has a clean warm woodsy smell but with a little bit of a sweet note to it. Almost like a spicy cinnamon smell. Very masculine. There's no fru-fru girly scent about this one!

The tub looks nice beside my cup and brush huh?

To prepare for the lather, you need to soak your badger brush in some warm water for a minute or two to soften the bristles.

Simpson brush soaking...

Once thoroughly hydrated, shake out the excess water, but not all of it.

Give the brush a few good swirls in the cream. The cream is soft, so you wont have any problems loading the brush with the cream. I just gave it a good 2 or 3 swirls with light pressure.

Once you have the brush loaded with lots of hydrated cream, you can start to make your later.

For this demonstration I will use my hand so you can see the lather building stages. As you begin, you can see that the cream is very runny. This is only about 5 seconds of brushing. The lather is very "watery" and has lots of bubbles. Continue building lather...

After about 30 seconds, you will start to see the lather coming together. Below, is what I'm talking about, but it still looks a little weak. It's definitely not ready yet. It's still got that soft peak look. Continue building lather...

Now we're getting somewhere. See how the lather has started to whip up to a nice peak?

This wonderful stuff has a wonderful aroma and a very soft, slick, and thick feeling. The shaving cream is well hydrated and protected my skin from the razor with ease. No nicks or cuts with this stuff!

Cyril R Salter shaving cream is a wonderful product. It was a pretty good price too! I got mine for around $15 at www.westcoastshaving.com. To those who haven't use a quality shaving cream, that might sound pretty steep. However, compared to those mass marketed shaving gels in a can, this shave cream will last me about 5-6 months of shaving. Does you shaving goop in a can last that long? Didn't think so...

Happy Shaving.

Stay tuned for more reviews!