Castle Forbes Shave Cream

zepplin · 10-30-2007, 12:13 AM

In my five confessions I admitted I have over 36 brands of soaps and creams in my shaving rotation. I hadn't tried the Castle Forbes, probably due to the rather hefty cost, but, hey, I just had to pull the plug and give it a try.

I bought the "Cedarwood & Sandalwood", 6.8 fl. oz. or 200ml, from Vintage Blades. $34.99 + shipping. Quick delivery and excellent service.

All numbers I gave were between 1 - 10. 5 - 6 would rate about fair.

Scent: I'd give this about a 6 - 7. Not overpowering. I could hardly detect the Sandalwood. A hint of Cedarwood, not great, but not bad, either. Very subtle scent. Some of you will probably really like this. I will take performance over scent any day.

Lather: A big 10! Lots of lather, rich, creamy, and very easy to build.

Cushion: 9 - 10 Thick and rich, great!

Slippery: 9 - 10 Great!

Stays Moist: 10 Easy. Beautiful, did not dry out at all!

Price: About a 5 - 6. It is one of the more expensive creams out there, but I have to say, it's probably worth every penny!

Overall: 9 - 10 and the nine is only for the price, otherwise, this is a super product. It will go to the top of my list (which is large) as my "go to cream, (or soap)" - Beautifully presented in a classy black box with the emblem of a stag with "Scotland" underneath. I can't say enough good about this wonderful shaving cream. A great gift to give a fellow "wet shaver".

Steve

gssixgun · 10-30-2007, 12:28 AM

As a fellow Idahoan I would have to say you hit this dead on...
I purchased the Lavender scent CF cream and cannot believe the scent.... I would rate this higher maybe a 9

But the ratings above are perfect IMHO

STR8 77 · 10-30-2007, 01:30 AM

I received a free sample of this stuff from Jim at Vintageblades, and I finally tried it today for the first time. The stuff is great, and you review hits it right on the mark. Especially the lather, man a little of this stuff goes a looooooong way.

I can't comment on the Sandlewood scent as I received the Lavender, but I'm with GSSXGUN, I'd easily give the Lavender a 9 on scent.

thebigspendur · 10-30-2007, 02:31 AM

Personally I think castle forbes is the best shaving cream in the Universe.

majurey · 10-30-2007, 11:59 AM

I agree. The lavender is like walking through a lavender bush in your bathroom!

Same observations: a little goes a long way, great scent, great lather, and very quick to build.

Interestingly I went back to using L'Occitane Cade cream the other day for variety and I was useless at getting a good lather. The Castle Forbes is such good stuff you need minimal whipping up. I realised you need about double the amount for other creams and double the time to build.

Given that I only shave every other day, and this stuff lasts so long, I think I might just have it as my only shaving cream.

Now if only they did a travel tube...

scarface · 10-31-2007, 05:57 AM

Castle Forbes is top shelf all the way.

Judging from some of the previous posts, it's starting to sound like an Idaho hat trick..... maybe, the official Idaho State Shaving Cream.

(I think that would look a whole lot better on the license plates than 'FAMOUS POTATOES'!!)

-whatever

-Lou

Lynn · 01-20-2008, 06:15 PM

In my opinion, they make the best suds out there.

Lynn

Padron · 01-21-2008, 05:21 PM

Someone really needs to talk the Castle Forbes folks into doing a Rose cream.....even it used FO instead of EO I am sure it would be superb...

IsaacRN · 01-21-2008, 05:29 PM

I love me some castle forbes. I havent purchased a jar yet..but the samples I received were awesome. 35 for the jar isnt tha much when you consider it will last you a lifetime.

SteveS · 01-21-2008, 07:28 PM

I have the lime. It works great and smells fantastic!

Baloosh · 01-21-2008, 07:39 PM

I ponied up for the Lavender. It's the thickest, densest cream I own, by a LONG shot. I always manage to end up with a small piece at the bottom or side of my lathering bowl, regardless of how much I whip/pump the brush.

And I always feel a slight pang of regret when I rinse out the bowl and see that little bit drain away. WONDERFUL cream.

sebell · 01-22-2008, 12:22 AM

You can lather this cream directly on the face (as
indicated in the instructions that accompany the
cream) with fantastic results.

I love it

- Scott

Bruce · 01-22-2008, 02:46 AM

Castle Forbes makes wonderful suds, but why oh why did they choose saw dust for their next flavor? Having done the lavendar sample from Jim at Vintage Blades, I decided to go with the untried, but was sure to be swell, Cedar and Sandalwood. I really like sandalwood, but having tailed off and stacked at a sawmill where the sawyer was cutting only cedar, and worn there to a wet frazzle, I've decided that cedar is best left on the stack and sawdust pile. Don't get me wrong, the suds are great, but I'm still trying to figure out why the cedar needed to be moved from the stack to my shaving den.

The next jar will be the tried and true lavendar, ahuh, oh yeah!

stritheor · 01-22-2008, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce

Castle Forbes makes wonderful suds, but why oh why did they choose saw dust for their next flavor? Having done the lavendar sample from Jim at Vintage Blades, I decided to go with the untried, but was sure to be swell, Cedar and Sandalwood. I really like sandalwood, but having tailed off and stacked at a sawmill where the sawyer was cutting only cedar, and worn there to a wet frazzle, I've decided that cedar is best left on the stack and sawdust pile. Don't get me wrong, the suds are great, but I'm still trying to figure out why the cedar needed to be moved from the stack to my shaving den.

The next jar will be the tried and true lavendar, ahuh, oh yeah!

I agree. I bought the cream and aftershave in cedarwood/sandalwood and while it did whip up an impressive lather and shaved nicely, I wasn't impressed at all with the scent. It's collecting dust in my cupboard for now. I might give it another go, but it'll probably end up being traded or sold.

YesSheDoes! · 01-22-2008, 10:07 PM

OK, y'all have convinced me that the highly-priced stuff is worth it. Having grown herbs and vegetables, I can see that it's a very labor-intensive process and I can believe it takes something like 1,000 pounds of lavendar to compress down to a pound of pure oil essence. (Psst, JoshEarl, if you want some fresh or dried lavendar, just pm me. It's the least I can do for your wonderful honing assessment of my razor.)

Just ordered a BUNCH of Castle Forbes stuff from Vintage: pre-shave treatment, lavendar shave cream, 1415 aftershave, and TWO colognes: the "Gentleman's" and "Forbes of Forbes.

I'll review them when I get 'em.

YesSheDoes! · 01-24-2008, 04:49 PM

Used the Castle Forbes 1445 aftershave today...and it was really nice. The scent is clean, has a sort of authoritative scent, like you are IT. Goes on nice, keeps my skin smooth. I like it!

YesSheDoes! · 01-30-2008, 04:02 PM

Got a lot more Castle Forbes stuff in--yeah, it was a GOOD day!

I was pleased to see that their stuff includes a nice flyer, written in a very readable (i.e., short paragraphs, bulleted) way (that's the copywriter in me.)

People who posted that their shave cream lasts a looooooooooong time are NOT kidding! I got a nice sample of the lime from Jim at Vintage Blades (a wonderful man to deal with!) and let me tell you, you just soak your brush in hot water, then slightly brush it through the cream and it's like a lather explosion on your face when you start swishing it around!

The cream seems to expand, soaking in all available water, and then when you need more lather, you just dip your brush in hot water to replenish the water-hogging Castle Forbes cream. Sure, that cream is $38/jar, but it is extremely efficient cream that lasts probably 5-6 times longer than regular cream (maybe even 10 times), so I judge it worth it.

And the lime smell is heavenly...like slicing open a fresh lime to make a daiquiri!

I wasn't as pleased with the preshave goop, perhaps because it's unscented. I would recommend they add a lime scent to it. It may also be that it's water-based, and I've grown very fond of my citrus-scented Truefitt & Hill. The Forbes just didn't seem to help much.

Onto the colognes...I really splurged and bougtht BOTH the "Gentleman's" and the "Forbes of Forbes" scents. I am not good at describing scents in terms of ingredients, so I describe them in what they make me think of. (Which is probably more entertaining.)

"Gentleman's" seems misnamed to me, since the image it brought to mind is of a steely middle-aged power-dressed woman who runs a business or a real estate empire. I could imagine my mother or me wearing this, in a power business suit. I just don't find it real manly. I suppose it would be a good weekend or vacation scent, though, and I'll use it.

"Forbes of Forbes," on the other hand, is VERY masculine. It steps in, grabs the reins, and takes control. If you want a scent to convey masculine authority, this would be the one. I am going to have to be careful where I wear this one, for sure.

RobertFontaine · 01-30-2008, 04:35 PM

big sigh, between the price and shipping I'm not yet convinced to toss my shaving cream from wally's world.

At a minimum I require gratuitous pictures of beautiful women all lathered up.

- Bob

YesSheDoes! · 01-30-2008, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertFontaine

big sigh, between the price and shipping I'm not yet convinced to toss my shaving cream from wally's world.

At a minimum I require gratuitous pictures of beautiful women all lathered up.

- Bob

Keep lookin'.