[cybrok]

I’ve been searching for the best product for my face. I have a sensitive skin and strong hair. Some I bought, most of them were samples.

To get a good comparison, I tried all the products in the same conditions, and I started testing them before I got my first straight. Here are my experimental parameters:

-Preshave consisted of a layer of Proraso and a hot towel on it.
-All soaps/creams lathered in a latte mug
-All soaps/creams lathered with Wilkinson Swords synthetic brush
-All shaves were made with Schick Extreme3 razor with regular cartridges
-All shaves consisted of 2 passes, one wtg and one atg.
-A cold towel was applied on the face right after the second pass.
-Nivea smoothing cooling balm was applied after the shave (bought by mistake, I prefer the soothing balm)


In the order I tried them:


William’s mug (soap)

Lather: Good lathering
Nose: Smells kind of cheap. Smells like the shampoo my sister uses for her cats.
Hair:Shave is not bad
Skin: No irritation or dry skin

Final point: Well, it’s a good 2$ soap. It’s what I expected for the price. I will keep that one as a hone lubricant, like barbers used to do.


Regular (green) proraso (soap)

Lather: Good lathering once used to the product.
Nose: Strong smell, but opens the pores nicely.
Hair: Better shave than William’s (menthol?)
Skin: My face is burning after use, probably for the same reason.

Final point: Good for my hair type, bad for my skin type. I still keep it as a preshave to open my pores, works great for that. That’s a preshave that will last LONG and it allows me to practice to build the lather on my face.


C&E Sienna (cream)

Lather: Great lathering, better than the soaps I tried yet.
Nose: The smell is not bad, but I can’t say I really like it
Hair: Shave is not bad, but not impressive either.
Skin: My face itches only by application of the lather.

Final point: I will have to give it a second try someday. I’ll wait until they are back at 50%.


C&E natural (cream)

Lather: Horrible lathering, the coffee cream is thicker than that.
Nose: Smells almost nothing, which is the only good point of this product.
Hair: Friction was horrible; it was like shaving without lather. The drag of a straight, but with a Extreme3.
Skin: Suffered from the friction. My neck was all red after the first pass.

Final point: The lady who gave me the sample told me it was harder to lather than the regular creams, but it was impossible to lather with my synthetic brush. I made the second pass with the 2$ William’s soap and it was way better. The shaving experience was worst than with Gillette Series gel.


Taylors of Old Bond Street. Sensitive skin (cream)

Lather: This thing’s lather is impressive. I could have shaved my whole body with half of a sample.
Nose: Smells almost nothing in the mug, nothing on the face
Great shaving experience.
Hair: The shave was almost as good as with the green Proraso
Skin: Smooth, not burning at all.

Final point: Best product I tried yet, I raise the bar for the next ones. Definitely something I will buy. It’s the total opposite of C&E’s natural cream.


TGC Bay Rum (cream)

Lather: The lather is not as good as Taylor’s cream, but better than C&E’s normal cream.
Nose: Smells way more than Taylor’s cream, but at least it smells good, very good.
Good smooth shave:
Hair: It made a good job on my hair.
Skin: Nice feeling

Final point: The perfume helps to make the shaving experience better, it relaxed me. I think the shave was better with Taylor’s cream, but I will have to try both again to confirm. I think it was better for my skin though.
Still, that cream is approved by my nose, my skin, my hair and my mom.


TGC Desert Ironwood (soap)

Lather: Longer to build, but the result is very good.
Nose: The soap itself has a very strong smell, but once lathered its ok.
Hair: Smooth shaving
Skin: No irritation, my skin loves that thing.

Final point: The soap by itself is good even if the lather is a little harder to build. It is also great when mixed with an unscented cream.

*Extra note on TGC. I did not review all the scents because they are more a matter of personal taste. I assumed every scent had the same overall properties and were only different for the nose. I will definitely always keep at least a cream and soap from TGC. I can still say that Orange Patchouli is not for me, and that Provence Lavender is sweeter that many other scents. A mix of PL and Taylor’s cream is pretty similar to T&H ultimate comfort cream, but it smells better and is cheaper.

But the smell does not stay long enough L I look for the day where “TGC aftershave balm for sensitive skins” will be made.


Truefitt and Hill Ultimate comfort cream

Lather: Can be compared to Taylor’s cream; a lot of lather for a little cream
Nose: Not totally unscented, slight touch of lavender? Very subtle though.
Hair: Once again, similar to Taylor’s cream, maybe a little bit better.
Skin: No complain from my skin.

Final point: Except from the very little smell, that cream and Taylor’s one are practically the same to me. So I guess it might worth the extra 10-15$ if you like the smell of the cream (1805, Trafalgar), but if you want to go unscented, don’t bother, especially if you are a poor college student like me.


White proraso (soap)

Lather: After a few tries, I get a nice thick lather.
Nose: Not bad, and not strong.
Hair: I had a nice smooth shave
Skin: That is the weird part, no burning like the green one, but I have to say my face feels a little numb and dry. Not a lot, but it fells a little odd.

Final point: I think I will keep it as economy/travel soap. I said my face felt a little dry, but it goes after a moment. Just felt weird. Another weird thing is that when you look at the ingredients, you can see some fragrances. The green one doesn’t have fragrances. I just find it odd to put fragrances in a product for sensitive skins. On second tought (and try), I found that it’s the one that “felt” the most like a commercial foam. Still a great 8$ soap.




Conclusion: TGC and Taylor's of Old Bond Street got themselve a new loyal customer. There were my favorite in everything I tried.

As mentionned, I will probably also keep some green proraso as a preshave and a white one as an economy/traveler.

C&E are the products I less liked. Especially their Natural Cream.



Hope this can help

[jimmyray]

Nice review, cybrok. I'm curious to see if your results will be any different with a boar brush and a straight. Keep us posted.

[cybrok]

Yeah I guess it will narrow my choices even more.

Like most of the people here, I plan to get a boar brush and a badger brush. I think the boar are better for soap and badger for creams.

I don't think I'll get C&E soon though, if I hated it with a safety, I don't see why I would like them with a straight, especially the one that itched my face even before the blades touched it.

[De Layne]

Hi there cybrok, and thanks for the reviews,
Well, at least now you're able to check some things off the list of soaps and creams to try. Sounds like you found a few you'll be ordering again, so that was time well spent. Funny how they can act and perform differently, isn't it?
In my case, using samples for 2-3 shaves can be kinda difficult to come up when forming an opinion. Sometimes it will take me a few tries before I get the ratio correct on a new product, and sometimes it's only after repeated use that I figure out what's up. Sure, many times everything's great the first time out, and sometimes I'll also know right away if the product won't work at all for me. Occasionally though, it takes me a while to find the 'sweet spot' when it comes to making the lather I prefer.
I'm not saying you should revisit the ones that smelled poorly to you, but when trying a new soap or cream, be aware they can take some tweaking. That can consist of finding the right soap/water ratio, finding the right amount of time needed to properly mix the stuff, how wet of a brush is used....that sorta thing.....heh.
Hope that helps,
Martin

[cybrok]

Correction: The C&E Natural cream is not the worst thing I tried... not anymore.

See, I was at the mall and saw a Lush, I tried their Prince shaving cream. Ouch. I gave up after one cheek. The drag is horrible and this stuff sticks on the razor like tar.

I won't even finish my sample.

[sicboater]

Great Job Cybrok!


Thanks for the review!

[p.z.]

when trying the proraso pre-shave, and the green cream/soap it seemed that it was quite intense on my skin at first(hot and cold, like a flaming snowball), but after shaving with it a few times began to feel more mild.. maybe give it a short but continuous trial, a few days in a row, and see if it grows on you more.

[dward]

Nice review! I was thinking about the Taylor's soap. I use the Mr. Taylor scent for TOBS aftershave and really love it. I am waiting for my TGQ Lavender soap from Colleen. I have two of Mama Bear's soaps (Tuscan Memory and Joe's Trade Wind). Both lather up nicely and give me a good shave. I want to give Green Irish Tweed a try but that may be awhile since I have over 6 months supply of soaps and creams right now. I purchased a tub of T&H Almond on the classifieds here at SRP that gives a nice lather and shave. The only other soap I am using now is Classic Shaving (Rose and Violet scents). Those were my original soaps when I was still using my Merkur saftey twin. I like the scents. But have to admit the lather isn't as good as the others I have purchased. I am still in the discovery mode so I will likely buy from other sources before deciding on the ones I want to stick with.

[cybrok]

Originally Posted by p.z.

when trying the proraso pre-shave, and the green cream/soap it seemed that it was quite intense on my skin at first(hot and cold, like a flaming snowball), but after shaving with it a few times began to feel more mild.. maybe give it a short but continuous trial, a few days in a row, and see if it grows on you more.

I agree, I tried it with a milder balm and the burning feeling was a lot weaker. Still I wouldn't be able to use it everyday.


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