Good Day folks, after posting a few reviews on my own review site, our good host Mantic59 has graciously offered to host a few of my reviews on this here fine website. Needless to say, I’m honoured, and will be posting here frequently.
[Ed. note: Amazon and West Coast Shaving links are affiliate.]
So, to start things off, I’ll be reviewing Taylor of Old Bond Street Rose shave cream. TOBS describes it as a “floral accord with notes of rose and geranium with hints of spicy clove and cinnamon.”
It lathered up nice and thick, although didn’t produce too much in the way of volume. The lather provided a nice cushion, as well as being just slick enough to give a good shave, but not much more than that. It’s pretty much what I’ve come to expect from any of the TOBS creams; I’ve not seen much in the way of variation of the performance of their creams between the various scents that I’ve tried.
The scent was quite nice. Exactly what it says on the tin, as some might say (warning, TV Tropes link), it was a pleasant odour that smelled just like roses. It isn’t quite my favourite scent for shaving, but it’s definitely exactly what should be expected. Strength-wise, it was spot on. It came on strong, without being over-powering, and didn’t fade at all during the shave. It didn’t linger at all on me after washing off my face, however the scent did linger a bit over half the day in the bathroom.
- 8/10 Scent Pleasantness
- 10/10 Scent Strength
- 8/10 Lather Quality
A full 150g / 5.3 oz tub goes for about $18.00 on Amazon. Also available from many other sources including West Coast Shaving, Maggard Razors, and Bullgoose Shaving.
Overall, I give it a 8/10. Your mileage may vary depending on just how much you like your floral scents of course, personally speaking, I generally prefer them to be tempered by something else. I highly recommend it if a nice strong rose scent is something you think you’d like.
Ingredients: Aqua, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum, Methylparaben, Propyl Paraben, CI 17200
anyone notice the blade guard is upside down in that picture
Damned things aren’t sailor-proof. 🙁
Great stuff. Glad to see your reviews will be posted on Mark’s site also. I’m looking forward to reading them. Timely review too. I had just ordered a tub of the rose TOBS cream myself…though perhaps should have gone for the Avocado. Ah well, next time! I’m a bit worried the slickness won’t be enough for me. We’ll see I suppose!
Of course, as per usual, your mileage may vary. Hopefully it works for you!
Just wondering…did you get it a SHOE box shave shop?
D’oh! My bad.
Try the avocado; the scent takes some getting used to (a bit like a flower shop but not all like guacamole), but the moisturizing properties are quite more than the average TOBS. I prefer other TOBS fragrances, but this the avocado is my go-to cream since I have sensitive neck and upper lip areas.
Side note: I got 4 or 5 shaves out of each of those little shoebox shave samples when I ordered my tour-de-TOBS.
I’ve also got a sample of the avacado. It does smell quite nice. Since you’re mentioning sensitive skin, have you also tried the Jermyn Street?
I can highly recommend, Jermyn Street, it has a really great scent, like walking into a candy store 🙂
Yes, I tried Jermyn Street as well, but I get the sense that it’s designed more for people whose skin is sensitive to the fragrance aspect of TOBS creams. For me, the Avocado’s treatment of my face is the best I’ve tried, although I prefer the scent of Mr. Taylor (followed equally by Eton, St. James, and Almond).
Quite fond of the scent of Mr. Taylor, although I haven’t gotten around to actually shaving with my sample, so I don’t know yet if it’s strong enough. Which was my main problem with Eton College, like the scent, but it didn’t come on strong enough for me.
I have both the Avocado and the Rose. I agree that the Avocado seems to be more mosturizing than the Rose. I also prefer the smell of the Avocado cream. The one thing I have noticed about the Avocado is that I seem to use more product to produce the same amount of lather compared to the Rose. When I have time for a 3 pass shave I seem to barely have enough lather when I use the Avocado, whereas with the Rose I would have enough for 4 or 5 passes if I really wanted to. I have even began to conciously use less Rose cream so I don’t waste it. Have you expirienced this as well?
Paul I would like to thank you for writing excellent reviews and I am glad they will now be on the Sharpologist.
Thanks, I’ll be doing about as many here as Mike wants to publish (I understand that he doesn’t want me turning 80% of the submissions he has into the Palpz’s soap review show!)
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