Taylor of Old Bond Street – Shaving Shop cream

Tags

7/10, barber shop, citrus, crisp, floral, herbal, shaving cream, shaving shop, Taylor of Old Bond Street, wood

Next up we have another cream from the “court hairdressers” Taylor of Old Bond Street. They describe their Shaving Shop scent as:

A classic aromatic citrus fragrance opening with top notes of fresh lemon blended with uplifting herbal nuances of lavender, thyme and rosemary, A fresh, green floral heart of jasmine and white cyclamen is warmed by a subtle spice accord before descending into a base of precious woods, moss, and amber musks. Contains essential oils of: Lemon, Thyme, Rosemary, Lavandin, Galbanum, and Patchouli.

The lather was wonderfully thick, while still being nice and slick. I find that with a lot of creams and soaps, “the wetter the better”, but that really wasn’t all that necessary with Shaving Shop. Just a bit of water and a tab of cream was able to be whipped up into a great lather, that gave a nice shave with plenty of cushion. It gave a better shave than the other TOBS creams that I’ve tried. It’s also a fair bit thicker than a lot of the other TOBS creams I’ve seen.

The scent… I could take it or leave it. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but something just doesn’t do it for me. I would say that the description above is rather accurate as to how it comes across, but it just doesn’t appeal all that much to me. It’s like a “clean” smell, but like it goes a bit too far into almost being sterile.

Strength-wise, it’s a bit underpowered. I can smell the cream itself quite clearly, but the lather comes across weak and fades.

• 6/10 Scent Pleasantness
• 7/10 Scent Strength
• 9/10 Lather Quality (reflects new scoring as outlined here)

Overall, I give it a 7/10. Really nice shave, but the scent didn’t impress.

• Cost: $15.99 for a 150g tub.

Gear used:

• Brush: The Colonel
• Razor: Edwin Jagger DE81BL (Red)
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue
• Scuttle: Robert’s Feats of Clay #4

Ingredients: Aqua, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, (Parfum contains: Benzyl Salicylate, Linalool, Limonene, Amyl Cinnamal, Hexyl Cinnamal, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Butylphenyl Methylpropional).