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Truefitt and Hill – Grafton Shaving Cream

03 Friday May 2013

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Truefitt and Hill - Grafton

I was prompted to bust out my sample of Truefitt and Hill’s Grafton shaving cream after stumbling across this post, wherein various folks on Shavenook declare Grafton to be identical to Taylor of Old Bond Street’s Mr. Taylor scent.

Naturally, I lathered up, took a sniff, and followed up with a sniff of my bottle of Mr. Taylor’s cologne. And while I’ll agree that they’re quite similar, I thought I picked up a bit more spice in the bouquet of the Mr. Taylor. For what it’s worth, T&H describe their Grafton as “Warm and spicy, Grafton has a fresh herbaceous opening combined with a spicy floral heart, leading onto a rich, woody, amber background with a hint of leather”, compared to TOBS on Mr Taylor: “A fresh fougere accord with herbaceous top notes of lavender, bergamot, green notes resting on a heart with geranium and soft green fern. The base of this fragrance is ambery with cedar, leathery, moss and musky.” So, yeah, definitely sounds like they were at least shooting for something similar, if not exactly the same.

Anyhow, the scent was quite nice, if the above sounds like something you’d like.  Strength-wise, it was pretty darned good; about what I’d call the perfect strength  right off the bat, however I did notice some not-insignificant level of fading during  the shave.

As for the lather, it’s on par with most of the other T&H I’ve tried (I think the slightly lower quality shaves I had with the Lavender might be an abberation). You can coax a quite thick lather out of it with a decent level of lubrication; don’t overdo it on the water however or it will thin down a fair bit. And reasonable moisturization properties.

  • 9/10 Scent Pleasantness
  • 9/10 Scent Strength
  • 8/10 Lather Quality

I assess this one to be a solid 8/10. I’d say everyone should at least
give the T&H sampler pack a try.

Gear used:

Ingredient List: Water, Stearic Acid, Mystric Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Fragrance, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.

Truefitt and Hill – lavender shaving cream

09 Saturday Feb 2013

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Truefitt and Hill - Lavender

The scent of Truefitt and Hill’s lavender is, a decent enough rendition of lavender, however I think it might be a bit too sweet for my tastes. That having been said, it’s been quite a while since I’ve smelled actual lavender, so I’m not completely sure whether or not it’s an inaccuracy or not.

Strength-wise, it started off as one of those few soaps that were too strong (sickly even) when first applied to the face, but it faded swiftly enough during the course of the shave, and there was also some noticeable fading between shaves as well.

I didn’t have quite as good of an experience, lather-wise, with the Lavender than I did with other previous Truefitt and Hill. I wasn’t quite able to hit the sweet spot for ideal water content on either of my test shaves, and ended up overshooting and using something that was a bit too runny both days. In comparison to other Truefitt and Hill creams that I’ve tried, this would be good rather than great.

Overall, I give it a 7/10. Ok all-around, but nothing spectacular. Worth a shot if you really like lavender (although you should probably try it anyways just because you should probably try everything in the Truefitt and Hill sampler pack).

Gear used:

Ingredients: Water, Stearic Acid, Mystric Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Fragrance, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, CI-15510, CI-17200, CI-42090, CI-60725.

Truefitt and Hill – West Indian Limes shaving cream

13 Sunday Jan 2013

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Truefitt and Hill - West Indian Limes

Well, to start off, the first impression I got from this cream was very nice. Immediately after starting to lather, I caught a fairly strong whiff of a rather decent limey scent. But it kinda went downhill from there.

While the first sniff was nice, a bit of a closer examination revealed a bit of the chemically “cleaning product” tinge that a lot of other citrus scented shaving soaps or creams seem to have. Not quite as severe in this one as in others, but it’s still there.

And that strongly scented aroma? It faded quite quickly. This one not only faded when applied to the face, but also a fair bit when still sitting in the bowl. What was initially scented strongly enough to smell from a few feet away, was reduced to what would be best termed as “rather weak” when sitting on your face a few millimetres from your nostrils.

The lather itself performed quite well, pretty much on par from what I experienced with my previous T&H review. It easily lathers up quite thick, with a reasonable level of slickness. Not all that much water is required, and you will lose out on the thickness if you over-do it. Face felt nice afterwards, with reasonably moisturizing properties.

Overall, I say this one’s a 6/10. Good shave, but scent could use some work.

Gear used:

Ingredients: Aqua, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Parfum, Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Limonene, Citral, Linalool, CI 19140, CI 42090

Truefitt and Hill – 1805 shaving cream

17 Saturday Nov 2012

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I finally got around to cracking open the first sampler from Truefitt and Hill, the third of the “big Ts” of British shavery (alongside Taylor of Old Bond Street and Geo F. Trumpers). And I must say, I’m rather impressed; I might end up not being quite as much of a TOBS fanboy.

The scent is a sweet floral and citrus concoction (accent on the florals) with a little bit of a woodsy aroma thrown in (I see it described most other places as “Oceanic”. Frankly, I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean, doesn’t really smell like any ocean I’ve sailed upon, but hey, sometimes terminology is weird). Named after the year the company was founded, it’s apparently their best selling fragrance. Personally, I really quite liked it, although the girlfriend though it was too flowery (so I guess I won’t end up getting the cologne).

Strength-wise, it was pretty good. The cream itself is quite strongly scented, although it gets muted somewhat once lathered. When applied to the face, it initially comes on quite strong, however rather quickly fades to something that’s weak but noticeable.

As for the performance of the cream, it’s definitely quite nice. It lathers up to a quite thick luxurious cream, while being reasonably slick. Not too much water is needed, so be careful not to over-do it. It left the face feeling quite nice afterwards.

Overall, I give it a 8/10. Great shave, nice scent, probably woulda given it a 9 if it was a bit stronger.

Gear used:

Ingredients: Aqua, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Parfum, Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, Benzyl salicylate, Eugenol, Citronellol, Geraniol