Thread: unit's shaving cream reviews

I appreciate your willingness to write this all up. I'm subscribed.

Geo F Trumper GFT

I am going to attempt to be brief and do a follow up on this one.

First, the sample size seems tiny, but it's one of those creams where a little goes a long way for me. I might get 4 shaves from this tiny vial.

The scent seems nearly absent to me. My son says it smells like soap (thanks, son), my wife thinks it smells better than any I have written up so far, but I have a hard time saying I like it or what it smells like...as stupid as I feel saying this, I have to agree with my boy, it smells a little like hand soap.

In the mug: this one is a little sensitive to mix. I got it right the first time and had a wonderful shave, then the second time I got a tad too much water and I could not reproduce the cushion of the previous effort (thus the reason I'm going to revisit this one, it's only fair that I get it right a couple times before I say too much).

The one shave that I did get the mix right, I felt as though it softened my beard nicely and had just the right amount of glide and ample cushion (I've said before that I think there is a such thing as too much glide, and I think we'd all agree there is a such thing as too little). I found the glide to be unremarkable weather I mixed the lather right or not (by "unremarkable" I mean, it's just right so not much needs to be said).

This cream rewarded me the first time with a wonderful cushion, but the second time my ego got the best of me and I tried it too thin and the cream basically collapsed into a cushion-less goo that left me wishing I'd just started over.

One shave was great with two and a half passes, the second I gave up after two almost painful passes (let's lay the blame on me for the moment in this one). I guess I could dis it and say it's too sensitive to mix, but chances are it was me having a bad day and not the cream.

More later...

Taconic Bay Rum Shaving Cream.

I'm not very fond of this one. There are lots of reasons I want to like it, but I just don't.

First off, I open the container and see a rather unattractive shade of brown. I think to my self, "self, it's cool, this stuff is probably made of natural ingredients and without bleaching and other potentially unhealthy processes, it ends up being baby poo brown". Then I notice the smell. The smell is actually my favorite thing about this product...but it's not bay rum. It smells like pumpkin pie (and I LOVE pumpkin pie).

So giving the nasty color a pass and becoming more excited to try this fantastic smelling (but NOT bay rum smelling) cream, I began to try and get some on my brush.

WTH!?! This "cream" is as hard as most of the soaps that I used to use (and abandoned about a year ago).

Ok, so this non-cream is a soap in my book, but I'm going to love it anyway...I am determined to because of this fantastic smell.

I tried it in a clump in my mug, I tried it by sticking my brush in the product container, and I tried it brushless as some vendors claim can be done. The results were best when I put a clump in my mug as if it were a soap (which I would call it).

Did I convey to you that I really want to like this stuff because of the smell yet?

On my face it seems fine. It lathered up well enough, but requires more work than any other (true) cream I have tried (except when I try to brushless lather it...why did I even bother?). Ok so it is lathered and on my face, now to strop (I strop pretty fast, 15 laps linen, then 60 on leather) turn around to start my first pass, WTH?!? The lather has collapsed and I can see my cheeks...the white pillowy lather has broken down as if I started to rinse it off (every time I used this stuff, I had to reapply after stropping and shave immediately...I also had to re-whip it before ever application).

Cushion is mediocre and on par with the soaps I quit using because of the difficulty and frustration I had attempting to achieve good cushion with them.

Glide is good, but almost greasy. Those that like a slick glide might like this stuff, I'd be happier with a little less greasy feel. I almost felt like I wanted to wash my face when I got finished shaving.

I got a pretty good shave with two passes, but probably should have done three passes. Every time I use this stuff, I must re-whip the lather between each pass because it collapses in the mug also.

Perhaps the fault is mine and I'm not mixing this correctly or otherwise failing?...but I guess I'm stubborn and don't care. The product claims to be a cream and while I love the scent, I expect an ease of use on par with other creams. I did not get this and after three tries, I'm ready to go to something that doesn't have a learning curve.

I really do love the scent, but scent only matters to me if the first criteria are met (it needs to perform as a shaving cream).

I don't know what to say. I knew nothing of this product, it was free, and I loved the scent. No preconceived notions or expectations. The scent pulled me in, the performance has me wondering if I can make a candle out of it.

If you like soaps and pumpkin pie, perhaps you should give this a shot...especially if you like a slick glide.

I fell compelled to end on a high note, so I'll again say I love pumpkin pie