TOBS Creams?

Today I found a Taylor of old Bond street, funnily enough on Bond street in London while looking at some shops. I went in, chuckled at the over priced Dovos, then had a smell of the samples of shaving creams.

Well the Almond scented cream got my sniffers attention, much more so than the rose or the lavender, the lavender smelling identical to the Art of shaving cream which I already have.

Anyway as its close by, Ill hold out to buy until I get some factual info on the product. So guys, how does TOBS cream lather and cushion, and can you recommend it for £6.95, or should I just wait till my whisky scented soap arrives from the US?

TOBS is the best cream I´ve ever used, so far. Highly recomended (and definitely worth the price, since it lasts for ages!).

Thanks Cegadede, what other creams have you used to compare with?

I love the qualities of the cream, though I'm not crazy about the Eton College scent. I have used shaving cream from The Shave Den and Proraso and Arko. The TOBS is hands down the best as far as lather and cushion go, but the TSD smells much better (I have mojito scent, great for summer)

Excellent feedback, im getting some in Almond tomorrow for my sunday night shave!

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Originally Posted by DPflaumer

I love the qualities of the cream, though I'm not crazy about the Eton College scent. I have used shaving cream from The Shave Den and Proraso and Arko. The TOBS is hands down the best as far as lather and cushion go, but the TSD smells much better (I have mojito scent, great for summer)

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Hey Drew - how's the ARKO? I've heard a mixed bag of things about it, but would love to hear what you think. Thanks!

Julian

I must say fragrance wise its a favorite.
As far as lathering, in my opinion Proraso/Bigelow lather better, and none of them can beat Barbon (even scent wise) IMHO.

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Originally Posted by ethermantis

Hey Drew - how's the ARKO? I've heard a mixed bag of things about it, but would love to hear what you think. Thanks!

Julian

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The Arko is alright, it's just not really my favorite. In my opinion it doesn't lather as good as the TOBS, and it doesn't smell as good as any of the others. But I know some people swear by it.

I sniffed them all at the Bond Street shop and went with the Almond as well. Never regretted it for a second. :)

While you're in the area, I'd recommend snagging a soap you like from GF Trumpers and the Luxury soap from Truefitt and Hill around the corner. At the latter, be sure to ask for a few of the pre-shave oil samples (if they don't give them to you anyway).

FWIW, I've tried the many varieties of Arko cream here, and some seem to be better than others. I am partial to the Commando version, though it doesn't quite compare to the products you'll find on Bond Street. Then again, Arko cream costs about a dollar over here (and 50 cents for the soap).

I wouldn't consider myself a TOBS cream expert since I've only used one entire tub of the "Shaving Shop" scent.

I liked the cushion and it lathered quickly. Very little was needed so the tub did go a long way (it lasted for at least a few months of daily shaving).

Although it could be said that any tub, tube, cake or puck of a specific type of soap or cream would be the same whether you bought said product here or there, a soap responds differently depending on the water hardness, etc available to the end user. Many will swear allegiance to a certain brand while others will have very bad results with that same brand.

TOBS cream lathered easily with my hard water but always dried out very quickly on my face. When I would exhale through my nostrils during a shave, at times there would be a small flurry of TOBS "snowflakes".

I wasn't fond of the scent but I didn't think it was bad. A citrus talcum powder old time barber shop scent.

Chris L

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Originally Posted by Scipio

So guys, how does TOBS cream lather and cushion, and can you recommend it for £6.95, or should I just wait till my whisky scented soap arrives from the US?

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One of the easiest cream to lather and great cushion. Rose is really soft and one has to be prompt not to take too much. Avocado is little harder and more close to "normal". On the cons side creams are not the slickest.
I can recommend them for you and IMO they're more than worth the price.

Eton college and Mr Taylor's shave cream were good then I tried them. I liked the Eton college scent, but YMMV.

As a trivia, TOBS is actually situated in Jermyn street. I don't remember seeing their shop on Bond Street. Are you certain it was on Bond Street?

Selridges, a large department store has a TOBS, which is situated on Bond Street.

Isn't Selfridges on Oxford Street?

Meh. Anyways, Selfridges has also nice selection of Truefitt and Hill, but they were quite hidden near the bathroom-section.

BTW, did you mean Fenwick? I think it has a department store near Bond Street

No, definately Selfridges!

According to their website, the original TOBS store was on Bond Street, but the modern store is indeed on Jermyn St. (which also features Trumper's, Floris, and Penhaligon's, with DR Harris and Truefitt & Hill around the corner down St. James Street).

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Originally Posted by northpaw

According to their website, the original TOBS store was on Bond Street, but the modern store is indeed on Jermyn St. (which also features Trumper's, Floris, and Penhaligon's, with DR Harris and Truefitt & Hill around the corner down St. James Street).

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Yes. In addition to those, it has quite a few old school gentlemens' tailors etc. It is quite nice street to walk by, but very dangerous to wallet and banking account =)

If you get TOBS, you have to get "Avacado" That's one of my all time favs, Along with
T&H 1805. They both have such a fresh scent, It's great....If I could only have two shave creams, ever....That's them.....

TOBS creams are very, very good IMO. You really shouldn't be disappointed.
As a reference, amongst those i've used are DR Harris, Truefitt, Trumper's, AOS & E Jagger. Taylor's is right up there. Jagger is also great, & cheap enough to get alongside it!

Well I bought it, the Almond scented version - sorry Zib, i had a sniff of the avocado and it wasn't for me.

I had a shave with it, great stuff. Lathers very well and cushions beautifully. As a comparison the only other cream ive tried is the lavender AOS, as prior to that recent purchase I was strictly a soap man.

I think the TOBS is probably a bit better than the AOS.

While I was there I had a sniff of the colognes and picked up some Victorian Lime. Fell in love with the scent and highly recommend it.

Thanks to all for recommending the TOBS.

I used TOBS Lavender and Eton College, and have mixed feelings about them. On the one hand, they're cheap, well made and packaged, and the scent once lathered is gorgeous (not so nice pre-lathering, however - it doesn't smell much at all like lavender or the final 'Eton College' scent). On the other hand, however, they leave my skin feeling slightly dry, and have a fairly narrow band of good lather between "too wet" and "too dry", which takes a lot of practice to be able to get consistently (I still have trouble after a good few months with the stuff). On the whole though, it's definitely worth trying out. I've heard the the avocado, although smelling a little odd, is phenomenal with its moisturising, so that's next on my list of TOBS to buy.

I have the Eton College cream and like it a lot. I like the scent, and it is easy to work with. Definitely one of the better creams you can get.

TOBS is great! Both their creams and soaps. That said, you won't find it on Bond Street, it's on Jermyn Street!

I used my Eton College cream this morning and loved it. Easy to lather...

Mike

My dear Scipio,

Every time you Londoners visit the great shave shops, I envy you from way across the ocean and wish I could come along. After all, you have the pleasure of wandering around one of my favorite cities in the world.

Well, at least I can enjoy the visits vicariously through you, Stuart and some of the other gentlemen who enjoy the luxury of London.

Anyway, I have used Taylor of Old Bond Street's rose and lavender creams for some years now and find them of the highest quality. Fragrance, cushion, glide and moisture, they seem to have all for me.

Their prices are reasonable, too. As for the prices on the shavers, they are high, aren't they?

Regards,
Obie

Obie, they certainly are daylight robbery. I would never purhase a dovo in any event, I made that mistake once. They are not bad razors, I just find them incredibly boring and for that kind of price Id rather have an ivory Rodgers or Butcher!

And Im not a Londoner, just happen to live there! The TOBS may be cheap here, but Mama Bears is pretty dear to import! Grass is always greener!

I have personally used and recommend, TOBS products. In relation to the creams, I have used; Mr. Taylor's {which is my personal favorite, in fragrence, lathering and cusion} Shaving Shop, Lavender, Sandlewood, and Rose. I like them better than the AOS. They are on par with T-H 1805, and Trafalgar, and they {TOBS} are less expensive. The Rose is one of the more moisturizing TOBS creams that I have tried. I just don't want to smell like a rose every day though. Scent is a very personal thing, as mentioned earlyer. I would highly recommend TOBS creams.

TOBS works great lathers easy, even with hard water! i prefer this cream over the col conk soap i dont know if soap is harder to lather up or if its the hard water.....