Thread: Da - BOMB cream?

Originally Posted by Alraz

[...]you reviewed a product that has been exposed to air for around 5 months.

That is incorrect. I contacted the guy who sent it to me, and it was less than two months old. That said, I am at a loss as to why this should actually matter. I have a jar of CF 'Lime' that is almost two years old. There is some discolouration, but performace wise, the cream is the same than what it was when I first used it.

Originally Posted by Alraz

The other thing that I would like to add is that the categories in the reviews are incomplete in my opinion, there is no mention of "glide" (which you touched in your review) and volume of lather (economy); two categories where The Bomb surpasses Castle Forbes (I am yet to use Caraceni).

We will certainly consider glide for the next upgrade. Economy is always an issue, but in my experience negligible once you leave the realm of supermarket creams. The only expensive one I would actively complain about is AOS's. As for the CF comparison, my experience differs from yours, but I will gladly accept that my samples were at fault. As I said, it is a very minor issue for me personally, anyway.

Originally Posted by Alraz

The big question here is other than texture and other intangibles what would you like to see in The Bomb to make it a solid overall 10? but perhaps we should continue this by PM.

I believe in full disclosure, and the answers are in the review you mentioned, anyhow. 8 out of 10 in the moisturising department, and moisturising is something so personal that I doubt the sense of reviews of this property to a certain degree. CF works better for me, but that is about it. You might find a tangible difference when comparing it to Domenico Caraceni, though. That said, Caraceni is among the most expensive creams in the market, so we are talking apples and oranges, maybe.

Originally Posted by Alraz

I would leave up to others to comment on whether The Bomb should be an option for newbies ...

It certainly is an option for newbiews, if only because it is hand made by a member and works very well. But I believe in diversity, and like the Filarmonica razors are not the final solution to all matters razor, I believe that beginners in particular should use the chance to try as many products as possible. As someone keenly interested in obtaining optimum results, I am sure you will agree to that

Best regards,
Robin

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

You can't ruin cream as you would a car, and it's easier to produce good lather from better products so your second analogy doesn't relate (to me it seems backwards, actually). Using the best products possible makes learning to shave easier, so yes, I agree that it is worth it to get the best you can in order to minimize frustrations and ease the learning curve as much as possible.

Sure you can; you waste it, which is exactly what is done if a) you learn to lather using a very expensive cream, and/or b) you choose based on no sense or experience of what constitutes "goodness." The second analogy holds in exactly that way - the beginner is not yet in a position to appreciate what distinguishes the best from the very good or even the simply sufficient, which means whatever makes something the "best" is completely lost on him or her.

All I am trying to say is that beginners seem best served by starting moderately - with middle-of-the-road products that perform well - and then moving up to better and more expensive versions when they can more fully appreciate them. Doing the opposite seems to me to feed on too many of the fears beginners have, and hence increases their chances of quitting too soon.

Originally Posted by Gldbird1

All I am trying to say is that beginners seem best served by starting moderately - with middle-of-the-road products that perform well - and then moving up to better and more expensive versions when they can more fully appreciate them. Doing the opposite seems to me to feed on too many of the fears beginners have, and hence increases their chances of quitting too soon.

And this is where we will simply have to agree to disagree. 10 of my friends started with CF by my recommendation, and 5 stuck with it. The others moved on to less expensive creams, making an informed decision because they had experienced what the de facto standard should be.

You know, it's a bit like starting with a razor that was honed by a honemeister. Sure, you can start with a razor honed by one of the many honesters, skimping on the fee, and ending up with something that is a middle-of-the-road product that might perform well. But is that really something you would recommend? NB, Al is not a honester, and his creams perform very well. I was referring to your argument only.

Regards,
Robin

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

As always, different strokes... I have tried two, and they were very nice. For artisan products, they are indeed outstanding. That said, they are not the very best I have tried. And being a subscriber to the beginners-should-get-the-best-they-can in the pre shave preparation department, I would beg to differ with respect to this round-robin recommendation - albeit slightly.

Regards,
Robin

I personally think the Bomb product is excellent, I have tried 3 of them Soca, Calibria and Cylpso all with very nice scents and excellent on all levels as far as lather, beard softening and moisterizing. So with all due respect I would beg to differ with BeBerlin, I think the Bomb is a high quality product. And would highly recomend the Bomb.
Tony B.

Originally Posted by Brando

So with all due respect I would beg to differ with BeBerlin, I think the Bomb is a high quality product.

I'm very much looking forward to your showing me where I said that it wasn't.

Originally Posted by Gldbird1

Sure you can; you waste it, which is exactly what is done if a) you learn to lather using a very expensive cream, and/or b) you choose based on no sense or experience of what constitutes "goodness." The second analogy holds in exactly that way - the beginner is not yet in a position to appreciate what distinguishes the best from the very good or even the simply sufficient, which means whatever makes something the "best" is completely lost on him or her.

Waste - how much excess lather to you rinse off your brush and out of your bowl at the end of every shave? Or do you save it? Cause you can.

b) You're right that new guys won't know what is good on their own, so they rely on others experiences of what is good. This, as Robin said, sets a benchmark for what the word "excellent" means, not to mention it aims to remove one variable from the process. Robin's honing analogy is very successful here.

Second analogy - You don't necessarily have to appreciate something in contrast to inferior products to appreciate how good it is. While one may appreciate delicious food differently if they are forced to eat bad food, they will still appreciate delicious food if it is all they ever eat, and the person will still know it is delicious, too.

Originally Posted by Alraz

When I send Bombs,
Al raz.

heh, that must be the coolest statement I've heard all year

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Waste - how much excess lather to you rinse off your brush and out of your bowl at the end of every shave? Or do you save it? Cause you can.

b) You're right that new guys won't know what is good on their own, so they rely on others experiences of what is good. This, as Robin said, sets a benchmark for what the word "excellent" means, not to mention it aims to remove one variable from the process. Robin's honing analogy is very successful here.

Second analogy - You don't necessarily have to appreciate something in contrast to inferior products to appreciate how good it is. While one may appreciate delicious food differently if they are forced to eat bad food, they will still appreciate delicious food if it is all they ever eat, and the person will still know it is delicious, too.

Really? If all things are delicious then no thing is delicious because everything is the same, i.e., without distinction, i.e., bland. Every distinction presupposes an opposite: good/bad, beautiful/ugly, noble/base. You may disagree, but the burden of proof is on you - how would you know that delicious foods remain delicious in the best of all worlds?

I think of shaving creams much like wine; a beginner is simply wasting money starting with an elegant Bordeaux. You have to learn to appreciate finer things, which means you start simply and sufficiently and work your way up.

Sorry, this is fun, but maybe we should stop. The thread was, after all, about The Bomb.

Originally Posted by Gldbird1

Really? If all things are delicious then no thing is delicious because everything is the same, i.e., without distinction, i.e., bland. Every distinction presupposes an opposite: good/bad, beautiful/ugly, noble/base.

That kind of Machiavellian philosophy went out of style somewhere around the Humanist Enlightenment.

Originally Posted by Gldbird1

Really? If all things are delicious then no thing is delicious because everything is the same, i.e., without distinction, i.e., bland. Every distinction presupposes an opposite: good/bad, beautiful/ugly, noble/base. You may disagree, but the burden of proof is on you

Yes, all comparison's are relative, that is the very nature of "comparison." But that does not mean someone will not know whether something is pleasing or not, and it does not mean someone who has never tired shaving cream will not appreciate a great cream more than he will appreciate a good cream simply because he has used the great one but not the good one. Better is better, whether you have a frame of reference or not, and you don't need a frame of reference to enjoy the benefits of a great cream over a good cream. All you won't know or enjoy is how much better the great stuff is compared to the good stuff.

There is nothing to prove, this is my world view and yours is clearly different. I'm not trying to push my view onto you or anyone else, so I'll just leave it at that.