tobs: soap or cream?

my first quality wetshaving product was taylor's almond cream.. i loved the stuff.. but eventually i moved on to prefer soaps.. then i started to use the bomb and now i'm wavering back and forth..

anyway.. i'm about to place an order with westcoastshaving and i want a single scent lavender product.. so i can't decide between tobs lavender soap.. or tobs lavender cream.. what do you guys suggest? i've never used a taylor's soap before.. do they lather as well as my other soaps? ( pre de provence, provence sante verlain, mwf)

thank you for any advice.. should i be ordering another brand of product for a lavender shave?

Hello Victor,

You might get conflicting opinions about TOBS soaps; I am of the opinion that it is a fantastic soap. I find it lathers very nicely and provides good glide. Basically, it performs with the best of the reputable English brands, at least with my water, brush and lathering technique.

I have not, however, used or sampled their version of lavender. Though I'm sure it's fine, I have used DR Harris lavender and would recommend that in a heartbeat. The lavender scent is simply wonderful.

The Taylor's English Lavender hard shaving soap is top shelf IMHO. I enjoy it very much. It's scent reminds me a lot of the Atkinsons English Lavender Water. The older formulation is very long lasting even in a somewhat hard water environment. I had a cake of it last me 11 months when used straight through. The formula has changed so I can't comment on how much the new one lasts but it gets good reviews from those that have tried it.

Taylor's also has an excellent Lavender Cream. Both their soap and cream have wonderful lavender scent to them but their scents are blended scents as are most lavender toiletries. Lavender is the primary note supported by other notes. I like their interpretations very much, very clean and very masculine.

A one-note straight lavender scented product that I can recall and have tried is Castle Forbes. It's an excellent performer but not anymore so for the extra money over Taylor's products IMHO, so you're paying for the scent. One caution with regards to this is that someone has posted that Castle Forbes seems to have reformulated their products and I have no idea how the new formulation performs as I've only tried the original.

D.R. Harris makes a Lavender shaving soap but it's not really a lavender scented soap to me. It smells more like a quinine scent IMHO. Some people do smell lavender in there though so it's a crap shoot as to what you'll perceive it as. It is a top shelf soap though and really can't be beat for performance. They also make a lavender cream which is also very good but the scent is more artificial lavender and heavy on the mint aspect. Good stuff nonetheless but not a true lavender scent IMHO.

AoS makes both a lavender shaving soap and a lavender cream. The soap has a heavy clay-like note to it along with the lavender note. If it's something that doesn't bother you then it's also a top shelf performer though I don't think it's a triple milled hard soap. AoS creams are OK, some people really like them, though I'm not really a fan of them. However, the cream seems to have a more straight lavender scent now that I think about it. AoS gives out samples at their stores and retailers so I suggest you take advantage of that before you invest in a pot, just in case you fall into the category of not being a fan.

T&H makes a lavender cream that is excellent IMHO. It is a greener lavender scent but very close to being one note lavender IMHO. It is also a top shelf performer.

My personal recommendations for lavender are the Taylor's soap and cream and the T&H cream. This is based mostly upon scent which is highly personal.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

Best Regards,
EL

My lavender favourite soap is Truefitt&Hill Luxury shaving soap, a great english lavender scent, soft and classy. The soap is easy to use , it gives lather easy and is triple milled, and last enough for a year,

thank you all very much.. however.. now i am conflicted.. should i go with the lavender tobs? or the lavender d.r. harriss?

Victor,

To add to your woes a wee bit, the Castle Forbes Lavender shaving 'soap' is aboslutely spiffing stuff :)

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

thanks.. but i'm only ordering from westcoastshaving.. so if they don't offer it.. i'm out.

If you like Lavender be prepared to try a couple.

My gal loves lavender but it is the rare lavender product
that does not give me fits. The sources of lavender include
stuff that was never near a living plant. When you find
one you like stick with it. I would try an older English brand
first.

My advice is that the fragrance in creams seem to stay with me
longer when some soaps rinse clean leaving a minimum scent. So if you
love lavender try the shaving cream.


I found this on the web:
"Another significant difference between lavender and lavandin oils is their
respective effect in treating burns. Even though they both possess
antimicrobial properties, lavender oil helps with burns while lavandin
oil clearly does not. In fact, the latter can actually make burns worse,
most likely due to its high camphor content."
What Is the Difference Between Lavender and Lavandin?

Now while a razor burn is not a "Burn" this could be important so
stick with the classic shaving products to start.

EDIT: Like cooking oil quality fragrance oils can go south/ bad
with time and improper storage. Buy from a quality vendor that
keeps their stock moving and fresh.