The Sandalwood Shaveoff

[JaredB]

First day with the T and H was an awesome shave. An almond and a half or so made plenty of lather for a three pass shave. The scent, which started in the bowl with a traditional, cologne smell, became more complex and a sandalwood note was present during the shave. The lather was quite slick. It had that face feel where all you really needed to do after a pass was wipe some water on your face and go again. I like this cream. Throwing in the balm sample was a nice touch and finished off a great shave, and the post shave feel WAS really good.

Now the bad part: Ten minutes after the shave, my face is on FIRE. I've never reacted badly to a cream or soap before, so this is new to me. I feel like that guy in the You Tube video whose wife put the hot sauce in his AS. Maybe it was the balm? Something in the fragrance oil from both? I will try again tomorrow without the balm and see what happens, but if my face burns like this tomorrow, I am going to have to sit the rest of this one out. Hope not.

SOTD: T and H Day 1

Razor - ATT S2 w/Nacet (2)
Brush - Ubersoft 2 24mm
AS - T and H ASB

 

[redrako]

Best Line of our Two "T's" shave off so far goes to Tanker John.

"Blade: Wilkinson Sword, first use (I realize WS's are actually made in Germany, not the UK. But so was the House of Windsor)"

A tip of my Pickelhaube to you, Sir.

 

[emwolf]

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear about that. Is it easily replaceable?

i have some mugs that I used to use, but nothing with the rough surface for lathering. It's okay, just put me off my game for a day and I've got a new one ordered and on the way. I will just change up the order of my testing.

 

[tankerjohn]

Best Line of our Two "T's" shave off so far goes to Tanker John.

"Blade: Wilkinson Sword, first use (I realize WS's are actually made in Germany, not the UK. But so was the House of Windsor)"

A tip of my Pickelhaube to you, Sir.

And to you, sir. Very kind comment. Thank you.

 

[AbbyW2]

Is anyone counting; I don't feel like we've seen the 80+ TOBS shaves reviewed hat we should have by now ???

 

[hydro-magic]

I thought of what the scent of T&H Sandalwood reminds me of. I have a bottle of YSL L'Homme Sport that I got as a gift a while back and they seem similar to me. Not a dead ringer though and I think I like the T&H scent more.

 

[edwinhmcbride]

Gear for this shave:

Razor - '59 Fatboy
Blade - Personna Blue (1st shave)
Brush - Vulfix 10A Badger-Boar mix
Cream – Truefitt & Hill Sandalwood
Aftershave - Nivea Men Sensitive

Normally I am a morning shaver but seeing as how it is Sunday night and I have three days growth I knew I would need to take my time with it. After a nice hot shower I organized my gear and set to work.



I have never had a cream in a tube so I was unsure of exactly how to measure out how much cream I would need. I gave the tube a decent squeeze and put a ribbon of cream that was enough to circle the apothecary mug bottom. I noticed that this cream is very lite and delicate compared to the TOBS which is somewhat thick. I began to form my lather with my damp badger/boar and about 5 drops of water (a tried and true method for me). The lather took on a nice whipped cream texture after about 10 seconds of whipping.



Application for the pass was wonderful. The cream felt very slick and had a wonderful musk cologne smell. It is just a very clean scent. The lather was very lite, spread evenly and had a great consistency. This is the brush after the first application.



The Fatboy set on 9 went to work on the whiskers with ease. The lather provided excellent cushion and a smooth, slick glide. I was impressed. No blade drag or skip, just smooth easy passes. After the first pass I could have rinsed off and just headed on out for my day, but where would the fun in that be? I rinsed and reapplied for the second pass. This is the brush after the second application.



For the second and subsequent passes I turned the Fatboy down to 5. The second pass was just as good as the first. No skip or drag, just easy strokes. The lather held quite nicely and did not dry out or dissipate in the mug. I rinsed off and squeezed out the brush for my cleanup passes. There was more than enough cream left for at least 1-2 more formal applications. As you can see there is still quite a bit in the mug.



As I have said, I am quite impressed with this cream. The scent is subtle but very clean and masculine. The cushion was fantastic and the glide (slickness) was outstanding. I will need to do a formal single pass in the morning just to clean up the shadow that will grow overnight but that should be an easy shave and set me up to be in regulations upon reporting for duty.

 

[JaredB]

Is anyone counting; I don't feel like we've seen the 80+ TOBS shaves reviewed hat we should have by now ???

I counted through quickly, and I got 75. One of mine was two shaves written up into one review, so 76.

 

[emwolf]

Shave #1 T&H
Set up today is Parker 26C with Nacet blade, VDH deluxe boar with soup bowl, homemade pre-shave oil and AV musk for afters and Honest Amish beard balm.

After my mishap yesterday with the shaving bowl, It's more than 48 hours between shaves. After washing and apply my oil I began bowl lathering the T&H. The scent in the tube is almost non-existent. Upon lathering it blossomed nicely into a mild, woody scent. It was very thirsty in the lathering and at least a Tbsp of water was added to my mix. It produced a very rich, luxurious lather and boy was it slick straight from the bowl. My razor flew over my face and head. After rinsing, relathering and pass #2 there was no pull, little sing from the blade for that matter, but lots of proof of a clean, close shave. Face is BBS, head DFS.

One thing I did notice is the lather is harsher on the eyes than TOBS. I got a bit near my left eye and 20 minutes after shaving there's still a bit of a sting. The scent does not last, either. It rinses with the lather.

I'm keeping the same set up for tomorrow, except face lathering. I'm very interested to see T&H perform with a normal days growth.

 

[whiteweed]

Truefitt & Hill Day 1

Day 1 T&H Started with Noxzema Deep Cleansing Cream, very similar to Proraso Pre Post Cream at less than half the cost. The hardware is the Gillette Black Short Handle Adjustable, RV Tulip with Shavemac finest, Persona Red Blade, and the Stony Clay station Bowel.

The first thing that stands out with this cream is the scent. a more straight forward singular scent. I do not know how accurate the scent is to true sandalwood, but I enjoyed the scent. It was the same top to bottom with top notes of I like working to mid of I like and a solid base note of I like. Suffice to say I liked it. The lather seemed more glycerine heavy than the TOBS which is not good or bad it just produces a different type of lather. To me it is more dense and a bit more protective. I did not have time or fell like writing a wrap on the TOBS, but the T&H may edge out the TOBS by just a little and it should since it is twice the cost. this is due to scent. It may have a bit more EO in it driving up cost? I also almost forgot the Post shave balm, which I am not that crazy about on all points of a balm. If the balm scent had been more like the cream would have been good.

Again my gratitude to Dane for putting this together

 

[emwolf]

Truefitt & Hill Day 1

Day 1 T&H Started with Noxzema Deep Cleansing Cream, very similar to Proraso Pre Post Cream at less than half the cost. The hardware is the Gillette Black Short Handle Adjustable, RV Tulip with Shavemac finest, Persona Red Blade, and the Stony Clay station Bowel.

The first thing that stands out with this cream is the scent. a more straight forward singular scent. I do not know how accurate the scent is to true sandalwood, but I enjoyed the scent. It was the same top to bottom with top notes of I like working to mid of I like and a solid base note of I like. Suffice to say I liked it. The lather seemed more glycerine heavy than the TOBS which is not good or bad it just produces a different type of lather. To me it is more dense and a bit more protective. I did not have time or fell like writing a wrap on the TOBS, but the T&H may edge out the TOBS by just a little and it should since it is twice the cost. this is due to scent. It may have a bit more EO in it driving up cost? I also almost forgot the Post shave balm, which I am not that crazy about on all points of a balm. If the balm scent had been more like the cream would have been good.

Again my gratitude to Dane for putting this together

View attachment 614112

that looks like the bowl I shattered yesterday *sniff* mourning the loss of a friend.

 

[hydro-magic]

Shave #2 with T&H Sandalwood: Progress, Polsilver SI (2), TGN F2 finest 28mm.

Before I get on to today's shave, I'm going to say one thing about yesterday's. My face felt like a million bucks all day yesterday. I didn't really find anything wrong with the TOBS post-shave feel but what I had from T&H yesterday was even better. I hope that continues. If it does, this cream will be right up there with the best I've ever tried.

Another really nice shave with T&H today too. I would agree with the previous review. Seems like T&H has more glycerin or something in it than TOBS. I has that glycerin feel where it sticks to your face more, makes the lather denser, and a little slicker. I'm a fan of that personally. A splash of Osage Rub at the end confirmed that I had no irritation. Just a nice wave of coolness.

Still enjoying the scent of this one and I think it'll grow on me even more as the week goes on. It's not a straightforward sandalwood like AOS. Definitely some other notes in there but I couldn't tell you what they are. Maybe a little citrus and musk? The wood does seem prominent to me though and that's what you'd expect from a sandalwood cream.

 

[TheVez2]

First T&H review today, I did not shave yesterday.

Here are my tools today:


As usual, I started out with a generous amount of cream.



I like to test out the extreme edges of the envelope so I wrung out my soaked brush and bowl lathered with no additional water added.



And then proceeded to apply said lather to my face.



Definitely too dry, but I shaved anyway. Performed pretty horribly. But this is not a slam on the cream as I'm intentionally testing part of a range it's not intended to perform at. My razor was gliding on top of the lather, no being able to cut through the thickness of it. (TOBS did not have that issue)
But for the second pass I added a few drops of water and it performed as expected.

Scent. What's up with these scents? Can't I get a straight up sandalwood? I can barely detect any sandalwood at all in this cream. Instead it smells like I just walked past the cologne counter at a department store. After my shave and witch hazel rinse, I still had a cologney scent on my face. Which oddly had that vintage Avon vibe, so I finished off with some Avon Excalibur.

Tomorrow I'll test the other end of the water spectrum.

 

[Mr Daniel]

Nice poem, Daniel. You're quite the wordsmith.



Yep!



Me too!



Exactly! You nailed it.

Thanks John, just trying to keep it interesting.

 

[paintflinger]

Haven't really posted in 4 days, a rather large update is due from me tonight for TOBS days 6 & 7 and T&H days 1 & 2.

 

[AbbyW2]

First T&H shave:
Same kit as first TOBS:
Simpson Chubby 3 Super
Mergress at 3.25
Fresh 7OC Superstainless blade

Face lathered a double almond worth.

Not nearly the scent of the TOBS, but that might be a plus;
got a pretty rich, thick lather see brush after lathering:

Face was thickly and it seemed, moistly covered

Lots of lather left in brush after 3 passes:

But. . .

Beard did not seem nearly as softened as with the TOBS. Shave not as smooth, slick or comfortable. Some irritation at pass three. A couple of very minor weepers. Final result was DFS anyway, but I rate well below TOBS #1

Lets see if it gets better with scuttle and glycerin or full überlather. Hope so.

 

[Mr Daniel]

My very first shave with Truefitt and Hill
Could not have gone better, the balm sealed the deal

The lather so rich so moist and so creamy
The scent so subtle so complex and so dreamy

The razor glided like an Olympic Ice skate
The results were perfect, much better than great


Truefitt and Hill shave #1

ATT S1
Gillette Platinum
Whipped Dog 24mm High Mountain Badger
Truefitt and Hill Sandalwood ASB


I'll start off by saying this cream made a great first impression. the lather was very creamy and slick, probably the best I've experienced from a cream. My Badger is sometimes a lather hog but this cream did really well. I face lather exclusively and hardly use the badger as it seems to make a thinner lather than my boar.

The scent was very nice but I can hardly call it a sandalwood. It really resembles my Tommy Aftershave balm and cologne that I have. There is something slightly different about them but they are about as close as 2 different scents can be to one another without being exactly the same. Once I run out of the Balm sample, I will be using the Tommy to see how I like that.

The cream lathered like a dream, very easy and no issues with water content or dissipation. It had residual slickness that reminded me of some tallow soaps that I've tried. Post shave was also incredible. I have absolutely no complaint about this cream from the initial shave but I will be looking as I review the product for the rest of the week.

I shave a two pass shave every day. I use the ATT Slant which provides the perfect balance of efficiency and smoothness. I have found that if I do a 3 pass shave I'm just wasting my time. I start out with an across the grain pass and for my second pass I go against the grain. If I start with the grain, then go across the grain, then go against the grain I end up with irritation.

So a 2 pass shave and eureka! Perfection. I really did enjoy this cream and I look forward to using it the rest of the week.

 

[AbbyW2]

I counted through quickly, and I got 75. One of mine was two shaves written up into one review, so 76.

better than I thought

 

[horvy]

Shave 1 with T&H:



Fatboy from the Passaround
RazoRock badger
Dinosaur lather bowl (courtesy of my 3 year old daughter )
You know the rest

Well, I had 2 days growth and needed a good shave, so I got right to it.

I did probably an almond and half to two almonds size of cream for the lather. Added in water as needed and it produced a pretty nice lather.

I'd say it's slicker than the TOBS for sure. Cushion is about the same, but this one wins (at least after first lather) in slickness.

Scent. Hmm. This is a tough one as I do not get ANY sandalwood off of this. Not that it is a bad scent, I just don't believe it to be what it is advertising. I am really getting a lot of the cologne scent as other have stated.

Overall, I like this one quite a bit. I've never been a cream guy, but this one is pretty good so far.

And to top it off, this one doesn't make my wife gag like TOBS did. Not a knock on the TOBS (I liked it) but her pregnant nose is a thing of mystery to me .

Anyways, enough babbling for me, back to reading more great reviews here!

 

[tankerjohn]

Shave deuce with the T&H

Today's kit of proven performers:
Razor-The mighty, mighty Red Tip
Brush-Semogue 2000
Aftershave-Pinaud Special Reserve



Standard prep of shower and Nivea face scrub. I squeezed an almond-sized dollop into the 2000 since yesterday I used too much. Today I might of used too little. Its okay; I'm bracketing here.


A dab'll do ya

I face lathered per my usual routine and generated lovely lather. Maybe a little bit on thin side, but it was fine for the Red Tip, which is relatively gentle. I had lots of lather for pass one and two, but pass three was stretching it. The scent was the same light floral I detected yesterday. There was something about the scent that triggered some olfactory memory. I can't put my finger on it. Maybe a friend's house I played in as a kid. Something like that. Anyway, I've smelled this scent before, though I doubt it was in a shaving cream.


Eh, not bad, not great



Lather on the razor (not sure why I felt like photoing that)

After the shave, I deliberately eschewed the balm to get a better feel for the post-shave. Post-shave feel was so-so. Not terrible, not close to tallow soap. Very similar to the TOBS cream. I guess that makes sense since afaik both creams are made by the company. I see why balms are so popular with cream users.

I finished the shave with Pinaud SR, a favorite of mine in the cold weather. The scent didn't match the cream at all, but the cream's scent faded so fast, it didn't matter. That's a big difference from the TOBS cream, who's scent definitely hung around. No leathery, incense-filled church thing today. Just the SR's normal baseball mit leather-bomb.