A disappointment

What is your opinion on fine shaving creams and hard soaps? Do you like Trumpers, Coates, Taylors, Truefitt & Hill? Post your reviews and opinions here!
95%
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Post by 95% »

Good post, Scott, and congratulations on your engagement to such a nice girl.

By "embarrassment," Dr. Chris is referring to what he has called the Shelves of Shame and Gordon has called the Great Northern Hoard. Unless you have sixteen boxes of Tabac (complete with ceramic bowl) stashed away, along with the world's remaining supply of tallow-based Vinolia bath soap and several lifetimes' worth of every other grooming product known to man, you needn't worry about excess. :)
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Ken
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Post by Ken »

Gordon,

Just to add to the findings. I recently bought two bowls of D.R.Harris shaving soaps. One, a Marlborough, was to replace a just finished cake of Marlborough. The previous cake, purchased a year or two ago, had a distinct fragrance. The new one has only a very slight fragrance. The other soap, an Arlington, has a distinctly Arlington fragrance, though whether it is as strong as before I can't tell since I have not used Arlington for several years.

So, one with significant fragrance and one without. Both are excellent soaps, and I continue to think that D.R, Harris shave soaps are, along with those of AOS, among the best available. But the variation in fragrance strength is puzzling.

Ken
bernards66
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Post by bernards66 »

Ken, Indeed it is. I guess I really hadn't fully taken note of some of the previous posts that touched on this subject. All the Harris's hard shave soaps I've had in the past ( Lavender, Almond, and Arlington ) were nicely scented. It never crossed my mind that there might be this sort of issue with any of their soaps. It's definately a bummer because this soap, and the Taylors cream too, were meant to be replacements for products that I'd almost used up. I no longer feel I am in a position to just keep buying stuff. In the past I probably would have just chucked both of them and re-ordered something else, but not today I'm afraid. I'm going to try and trade the Taylors cream but may wind up using the Harris's soap in the shower where fragrance is not quite as important to me as it is with shave soap. If I do that, I'm not sure what I would get to replace it. If the scent of the Harris's soaps have become iffy, and if some of the stuff I've read here regarding the most recent Trumper soaps is accurate then I really don't know what I'd get.
Regards,
Gordon
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Post by gruffydd3 »

Add me to the list. I bought a replacement puck of Harris almond recently and it has no scent at all.

Regards,
Rick
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Post by a-cut-above »

The tallow-based artisan soaps are looking better and better.
Dave

"Sanity is a madness put to good use." - George Santayana (…like a wet shaver with an acquisition disorder.)
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Squire
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Post by Squire »

Yes, that is a bit of a let down. With a soap we can always use it up, well, as a soap, but a disappointing cream is another matter.
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Squire
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jww
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Post by jww »

Solution is simple gents --- MWF .... it remains unchanged for all these years. :D
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Post by brothers »

Wendell's right. I've read a small handful of posts from those who don't care for the fragrance of MWF, but I don't recall ever seeing anyone who says it has no fragrance. However, considering how our individual senses of smell vary widely, I'm sure there are those who feel the fragrance is too weak or too strong for their personal preferences.

The common thread here is disappointing, isn't it? Harris and Taylor's, changing and diminishing fragrances as if it doesn't really matter anymore.
Gary

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fallingwickets
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Post by fallingwickets »

For curiosity sake: what does the staff at dandy and rake and Taylors HQ say about your complaint? Are they willing to send out a new puck/pot for you?

clive
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Post by gruffydd3 »

jww wrote:Solution is simple gents --- MWF .... it remains unchanged for all these years. :D
MWF is my No. 1 soap, but I like variety so I don't use it every day.

Regards,
Rick
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Squire
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Post by Squire »

Yes Wendell, sometimes the simple solution is best.
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Squire
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ScottB
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Post by ScottB »

Squire wrote:Yes, that is a bit of a let down. With a soap we can always use it up, well, as a soap, but a disappointing cream is another matter.
If I encounter a cream that I don't like I might as well just discard it because creams don't store very well here in my location, far too dry. As you say a soap can be relegated to the shower.
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Squire
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Post by Squire »

Or with great fanfare presented as a special gift to someone.
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Squire
brothers
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Post by brothers »

Even better if you still have the box.

I've given away a ton of stuff to my daughters. The only one that was rejected was a couple of huge tubs of Lucky Tiger Molle brushless. Apparently the fragrance wasn't agreeable.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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Post by bernards66 »

Rick, Jeez!....you too?!....not good...no...

Clive, I don't know, I haven't tried, and since I didn't buy these direct from them I doubt that they'd replace them. And it's certainly not the vendor's fault. I don't have the energy to write long emails to London only to have them be ignored or my complaints pooh-poohed away.

Wendall, Well, that possibility crossed my mind. In the past the Mitchell's was always out due to it's lanolin content...skin irritation you see. But, this time I've had no issues so far with their bath soap so perhaps it might fly. Still, my freshly shaved skin is more easily annoyed than my skin elsewhere so I still have concerns. Then too, I was one of those that always found the MWF shave soap to be a little problematic in terms of creating the kind of lather I prefer. I'm okay with the scent but it doesn't do much for me in the way that some of the Harris's and Trumper soaps do. We'll see I guess.
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Gordon
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jww
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Post by jww »

I always feel sad when I hear someone has a reaction to lanolin. It's the Balm of Gilead for me.

Some have experimented with adding essential oils to MWF to concoct their own favourite scents. I would never mess with that magical elixir myself, but understand why others might want to. ymmv :wink:
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Post by a-cut-above »

jww wrote:......Some have experimented with adding essential oils to MWF to concoct their own favourite scents. I would never mess with that magical elixir myself, but understand why others might want to. ymmv :wink:
Guilty! (Sandalwood added to the base scent of MWF.) The elixir has been raised to beyond magical.

(There are sheep outside my front door waiting to donate.)
Dave

"Sanity is a madness put to good use." - George Santayana (…like a wet shaver with an acquisition disorder.)
Gareth
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Post by Gareth »

I still think Taylor's creams offer great value for money, however I no longer buy them. I've felt for some time now that the quality, and specifically the fragrances, are not quite on par with Trumper, T&H and Harris.

Gareth
brothers
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Post by brothers »

jww wrote:I always feel sad when I hear someone has a reaction to lanolin. It's the Balm of Gilead for me.

Some have experimented with adding essential oils to MWF to concoct their own favourite scents. I would never mess with that magical elixir myself, but understand why others might want to. ymmv :wink:
I used to feel a bit awkward admitting that I took 3 pucks of MWF and 3 pucks of Tabac and milled them all together. Now I love it more than ever. It's wonderful, is all I can say. I have nearly used up the first cake of the TabacMWF blend, and have a good feeling when I realize I still have 5 more!
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
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jww
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Post by jww »

brothers wrote:
jww wrote:I always feel sad when I hear someone has a reaction to lanolin. It's the Balm of Gilead for me.

Some have experimented with adding essential oils to MWF to concoct their own favourite scents. I would never mess with that magical elixir myself, but understand why others might want to. ymmv :wink:
I used to feel a bit awkward admitting that I took 3 pucks of MWF and 3 pucks of Tabac and milled them all together. Now I love it more than ever. It's wonderful, is all I can say. I have nearly used up the first cake of the TabacMWF blend, and have a good feeling when I realize I still have 5 more!
Genius -- still too over-the-edge for the Woolfat Evangelist, but any way you can get your fat is a good story in my books.
Wendell

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