Best English creams/soaps for sensitive skin?

[highdrytoast]

My entry into the world of traditional shaving started with a trip to London in 2010. A confirmed canned-goo man, I stumbled upon Taylor of Old Bond Street on my way to Bates to get a cap made. At my wife's suggestion (read demand), I went in to get a haircut. After being exposed to the delights of Taylor's Eau de Portugal hair lotion, I decided to get some shaving cream and aftershave. Had I only known I could have stocked up on Taylor's pre-reformulation lavender soap! I left with a tube and a tub of Eton College. Even though EC isn't a classic English scent, it was a revelation to a nose attuned to Barbasol. Upon coming home, I continued to shave with the EC but found that from time to time it left me with bright red welts on my face. Never a quick learner, I soldiered on and began to sink even more money into this perverse addiction. Now, I find myself with barely touched pots of Taylor's EC, Sandalwood and Grapefruit as well as Harris' Eucalyptus. Of course, there also are the Forbes’ Lavender pot of cream and bottle of balm That's not to mention, the Harris Sandalwood aftershave that must have been accidentally filled with Pinaud Clubman, the EC aftershave and cologne that a generous mother-in-law gave as Christmas gifts, the Trumper's Wellington that induced instant headaches in SWMBO, or the Penhaligon's Hammam Bouquet that generated odd looks from all and sundry.

Tonight, in the interests of matrimonial harmony and financial stability, I've decided to ask for help. This, of course, was after a shave with the Taylor's Grapefruit. It felt better than normal insofar as I couldn't feel the welts and dryness coming on before finishing the shave. It ended, about an hour later, with redder and more pronounced welts than usual. I, therefore, am asking for help in deciding what products to buy in future. Harris' Arlington shave soap is the only product I've found that never produces dryness or welts. I've also tried Harris' Marlborough, Almond and Windsor shave soaps. Though I don't find them nearly as drying as any cream I’ve tried, they are not as kind to my face as the Arlington soap, and I'm not really crazy about any of their scents.

The problem is I’m not really crazy about the scent of Arlington either. Having given the matter considerable thought, I think my favorite fragrance class is citrus. I realize Arlington falls in the class of citrus fragrances but it’s not a pure citrus. I was tempted to splurge on the Trumper’s and T&H lime creams but couldn’t face any more disdainful looks when the postman arrived. I ask, then, that one of the experienced members of this board recommend a start-to-finish shaving regime of citrus-based shaving products suitable for someone suffering from sensitive skin. As a confirmed Anglophile, I would prefer that the recommended products be from the established English shops. If citrus-based products aren’t available from them, kindly suggest English products based solely on their suitability for use on sensitive skin.

[brothers]

I believe you were on the right path with either the Trumper's or the T&H Lime, or as an alternative, if you consider Forbes from Scotland as related to an English product, I'd recommend their Lime cream. I have a pot of that, and it is quite good. To follow, I'd go with the GFT Lime Skin Food. Afterward, you might want to try a touch of Taylor's #74 Lime after shave. Just my suggestion on a straightforward citrus (Lime) treatment. One departure you might find suitable for your sensitive skin would be Taylor's Avocado shaving cream. I'm sure others will step forward with some excellent suggestions and variations. I really like your first SMF post, and thanks for sharing this with us. Good luck, and welcome to our ranks.

[Craig_From_Cincy]

Welcome to SMF Highdrytoast!

[Bugsy]

Have you tried Harris' new eucalyptus cream? Somewhat medicinal scent, but comfy shave.

[Gareth]

Welcome to SMF, highdrytoast.

Taylor's Avocado is quite easy on the skin, and certainly one to consider. If you haven't tried it before, it's a...ahem...slightly different scent. It doesn't, at least to me, smell that much like Avocado really, but it is fairly innocuous since it isn't heavily fragranced.

I also find that Rose fragranced creams are kind on the skin. There's plenty of good ones out there at the moment, and any of them will do the job well; Harris and Trumper Rose are my favourites at the moment, but they are more heavily dyed than, say, Taylor's or Truefitt's.

I'm not particularly over sensitive to products, but I have noticed in the past that my own skin will get irritated if I use too much cream, or not enough water when lathering. It might just be something to bear in mind, as it could be as simple as making sure you get the mix right.

Gareth

[jww]

Forget citrus and go with MWF. Can't be more english than lanolin from the sheep of West Yorkshire.

[JRTASTER]

Welcome to SMF!
Sorry to hear of your sensitivity problems. Would love to help with spot-on suggestions, but my skin and yours probably
differ in every way: generally..at least up until now...no reactions to shave products at all.
Some of the suggestions offered so far will undoubtedly help...if you have the money and space, try them all. Sooner or later
you would probably end up buying several of them anyway, as you traverse the wet-shaving experience.
When you find the one(s) which work, please share so others with similar issues can benefit from your trials.
Good Luck!
jr/John

[Squire]

Good morning hdt, welcome aboard.

To start with don't use anything that's proven to irritate you or cause discomfort for others. A good place to begin on the milder side of things is with lavender creams, shave soaps, aftershaves, balms, etc. Not striking scents like Eaton or Shaving Shop but very serviceable.

[jww]

Squire makes some good points above. To be fair, some people have a reaction to lanolin -- a key ingredient to MWF. So -- while I fully endorse MWF as the go-to product lathering product of all-time, the notion of lavender based products is a pretty sound idea.

[Sam]

There is a thread with a guy selling some Coates. Each has a label that says it is good for something or other, sensitive,oily, dry, you name it. What I like is that the scents are not overtly loud, and that there is more than adequate cushioning, maybe the best there is in a cream, but still slick enough that it allows a smooth shave.

[Rufus]

TOBS, TOBS, TOBS especially Rose, Lavender, Avocado and Coconut. You might also consider The Body Shop Macca Root shaving cream and The Real Shaving Company shaving cream. I have sensitive/tender skin and find all these creams excellent.

[bernards66]

Welcome aboard! There really is no easy answer to your question because each gent's face is a bit different and what bothers mine might not bother yours and visa versa. I agree with one of the above posts that suggests that the first thing to check is the lather you are making; is it rich enough but not overly concentrated?, is it providing enough 'cushion', etc. Also, what sort of razor are you using? This could be a factor because canned foam like Barbasol provides a bit more cushion ( and a less close cut ) than do traditional products. The odd part, to me, is that Harris's Arlington hard soap has worked fine but even their other soaps have not. Arlington is certainly more mildly scented than say Marlborough and so, it might be that you are unusually sensitive to certain scent ingrediants. I am to a slight degree but can comfortably use most of the trad. English creams and soaps. If this is so ( and it's only one possibility ) than more lightly and simply scented creams or soaps might prove preferable. Trumpers Limes cream might work in this context, or the T&H Lavender cream or the Harris's Lavender hard soap ( hell, the last one of those I had had very little scent at all...just the mildest hint of lavender ). But, unfortunately, there really is no way to be certain in advance. One must experiment to find what products work best for the individual. Best of luck and again, welcome.
Regards,
Gordon

[kingfisher]

Welcome to SMF, highdrytoast.

Taylor's Avocado is quite easy on the skin, and certainly one to consider. If you haven't tried it before, it's a...ahem...slightly different scent. It doesn't, at least to me, smell that much like Avocado really, but it is fairly innocuous since it isn't heavily fragranced.

..

It doesn't smell like avocado because it's not meant to smell like avocado. it's called "avocado" because it contains a small amount of avocado oil, which is reputed to be very good for your skin. That's the only reason they use the word "avocado" for this cream.

The scent is a lot like fresh-cut grass with a little bit of a floral scent in the background. I find it quite pleasant, but scents are definitely a YMMV thing.

[Gareth]

Welcome to SMF, highdrytoast.

Taylor's Avocado is quite easy on the skin, and certainly one to consider. If you haven't tried it before, it's a...ahem...slightly different scent. It doesn't, at least to me, smell that much like Avocado really, but it is fairly innocuous since it isn't heavily fragranced.

..

It doesn't smell like avocado because it's not meant to smell like avocado. it's called "avocado" because it contains a small amount of avocado oil, which is reputed to be very good for your skin. That's the only reason they use the word "avocado" for this cream.

Fair enough explanation, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume it might smell of Avocado......after all the Rose cream smells of rose, the Lavender cream smells of lavender, the Lemon & Lime cream smells of......I'm sure you get it.

I thought it might help if highdrytoast was aware of this.

Gareth

[notthesharpest]

Hello Mr Toast

First, take a day or two off the products that have caused problems, to let your face come back to normal before doing any new experiments.

I'm thinking what bernards66/Gordon is thinking, but my hunch is more simple and direct. I think you're very likely using far too much shaving cream, and that that might be the main cause of your welts. And if I'm wrong, that will become obvious soon enough.

If you have soft water where you live, you can get away with using a pea-sized bit of the good shaving creams such as you've tried. It takes somewhat more cream to overcome hard water. If you use too much, making a lather that's too concentrated and goopy, the potential for irritation goes way up.

I suggest trying one of the "worst offenders" that's already in your house, but mixing it up much much weaker than you've done before, and see how that goes. In fact, don't even shave - just try my advice as if you were going to shave, see what kind of lather you get, and then rinse it off. If it seems successful, then try that at your next real shave. Experiment a bit, to see how little cream you can get away with using. After you find what's too little, then you'll know to use a bit more next time.

When actually shaving, if your lather fails, rinse it all away and start again. A minute or two wasted re-doing your lather is better than a bad shave.

[bernards66]

Gareth, Well, yes...one might suppose...but then there's DRH's 'Almond' hard soap, and Trumper's 'Almond' and neither one smells at all like almonds but were probably, at least at one time, super-fatted with almond oil. I suppose that the Taylor's 'Avocado' cream is a similiar story. I haven't personally tried any in quite a few years but 'back when' it always seemed to make a very good lather.
Regards,
Gordon

[brothers]

The Taylor Avocado once had a mildly "pretty" fragrance somewhat mindful of the current St. James fragrance, but it changed for the better, according to most guys, about 4 years ago when it became what it is now. In both versions, it has been a very good lathering example, and has a reputation for being good for the skin.

[woodsrider]

Hi toast:

Another cream you might try is Truefitt & Hill Ultimate Comfort cream. It has a very faint lavender scent and is (allegedly) formulated for sensitive skin. I've never had an issue with it; maybe others can chime in with their experiences.

[bernards66]

Lynn, Working along the line of my reasoning in my above post, yes, the T&H UC cream would certainly be another likely one for the OP to consider....don't know why I didn't think of that....age may be creeping up on me.....
Regards,
Gordon

[rsp1202]

Hiya, Lynn! TOBS Jermyn Street is another mild lavender-ish cream that might work; there's a 50ml tube of the stuff available that doesn't cost much, good size for testing. I think a rose cream/soap is as good a choice as lavender for scent and face-feel reasons.