The Crack of Doom----Revisited

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:02 pm

So, today I dragged out that unfortunate pot of Trumper Limes cream that had precipitated the above named thread; a thread that went on for a number of pages, much controversy, and frequent annoyance regarding Trumpers, both their creams, and in general. I was just curious about a couple of things, and wanted to try a little experiment.

If you recall, this pot of Limes was bought in London at least nine months before I even received it. When I opened it, I was struck by it's high degree of sheen, and it's odd texture. And the lather I'd gotten from it was not good. Even Ken, who continued to insist that the Trumper creams were still fine and unchanged, admitted that this pot was a little...a....odd, when I sent it to him to check out. Okay, well, the sheen is still there, but in the intervening months the cream has firmed up a bit. So much so, in fact, that I got one of those congealed blobs of undissolved cream in the bowl because I used too much. This time I decided to go at the Limes with my T&H/Vulfix Super brush because it has done very well with the tube of Violet that I also have. And I made sure to use plenty of cream....as I say, it turned out to be too much actually.

So, what happened? Well, actually it turned out pretty well. Plenty of lather that looked and felt 'right'. But I knew that the real test would be the shave itself. And that also went fine. Unquestionably, this lather had less cushion then, say, Coate's or Taylors, but it must be said that there have always been a few ( like Brett ) who feel that Trumpers ALWAYS had less cushion then those creams. All in all, while it cut pretty fast, it wasn't too much. Really pretty much like I've always experianced the T&H lather. But there was no significent irritation afterwards, and the shave was very close. This pot is definately not like the prior Limes that I've used, BUT, using a bit more cream and a more 'open' flexible brush like the Vulfix, and having let it sit for some time, it worked quite well. And, I did get to enjoy that fine Trumpers Lime scent.
Regards,
Gordon

Brett G · Post by **Brett G** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:10 am

Every time I see the title to this thread I can't help but think of something like this;

Note for you Anglophiles: That picture was taken in Manchester, England

Seriously though, Given the pots of Trumpers that people have been getting recently and this most recent report from Gordon it is clear that the sky isn't falling. Who knows, maybe Coates will even be resurected

jww · Post by **jww** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:27 am

Brett G wrote:Every time I see the title to this thread I can't help but think of something like this;

Note for you Anglophiles: That picture was taken in Manchester, England

Seriously though, Given the pots of Trumpers that people have been getting recently and this most recent report from Gordon it is clear that the sky isn't falling. Who knows, maybe Coates will even be resurected

Yes! Nothing like Mancunian culture! Them boys in "Manchesto" sure know how to impress the ladies.....

Hey - is that my Brother-in-law? ..... After second glance, no, couldn't be -- he doesn't wear shorts.

Scrapyard Ape · Post by **Scrapyard Ape** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:29 am

No one in the UK is allowed to say anything about "fat Americans" ever again.

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:46 am

Scrapyard Ape wrote:No one in the UK is allowed to say anything about "fat Americans" ever again.

Not even "I have seen fatter people than that in America"?

Okay.

Ambrosia · Post by **Ambrosia** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:56 am

i would like to specutate that that is a tourist visiting manchester, real mancunians only drink cheap larger never coffee

Brett G · Post by **Brett G** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:56 am

Whoa. I wasn't trying to start a your-people-are-fatter-than-our-people argument. I just wanted to post what I thought was a humorous picture of some guy's butt crack. I thought an photo taken in England would be more topical. Let's just say that there are gravitationally challenged people in every developed country and leave it at that.

loueedacat1 · Post by **loueedacat1** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 7:37 am

I've had good results with trumper with my trusty $45 vulfix strand, and I suspect my trumpers are the new stuff but not sure. I also found using a lot of cream helps (and also gives me some hope I will get through my creams some day).

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:28 am

See this thread just proves the point I've been trying to make for a long time which is: Take the best of the best i.e. trumpers and vulfix and no matter what, your shave will be 157 thumbs up

Clive

Aztecface · Post by **Aztecface** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:29 am

The Trumper creams I've had have all looked good(consistency wise) and smelled good. Most of them have been the newer formulations. But I never liked the cushion or lack of.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:45 am

My two pots of "new" Trumper's violet still smell awful. Furthermore, they don't lather as well as my older pots of Trumper's creams. I'm sticking to Taylor's for now. If, in a year or so, someone who is knowledgeable concerning the old Trumper's violet tells me that they just bought a new pot, and all is well, then I'll consider another Trumper's purchase.

EL Alamein · Post by **EL Alamein** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 12:03 pm

The more I read about this topic the more I'm convinced the fault lie with Creightons not the brands. I think it's likely that a lot of what we've seen over the last year or so will work itself out when Creightons gets it's act together and the munged up product is cleared off the shelves and replaced by new stuff.

Trumpers, to me, has always been a top notch performer. It had plenty of cushion and slickness. It was just a shade under Coates in shave quality. Clearly the munged up stuff has a miriade of problems which diminished these fine qualities. In all hope the bugs will be worked out and the product will return to it's former quality. Until then I'll steer clear (then again, it's not like I need any Trumpers for the next decade or so).

Chris

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:49 pm

Chris, Well, that's pretty much my view also ( and there's no question but that the recent Violet cream doesn't smell 'right' ). But I did think it was interesting that by letting this plainly sub-par pot sit for a few months, and then using the Vulifx rather then one of my usual brushes, I actually was able to get a good and satisfying shave out of it. At least now, that pot is not going to go to waste. But yes, hopefully, like Taylors, the Trumper creams will come back to their former selves when this batch is finally cleared out.

As far as Brett's photo is concerned, I think it is just an indirect expression of his resentment that his wife made him shave his goatee off.....yep....that's it, I bet.
Regards,
Gordon

EL Alamein · Post by **EL Alamein** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:19 pm

Gordon, yeah that is interesting about the Vulfix. Perhaps, like the Kent BK's the floppier bristle is more suited to the greater amount of cream? More flow through might mean more ability to concentrate the extra cream into a lather? I'm just guessing. Even with my limited brush experience I did notice that the Vulfix's make very good lather with just about anything. I especially like they way they make lather from soap. They're built like a tank to boot.

Chris

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:31 pm

Chris, Yeah, there was something about the more easy movement of water and air through the Vulfix that made the difference with this cream. My notion is that there was too much water in it to begin with. Letting it sit for several more months helped that out some. And then, since the Vulfix holds less water than my Simpsons it didn't overwhelm the cream. When I used it before, I used dense Simpson brushes and just wound up with lame, overly thin/light lather with no cushion. With the cream having dried out a little and a brush that carried less water to the mixing bowl, it worked out much better. At least that's my theory.
Regards,
Gordon

Brett G · Post by **Brett G** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:22 am

bernards66 wrote:As far as Brett's photo is concerned, I think it is just an indirect expression of his resentment that his wife made him shave his goatee off.....yep....that's it, I bet.

So true....

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:28 am

Yes, yes....that's what I figured. Unfortunate, but what can we do?

Anyway, my shave today kind of disproved Clive's theory, but not my own. Out came the Trumper's Limes again, only this time I chose the Kent BK4. Another flexible brush with a lot of 'flow through', but not a Vulfix ( chuckle ). And, I got another really good shave. Again, even though I backed off the amount of cream, there was still a small clump that didn't fully dissolve. So, clearly this cream has condensed some in it's months of sitting. Copious lather and no real issue with cushion. So, I don't know what all this means other than at least some of these weird pots do markedly improve with enough 'aging'. Fortunately, unlike the Violet, I never had any issue with the scent of this Limes; it always seemed the same as all the prior Limes I've had. I'm glad I took the time to give this pot one more try, because now I have a 1/3 of a pot of nice Lime cream that I didn't 'have' before ( and Marion doesn't need to feel guilty about that trade anymore....chuckle ). I do think that I'll stick with the Vulfix and Kent when using it, however.
Regards,
Gordon

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:47 am

I chose the Kent BK4. Another flexible brush with a lot of 'flow through', but not a Vulfix ( chuckle ).

Gordon, that isn't exactly true, afterall isn't the vulfix the IK of the world??? HAHA

Clive
still feeling quite right