Crabtree soaps

Post by **Sam** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 8:16 pm

Well, I have never cared for the Crabtree almond or sandalwood shavecreams I have bought and/or sampled. The smell of the almond is not to my liking and neither cream lathered up the way I would have liked. Seeing that Almond is sometimes at TJ Maxx, for the price, I could understand but given that the Sandalwood is every bit as expensive as the AOS sandalwood, Id go AOS on shave and smell.

But the soap pucks, while small, are $8 and sandalwood soap and Sienna are each 25% off. How does the smell and the shave with Crabtree soaps compare to say a Trumper soap?

Sam

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 8:53 pm

Sam, Well, you'll have to be the judge of the scents....they should be strong enough for you to pick up on ( chuckle....I'm sorry, I couldn't resist ). But the soaps? Well, I used them for years. I first started with a brush around 1984....and a cake of the signiture scent C&E hard shave soap ( they haven't offered this scent in years, but it was very nice in the soap...very 'old school English' sort of fragrance, a little like the Trumper Almond soap ). Used the stuff daily for years...good shave soap. But, I have to say that; as soon as I tried Trumpers Limes soap, well, I never went back to the C&E. But, it continues to be a pretty good buy, for a decent quality shave soap.
Regards,
Gordon

Aztecface · Post by **Aztecface** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:00 pm

The scent of the C&E soaps are stronger, not by much though. Shave wise Trumper's soaps are practically unbeatable but the C&E soaps come quite close.

John 5 · Post by **John 5** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:17 am

Sam, the Crabtree soaps were my first experience with triple milled hard soaps.. (not going to count that cold December week with the Williams)..I think they're an excellent value for what you pay. I'd say they're more similar to Trumpers, as in being a bit less slick than the AOS soaps. Lets see..if I'd have to rate soaps you mention from 1 to 10, taking value out of the equation, and anything over 7 being very good, I'd rate the C&E a 7.5, the Trumpers a 9, and the AOS a 9.99 (I'm leaving the 10 out for the nonexistent Holy Grail we all think we'll one day stumble upon).

If we inject price versus pure performance into the deal, my ratings could very well be turned upside down.

John

dada · Post by **dada** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:25 am

I love the scent of Nomad, and it performs very well. Much better than a Trumper's violet soap that I was forced to relegate to shower use (but I think it was just a bad puck). Need to get some Trumper Rose soap soon...

Cheers
Ivo

drumana · Post by **drumana** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:41 am

I've got a C&E Nomad SS and a GFT Sandalwood SS and think that the Trumpers is a much better soap in terms of lather quality and performance. . . that being said, the C&E isn't a bad soap - just not in the realm of Trumpers IMO.

Big Ren · Post by **Big Ren** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:30 am

Sam,

We all have our likes and dislikes as far as toiletries go. Personally, I find the scent of the C&E offerings repugnant, especially the Sandalwood and Nomad products. Just my opinion.
I don't think it's a wise choice to purchase C&E based on a sale price, if you're uncertain of the scent and the performance relative to other tried and true products you've come across. This holds especially true for a shaving soap, which can last for months. Saving ten bucks now will not be much consolation down the road for getting a product you might not like. Sure, you could always put it up for sale, but that's just another inconvenience. I say stick with what you know works best, regardless of price.

Ren

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 4:52 am

I purchased both the Sandalwood and Sienna soaps on sale, simply because I love a bargain. I purchased them at different times but I would have to say I love them both. The scents are great and the lather is top notch!

Steve

GregPQ · Post by **GregPQ** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:02 am

I have used the C&E Sandlewood and am using the Nomad. Soaps. Many, including C.Moss if I recall, have praised the scent of the Sandlewood.

Since I got a Simpsons Chubby 1, I have only tried their Nomad, which lathers beautifully with that brush. The Nomad scent is not pleasant to me, kind of a laundry detergent smell. Nothing fun going on. The lather itself is also a bit detergent-like, IMHO, when compared to the slickness and lubrication you can get with Tabac or Trumpers.

Summary: the C&E's lathered well for me, and provided adequate, but not spectacular, cushioning/protection. Better, for my skin, than a glycerin soap, for example. Regarding scents, I believe the consensus would probably be Sandlewood, although Sienna has its fans. Nobody seems to like Nomad, although I like it in their stick deodorant. Go figure.

Greg

John 5 · Post by **John 5** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:10 am

Goes to show the personal and relative nature of this game.

I enjoy the Nomad. Hell, it might very well be my favorite of the C&E hard soap scents, closely followed by their Sandalwood.

John

razorburned · Post by **razorburned** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:17 am

The only one I have tried is the Sandalwood....it smells almost exactly like the C&E Sandalwood cream, slightly stronger IMO.

The lather is nice, easy to make (once you get the ratio down.....took me a few times to get that), that being said....it seems to be a close cutting lather that is a little lacking in the slickness dept (this could be due to my semi hard water). If you like slightly less slick soaps, or plan to add a snurdle of cream they will do well for you.

razorburned · Post by **razorburned** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:20 am

I enjoy the Nomad. Hell, it might very well be my favorite of the C&E hard soap scents, closely followed by their Sandalwood.

To my shnoz the Nomad smells like old celery and chili peppers......not what I like in a shave product......but then again, I don't get 'mown hat' from musgo (which I got for xmas, ta-he he he).

mantic · Post by **mantic** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:29 am

FWIW I have Sienna and Sweet Almond in both shave cream and shave soap forms. I find the soaps lather more easily and more luxuriously than the creams. Interestingly the almond cream performs better for me than the almond soap during the actual shave for some reason though.

My Sienna puck is hands-down my favorite soap in my stable--and I have Penhaligon's, T&H Luxury, and various glycerin soaps (QED, Em's, Conk, etc.).

--Mark

John 5 · Post by **John 5** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:39 am

razorburned wrote:To my shnoz the Nomad smells like old celery and chili peppers......not what I like in a shave product......but then again, I don't get 'mown hat' from musgo (which I got for xmas, ta-he he he).

You inspired me to walk a few yards and take a sniff of the stuff, and I'll be dammed..sure enough, I can almost smell the celery and chili peppers, (if I close my eyes and concentrate real hard

)

I stop concentrating on your observation, and I go right back to enjoying a nice, classic scent. Still enjoy it.

And the Mugso stuff, too...I received it from fellow member Adam, which if I recall correctly, did not enjoy the scent. I took a liking to it from the first moment I opened it.

Definitely a personal, relative game.

John

letterk · Post by **letterk** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:52 am

I enjoy the C&E soaps. I'm not a sandalwood fan, so I won't comment on it. I enjoy the scent of Sienna and Nomad. But the SAO, while the scent is decent, performs quite a bit better than the others. A very good product, especially for the price.

dada · Post by **dada** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:26 am

Well, I already said I love Nomad scent very much - but I too will try to smell the celery and chili

What can I say: if that's what I like - that's what I like... To me it is kinda rustic and masculine

Re: Tabac - sure, I like it better than Nomad! No question about it. And I guess I got a really bad puck of Trumpers

Cheers
Ivo

edit: Forgot to say that Ren is so right about the pain of saving $10 and then being stuck for months with something you don't like! Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to get small samples of most soaps...

jww · Post by **jww** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:52 am

mantic wrote:FWIW I have Sienna and Sweet Almond in both shave cream and shave soap forms. I find the soaps lather more easily and more luxuriously than the creams. Interestingly the almond cream performs better for me than the almond soap during the actual shave for some reason though.

My Sienna puck is hands-down my favorite soap in my stable--and I have Penhaligon's, T&H Luxury, and various glycerin soaps (QED, Em's, Conk, etc.).

--Mark

Ditto - I have had very good luck with the C&E soaps which I own - Sienna and Sweet Almond. I own SAO cream as well, which is still one of my top creams. I even happen to like the scent - I find the amaretto based almond scents a bit strong for my nose, whereas the slightly floral scent of the SAO is much more gentle on my sniffer.

But - as everyone says - ymmv.