Next up we have another cream from the “court hairdressers” Taylor of Old Bond Street. They describe their Shaving Shop scent as:

A classic aromatic citrus fragrance opening with top notes of fresh lemon blended with uplifting herbal nuances of lavender, thyme and rosemary, A fresh, green floral heart of jasmine and white cyclamen is warmed by a subtle spice accord before descending into a base of precious woods, moss, and amber musks. Contains essential oils of: Lemon, Thyme, Rosemary, Lavandin, Galbanum, and Patchouli.

The lather was wonderfully thick, while still being nice and slick. I find that with a lot of creams and soaps, “the wetter the better”, but that really wasn’t all that necessary with Shaving Shop. Just a bit of water and a tab of cream was able to be whipped up into a great lather, that gave a nice shave with plenty of cushion. It gave a better shave than the other TOBS creams that I’ve tried. It’s also a fair bit thicker than a lot of the other TOBS creams I’ve seen.

The scent… I could take it or leave it. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but something just doesn’t do it for me. I would say that the description above is rather accurate as to how it comes across, but it just doesn’t appeal all that much to me. It’s like a “clean” smell, but like it goes a bit too far into almost being sterile.

Strength-wise, it’s a bit underpowered. I can smell the cream itself quite clearly, but the lather comes across weak and fades.

6/10 Scent Pleasantness

7/10 Scent Strength

9/10 Lather Quality (reflects new scoring as outlined here)

Overall, I give it a 7/10. Really nice shave, but the scent didn’t impress.

Gear used:

Ingredients: Aqua, Stearic Acid, Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, (Parfum contains: Benzyl Salicylate, Linalool, Limonene, Amyl Cinnamal, Hexyl Cinnamal, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Butylphenyl Methylpropional).