Taylor of Old Bond Street Review

Founded in 1854, Taylor of Old Bond Street (also referred to as TOBS), is a staple in the men’s grooming world – especially their Sandalwood Shaving Cream, which I will be reviewing today.

While I will be testing it with a safety razor, this shaving cream is compatible with all razor types including a cartridge, disposable, and straight razor.

Review Disclosure

Here are a few important details about this review you should be aware of:

• This is not a sponsored post.  I don’t accept sponsored posts.
• Just like you, I paid out-of-pocket for the shaving cream.
• This article contains affiliate links which are used to cover operational expenses.
• I have no direct relationship with Taylor of Old Bond Street and they have no knowledge of this review prior to publication.
• Tools of Men is independently owned and operated.

Video Review

I also did a video review of this same shaving cream (recorded at a different time) if you want to see how this looks in action.  In the video below, I touch on a lot of the same information that is presented in this article:

Pictures of Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Shaving Cream

Here are a few closeups of the product packaging:

As you can see, the lid has an old school look.  Additionally, you can see that they are based out of London and also make this shave cream in England:

When flipping the shaving cream over, you can see the following ingredients along with a note that this can be either hand lathered or used with a shave brush:

For the guys that like clean or natural ingredient labels – you will probably not be a fan of this shave cream.  While it is free of parabens (noted on the bottom), it does contain many synthetic ingredients including parfum, triethanolamine, potassium hydroxide, and more.  While I am no chemist, nor am I pretending to be, the ingredients listed above do have a moderate score on Environmental Working Group (EWG) – which means that they could cause some irritation or side effects for some men.

Now when opening up the lid, the shaving cream has a rather thick and creamy consistency.

(Note: I have been using this one for quite some time and it’s not a fresh container – therefore, yours may look just a little brighter upon arrival).

Lathering With Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Shaving Cream

Given that this shaving cream can be used as a hand lather or with a brush lather, here’s a demonstration of what you could expect when doing either or:

Hand Lather

By simply scooping out about an almond-sized amount, and spread it onto the opposing palm.

When adding a little bit of water and rubbing your hands together, you can expect to get a nice slick lather that will look something like this:

As you can see, a little goes quite a long way.  As far as a comparison goes, I would say that this provides a very similar consistency to a latherless shave cream like Cremo. 

It’s not overly thick or gooey and should work with several different razor systems (more on this in just a minute).

Brush Lather

The area where this shaving cream really shines, though, is with the shaving brush.  By simply wetting and then wringing out the brush, you can dip it into the bowl and spin in a circular motion:

With only a few quick spins (about 10 to 15 seconds of doing this), you can load up the brush and have more than enough to get you through your entire shave.  

For demonstrating the lather, I will use my hand so you can see a bit better (you can see how a face lather looks in the next section):

Now I will be honest here when looking at the picture above — I probably could have added a bit more water to the brush in order to generate a thicker lather.  

However, in this later picture I took for the shave prep, I was able to generate a richer lather with trademark peaks in the shaving cream.

Shaving with Taylor of Old Bond Street

For this review, I will be testing out Taylor of Old Bond Street with a double edge safety razor (Merkur 38C Barberpole).

To begin, I went ahead and applied some warm water to my face, loaded up the shaving brush, and then began to lather it onto my skin.

Just like with the hand lather, initially, the lather was a little dry, so after being a little more liberal with water, the consistency started to get a whole lot better and thicker:

Now onto taking my first swipe with the safety razor:

I found the results to be rather good.  The shaving cream did an adequate job at providing a comfortable base that allows the razor blade to cut through the facial hair easily.

Furthermore, when working on the other side, the shaving cream held up nicely.

When going to take a second pass, I found that the lather still had a nice body that again allowed for a comfortable and close shave.

As for the final results, here’s an unfiltered look:

As evident from the pictures above, there was no significant irritation or redness to be seen.  The shaving cream performed well and was a nice compliment to the double edge safety razor that I was using.

Here are some of the notes I took when using this shave cream that you should be aware of:

• When used with a shave brush, the lather here was great.  It can be whipped into a nice thick consistency that has some nice peaks to it.
• For mildly sensitive skin, I found that this shave cream didn’t irritate given the composition of ingredients.
• While this was only used for facial hair – I see no reason why this shave cream couldn’t be used on other parts of the body without any problems.
• With a 5.3oz container, you can easily expect this shaving cream to last you for a couple of months before it needs to be replaced – the value here is pretty good.
• The sandalwood scent for this particular shaving cream smells so good.  It is the quintessential barbershop scent that a lot of guys love.

The Bottom Line

It’s easy to see why this shaving cream is beloved by so many men.  It provides all the trademark signs that you look for – a slick lubricated base, cushioned lather, and has the smell of an old school barbershop.  If you are looking for an upgrade, you won’t be disappointed here.  Would I recommend it? Absolutely!

What Scents or Varieties Can You Get Taylor of Old Bond Street In?

While I understand that sandalwood isn’t preferred by every guy, do know that Taylor of Old Bond Street makes this shaving cream in a ton of different varieties (19 in total):

• Tobacco Leaf
• Lime Zest
• Sandalwood (what we tested)
• Royal Forest
• Jermyn Street (designed for sensitive skin)
• Eton College
• St James
• Platinum
• Organic
• Avocado
• Rose
• Lemon Lime
• Almond
• Grapefruit
• Aloe Vera
• Lavender
• Peppermint
• Cedarwood
• Coconut

You can view the entire stock over on their website – however, you will find that shipping will be a problem unless you live in the UK…

…which brings me to my next point:

Where Can You Buy Taylor of Old Bond Street?

If you are in the U.S., then buying shave cream directly from Taylor of Old Bond Street is probably not a viable option.  As a quick check, when trying to buy this, I was quoted the following:

To save you a trip to the Google currency converter – the prices above will equate to about the following amounts:

• 10.95 GBP = 14.87 USD
• 24.00 GBP = 32.59 USD

That’s a total of $47.46 for a single tub of shaving cream – yeah, a bit too much in my opinion!

But fear not–you can find Taylor of Bond Street at a variety of online merchants which include the following:

• Amazon
• West Coast Shaving
• Maggard Razors
• Fendrihan
• Walmart (likely online only)

As for the cost – expect to pay less than $20 a tub.  Typically it retails for around $17 – give or take a few bucks.

Compatibility with Various Razor Types

When it comes to using this shave cream with your own desired shaving tool, it should have no problem working with the following:

• Disposable Razor
• Cartridge Razor
• Safety Razor
• Straight Razor
• Wet Electric Shaver (maybe)

I can only personally vouch for the disposable, cartridge, and safety razor varieties as I have used this shaving cream on those three systems.  

For those using a straight razor, I think the base should provide a slick enough lubrication.  As for electric shavers, if it’s a thin lather, I don’t think there would be a problem here – however, you will want to test this on your own accordingly.

What Else Does Taylor of Old Bond Street Offer?

While it goes beyond the scope of this article, do know that Taylor of Old Bond Street offers a wide lineup of men’s grooming products which includes shave soap, aftershave balm, pre-shave oil, cologne, and more.

So, if you are digging this shave cream – they may be worth checking out for your other grooming needs.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is a good shave cream that I would recommend to men looking for a nice balance of both performance and value.  You can expect that this shaving cream will provide a subtle lubricated base and ultimately a comfortable shave that will quickly become a welcomed addition to your morning routine.  

Of course, if you have severely sensitive skin, you may want to consider their organic or Jermyn Street variety.

Thanks for checking out the review and hope it was helpful.