Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood Shaving Cream

A double-edge razor is only half a shave — the other half is a cream that builds a real lather and keeps it for three passes. Canned foam collapses in under a minute, which is why people who buy a Merkur and keep using gel conclude the razor was overhyped. Taylor of Old Bond Street has been making this since 1854 and a bowl lasts the better part of a year, which makes twenty dollars cheap per shave. The sandalwood is a proper old-fashioned barbershop scent — warm and a little dated, and that is the appeal. Buy it alongside one of the Merkurs, not instead of one.

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