Cheap vs Expensive

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This is a question that's come to mind today after reading more about the cheap indian limes creams and the Godrej products.

can a cheap cream really be good? are they as good as their more expensive counterparts. Is there worth in the £10-15-25 tubs from the likes of TOBS, T&H and beyond. What makes them worth 10x the cost of the likes of a palmolive tube that I can get in tesco for £1.60?

Ive used an old spice tube, and smell aside, thought it was a good cream. LIkewise ARKO and again with the palmolive. Now there are all budget creams but seemed to perform well. At the end of the day, I do prefer the lovely dense thick lather i get from my TOBS cream.

Would be interested in other peoples views. Are expensive creams worth it, or is it all badge snobbery.
 
I have - and use - Acqua Di Parma Colonia (£35 per jar) which doesn't produce a 20+ times better lather than Palmolive (£1.50).

Snob?

Yeah, probably, but it's not like I'm having to sell a kidney to buy this stuff.
 
Much of its in the mind I think.
In terms of shave quality, probably not but that would apply to razors and brushes as well.
It's pride of ownership and feelgood factor more than anything I reckon although some of the top brands do offer that certain 'something'
regards, beejay
 
I've come to the conclusion that a good shave can be had nearly for free... case in point when I was in Bulgaria last month, I spent about £12 on creams, all local "drugstore" brands running from 27p to £1.30 a tube - with most of them being below £1/tube (I had 26 tubes of cream for the money :lol: )

So far I have not had a dud in performance terms... duds in smell sure, but performance no.
 
I have willingly repeat purchased some AoS & Castle Forbes creams because of their scent not because they work any better than say BS Macca root which is at least half their prices.

I'm afraid I'd rank TOB's as low to middling, quite watery with fairly bland unremarkable fragrances. Cream snob? Certainly but I'm happy to slum it with Proraso or Palmolive sensitive every now and then. ;)
 
I've been working my way through Trumpers samples, I was hoping to find that they were no better than Palmolive, Ingram and Boots but they are! They just produce a better lather. However, I don't hold that same opinion about the TOBS cream I have which I place about the same that the budget creams. That said the budget creams are still plenty good enough to give a great shave and I find it hard to justify paying the extra for Trumpers.
 
A cheap cream vs an expensive one is really about..if its going to be synthetic like GodRej or Indian Cremes vs AOS Cremes which are much pricier..but its also about how it lathers up..some are more difficult than others..I find the cheap Indian made cremes to be just as good in their own respect as Art of Shaving (AOS) Cremes which are $25USD for 16oz

Blades
 
Surely one factor is about scale and distribution. Products like Palmolive and Tabac are sold in vast numbers compared with, say, Castle Forbes creams. And TOBS sell in much greater numbers than the other 2 Ts. and are half the price for a similar standard - I don't agree with some of my learned friends views about TOBS.
 
+ 1 on Fido's comment about economies of scale & distribution. For me a case in point would be my fave Mama Bear. In the States it's (I imagine) a very competitively priced soap, but the price rachets up over here because of quantity of supply, transport & import taxes. In the long run I guess that a soap or cream is good value to the user if you prefer its performance to the (many) others out there . Just look at the performance of Palmolive sticks (apologies U/Hermit) compared to some soaps costing ever so much more, now that really is value for money to me.

JohnnyO. :geek:
 
As with everything else, the law of diminishing returns applys. I think Vinny's analogy captures this quite well.

Also, antdad makes a good point regarding scent. A tube od Palmolive cream will work well, but the scent could be better. Spend a bit more, and you'll get slightly better performace, and a much better scent.

Ian
 
well the only expensive cream i have, if you can call it that, is T&H grafton

not in the same league as AdP or CF price wise but it's not a cheapo either

does it perform well - yes
proportionally better than Palmolive etc - no, but it is better

probably best value of luxury\performance to cost would be TOBS from TK Maxx
 
Dipesh said:
It's funny how Taylors is not too well thought of. I actually prefer them to trumpers creams.
Click to expand...

I prefer Taylors creams to Trumpers. For soap it's vice versa and Trumpers also make superior Cologne/Aftershave.

My issue with Taylors (My favourite being Mr Taylor) is there is no consistency between batches. I've had tubs that have been wet and runny (Shaving Shop) and I have had tubs that have been far too dry.

Yes Taylors is cheaper than the other two T's and many other brands, however, there are some creams and soaps much cheaper than Taylors that outperform then on all levels.
 
My new favourite cream is Body Shop Maca Root. I place it on a par with TOBS, Boots, and Ingram for performance and up with (maybe above) the Trumpers creams I've tried as regards fragrance.
 
Its interesting the comments about the taylors stuff.

I have a tube of the lavender taylors, and the rose cream. I find both rather watery, a little thin and not so lubricating as i would like. By contrast, my jermyn street sensitive tube from taylors, is some of the thickest, densest and easiest to lather cream ive ever come across.

I do however enjoy some of the cheaper brands. I'm actually a huge fan of the palmolive stuff, i find it whips up a superb lather, and i even like the smell. Likewise with the Arko.

What didnt bowl me over at all, was the Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera cream. I found it to lack any kind of fragrance whatsoever, and it didnt lather up as well as my taylors stuff. Overall, not worth the effort or money for me. It may get used as part of a travel set.

I'm awaiting a tub of T&H west indian limes cream, so look forward to testing this.
 
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