Tabac Shave Soap: What Should I Expect?

I sent away for a jar of the Tabac Shave soap along with a brush soap kit, and just got it today (it was delivered to my workplace yesterday on account of I'm moving next weekend and didn't want to risk losing it in the mail). I've heard great things about the brand and was curious to try it out. What should I expect? I wanted to avoid a rut by building a small but decent collection, and plan to rotate my soaps and creams.

 

Lather quality on Tabac is second to none. As long as like the scent, which can be quite polarizing.

 

First, expect a stout scent. You might catch your first whiff before you even open the box. You might love the scent (I do), you might hate it. But you won't miss it.

Other than possibly the scent, there's nothing to not like. It loads really easily as hard pucks go. Lathers easily, not fussy about hard water. And delivers a fantastic shave. You won't be disappointed.

 

What he said. It’s all there. Great shave soap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I'd agree with Andrew on this point. Tabac is one of those harder soaps that accepts lots of water and pays off in great performance. Take your time loading and work in enough water to make the lather shiny.

The scent is one of those Yes/No polarizing qualities. I don't find it offensive. It's pleasant and since I associate it with the good lather I'm a fan.

 

It's a classic. It lathers exceptionally well and is a bargain at it's price point. It is a good soap by which to judge all others, not that it's the best IMO but provided the scent agrees with you, you could use it every day.

There's a lot of info both good and bad about the scent, but it's mostly powder. There's a heavy note of tobacco flower (not tobacco) that isn't much different from other scents, but the tobacco flower note coupled with powder gives rise to comments like 'Smoky granny's bingo purse'. Lol. Others love it.

Cheers, Steve

 

Ya can't go wrong with Tabac. Easy to make very good lather; great scent. Good price.

 

Excellent soap..............

 

Awesome. How does it work with horse hair brushes? I have two Vie-Long barber style ones and while I like using them, I've noticed that my lathering has yet to produce voluminous lather like I see in videos. I presently load on my VDH deluxe puck when I use it in rotation, then lather in a porcelain bowl. But as with my ToOBS cream, the lather generated doesn't become fluffy at all. Shiny, yes, but I'm clearly doing something wrong.

 

You probably aren't loading enough soap. I've never used a horse hair brush before but I am assuming they are like a somewhat floppy badger brush. If your brush doesn't have enough backbone it can be difficult to load enough soap because all it does is want to bend and splay. What you can do in this instance is hold the base of the knot with your fingers as you load. this will reduce the amount of bend that the fibers will be able to achieve and allow the bristles to pick up more soap.

 

Awesome manliness... I don't always finish a soap puck, but when I finished my Tabac, I had to replace it. My advice is buy the refill and put it in your own container. The Tabac container is fine, but it just holds the soap.

 

Do you have any other brushes besides the horse hair ? Any synthetics ?

 

Nah, I gave away my badger and boar brushes (I can't justify using ones made by killing animals even if they are invasive species). I haven't had the opportunity to try a good-quality synthetic, or for that matter, any synthetic.

 

Thanks for the info! I'll give that a try and see if it works. I think the mane-tail ratio in my Vie-Long brushes is roughly 50:50, but I can't confirm because neither came in its original retail display packaging, only loose in bubble-wrap.

 

I have a Stirling 24mm Synthetic that doesn't get used anymore. PM me your address and it's yours.

 

This is the brush in question:

 

I think Tabac can get a little dry if you don't hydrate it enough, so give it plenty of water (it can take it).

 

Another example of the TSD spirit. Well done Andrew.

 

I have 2 Vie-Long horse hairs. They both work fine for me with the Tabac. Easy to lather.

 

Thanks! PM sent.