G'day, I don't have any issue with Tabac Shaving Soap at all and I still love it, any way I don't know IF I'm allow to post this youtube clip if not please delete.
Okay, just had a shave with it. Considering I have only used it once, I think it's pretty damn good soap. Like with Arko, I think a lot of people make too much of the scent. Keep in mind, I am generally not a "classics" scent type of guy. You like it or you don't, and that is fine, but it is way more benign than a lot of the negative descriptions I have read. It does sort of have an old person's bathroom smell to it, but not in any kind of bad way. In fact, "vintage" soap smells like that just remind me of being in my grandparent's house when I was a kid. I used to shave with my Grandpa and a Schick Injector with no blade, in a bathroom that somehow Tabac's scent reminds me of. I can tell you that I won't want to use it everyday, but I can see it becoming as regularly used as any other soap I own. The lather making was kind of amazing. I was sort of preoccupied, and WAY overloaded my brush. I spent a lot of time going back to the mug for more water to work into the soap on my face. By the time I was ready for my first pass, I had enough lather built to shampoo a buffalo. Slickness was top tier, and that's impressive to me on my maiden run with any soap. There is plenty of cushion, and post shave was above average. I am sure I can dial that in even better with subsequent shaves. Obviously after only one shave, it is hard to tell much for sure, but as far as first impressions go, I am pretty pleased.
Used Tabac stick for the second time this morning and got a great lather and a great shave. Unfortunately the scent is not for me. It's not that it is an unpleasant smell, it's some component in the scent that does not agree with me. First use was a few weeks ago, since then I've had it sitting open to allow the scent components to evaporate. I'm not much of a scent person, I'll look forward to when the scent has "calmed down" more.
When I first used Tabac I loved how the soap performed but I wasn't that happy with the scent. Over time that has changed and I like the scent so much I bought the aftershave.
I did last night, being an unfamiliar soap and a new puck, but based off of the way the soap loaded, it was unnecessary.
I also got the Tabac from the Perfumania sale (what a great deal at basically $9 shipped for the tub). Love the soap! It works great, nice and slick, and excellent lather for me. The scent I can definitely understand some not liking though. I do bloom mine mainly because I like to use the bloom water on my face right before face lathering and because it does help spread the smell some in the bathroom while I shower. I also have the Tabac shave stick which I use for travel and it has never failed to give me excellent performance!
