- Thread starter
- #41
Oh boy. Seems YMMV is especially true with Tabac.
Still not impressed with Tabac
- Thread starter Dominic
- Start date
For me it seemed that Tabac had a "break in period" before I really saw the lather I was looking for. I also switched from a cheap badger to a simpson t2 synthetic. Ymmv
- Thread starter
- #44
I just tried to get a good slick lather. I didn't need to shave. This was just for experimentation's sake. The best I got was not total rubbish. It felt a little slick between the fingers. I loaded just a little with only a damp brush, adding water little by little, a couple more swirls on the soap, a little more water, swirl in the bowl, a little more water, etc.
Most of the time, it wasn't slick at all. It looked nice, though, but pretty puffs of soap aren't the goal. Once I finally got a little slickness, I did an unnecessary afternoon shave just to test it out. With a wet face, I brushed my face, and lost the slickness I had. This soap is so persnickety with the water. Couple of swirls of the brush on the soap, a few swirls in the bowl, and brushed my face again. Used my 5/8 hollow ground SR for the shave. It was better than before (which is why I rate it "not total rubbish"), but still not as slick as other soaps.
I tried looking for that sheen and adding water.
Let me ask this. For bowl latherers, once you load your brush and start building the lather in the bowl, how long do you go at it with Tabac? Seconds? A minute? Five minutes? I'm assuming your face is wet when you start brushing your face, and you don't lose the slickness.
Second question. How is your final lather before you apply it to the face? Does it look like a soft-serve ice cream cone on your brush? Does it look like big, wet bubbles running down your brush handle?
Most of the time, it wasn't slick at all. It looked nice, though, but pretty puffs of soap aren't the goal. Once I finally got a little slickness, I did an unnecessary afternoon shave just to test it out. With a wet face, I brushed my face, and lost the slickness I had. This soap is so persnickety with the water. Couple of swirls of the brush on the soap, a few swirls in the bowl, and brushed my face again. Used my 5/8 hollow ground SR for the shave. It was better than before (which is why I rate it "not total rubbish"), but still not as slick as other soaps.
I tried looking for that sheen and adding water.
Let me ask this. For bowl latherers, once you load your brush and start building the lather in the bowl, how long do you go at it with Tabac? Seconds? A minute? Five minutes? I'm assuming your face is wet when you start brushing your face, and you don't lose the slickness.
Second question. How is your final lather before you apply it to the face? Does it look like a soft-serve ice cream cone on your brush? Does it look like big, wet bubbles running down your brush handle?
You will not be impressed with Tabac if you are already using high-end soaps to begin with. When I made a switch from Poraso Green to Tabac, it was LEGENDARY. At that time and even now Tabac is the slickest soap I have ever used in comparison to G.Tumper and TOB creams.
I used Tabac today and so slick…key is lots of water
Interesting thread and I'm watching with keen interest. I just ordered a refill puck of Tabac to try for myself, having never used it before. I tried using MWF, based on the rave reviews it gets here, and elsewhere, and was left disappointed. Based on that experience my overall expectations for Tabac are now much lower. But, there's only one way to find out...
@Dominic, most of us seem to have no problem with Tabac. It has a reputation, well deserved IMO, of being one of the easiest soaps to lather and shave with.
This is obviously not your experience. You seem to be getting good shaves with other soaps, so why bother?
Sometimes our experience doesn’t match that of others in this strange hobby. For example, I just couldn’t get on with Personna Reds. Most everyone else seems to love them.
This is obviously not your experience. You seem to be getting good shaves with other soaps, so why bother?
Sometimes our experience doesn’t match that of others in this strange hobby. For example, I just couldn’t get on with Personna Reds. Most everyone else seems to love them.
- Thread starter
- #50
I have used MWF and Williams and Proraso red. All fine. (I've used a couple creams, too: Cremo, Kiss My Face.)
- Thread starter
- #51
I'll keep trying with more water.
- Thread starter
- #52
I can't wait to hear how it works for you. I had good luck with MWF.
- Thread starter
- #53
I'll keep going for two reasons: 1) I bought it, and I don't like throwing things away. 2) I'm determined to learn how to get a slick lather out of it.
In my opinion, soft water makes lathering much easier with far less product being used.
Bowl (scuttle) latherer. You need more product, and you need to swirl it longer and harder. Brush doesn't matter, but I have more success with any soap using natural bristles. Water matters, and represents IMO about 90% of the quality of the lather. Some soaps work better with hard water than others - those that don't in my experience require more time to lather, and more product. Tabac is a hard soap, and sometimes blooming shortens the mixing time required. My water is about 1gpg or less, so I can essentially lather a plastic puck. It takes me less than a minute to get a whipped-cream density from Tabac with a Shavemac badger. Not my favorite soap, and not top-tier, but an easy to lather, good performing, not too offensively scented soap in my hands.
And it just occurred to me that talk is cheap 
. 15 seconds loading, 45 seconds lathering. Exactly:
. 15 seconds loading, 45 seconds lathering. Exactly:
As someone who has hard water, I still only load Tabac very minimally, anything more just makes paste in my experience.
But I don’t even use a brush and soap anymore, so I have no idea why I’m even here
But I don’t even use a brush and soap anymore, so I have no idea why I’m even here
I load Tabac heavy with a fairly wet brush. Swirl until that thick cream builds up, add a touch more water and you should have a dense, slick brushfull of awesomeness!
