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Barrister and Mann's new Omnibus base: discussion and reviews

The main thing for me is that there are soo many good bases at this point that I would gravitate to the base that would provide 100+ shaves. No reason not to prefer it if the scent is right.

Typically, a soap is designed to give an average of 90 shaves. However, there are a lot of different shavers and many different shaving methods. Some guys get by with doing a one or two pass shave. They will get a lot more shaves from a soap than I will. I typically lather my face five times. That requires me to make a lot of lather. I do a three pass shave plus a 4th clean-up pass. Then I do a bonus 5th lather and allow it to sit on my face while I am cleaning my shaving gear to maximize the post-shave feel. Thus, there ia no way I am ever going to get 100 shaves from any soap. I would be lucky to get 50-60 shaves from any soap. It is just another YMMV aspect of shaving.
 
Quick derail, @RayClem Did you get your Mallard ordered? I waited as long as I could, but will have to wait 2 weeks now and see if he still has any left.
Yes it is a derail.

I ordered two tubs directly from Grooming Dept. There will be product shipped to each of the vendors in the States and other countries, so hopefully you can find the scent(s) you want somewhere.

Now back to the topic at hand.
 

Hannah's Dad

I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Holding on till Cheshire returns. I really miss that scent for my morning shaves.

Will was kind enough to send me a ‘chunk-free’ jar of Leviathan — another fine example of putting customers first. He’s a class act. I’m still planning on using the first jar, because chunks or not, this soap is a winner.
 

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Holding on till Cheshire returns. I really miss that scent for my morning shaves.

Will was kind enough to send me a ‘chunk-free’ jar of Leviathan — another fine example of putting customers first. He’s a class act. I’m still planning on using the first jar, because chunks or not, this soap is a winner.
Very cool. Kudos to him and his soap. Are you gonna get Seville or LGC now that they're out in Omni? (That's what I heard, anyway)
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
I took a couple of shaves away from the Leviathan Omnibus to do some comparisons. I had used the Leviathan for a good stretch after receiving it. And while I really love it, I feel my current soap game sets a high bar. I have found a number of soaps I consider top shelf, and wanted to go back and see how the Omnibus stands up to some of my favorites. I find that when I get a new soap that is exceptional, it can tend to spit some of my other favorites out the back of the peloton. I did not think it would be the case this time. Leviathan is very good, but not good enough to really knock my current A-List off it’s perch. I think it may be good enough to join them though. First up, I shaved with my favorite CK-6 soap the other day … Aloha Smackdown. Super thick cushiony lather. The opposite of Omnibus. Lovely shave. Then today, I went back to B&M and opened up a fresh tub of Soft Heart Oceana. Soft Heart has been a top shelf base for me lately, but this was my inaugural trip with OCEANA. Performance was perfection. Thick and rich foamy lather. Again, the antithesis of Leviathan which is sticky and gooey, and somewhat thinner in its consistency. So the Leviathan Omnibus isn’t going to knock out any of my current favorites just yet. But so far it’s able to hang with the big dogs. I will break out the Leviathan for my next shave, then rotate in some Exclesior, some Chiseled Face, and some Holy Black before it’s time to go hardcore Halloween 🎃. Just for fun, here’s a pic of todays B&M shave.

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I took a couple of shaves away from the Leviathan Omnibus to do some comparisons. I had used the Leviathan for a good stretch after receiving it. And while I really love it, I feel my current soap game sets a high bar. I have found a number of soaps I consider top shelf, and wanted to go back and see how the Omnibus stands up to some of my favorites. I find that when I get a new soap that is exceptional, it can tend to spit some of my other favorites out the back of the peloton. I did not think it would be the case this time. Leviathan is very good, but not good enough to really knock my current A-List off it’s perch. I think it may be good enough to join them though. First up, I shaved with my favorite CK-6 soap the other day … Aloha Smackdown. Super thick cushiony lather. The opposite of Omnibus. Lovely shave. Then today, I went back to B&M and opened up a fresh tub of Soft Heart Oceana. Soft Heart has been a top shelf base for me lately, but this was my inaugural trip with OCEANA. Performance was perfection. Thick and rich foamy lather. Again, the antithesis of Leviathan which is sticky and gooey, and somewhat thinner in its consistency. So the Leviathan Omnibus isn’t going to knock out any of my current favorites just yet. But so far it’s able to hang with the big dogs. I will break out the Leviathan for my next shave, then rotate in some Exclesior, some Chiseled Face, and some Holy Black before it’s time to go hardcore Halloween 🎃. Just for fun, here’s a pic of todays B&M shave.

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I appreciate this comparison because it gives me a good frame of reference for Omnibus without having tried it.

Eventually I will have to try it myself, but the words sticky and gooey have come up from a few reviewers and they give me pause. I also don't find having a moist face all day especially appealing. Of course, YMMV and this raises the age old question of just how many fats / oils do we need in a soap? My frame of reference for a nice post shave feel is a Stirling soap and AS splash or a PAA soap and splash or PAA soap with Star Jelly.
 

Hannah's Dad

I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I appreciate this comparison because it gives me a good frame of reference for Omnibus without having tried it.

Eventually I will have to try it myself, but the words sticky and gooey have come up from a few reviewers and they give me pause. I also don't find having a moist face all day especially appealing. Of course, YMMV and this raises the age old question of just how many fats / oils do we need in a soap? My frame of reference for a nice post shave feel is a Stirling soap and AS splash or a PAA soap and splash or PAA soap with Star Jelly.
Brad’s description of ‘sticky and gooey’ during the shave is spot on; however, your concern of a ‘moist face’ all day is unwarranted. That’s the remarkable trait of this new base — the face feels ‘talc-dry’ immediately after the shave and all day long.

You can add a ton of water to this base during the shave and, like Rocky Balboa, it ‘just keeps coming after you.’ I shaved with it this morning with a synthetic brush (which I strongly suggest with Omnibus), and I was really impressed.

Will’s Reserve base is oft-criticized as being ‘sticky’ and ‘finicky’; but I found that low structure base stellar as well.

It’s been said a few times: if you’re looking for fluffy, picture-worthy lather that resembles an ice cream cone, this base is not for you.

But if you like a super slick, low structure glue-like lather with incredible talc-dry face feel, then you can’t pass on this one. It’s an elite, fantastic base.
 
I think its as firm as most other artisan soaps. The soap has Shea butter and chupacabra butter mixed into the saponfied product so you have to expect it to not be a hard soap. If you need a hard puck then this soap is probably not for you, anyway.
This had me laughing out loud.

Chupacabra butter is really hard to come by; you have to go to west Texas in the middle of the desert and stay up all night watching for them. Be quick on the trigger or they will maul you.
Also I hear that you can only get about 0.5 oz of butter from each chupacabra!
 
Brad’s description of ‘sticky and gooey’ during the shave is spot on; however, your concern of a ‘moist face’ all day is unwarranted. That’s the remarkable trait of this new base — the face feels ‘talc-dry’ immediately after the shave and all day long.

You can add a ton of water to this base during the shave and, like Rocky Balboa, it ‘just keeps coming after you.’ I shaved with it this morning with a synthetic brush (which I strongly suggest with Omnibus), and I was really impressed.

Thanks for clarifying that. I missed the talc dry part in the post-shave description. Now I'm getting excited about it again. I like the Reserve base a lot as well.
 
I should have ordered the balm rather than the splash. I ordered it the day it was released and I'm still waiting for my soap (I live in Alaska and alcohol has to be ground shipped). Tracking suggests it will be here tomorrow though; I'll be posting my first impressions Tuesday morning.
 
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