Original shaving soap stick

This shaving soap stick (tallow version) was discontinued in the second half of 2021 . It currently (February 2022) is still available in some stores but expect to pay a premium price. It has risen with some vendors to over USD 15 for 100g (including container).

The scent of this stick may not be liked by some. My girlfriends say that it smells like their grandmother's purse.

I straight razor shave and face lather. Tallow Tabac stick provides exceptional slickness for SR shaving, almost as good as the ARKO stick. It does not have the residual slickness of the ARKO stick.

The tallow Tabac stick is not my go-to shaving soap but I do enjoy SR shaving with it.

Did a face lathering today and wow. The scent is the star, although this definitely delivers a great, slick lather. I'm getting ready to travel in a few weeks and this has made the cut for my vacation soap. At this price I can afford to have it lost by the airlines without crying, but enjoy a quality soap if it makes it through.

Thanks to a Amazon gift card via Bing Rewards, I was finally able to purchase a stick of Tabac soap. It was $8 and change shipped from England, and it arrived in a truly astonishing 10 days!

(Here's a link for you bargain hunters: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZVWFJU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailp ages00
)

Well, today was the day. I loaded the soap directly on my face (my preferred ARKO method) and lathered as I would any other soap. The results were truly astonishing.

I got one of the closest shaves I've had in a while, and my face feels excellent even without AS. The scent is something that I enjoy/love, a statement that more than a few people might disagree with. I don't really get the "ashtray" or "old lady purse" scent that some people say they get from it, but something more along the lines of a kitchen spice rack. Black pepper, citrus (orange/grapefruit cross), and talc in that order. It made me think of somebody who has their life together and knows what they like. Don't know why, it just did.

I will definitely be returning to this stick and will likely buy a refill once I run out, but seeing how large the stick is makes it unlikely to happen for quite some time.

First use of a Tabac product ever. I have to say I love the scent. Has (to me) the old school smell. Baby powder, a little musky. Very mild on the lather and lingers a little while after the shave. I would like to see a little more slickness. Shaving is fine, but after you pass over with the razor that spot on your face is a little grabby, I like to see slickness left over. Lathering was extremely easy even with my hard water. I will definitely use this in my normal rotation. Nice shave.

I was lucky to get one before the embargo happened on a few Tabac products (including the stick) so I can easily review it.

I'm, somehow, having high expectations regarding this stick as I tried it in the past (puck form - forumla is the same) and did not like the scent at all. The lather was awesome but ditched it because of the scent. I decided to try this again as I knew that this was a classic that performs well. I have double high expectations as Sir Irisch Moos was also made by the same company, Maurer & Wirtz.

This is a very thirsty soap (water-wise) compared to the sticks I used recently (Speick, Wilkinson Sword). It's comparable to De Vergulde Hand Stick (water-wise). The lather is very nice, very thick. The scent is somehow not bad or great IMO. I think it's growing on me. It reminds me a bit of the Dovo Shave Soap. It has that classic German fragrance that you find in German soaps.

One thing that I quickly noticed is the bigger diameter compared to a "regular" sized stick. I quickly realised that I might be using too much product as the surface of product is bigger than normal when I apply the product (compared to a smaller stick).

As this one is double the diameter of a regular stick, I'm expecting a doubled longevity. I would guestimate that this one would go for 160-180 shaves.

Now, to the experimental part, the Uberlather and SuperLather. For the Uberlather, I used regular glycerin, 3 drops. The result was very nice. It added some glide to the soap but not much. For Superlather, I have a nice Kiss My Face Lime that works wonders. The result was impressive. Tabac already works well on it's own but adding Kiss My Face added an extra layer of thickness to the lather.

Overall, the experience was great with Tabac. It's a great stick and the brilliant thing is that you can buy it with the shave stick container or as a refill only. Once you have the container, the refill is super cheap and will give you a lot of shaves. Like the Sir Irisch Moos Stick, the container is the same (except the colour and label) so the stick "naturally" block itself from falling down as you use it. I find those to be okay as container but rather have them compared to nothing at all.

If you can get by the scent (which always seem to be a love it or hate it), it's a great classic soap! I still think, however, that Wilkinson Sword Stick is better but you know, ymmv!

Tabac Original shaving soap stick This is a tallow-based soap in stick form from Germany. It is a handy soap to carry when traveling.

Price: $11 for 3.53 oz (100g)–$3.12 per ounce, by weight

Quality: Made with two tallow salts plus glycerin.

Scent: Dry, powdery and woody. Subtle but pleasant.

Lather: I applied this directly to my wet skin, then lathered with a brush. The soap lathered without excessive effort.

Efficacy: Plenty of glide.

Moisturizing: It is somewhat drying for me, but not to the extent I would avoid using it.

Ingredients: Potassium stearate, Sodium stearate, Potassium tallowate, Potassium cocoate, Aqua, Sodium tallowate, Parfum, Sodium cocoate, Glycerin, Potassium hydroxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium etidronate, Sodium hydroxide, Cl 77891 , Limonene, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Citronellol, Coumarin, Alpha-isomethyl ionone, Benzyl salicylate , Geraniol, Cinnamyl alcohol, Isoeugenol, Benzyl alcohol, Citral, Eugenol