Osma savon à barbe à l'alun

I went to France a few weeks ago and bought that soap. Well I must admit It's a great find. Osma is a specialist in alum shaving product (alum stone, styptic pencil etc) so when I discovered that a shaving soap with alum in it is made by Osma, I was a bit curious to try it.
Price : 11 Eur for a nice box + a 100 Gr soap, It's ok
The scent is very nice : a bit floral and not too strong
Lather is also good for a soap but what is really surprising is that it's really soothe razor burn! Well you could think It's normal because there is alum in it but it's so effective
The only thing is that it is only sold by one specific store, so I have to drive +- 1 hour to find some but It's worth it.

http://www.packline-france.com/osma/

NB : go to the french version of this website to see the soap

I bought this from a shop in Paris back in February. I tried it twice, then gave up on it. After reading this recent review, I decided to give it one more try.

These are my comments (posted on a different shaving site) from back in February:

I couldn't generate decent lather, so I switched mid-stream to Palmolive to save the shave. My second attempt was a little better. The puck fits loosely in the metal container, but the soap doesn't stick to the metal like soaps normally do with plastic, so it turned circles as I tried to load my brush. Getting nowhere like that, I took the puck out and held it in my hand. Recalling my difficulties generating lather two nights ago, I loaded my brush up with lots of lather before moving to my bowl to finish it off. This time I was able to generate generous amounts of lather.

The scent is like plain soap. I actually like this kind of scent, as it simply smells clean.

The lather provided very little lubrication. The razor (an HD with a Sharp on its second shave) pulled, tugged, and bounced its way across my face. Not very pleasant.

In between passes my face actually felt dry, not moisturized at all. Odd.

Starting with the third pass, the lather started to vanish. I barely had enough enough for a fourth pass, which was quite surprising given the amount of lather I started with.

I almost didn't do my fourth (ATG) pass, and I thought "I'm going to pay for this," as I struggled to get the blade through. But amazingly enough, after all that, I had no nicks and absolutely no irritation at all. Must be the alum in the soap.

So the end result was a close shave with zero irritation, but it was no fun at all getting there.

I'll probably give this stuff one more chance, but if it doesn't get a whole lot better very quickly, this stuff will be gathering dust in the back corner of my cabinet.


I tried it again last night after reading the above review. Unfortunately, my results are unchanged. I guess this is another case of YMMV.

First, a disclaimer: I won a gift certificate from Rasage Poulin (great guy, great shop. Highly recommended.) and decided to try some soaps that I wouldn't otherwise try. One of these was Osma.

Price: $20 CDN ($19.32 USD) for 150g. That comes out to $0.13/g. Tabac is $15.00 CDN ($14.49 USD) for 125g. (All prices taken from Rasage Poulin). That comes out to just under $0.12/g. So, its a little more expensive than tabac. But, with GFT costing $0.19/g, its still short of the highbrow soaps. I've been using it for about two weeks, and the puck shows little to no wear, so it looks like it will last well. Overall, a little more than some, but not outrageously so.

Quality: As noted before, it comes in a thin, tin container with a paper label. Not fancy, but the graphics are nice and it does the job well so far. The puck was sealed in plastic, I'm guessing to help keep it fresh. Like so many euro-soaps, it does go bad.

Scent: I didn't think it was soapy. It smelled, like its own thing. Kind of alum-like, slightly soapy, and completely impossible to describe. I was indifferent when I first used it, but now I like it. As far as I can tell, it doesn't leave any trace of scent when you're finished. So, if you don't care for the scent, it won't torment you the entire day. But, if you like scent, this may be a slight drawback.

Lather: It exploded for me from the get-go. My first use, I soaked the puck while I was in the shower. It actually lathered quicker than tallow soaps I have used. Each time since, its been the same. The lather is full, thick, and rich. It shows great resistance to breaking down in my probably-too-hot scuttle. And there's plenty of lather. I haven't had to go back to the puck yet for my three-pass shave.

Efficacy: Works great for me. I've found it to lubricate well, give good cushion, and be very slick. The best part is how it leaves my face feeling afterward: smooth, sealed, and slightly tight. I've had questionable experiences with non-tallow soaps in the past, and generally won't choose them. However, Osma has changed that for me. If it weren't for the gift certificate, I doubt I would have ever tried this, no matter how good the reviews may have been. It may not challenge some top-enders, but this stuff is great!

Moisturizing: It felt pretty neutral to me. I wouldn't say my face felt particularly moisturized or dry when finished. So, I gave it a 5. If you're looking for something moisturizing, this probably isn't for you.

Overall, a quality, unusual soap. Is it for you? How would I know? When's the last time you came over for dinner? But, if I ever work my way through my existing soap collection, I'd buy another puck. Osma has a new fan.

Osma is the worst I've used soap

People...c'mon...are we talking about the same soap here?!

I bought some recently and it's my fav shave soap: thick lather, wonderful scent, clean and fresh, easy to work with and the blade just glide over it when in face.

Truth is, it gets better day after day... At the heart, the soap seems more dense and the quality increases but maybe it's just my impression.

I don't know about you, but to me, and let me put this clearly, it's on the same league as MWF or TOBS Avocado, no less!!

If it wasn't the aluminium tin box wich increases the final price, this soap will be the one to carry to a desert island!!

Such a beautiful soap and underrated...