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Tabac Shave Soap

Amazing soap. What else can be said about it?
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
5.00 star(s)
After reading all the loves/hates of Tabac, I bought one when the price of soap and bowl combination was $14 (shipping included). Now I know why. The soap produces creamy and slick lather, and very forgiving in water/soap ratio. I can create beautiful and lubricating lather half asleep (can't say same about shaving though). Price is very reasonable considering you can get a 4.4 oz refill for about $10 to $12.

Now the hard part, the scent, because it's an enigma. The first whiff out of the package overpowers your nostril with cheap perfume and becomes very nauseating. But after doubling as a bathroom air freshener for a week, the scent dissipated to a pleasant and subtle nostalgic scent. Even after the shave, the scent lingers just enough through out the day for your thoughts to wonder and search for the time, place, or person it reminds you of. Was it at a bus stop? Elementary school library? A music teacher? I'm glad I tried Tabac and don't regret it.
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
4.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
I'm fairly new to wet shaving (apart from the goop in a can) but have 4 soaps currently (more if you count different scents of one brand). After all the love on the forum for Tabac, I bought some and frankly, don't much care for it.

Price
Pretty reasonable. I paid around 17 bucks with the glass bowl. The refills are comparable to many others, and it seems to last a long time.

Quality
Well, the container is nice. And the puck is round. But at the end of the day, the only real quality for a soap to me (or at least the paramount one) is how it shaves. See below.

Scent
Totally subjective, but I don't like it. Smells like cheap cologne.

Lather
Whips up a lather very easily.

Efficacy
After a dozen tries, I have yet to get a good shave from Tabac. It could be technique, but I'm not having any problem with three other brands. The lather looks good, but it offers very little protection. I've tried it at various hydrations, and always the same. Tons of weepers, including in spots I have never had weepers before (front of chin) because it is easy for me to get a good blade angle there. The problem seems to be that the lather has a sticky quality to it. This is mitigated somewhat by really increasing the hydration, but after rinsing, my skin is still sticky where the lather was. This makes for a lousy shave.

Moisturizing
Just leaves a sticky residue.


I really wanted to like Tabac, and don't mean to disparage those who like it, but my experiences have been pretty negative. I suppose that a good shave soap is in interaction between soap, your beard, your face, your brush, your beard, and your water, but everything else I've tried works great, and Tabac doesn't.
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
1.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
2.00 star(s)
Efficacy
1.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
1.00 star(s)
Tabac is a quality product, no doubt, but it just doesn't work well for me at all. Compared to all the other tallow-based soaps I have, Tabac comes up short in the slickness category. Consequently, I find it extremely difficult to get a great shave from Tabac.

Price: 10 - Tabac is probably the most economical shaving soap there is. A puck is extremely hard and seems to last forever. For $12, it's hard to find a better price per shave soap or cream.

Quality: 9 - No doubt Tabac is a quality product that works for many people. Quality ingredients and first-class packaging. Love the jar that it comes with.

Scent: 6 - I enjoy the scent somewhat, but it certainly has that "old lady" thing going on. I'm largely ambivalent to it now.

Lather - 10: Generating lather is a snap with Tabac. Not quite as easy to lather as Cella, but close.

Efficacy - 5: Sorry, but here's where Tabac falls short (for me at least). Tabac's lather, while thick and cushiony, is not slick at all. I've had more bad shaves with Tabac than all my other soaps combined. Many swear by the stuff, but I dread shaving with it. I've probably used it for the last time, unfortunately.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
3.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
2.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
1.00 star(s)
What else can I say that hasnt been said before?

......this stuff IS magic in a ceramic bowl! :thumbup1:
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
3.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
Best SS to compare all others too (the feather of soaps)! This is at the top of my rotation, and anyone I help get into wet shaving, I tell them to go here first, or at least end up there once they get the shaving buzz! Excels in all realms! Get it on!! :001_tt1::001_tt1::001_tt1:
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
5.00 star(s)
Tabac...well put simply it's a great soap.
PRICE--It's the cheapest tallow soap in puck form at $12...to my knowledge.
QUALITY--Very good, good consistency and good puck life.
SCENT--Wonderful! It seems a love or hate deal, I love it. For a description look at a vendors website.
LATHER--Slick and thick if done properly...as always make sure to really load the brush...I mean really load it up! Also the lather has a slight tendency to dry...very slight.
EFFICACY--Shaves well and despite the high fragrance of it this has never burned or irritated my face. Gentle.
MOISTURISING--Perhaps my biggest knock it is a tad drying on my face but a balm fixes that.

JUST GET SOME!
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
Really, what's not to like about Tabac?? The price is right, the scent is WONDERFUL, the stuff just makes gobs of moisturizing goodness, I am sorry I can't really give you an in depth review. You just need to try it for yourself. :thumbup1:
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
3.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
3.00 star(s)
A great shaving soap that everyone should try at least onces.
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
4.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
3.00 star(s)
I had to jion the review of this product, been using it now in my rotation for quite a while, and on this board tabac is a legendary product, for all sorts of reasons, i based my scores on price for what i can get it for, and compared to other similar, or lower priced soaps, and although this soap is not very expensive, i cant get it local so have to pay shipping costs as well, the quality is good, nice ingrediants and is a laster as well, on to the biggie, scent, i also use the a/s and deo stick, so i dont mind the scent at all, not my favorite, but not as bad as some folks say, old fashioned, yes, manly, yes, the lather on this is good, get a good brush load, work it in and the rewards will come, and it does its job well, i have no issues with dry skin using this.
So in conclusion i enjoy having this in my rotation, the scent to me is ok, it lathers up well and is good on my skin, my own issue is availability, otherwise, it is a good soap to have.
Price
3.00 star(s)
Scent
4.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
I can't believe it took me so long to try it and now it will be a regular in my rotation. It's easy to lather, pleasant on the nose, great value for money and nice and slick. I like my proraso but love my Tabac! :thumbup1:
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
Tabac outperforms all including Proraso, TOBS, Speick...etc. It smells great, lathers quickly and protects the face against razor burn. It is perfect. I haven't found a soap or a cream that matches Tabac's performance. I love the masculine scent, almost like Sandalwood, so I bought the Aftershave splash.:thumbup:
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
5.00 star(s)
Thanks to B&B I was "forced" to try this one. For me it is a lot like IM, but the smell is not as nice, and it is more expensive. Lathers very well, razor glides just fine. The smell is strange, but I found it goes very well with Jentlemen Classic Fern shaving cream (I use that as a pre shave). But, this is one you should have tried (I will stick with IM, btw).
Price
3.00 star(s)
Scent
3.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
It didn't smell too bad in the box, so I bought it to try, but on my face it had the stench of a packet of cigarettes. Ugh!
There is nothing more to be said about the Tabac soap, it is THE soap for us wet shaving people. It seems to last for ever. Actually I almost don`t belive my own eyes when I after one year of use at least once every week still got half left, and I use a LOT of product, my brush is a Simpson Chubby 3:tongue_sm

The scent is nice, perhaps you must use it a few times first to get used to it, but personally I like it. I`m using a Georgetown pottery scuttle to make my lather, and the Tabac and Chubby 3 give`s me enough to shave to BBS and beyond. If I was able to save what was left, I could shave 5 passes the next day also.

It is fun to try different soaps and creams, but if I was condemned to use only one of both, Tabac would be my soap, and TOBS Avocado my cream.

A "must" have in any serious shaving fanatic`s home.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
4.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
Price - 8. It could be cheaper, but you certainly pay for the quality of this soap, which I rank

Quality - 9. Excellent shave soap. This and Irisch Moos are the only tallow soaps I've tried, so I don't know how they compare with other tallows, but they are both as good, if not better, than the best Glycerin soaps I have in my collection.

Scent - 7. I like the scent of Tabac, but wish it were a tad less soapy smelling. Not my favorite soap scent, but not my least favorite of the collection either.

Lather - 10. This is where the Tabac really shines. In very little time I produced tons of rich lather...more than I needed for my shave.

Efficacy - 9. Protects and cushions very well.

Moisturizing - 5. My face felt a little bit dried out after using it, but nothing too horrible.

This will be a great winter soap, I can tell!
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
3.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
2.00 star(s)
I give this soap generally good grades. I must warn you though that I'm ordinarily not keen on giving tens unless we're talking about something unusually unusual in its unusuality.

Having said that, I give it 7 for the price. It could be cheaper! The price that you pay just for the bowl is not justified. I'd rather buy just a puck and put it in custom bowl.

Quality - 9! This product has quality written all over it!

Scent - 10! This is hypnotic scent. a Classic of wetshaving history. When I'm sad, I go to bathroom, take a quick sniff on it, and everything is fine....:001_smile

Lather - 9! This thing lathers extraordinary. It takes a learning curve to do it, though.

Efficacy - 8! It is efficient, but not like majority of creams out there. It lacks a lubrication a bit.

Moisturizing - 7! I've seen better...but not critical!
Price
3.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
3.00 star(s)
Tabac.

Easiest lathering soap I've used. Ties a few unusually good vintages. Nothing beats it.

Lather is top notch.

Price on a cost per use basis is hard to beat.

Quality is great.

Scent is debatable. I don't care for it.

It's nothing special in the moisture department. It isn't drying for me, but it doesn't make my face feel like I've done something for it either.
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
2.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
2.00 star(s)
I find that Tabac produces a rich lather that allows my razor to easily glide through even several days of beard growth.

In terms of moisturizing, my face comes out a bit tighter than with other soaps I've used, but it's not a terrible sensation.

I went N/A for the scent because I'm not crazy about it, but others I've showed the puck to have found it quite pleasant. To me it smells somewhat like a department store perfume section, or what you'd smell in the clean and potpourried bathroom of an old lady who runs an antique shop. Tabac scent is definitely YMMV. I don't find it to be overwhelming or lingering though.

I'm glad I made my Tabac purchase, and it'll be in my rotation for some time.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
1.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
3.00 star(s)
tabac is one of the best soaps i have tried. i'm not a big fan of the scent, but to me it's not as strong as some people say it is. as has been said many times before, you'll e hard-pressed to find a better lathering soap. great price, great soap :thumbup:
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
2.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
3.00 star(s)
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