Am I The Only Person On B&B Who Finds The Scent Of Tabac Nauseating?

[Crixus]

It's absolutely a floral backed scent, and that does seem to turn some folks away.

Although there is no way to find out, I would be very curious to see if folks who like rose creams and soaps (I find them cloying) also like the scent of Tabac, and folks who are averse to rose scented shaving products also tend to shun Tabac due to scent. That would tell me quite a bit.

 

[CCS]

Although there is no way to find out, I would be very curious to see if folks who like rose creams and soaps (I find them cloying) also like the scent of Tabac, and folks who are averse to rose scented shaving products also tend to shun Tabac due to scent. That would tell me quite a bit.

Rose? Really? Personally, I love T&H Rose shaving cream but that's now out of their line-up.

 

[luvmysuper]

Basenotes says:

 

[Whisky]

 

[PRobots]

I like it. A lot more than ARKO.

 

[Barbarian80]

Although there is no way to find out, I would be very curious to see if folks who like rose creams and soaps (I find them cloying) also like the scent of Tabac, and folks who are averse to rose scented shaving products also tend to shun Tabac due to scent. That would tell me quite a bit.

I can't stand rose but I love Tabac. Rose nauseates me. I'm not following you because you're comparing apples with crayons. Yes, there is some floral aspect to Tabac but it's not similar to rose.

 

[Barbarian80]

I like it. A lot more than ARKO.

It beats Arko in every single category. By a long shot. And Arko is pretty good soap so it says a lot. Granted, I have no idea how vegan Tabac compares.

 

[NorthernSoul]

Apparently a very, very good shaving soap (old version) that is KNOWN to be a highly polarizing soap due to its scent. I wonder why M&W did not come out with a different scent yet keep all other ingredients the same. They would have been able to sell more product, say almond or lavender, to people just like me and half the responders to this thread.

It's a 1950s - 1960s thing, so it's basically the same scent from back then to now. It's a throwback. Maybe you had to have been around back then to appreciate it.

The scent has grown on me since I began using it. Still not a favorite, but it's all right. You know, the scent of the lather made from the soap is not nearly as strong as the soap itself.

The Tabac tallow soap performance is very good. The Speick tallow base is pretty similar, with a spicy lavender scent. DR Harris has both almond and lavender in a tallow base (it's pretty good, also).

 

[Mike M]

When I first got a stick of Tabac I found it reminded me of the smell of my mums handbag when I was a kid and particularly the tissues she pulled out of it when despite my protestation she felt my face needed cleaning. For that reason it didn't get much use, but after finding just how good a soap it is and how much less annoying it is to get a lather from than MWF I am planning to 3017 my MWF and once my Tabac stick is gone I will purchase a jar of it as a replacement. The scent I can live with unlike the lemon menace that is Arko.

 

[Crixus]

The Speick tallow base is pretty similar, with a spicy lavender scent. DR Harris has both almond and lavender in a tallow base (it's pretty good, also).

I am familiar with the scents of those three. I can't quite figure it out for myself what my scent phobias are. I don't care for rose products, or even the smell of roses themselves. I can't put my finger on it. No lilac, none of that. But essential oil of lavander, the real deal stuff, is my favorite scent in the world, even beating out coffee and bacon. I find the Speick cream in the tube to be a wonderful scent, and I'm very fond of eucalyptus. Oh well, different strokes.

 

[Phoenixkh]

I used Tabac cologne when I was in HS... when I met my wife in Indonesia back in 1972, I wanted to impress her so I had my mom send it to me. She did enjoy it... mission accomplished.

I had no idea Tabac made shaving products. The cologne was amongst all the other colognes of the day and I knew I didn't like the smells I encountered in the HS halls. As far as I know, I was the only kid wearing Tabac in HS... probably because it was hmmmmm an older man's cologne, perhaps.

Fast forward 50 years... my wife does not, I repeat, does NOT like the smell of Tabac cologne now. <eg>

 

[Habemik]

Although there is no way to find out, I would be very curious to see if folks who like rose creams and soaps (I find them cloying) also like the scent of Tabac, and folks who are averse to rose scented shaving products also tend to shun Tabac due to scent. That would tell me quite a bit.

I love rose oil to the point that I've developed a habit of using a drop or two at the end of the day to unwind.

My puck of Tabac is in it's 4th year and the smell is in that perfect spot, where it sparks joy but doesn't overstay its welcome. I actually try to feel more of it when lathering.

The EDC, on the other hand, was something that was tad too strong in the opening (yeah, I tend to apply too much) but mellowed later to the same perfect, relaxing spot. Now, as for imagining a context and a style where it would (socially) fit someone in the first part of 30s - I just can't put it together in my head.

 

[Frank Shaves]

The Tabac tallow soap performance is very good. The Speick tallow base is pretty similar, with a spicy lavender scent. DR Harris has both almond and lavender in a tallow base (it's pretty good, also).

If anyone is looking for a high-quality triple milled, tallow-based soap, try D.R. Harris - excellent soap! One caveat about the almond: the almond scent is not sweet (like ABC) but acrid/bitter - smells like the inside of almond shells. When I got the soap I was like "What the ..." but with time I have come to really enjoy the scent.

 

[PRobots]

If anyone is looking for a high-quality triple milled, tallow-based soap, try D.R. Harris - excellent soap! One caveat about the almond: the almond scent is not sweet (like ABC) but acrid/bitter - smells like the inside of almond shells. When I got the soap I was like "What the ..." but with time I have come to really enjoy the scent.

I like DRH almond a lot but consider it an unscented soap.

 

[RayClem]

Tabac has some very volatile top notes. When I first unwrapped the package, I was overwhelmed by the aroma. There was no way I was putting that stuff on my face. I left the puck sitting out for a couple of weeks to let the volatile notes evaporate. Only then could I use the soap.

The former tallow version of Tabac was one of the few hard pucks that I could recommend. I understand that it has been reformulated like many soaps made in the EU. The revised version contains: INGREDIENTS: Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Laurate, Sodium Laurate, Glycerin, Aqua, Parfum, Lauric Acid, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxycitronellal, CI 77891, Isoeugenol, Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Citronellol, Coumarin, Benzyl Alcohol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Geraniol, Benzyl Salicylate, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Citral, Eugenol

The formulation looks better than some non-tallow soaps that are based on palmitic acid or coconut oil. I have not tried it so I do not know now successful the reformulation has been.

 

[Barbarian80]

I think leaving the puck out for a few weeks is excessive. The stink subsides after a day. But yeah, I agree if you bury your face in a freshly unwrapped puck of Tabac you're gonna get a face full of ole grans purse and worse.

 

[Blade4vor]

I used the Tabac tallow stick twice this past week. Those were two smoking great shaves! I had forgotten how well Tabac softens my whiskers. Yes, I enjoy the scent as well. I enjoy a lot of different shave scents. Variety is the way to go for me.

I enjoy rose scented shave soaps and creams too, but my tastes run the gambit

 

[haggis]

I keep trying to like it, but failing.

My wife always comments positively (unsolicited) if I've used it so I can't bring myself to put it in the Nope box ... but so far I have not really warmed to it myself.

 

[Barbarian80]

Tabac is one of the few wet shaving scents my wife likes. Everything else I have stinks like hell to her or its just ho-hum.

 

[FarmerTan]

I love it. I think it's a great scent. Still my #1.

*goes around sniffin' Granny's purse.......


I have grown to almost love it.... Here's how I did it:

I imagine that I'm at my Grandma's house. She asks me to grab her purse to give me some hard candy.

I faithfully retrieve it, and I can smell all the way into the corners of the purse, held at arms length!

The smell is not noxious, just interesting at this point....

Then she opens her purse, from across the room...

I am immediately forced to breathe through my mouth! My eyes water!

She hands me a piece of hard candy, covered in purse lint!

I pick off the lint, and smell the candy. It smells of a funeral parlor!

I begin to hack, cough.... but I dutifully place the candy in my mouth. Tastes like chicken.

And I swallow it whole!



But all the while I am soaking up the visit with my Grandma, whom I have just visited with for the first time since she passed away over 30 years ago, and I am happy!


But I sure wish she had just let me have a pink, wintergreen flavored lozenge from her candy dish on the table next to her "Davenport!"

Oh, how I miss both of my grannies! Unconditional love, squared!


If I'm feeling particularly nostalgic, I will follow up a Tabac shave with some Geoffrey Beene Gray Flannel for a real test of my olfactory nerves!