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

[Lane101]

Curious, have seen occasional posts for Tabac since I joined B&B with mixed views on the scent though the general consensus in most threads was that this soap performs well. Is the change to a new vegan formulation driving the much stronger views just expressed here regarding Tabac's scent or is this an issue that's been around for a while that is finally getting focused attention thanks to the original post in this thread. Typically only see this level of energy/participation around soaps like Arko or Williams before it was discontinued.

Funny, wish I'd added a puck to my recent Connaught Shaving order to see for myself though given that I like Williams and Arko it would take a lot for me to reject a soap due to scent.

 

[ChriWilson]

Curious, have seen occasional posts for Tabac since I joined B&B with mixed views on the scent though the general consensus in most threads was that this soap performs well. Is the change to a new vegan formulation driving the much stronger views just expressed here regarding Tabac's scent or is this an issue that's been around for a while that is finally getting focused attention thanks to the original post in this thread. Typically only see this level of energy/participation around soaps like Arko or Williams before it was discontinued.

Funny, wish I'd added a puck to my recent Connaught Shaving order to see for myself though given that I like Williams and Arko it would take a lot for me to reject a soap due to scent.

Appears they only have the new vegetal formula...

 

[luvmysuper]

Curious, have seen occasional posts for Tabac since I joined B&B with mixed views on the scent though the general consensus in most threads was that this soap performs well. Is the change to a new vegan formulation driving the much stronger views just expressed here regarding Tabac's scent or is this an issue that's been around for a while that is finally getting focused attention thanks to the original post in this thread. Typically only see this level of energy/participation around soaps like Arko or Williams before it was discontinued.

Funny, wish I'd added a puck to my recent Connaught Shaving order to see for myself though given that I like Williams and Arko it would take a lot for me to reject a soap due to scent.

Tabac has always had the Grandma's purse smell. Reports are that the new Veggie Formula is different and not as strong.

 

[CCS]

The least expensive format for Tabac is usually the stick refill which is actually a big piece of soap around 100g. If you don't like sticks, you can just grate it into a container.

If you do like shave sticks, the Tabac stick container is one of the best and is, of course, refillable.

I don't like sticks but I do have a Zyless cheese grinder and have used it on a number of sticks in the past. Thanks for the tip!

 

[ChriWilson]

Tabac has always had the Grandma's purse smell. Reports are that the new Veggie Formula is different and not as strong.

Not only is it lesser in strength, it does differ slightly in aroma.

Like most things reformulated these days, similar yet different.

Performance-wise, the new version is really not bad - I just prefer the original (at least in stick form).

 

[Mike M]

I don't like sticks but I do have a Zyless cheese grinder and have used it on a number of sticks in the past. Thanks for the tip!

Does it make your cheese sandwiches taste/smell any different?

 

[NorthernSoul]

Curious, have seen occasional posts for Tabac since I joined B&B with mixed views on the scent though the general consensus in most threads was that this soap performs well. Is the change to a new vegan formulation driving the much stronger views just expressed here regarding Tabac's scent or is this an issue that's been around for a while that is finally getting focused attention thanks to the original post in this thread. Typically only see this level of energy/participation around soaps like Arko or Williams before it was discontinued...

Tabac has had a similar scent since first introduced in the late 1950s or early 60s. It's not really "grandma's purse" but a kitchen sink kind of scent with every barbershop note you can think of kind of thrown together. What people usually dislike is the strength of the scent, plus the heavy floral component (carnation, I think). Let it air out in the garage for a few weeks and you are left with something that reminds me a bit of old hotel soap. Not a favorite, but not so bad as the critics say.

 

[Vespasian]

When I joined BnB, I noticed early the split opinions on Tabac. I toddled across the street to Nordstrom to give it the sniff taste. I was properly nauseated. Simply can't abide the smell. Luckily, there are lots of fish swimming in that particular ocean.

 

[Crixus]

When I joined BnB, I noticed early the split opinions on Tabac. I toddled across the street to Nordstrom to give it the sniff taste. I was properly nauseated. Simply can't abide the smell. Luckily, there are lots of fish swimming in that particular ocean.

It’s fortunate you had a place locally where you could not only purchase European shaving goods, but more importantly, be able to sample a variety. There are many B&B members that have to purchase on a leap of faith and end up with something that is not compatible. It is great that we have the forum to get other folks’ opinions on scents and lathering qualities, but as we see just on the Tabac thread, scent perception is widely varied. And the ease of lathering a particular soap has a lot to do with what kind of water you have. I can remember a period quite a while back where some of us members would pass used pucks and sticks of soap around via the mail. We could take two or three shaves off of it and send it to the next guy. At least you got to sample the goods before you bought.

 

[VerbaVolant]

Find an old lady walking down the street and ask to smell her purse?

@CCS, don't do that. Much cheaper spending 15 bucks than having a knee on your neck while arrested and having your name on the front page of your local news rag. Much cheaper. And... you don't need to explain to a judge that smelling people's purses is not some weird fetish. Just a thought

 

[CCS]

@CCS, don't do that. Much cheaper spending 15 bucks than having a knee on your neck while arrested and having your name on the front page of your local news rag. Much cheaper. And... you don't need to explain to a judge that smelling people's purses is not some weird fetish. Just a thought

Huh?

 

[foppy]

I love Tabac, I love the lather, I love the smell, and I love this thread because it helped me find my new avatar.

All hail Wyngarde, who looks like Tabac smells. Fantastic!

 

[Lane101]

Puck of Tabac just arrived today. Will shave with it tomorrow. This is the new vegan formulation. Scent appears to be relatively mild, not detectable at all until I opened the foil wrapper a bit. Will share more after I shave with it tomorrow.

 

[Dobric]

For me, smell is 5/10...just meh, it's too sweet, and somehow associates me to 1970's, and I was born in 1988, I don't know why...

 

[cf1]

Had the original tallow formula. Tried to like but couldn’t years back. Bad scent good performance. Wife hated. Got rid of the soap kept the jar. Now Dr Harris Arlington lives there. Love that soap.

 

[Steve56]

There’s nothing wrong with Tabac’s scent except that there is 20x too much of it.

If you have a dead nose, you’ll love it, dead people can smell it. If you have a normal nose, you won’t use it often, it remains in the brush, bathroom, and smells up your house for many days. If you have a sensitive shnoz, or prefer your soap scents not to last for 3 days after the last use, it’s unusable.

 

[Ron R]

I have Tabac and like it as a soap and yes the scent is just OK but it sure leaves a good post shave feel and I usually have aftershave afterwards that takes over any soap scent mostly. Tabac will be around for some time IMO.
Another really good German soap is Speick (Stick) triple milled also and I like it for the mild spicy scent, lathering is excellent and post shave feel also excellent and easy to clean up my brushes when done lathering so it kind of nudged Tabac out slightly as top mass produced German shave soap IMO.

 

[Lane101]

Hi, had my first shave with Tabac, new formulation, earlier today. This is a brand new 125 g. refill puck.

Set Up: First while the soap is triple milled, it a bit malleable and not as hard as my Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF) and Williams. By shaving a small amount off of the bottom edge with a butter knife I was able to fit it perfectly into an available shaving soap bowl. Pressed the shavings (<5% of the soap puck) around the sides to seal the soap fully into the bowl. Soap was malleable enough to press the edges of the puck into the shavings at the edge. This left about 3/4" of space on top of the puck to facilitate loading.

First Shave: As the soap is a bit softer than MWF and Williams I used my Big Bruce 26mm knot synthetic brush and was able to easily load the brush from the puck. No need to soak the puck, just wet the brush, shake out the excess water and load. Loaded for about 45 seconds and then face lathered. The lather bloomed easily on my face with small amounts of extra water added to the brush with plenty for my 2+ pass shave.

Lather quality was good, it was stable, very slick and enabled an excellent shave. In fact the best part was the incredible amount of residual slickness from this soap. From a overall performance perspective it was equal to my other vegan triple milled soap, Razorocks What the Puck (WTP) with a bit more slickness though the What the Puck lather is a bit creamier. As the WTP costs $4 on sale (with a fair share of the shipping charge) for 100 grams/3 oz. and the Tabac Puck from Connaughts is roughly $6.65 (free air shipping on my order) for 125 grams/4.4 oz. the WTP is a slightly better value at $1.33/oz versus $1.51/oz. At the typical $15 per puck from U.S. based retailers or roughly $3.40 oz. Tabac is much more expensive than the WTP.

Lather quality was similar to that I realize from my MWF though I have to give Tabac the edge since it's easier to build lather compared to MWF. For MWF I need to use a boar brush to generate the lather as readily as I do with Tabac and WTP with my synthetic.

Aroma: Regarding the elephant in the room the aroma was no where near as strong as that described by others for their tallow Tabac pucks. Could not smell it at all through the packaging as noted by some others with the tallow product. When I first removed the foil wrapper the aroma was a bit strong but once shaving the lather scent was not unpleasant. The weaker post shave residual aroma was pleasing and I've already noticed a significant decrease in the aroma from the puck now that it resides in an open bowl. If it's like my other soaps the aroma will dissipate over time. Overall I do prefer the MWF and WTP lather aromas a bit over that of Tabac though there is nothing wrong with the Tabac in the lather itself. Guessing that in a few days the puck aroma will dissipate even more so likely no issue there.

Conclusion: I'll continue to use the Tabac in my rotation given it's excellent shaving performance so long as it's available at prices similar to that noted above thanks to the really low U.K./U.S. exchange rates. Would not spend the roughly $15 to acquire it locally if that was my only option given that we've similar options available at much lower costs.

 

[VerbaVolant]

Hi, had my first shave with Tabac...

Excellent review. Thanks for posting.

 

[Lane101]

Hi, had my first shave with Tabac, new formulation, earlier today. This is a brand new 125 g. refill puck.

Set Up: First while the soap is triple milled, it a bit malleable and not as hard as my Mitchell's Wool Fat (MWF) and Williams. By shaving a small amount off of the bottom edge with a butter knife I was able to fit it perfectly into an available shaving soap bowl. Pressed the shavings (<5% of the soap puck) around the sides to seal the soap fully into the bowl. Soap was malleable enough to press the edges of the puck into the shavings at the edge. This left about 3/4" of space on top of the puck to facilitate loading.

First Shave: As the soap is a bit softer than MWF and Williams I used my Big Bruce 26mm knot synthetic brush and was able to easily load the brush from the puck. No need to soak the puck, just wet the brush, shake out the excess water and load. Loaded for about 45 seconds and then face lathered. The lather bloomed easily on my face with small amounts of extra water added to the brush with plenty for my 2+ pass shave.

Lather quality was good, it was stable, very slick and enabled an excellent shave. In fact the best part was the incredible amount of residual slickness from this soap. From a overall performance perspective it was equal to my other vegan triple milled soap, Razorocks What the Puck (WTP) with a bit more slickness though the What the Puck lather is a bit creamier. As the WTP costs $4 on sale (with a fair share of the shipping charge) for 100 grams/3 oz. and the Tabac Puck from Connaughts is roughly $6.65 (free air shipping on my order) for 125 grams/4.4 oz. the WTP is a slightly better value at $1.33/oz versus $1.51/oz. At the typical $15 per puck from U.S. based retailers or roughly $3.40 oz. Tabac is much more expensive than the WTP.

Lather quality was similar to that I realize from my MWF though I have to give Tabac the edge since it's easier to build lather compared to MWF. For MWF I need to use a boar brush to generate the lather as readily as I do with Tabac and WTP with my synthetic.

Aroma: Regarding the elephant in the room the aroma was no where near as strong as that described by others for their tallow Tabac pucks. Could not smell it at all through the packaging as noted by some others with the tallow product. When I first removed the foil wrapper the aroma was a bit strong but once shaving the lather scent was not unpleasant. The weaker post shave residual aroma was pleasing and I've already noticed a significant decrease in the aroma from the puck now that it resides in an open bowl. If it's like my other soaps the aroma will dissipate over time. Overall I do prefer the MWF and WTP lather aromas a bit over that of Tabac though there is nothing wrong with the Tabac in the lather itself. Guessing that in a few days the puck aroma will dissipate even more so likely no issue there.

Conclusion: I'll continue to use the Tabac in my rotation given it's excellent shaving performance so long as it's available at prices similar to that noted above thanks to the really low U.K./U.S. exchange rates. Would not spend the roughly $15 to acquire it locally if that was my only option given that we've similar options available at much lower costs.

Replying to myself to provide an update. Shaved with the Tabac again earlier today. Scent has dissipated to a low level where I'm actually finding it pleasant. Comes across as a mild earthy/woody aroma. Also learned how to build even better lather with a little extra loading time (total of one minute) enabling creation of lather that was as creamy as anything else I use while still providing the excellent slickness noted in my first post above. Equipment was the same as my first shave.

Glad I decided to add a couple backup pucks to the Connaught Shaving order that delivered this. Will continue to enjoy the new formula Tabac as part of my rotation. This is an excellent shaving soap.