B&M Omnibus ("Veggiebus") Base

[Captain Howdy]

Wow, two uses so far, I don't have time for a full review until tomorrow but I want to say that this has been extremely interesting to use.

This soap has, by far, the most unique lather characteristics I've ever seen in a shave soap...ever

If my woman were to load a random soap of mine into a brush and hand it to me, most would be hard to identify based just on lather characteristics. Don't get me wrong, It's easy to tell Proraso apart from K2e, but discerning, say, tallow Omnibus or MacDuff's from K2e would be much harder. Vegibus, however, would be extremely easy to identify based on aforementioned unique characteristics. Full review of said characteristics coming soon.

 

[Captain Howdy]

Right, where to begin...like I said, this is the most unique soap I've yet used. The consistency is more firm than, say, Cella, but softer than tallow Omnibus. Though how much of that is native vs my omnibus soaps simply having hardened over the years is hard to say. It was very easy to load, and I used a synthetic brush in both instances of use. Will recommends synthetics when using omnibus, so i assumed the same for Veggibus. I'lll try badger next time just to experiment.

Like Omnibus, it's a heavy, low structure lather that likes a lot of water and becomes extremely glossy when hydrated. It demands a lot of water and won't perform well if you don't hydrate it liberally. Omnibus also likes water, but isn't as demanding as to where that hydration has to be as Veggibus. Once you get it where it wants to be, it's very, very glossy. I'd wager you could see partial reflections if you could get the lather flat enough, it's that shiny. OG Omnibus is very 'gooey' and has a feeling like it's sticking to your face. Veggibus takes that, somehow, to a whole other level yet. It is the single most gooey lather i've encoutered. It's not just gooey, but congealed...by that I mean it likes to 'stay together' for lack of a better description. To the point that it almost seemed like I'd be able to take two fingers and peel the entire lather off my face in a single piece. I couldn't do this, but that's what it felt like. I haven't decided if I like that yet or not. Indeed, of all the soaps I've used, never has it been so apparent that there was a barrier between the razor and my face because of this interesting attribute. I've never bought into the lather providing "cushion" thing, as I've always found it to be a logical fallacy. This soap has made me briefly question that. Again, i was amazed at just how apparent it was that there was a barrier between the blade and razor. For this reason, I think people who use very efficient razors may like this lather for this reason, though it did appear to come at a cost. First, it's so eager to stay congealed into a single blob of lather, that it made it hard to spread sometimes. I'm a head shaver, and don't have much hair left in and around my widows peak. Because of my having so few hairs on that part of my head the hair had a harder time pulling the lather out of the brush..... again, it has that crazy surface tension and wants to stay congealed. The sides of my head with more hair had no problem as there was plenty to grab the lather from the brush. Sometimes when I was building the lather, it felt like I was pushing blobs around, rather than spreading it with a brush. It was weird. When I check to make sure my lather is hydrated I "peak" my lather and see if the "summit" collapses or holds its shape, the latter meaning it's too dry. Vegibus would stretch the summit out several inches before finally letting go of the brush. Another strange characteristic of this surface tension was when I used my hand to apply proto lather to my head...proto lather left in the tub from my brush load. I scoop that up and rub it on my head and leave it there while I brush lather my face for three passes. When I finished my three face passses, the hand lathered proto lather had started to group back together, such that there was little canyons and valleys where there had been a more even distribution of lather before. I don't know how else to describe it. Again, this was just proto lather that was quickly rubbed onto my scalp. It wasn't properly built. Anyway, hopefully by now you get how much this lather likes to stay congealed via surface tension. It makes for a very robust barrier, as stated above, and, once again, i suspect this may serve people who use aggressive razors. For me, however, it was just...weird.

I do have to ding it on slicknesss. Not to imply that it wasn't slick, because it was...usually, but the slickness was inconsistent. Veggibus does NOT enjoy a wide spectrum of hydration tolerance. It demands a lot of water and it seems to fall back out of that 'happy water window' quite quickly and I found myself having to reapply moisture into my lather to maintain slickness. Maybe i've overloaded these two shaves, so take this into account, and I will continue to experiment and update you as I continue to play with this very, very interesting soap, but this is the first report. I'll do at least one more update on my findings sometime in the next couple shaves.

The post shave was excellent. Omnibus had a more talc like post. Veggibus has a post that feel more .....wet? Don't mistake this for "greasy" feeling, because it's not, it just doesn't have that talc like finish Omnibus has.

 

[Captain Howdy]

To clarity the above, when I brushed my loaded brush back across my scalp, the areas of my head with alot of hair had lather, the parts that didn't did not, and I had to push some lather from the hairy parts of my head to my widows peak. I'll try loading less, agitating more and adding a tonne of water, see if that breaks up the surface tension some. Weirdest lather I've ever used.

Very unique. I think some people will absolutely love it while other won't like it much at all. I think everybody should try to sample just to see how different it is.

Edit: the scent, pencil pushers, does indeed smell like pencil shavings on top of a heavier muskier funkier base. If it were just the pencil shavings, it'd be nice, but the under-funk is a bit cloying.

 

[Mr Konrad Dundee]

Right, where to begin...like I said, this is the most unique soap I've yet used. The consistency is more firm than, say, Cella, but softer than tallow Omnibus. Though how much of that is native vs my omnibus soaps simply having hardened over the years is hard to say. It was very easy to load, and I used a synthetic brush in both instances of use. Will recommends synthetics when using omnibus, so i assumed the same for Veggibus. I'lll try badger next time just to experiment.

Like Omnibus, it's a heavy, low structure lather that likes a lot of water and becomes extremely glossy when hydrated. It demands a lot of water and won't perform well if you don't hydrate it liberally. Omnibus also likes water, but isn't as demanding as to where that hydration has to be as Veggibus. Once you get it where it wants to be, it's very, very glossy. I'd wager you could see partial reflections if you could get the lather flat enough, it's that shiny. OG Omnibus is very 'gooey' and has a feeling like it's sticking to your face. Veggibus takes that, somehow, to a whole other level yet. It is the single most gooey lather i've encoutered. It's not just gooey, but congealed...by that I mean it likes to 'stay together' for lack of a better description. To the point that it almost seemed like I'd be able to take two fingers and peel the entire lather off my face in a single piece. I couldn't do this, but that's what it felt like. I haven't decided if I like that yet or not. Indeed, of all the soaps I've used, never has it been so apparent that there was a barrier between the razor and my face because of this interesting attribute. I've never bought into the lather providing "cushion" thing, as I've always found it to be a logical fallacy. This soap has made me briefly question that. Again, i was amazed at just how apparent it was that there was a barrier between the blade and razor. For this reason, I think people who use very efficient razors may like this lather for this reason, though it did appear to come at a cost. First, it's so eager to stay congealed into a single blob of lather, that it made it hard to spread sometimes. I'm a head shaver, and don't have much hair left in and around my widows peak. Because of my having so few hairs on that part of my head the hair had a harder time pulling the lather out of the brush..... again, it has that crazy surface tension and wants to stay congealed. The sides of my head with more hair had no problem as there was plenty to grab the lather from the brush. Sometimes when I was building the lather, it felt like I was pushing blobs around, rather than spreading it with a brush. It was weird. When I check to make sure my lather is hydrated I "peak" my lather and see if the "summit" collapses or holds its shape, the latter meaning it's too dry. Vegibus would stretch the summit out several inches before finally letting go of the brush. Another strange characteristic of this surface tension was when I used my hand to apply proto lather to my head...proto lather left in the tub from my brush load. I scoop that up and rub it on my head and leave it there while I brush lather my face for three passes. When I finished my three face passses, the hand lathered proto lather had started to group back together, such that there was little canyons and valleys where there had been a more even distribution of lather before. I don't know how else to describe it. Again, this was just proto lather that was quickly rubbed onto my scalp. It wasn't properly built. Anyway, hopefully by now you get how much this lather likes to stay congealed via surface tension. It makes for a very robust barrier, as stated above, and, once again, i suspect this may serve people who use aggressive razors. For me, however, it was just...weird.

I do have to ding it on slicknesss. Not to imply that it wasn't slick, because it was...usually, but the slickness was inconsistent. Veggibus does NOT enjoy a wide spectrum of hydration tolerance. It demands a lot of water and it seems to fall back out of that 'happy water window' quite quickly and I found myself having to reapply moisture into my lather to maintain slickness. Maybe i've overloaded these two shaves, so take this into account, and I will continue to experiment and update you as I continue to play with this very, very interesting soap, but this is the first report. I'll do at least one more update on my findings sometime in the next couple shaves.

The post shave was excellent. Omnibus had a more talc like post. Veggibus has a post that feel more .....wet? Don't mistake this for "greasy" feeling, because it's not, it just doesn't have that talc like finish Omnibus has.

Excellent review

 

[helicopter]

I prefer Omnibus to veggiebus. I sampled veggiebus, and I wont be buying a tub of it. I am glad my favorite fragrances are in omnibus.

 

[Mr Konrad Dundee]

I prefer Omnibus to veggiebus. I sampled veggiebus, and I wont be buying a tub of it. I am glad my favorite fragrances are in omnibus.

the Omnibus base remains across the board for a long time
I also like the Omnibus, but I think that the Omibus Veg is an excellent base and is very close to the tallow base

 

[helicopter]

the Omnibus base remains across the board for a long time
I also like the Omnibus, but I think that the Omibus Veg is an excellent base and is very close to the tallow base

Veg is OK. If anyone wants to try several of them, check out my BST.

 

[Captain Howdy]

I agree omnibus is superior to vegibus, though vegibus remains a very good base