Barrister and Mann, outstanding

[BDF]

Just got done with my second shave with B&M, the omnibus shave soap, in reserve waves scent. The soap is outstanding and reminds me a lot of Tabac (without the stench) but has an even better consistency. Like Tabac, it is not an airy soap prone to making it too dry. But where Tabac is excellent regarding holding a lot of water, this stuff is even better. I mixed it so thin that it was more like a liquid than a shaving lather and it was still outstanding regarding glide and protection. It rinses off quite well too.

My only complaint is that the soap is..... brown. Yep brown, and it turns a very light beige after it is hydrated. Just something not very pleasing having a face full of that color lather. And just to add icing on the cake, the soap was dispensed into the container while the container was turning by the looks, so there are different shades of brown swirls in the container, ending in a very dark final.... deposit. Again, not all that pleasing to work with given the knowledge I am going to spread this stuff all over my face.

Save the color, it really is an excellent soap and is no doubt the very best shaving soap I have tried yet. I am curious if all the scents have the same color?

BTW- all mention of Tabac is the old, tallow type. I do not have any non- tallow Tabac.

 

[Barbarian80]

I guess it would depend on the scent. I've noticed some artisan soaps can produce darker colored lathers than the mass produced stuff. I've never tried waves so i wouldn't know about it.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Just got done with my second shave with B&M, the omnibus shave soap, in reserve waves scent. The soap is outstanding and reminds me a lot of Tabac (without the stench) but has an even better consistency. Like Tabac, it is not an airy soap prone to making it too dry. But where Tabac is excellent regarding holding a lot of water, this stuff is even better. I mixed it so thin that it was more like a liquid than a shaving lather and it was still outstanding regarding glide and protection. It rinses off quite well too.

My only complaint is that the soap is..... brown. Yep brown, and it turns a very light beige after it is hydrated. Just something not very pleasing having a face full of that color lather. And just to add icing on the cake, the soap was dispensed into the container while the container was turning by the looks, so there are different shades of brown swirls in the container, ending in a very dark final.... deposit. Again, not all that pleasing to work with given the knowledge I am going to spread this stuff all over my face.

Save the color, it really is an excellent soap and is no doubt the very best shaving soap I have tried yet. I am curious if all the scents have the same color?

BTW- all mention of Tabac is the old, tallow type. I do not have any non- tallow Tabac.

I suspect that the soap might contain vanilla which tends to turn brown when exposed to air. Stirling Haverford and Ethos Vanilla Safi are two that I have used that contain vanilla and both are very dark brown.

 

[Mustard Seed]

The B&M Reserve Spice (Omnibus) is a wonderful soap and scent. Really one of my favorites from B&M. Have two pucks of that soap so I am good for awhile. My wife just keeps rolling her eyes...... I do not blame her... I have away too many soaps.

 

[BDF]

OK, that makes sense. It really has no impact other than the odd look of the soap and the even more odd look of the lather. Performance wise it is excellent, scent wise it is perfectly fine, it is just the color that is a little unusual. But if that comes with certain scents I can learn to live with it for the performance of the soap.

BTW, I lather in a scuttle with very hot water and depending on the soap, that can really knock the lather down to a very wispy, dry lather. But with this B&M the temp. just bounces off. Not an advantage to everyone of course but a very welcome side effect at my house.

I suspect that the soap might contain vanilla which tends to turn brown when exposed to air. Stirling Haverford and Ethos Vanilla Safi are two that I have used that contain vanilla and both are very dark brown.

 

[hydro-magic]

My last Reserve Waves was the older reserve base and it didn't make brown lather but that may have changed. There are a couple B&M scents that were very brown before. Lavanille is the one that comes to mind first. I just used the new Omnibus Vespers and it was very brown as well. It never really affected anything. Didn't stain brushes that I could tell. But if you don't like it, you can probably ask them which scents won't do it.

 

[BDF]

After using this soap for a couple of weeks, I think even more highly of it. Really as flawless a soap as I have ever used. It also loads quickly and takes a very small amount of product to produce plenty (read: too much) lather. Again, it seems pretty insensitive to water content, if too little is used, it ends up as a thick, bubble- free mayonnaise lather that may dry up on the face. No problem, just throw more water at it with the brush. I have not yet been able to use too much water that it will not shave fantastically well, even after it is running down my face because it has so much water in it. This stuff uses a lot of water, again probably more than any other soap I have tried.

I very much like the scent and of course the performance is outstanding. Now that I load very much less product, the tan lather is no longer of any consideration as it is really quite subtle in color.... not white but not so far from white that it bothers me. Makes me want to grab another puck in a different scent!