What do you think of the new pump bottles of balm? I'm not a fan since I get a dried blob the first pump. He should have stuck with the small tubs of balm.
Barrister and Mann's new Omnibus base: discussion and reviews
- Thread starter SterFry
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I have not had this issue. Maybe I’m using it enough to avoid this.
I haven’t had this issue either. I bought the unscented version. I don’t like the smell out of the bottle— it reminds me of saké a bit. However, the smell goes away completely after drying down.
Nordost is pretty spectacular. Glad I got it. Take a torch to a really good orange rind and just let the flame kiss it and that's Nordost.
Taiga is very similar to Scots pine sheep but a little more complex.
Taiga is very similar to Scots pine sheep but a little more complex.
Used Omnibus the first time with an Amazelnut shave. It was the first time I have scooped a B&M soap. It is so soft. Touch it to leave fingerprints. It scooped up a nice dollop and built lather with my Omega Evo in my Captain's Choice Copper bowl. Lathered fairly easily and quickly. I had enough for three passes and still had enough for a forth. It was good lather. Nice wet goop like I like, I didn't find it that much different from their other bases. I used the splash and balm.
Amazelnut smells delicious. I usually don't want to smell delicious, so I followed it up with Shulton Old Spice. Not that the Amazelnut has much persistence. It is present for the shave and then faded into the background. Still waiting on a scent that speaks to me. I don't know how It will work out with West Coast Shaving for Beaudelaire in Omnibus. I still have one started and one full tub of it in Excelsior. Not sure about Vespers. I might get Cologne Russe. I have a bunch of Fern in Reserve. I guess I'm waiting for something to grab me.
Amazelnut smells delicious. I usually don't want to smell delicious, so I followed it up with Shulton Old Spice. Not that the Amazelnut has much persistence. It is present for the shave and then faded into the background. Still waiting on a scent that speaks to me. I don't know how It will work out with West Coast Shaving for Beaudelaire in Omnibus. I still have one started and one full tub of it in Excelsior. Not sure about Vespers. I might get Cologne Russe. I have a bunch of Fern in Reserve. I guess I'm waiting for something to grab me.
Nothing will ever grab you deep in the rabbit hole. If I had any sense I'd sell everything and keep B&M reserve Fern.
I have not bought any shaving stuff since 3 years ago, I had a shave with the first new formula after 3 years and this amazes me so much. But I do have a few more top-tier bases to try before I say if Omnibus is the best formula base in my rotation.
Have a few more bases to try - Tusk, Sego, Seiro, Milksteak, Eufros v3, T+S V3, Ethos just to name a few. If Omnibus is any gauge of what's to come, I think I'm in a few months to play with all the new formulas.
Have a few more bases to try - Tusk, Sego, Seiro, Milksteak, Eufros v3, T+S V3, Ethos just to name a few. If Omnibus is any gauge of what's to come, I think I'm in a few months to play with all the new formulas.
I had Leviathan on my Christmas list and have used it twice so far.
I face lathered the first time, and since this is my first B&M soap (they have escaped my clutches somehow) I gave it a good long load: about 10 seconds. Oh my, too much soap. It took me a while to get it thinned down enough for a shave. Good shave, although I find the scent extremely mild, which is so preferable to unpleasant.
Second shave I get out the scuttle. Tap water is very hot (135+ degrees). I only load for 5-6 seconds. Not going all that well. I go back to the puck for another 5 seconds and manage a functional lather. I'm pretty sure it doesn't like the heat. No problem with MdC and WK and pretty much everything else except SV. SV definitely did not like the heat and gave me the same reaction.
So I'm two lathers in and still have yet to hit the sweet spot. I'm sure the face lathering will be fine with a shorter load. I'm still guessing with the scuttle. I will try it with lukewarm water and see what happens. I use the scuttle most of the year, so this won't be replaced if that's the problem.
I face lathered the first time, and since this is my first B&M soap (they have escaped my clutches somehow) I gave it a good long load: about 10 seconds. Oh my, too much soap. It took me a while to get it thinned down enough for a shave. Good shave, although I find the scent extremely mild, which is so preferable to unpleasant.
Second shave I get out the scuttle. Tap water is very hot (135+ degrees). I only load for 5-6 seconds. Not going all that well. I go back to the puck for another 5 seconds and manage a functional lather. I'm pretty sure it doesn't like the heat. No problem with MdC and WK and pretty much everything else except SV. SV definitely did not like the heat and gave me the same reaction.
So I'm two lathers in and still have yet to hit the sweet spot. I'm sure the face lathering will be fine with a shorter load. I'm still guessing with the scuttle. I will try it with lukewarm water and see what happens. I use the scuttle most of the year, so this won't be replaced if that's the problem.
I have discovered to not thin it down. I leave it thick and gooey. It works great for me that way. Its a high definition lather, so it wont feel the same as your standard soap. If its not all gooey and sticking to your face, its not right. Thats my opinion anyway. Take it with lots of gains of salt.
Poor aerolord, little did he know that this was the day he had tripped and fell down a rabbit hole. He will not emerge with one soap, but instead increase his burden by the dozens. Along the way will be many wondrous diversions such as finding the optimum brush for each soap base and the magic hydration level. But it is his journey and all we can do is watch his madness develop.
I am going to recommend the scoop method since you have the scuttle out. You can use a guitar pick or your fingernail and I would say use enough to coat the bottom of the scuttle. Then add water gradually.
Fortunately for me, I have been down this rabbit hole 3 years ago, I managed to climb out, just that I decided to jump back into the hole cause I'm that dumb
Getting along very well with this base. One thing I particularly like is that the residual slickness during a shave (for example, adding a bit of water to bare skin for a quick touchup) is outstanding, yet at the end of the shave it all rinses off rather easily. Nice.
High Definition Lather, I'm not familiar with that description, what's it mean?I have discovered to not thin it down. I leave it thick and gooey. It works great for me that way. Its a high definition lather, so it wont feel the same as your standard soap. If its not all gooey and sticking to your face, its not right. Thats my opinion anyway. Take it with lots of gains of salt.
I swiped that term from a couple of other guys around here. Super thick and gooey. Sticks to your face. Incredible glide and cushion. But it's not big and fluffy and gorgeously manicured like you would see in the lather porn thread.
Aah, I appreciate the definition.
Yep, I think I like a nice Gooey shave soap."Gooey" is at my comprehensive level!
It also matches my experience.
Like others I have found my synthetics work best with Omni. I can use a badger, but the synthetics generate a quick lather and release it. Anything I used with badger did not release the lather easily.
Based on a great recommendation from @Hannah's Dad, the first synthetic I tried was a tuxedo brush. I also bought mine from the Captain (I am susceptible to brush pics) and love the handle. It lathers quickly and the flow through is great. I don't know why it took me so long to try a tuxedo. It reminds me of 2 band, but with the benefits of a synthetic. If I had known about the tuxedo a while back I could have saved a ton of $$ on badgers.
I also tried the PAA Atomic Rocket which is a plisson style knot. I think it lathers even faster than the tuxedo and also does a great job releasing the lather. I do end up squeezing the lather out of the tuxedo knot eventually, but didn't need to with the plisson. At the end of the shave I squeezed the brush to see what it was holding and it wasn't retaining much. I had plenty of lather for 4+ passes.
What did not work as easily for me with Omni:
Omega Evo - This brush was stingy, stingy, stingy and did not want to release the lather at all. It generated lather, but didn't release it. I had to squeeze the brush to get the lather throughout the entire shave.
Simpsons Duke 3 Synth - Same as the Evo, but maybe slightly better at releasing the lather.
As always, YMMV.
Based on a great recommendation from @Hannah's Dad, the first synthetic I tried was a tuxedo brush. I also bought mine from the Captain (I am susceptible to brush pics) and love the handle. It lathers quickly and the flow through is great. I don't know why it took me so long to try a tuxedo. It reminds me of 2 band, but with the benefits of a synthetic. If I had known about the tuxedo a while back I could have saved a ton of $$ on badgers.
I also tried the PAA Atomic Rocket which is a plisson style knot. I think it lathers even faster than the tuxedo and also does a great job releasing the lather. I do end up squeezing the lather out of the tuxedo knot eventually, but didn't need to with the plisson. At the end of the shave I squeezed the brush to see what it was holding and it wasn't retaining much. I had plenty of lather for 4+ passes.
What did not work as easily for me with Omni:
Omega Evo - This brush was stingy, stingy, stingy and did not want to release the lather at all. It generated lather, but didn't release it. I had to squeeze the brush to get the lather throughout the entire shave.
Simpsons Duke 3 Synth - Same as the Evo, but maybe slightly better at releasing the lather.
As always, YMMV.
In the WCS video for Reserve, Will says he prefers synthetics. I imagine he makes the soaps that he would love, so it makes sense if they shine with synths.
I have three synths but the only one I use is a Fanchurian knot. It is phenomenal.
