Probably Mikes, WSP Formula T and Tabac - in that order
Barrister and Mann's new Omnibus base: discussion and reviews
- Thread starter SterFry
- Start date
7 (in a row) shaves deep. Easily over 2 dozen passes with this base and no irritation at all. 2 dips of the brush tips while face lathering and you get this:
- Thread starter
- #143
Wow...look at that sheen
A 30 second load? I typically do a 10 second load and a 30-40 second bowl lather.
An hour later, your face feels smooth and soft? My very best soaps will leave my face smooth and soft for 24 hours. If the conditioning wears in a few hours, I quit using the soap.
I have not tried Omnibus. I might try it one day if Will produces a scent I like.
Currently, the two top soaps in my den are Ariana and Evans Kaizen 2e with emu oil and Grooming Dept Mallard (new release scheduled for next week). I would love to see someone compare those two soaps to Omnibus.
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I have a few milksteak soaps and they give a pretty good post shave feel IMO. But milksteak leaves sort of a film which is probably why so many love it for its residual slick properties, that is, you can scrape the lather off and keep taking multiple passes over the same spot...over and over and over again- generally poor technique in my opinion, but whatever works for you. I don't get that same level of residual slick film with omnibus, rather leaves my skin soft with a talc like feeling. This is just how i shave and someone that takes 19 passes over the same spot after the lather is gone might not love it as much. That all said, milksteak and sego are two other soaps i hold in high regard. I also have a Kaizen soap, also very good but doesn't perform at this level IMO and has a far more intolerable hydration window, anyway. I can't speak for any other new Kaizen base as they are not available to the general public, and since i'm no soap groupie, i'll be looking forward to its comparison with omnibus by others.
This tells me all I need to know. I came late to Reserve, but, I love the stuff. Fern is one of my top three B&M scents.
Fern and Seville are the ones i use on the regular. Reserve base is really good and it doesn't get nearly the credit it deserves, though admittedly it's on the finicky side until you get the routine down. I'm close to killing a tub of Seville in excelsior so that will be my next omnibus, probably.
1st shave this a.m.
Razor: WR1-.86, Darwin Handle;
Blade: Wilky Lite(4);
Pre: Jack Black Beard Lube;
Soap: Leviathan Omnibus;
Brush: Kent BKL(??)4;
Post: Wholly Kaw Bourbon Toner
and Leviathan Splash
For reference, I purposefully shaved for the last week with GD Flight and Angel, which I find have the best post-shave of any soap. I wanted to closely compare in time the post-shave experience, I can’t use MWF or Stirling because I am Lanolin intolerant, so I don’t have that point of reference. My typical soap rotation contains various iterations of GD, SV, T&S, B&M Reserve, Zingari Sego, CK-6 and Soap Commander. All of them are top tier for me, but I would rate Zingari Sego and GD Angel and Flight at the top in post-shave.
One shave caveat, but I would rate slickness at or equal the slickest I’ve used, including I Coloniali Mango, and the post-shave equal to my best GD and Zingari Sego. Scent off the puck and in the bowl are not the same, to me, as the Leviathan AS or EDT I purchased. I’ll keep exploring scent and performance and report back. Again, I think the EDTbis a ringer for Parfums de Marly Oajan.
P.S. I didn’t see the dark flakes some reported and I didn’t notice as much lack of structure as some reported. I use their reserve a lot, and it just seemed like a slightly wetted version of Reserve in consistency.
Happy shaves all,
Rusty
Razor: WR1-.86, Darwin Handle;
Blade: Wilky Lite(4);
Pre: Jack Black Beard Lube;
Soap: Leviathan Omnibus;
Brush: Kent BKL(??)4;
Post: Wholly Kaw Bourbon Toner
and Leviathan Splash
For reference, I purposefully shaved for the last week with GD Flight and Angel, which I find have the best post-shave of any soap. I wanted to closely compare in time the post-shave experience, I can’t use MWF or Stirling because I am Lanolin intolerant, so I don’t have that point of reference. My typical soap rotation contains various iterations of GD, SV, T&S, B&M Reserve, Zingari Sego, CK-6 and Soap Commander. All of them are top tier for me, but I would rate Zingari Sego and GD Angel and Flight at the top in post-shave.
One shave caveat, but I would rate slickness at or equal the slickest I’ve used, including I Coloniali Mango, and the post-shave equal to my best GD and Zingari Sego. Scent off the puck and in the bowl are not the same, to me, as the Leviathan AS or EDT I purchased. I’ll keep exploring scent and performance and report back. Again, I think the EDTbis a ringer for Parfums de Marly Oajan.
P.S. I didn’t see the dark flakes some reported and I didn’t notice as much lack of structure as some reported. I use their reserve a lot, and it just seemed like a slightly wetted version of Reserve in consistency.
Happy shaves all,
Rusty
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I don’t think he meant that has face felt smooth and soft for ‘only one hour’.
With this base, my face feels smooth and soft all day long and until the next shave, so I suspect it will enter your ‘elite‘ shelf.
Agree. I feel it through the next day.
Hey guys, I was just on B&M's website to get signed up for notifications and I noticed a couple things:
One, there are a couple soaps on sale that I think a few of you might want to grab
Two, Nearly all the Excelsior soaps are gone!
Does this mean he almost has the next soap releases ready? I would assume, for somebody who has been around awhile, that he wouldn't want to leave his shelves empty long...
One, there are a couple soaps on sale that I think a few of you might want to grab
Two, Nearly all the Excelsior soaps are gone!
Does this mean he almost has the next soap releases ready? I would assume, for somebody who has been around awhile, that he wouldn't want to leave his shelves empty long...
- Thread starter
- #152
All future soaps will be Omnibus. Leviathan is the only Omnibus available now, however
The streak has ended and I went back to Tabac this morning. Considerable difference in lather but i still love Tabac. If Will made a Tabac scent in omnibus, well that would be the Holy grail of soaps.
Correct. I wrote the review an hour after shaving, so I wrote that my face felt smooth an hour after use.
The soft and smooth feeling lasted through the day.
Unfortunately so did the scent, or at least my perception of it.
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I’ve changed my mind about this soap’s firmness. It is not firming up at all with time and I would call this base a prototypical ‘croap‘. I can sink my finger all the way to the bottom of the puck with only mild pressure. It’s very soft, and I must change my answer from above when asked whether it’s firmer than the Soft Heart base. I now believe that it’s softer.
@Hannah's Dad Leave it uncovered for a week, It'll loose 20% of it's weight, it'll be much harder.
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Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Will do. Thanks!
Heh, truth. I'm not sure what I think of the scent. I can easily see it just sort of morphing into a favorite; just as easily eventually being one I never quite bond with. Only time will tell.
Smells like a cross between Hallows And Night Music to me. Not necessarily a bad thing.
Got my set today. Fantastic scent imo. Can't wait to use it tomorrow as I already shaved today
