This is a review of the Böker Tallowate "Tobacco" Shaving Soap.
I have not been able to find any reviews of this soap anywhere, except one I wrote myself some months ago deep down in a similar thread, where it subsequently received no attention whatsoever:
www.badgerandblade.com
While this thread suggested broad interest in the soap, no-one ever reacted to my review, which was the first actual review of the soap in this post (and on Badger and Blade). So I here flag the review as a new, slightly modified post.
Let me say by way of introduction, that I only bother doing this, because I think this is really an extraordinary soap -- it is simply excellent, and deserves wider attention!!
The Böker brand is of course known in the first instance for knives, and among shaving geeks for excellent straight razors. By this yardstick the soap has a name to live up to. Having used this soap for some months (and Böker straight razors for some years) I can say that this shaving soap fully delivers what I expected from the Böker brand. But let me be concrete.
We're talkin' a black can of Böker Tallowate shaving soap, "Tobacco" fragrance (is what it says on the can, see photo below), retails at 18 Euro in Europe for a can of 70 g.
First impression was the scent, which I didn't like much. It reminded me of something familiar, at first I couldn't put my finger on what, but eventually it dawned on me: Proraso red shaving cream! Sticking my nose into a tube of Proraso red cream, it still somewhat resembles this Böker "Tobacco" scent, even though Proraso ostensibly has "sandalwood" fragrance. Now that I have gotten more used to the Böker "Tobacco" scent, I like it quite a bit better than the scent of Proraso red cream, but the scent of this Böker soap is not the feature I am most impressed with anyway.
Fragrance aside, This is a very hard puck, looks almost like a slab of marble out of the can. I usually take the puck out of the can, and use it partly as a shave-stick, rub it directly on my face, and partly I hold the puck in my hand while loading my brush before I then face lather (yes, I like using plenty of soap..!). But if I am in a hurry, I can just load a small brush directly in the can the soap comes in for about 30 secs, and I will have sufficiently loaded the brush for a three pass shave.
Either way, what is striking is the quality of the lather I quickly end up with: super thick, creamy and slick lather, that is easy to dilute to the desired consistency depending on what I want, though I like using it thick. It says "beef tallowate" on the can -- whether that explains the magic I don't know, but I have no reservations about recommending this soap. Quality of lather resembles another of my very favourite German soaps (not tallowate), the KLAR Classic. But this Böker soap is possibly even better. Only slight "con", (apart from scent) is price, I find it a little expensive (like the KLAR soap).
Listed ingredients:
Ingredients: Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Potassium Cocoate, Aqua, Sodium Tallowate, Sodum Cocoate, Parfum, Glycerin, Hexyl Cinnamal, Potassium Hydroxide, Limonene, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Linalool, Benzyl salicylate, Coumarin, Sodium Hydroxide
Made in The Netherlands
I have not been able to find any reviews of this soap anywhere, except one I wrote myself some months ago deep down in a similar thread, where it subsequently received no attention whatsoever:
Boker Rasierseife Tallow
Did anyone try this and can give an opinion? INCI potassium stearate, sodum stearate, potassium tallowate, potassium cocoate, parfum, glycerin, hexyl cinnamal, potassium hydroxyde, limonene, tetrasodium EDTA, tetrasodium etidronate, linalool, benzyl salcytate, coumarin, sodium hydroxide
www.badgerandblade.com
While this thread suggested broad interest in the soap, no-one ever reacted to my review, which was the first actual review of the soap in this post (and on Badger and Blade). So I here flag the review as a new, slightly modified post.
Let me say by way of introduction, that I only bother doing this, because I think this is really an extraordinary soap -- it is simply excellent, and deserves wider attention!!
The Böker brand is of course known in the first instance for knives, and among shaving geeks for excellent straight razors. By this yardstick the soap has a name to live up to. Having used this soap for some months (and Böker straight razors for some years) I can say that this shaving soap fully delivers what I expected from the Böker brand. But let me be concrete.
We're talkin' a black can of Böker Tallowate shaving soap, "Tobacco" fragrance (is what it says on the can, see photo below), retails at 18 Euro in Europe for a can of 70 g.
First impression was the scent, which I didn't like much. It reminded me of something familiar, at first I couldn't put my finger on what, but eventually it dawned on me: Proraso red shaving cream! Sticking my nose into a tube of Proraso red cream, it still somewhat resembles this Böker "Tobacco" scent, even though Proraso ostensibly has "sandalwood" fragrance. Now that I have gotten more used to the Böker "Tobacco" scent, I like it quite a bit better than the scent of Proraso red cream, but the scent of this Böker soap is not the feature I am most impressed with anyway.
Fragrance aside, This is a very hard puck, looks almost like a slab of marble out of the can. I usually take the puck out of the can, and use it partly as a shave-stick, rub it directly on my face, and partly I hold the puck in my hand while loading my brush before I then face lather (yes, I like using plenty of soap..!). But if I am in a hurry, I can just load a small brush directly in the can the soap comes in for about 30 secs, and I will have sufficiently loaded the brush for a three pass shave.
Either way, what is striking is the quality of the lather I quickly end up with: super thick, creamy and slick lather, that is easy to dilute to the desired consistency depending on what I want, though I like using it thick. It says "beef tallowate" on the can -- whether that explains the magic I don't know, but I have no reservations about recommending this soap. Quality of lather resembles another of my very favourite German soaps (not tallowate), the KLAR Classic. But this Böker soap is possibly even better. Only slight "con", (apart from scent) is price, I find it a little expensive (like the KLAR soap).
Listed ingredients:
Ingredients: Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Potassium Cocoate, Aqua, Sodium Tallowate, Sodum Cocoate, Parfum, Glycerin, Hexyl Cinnamal, Potassium Hydroxide, Limonene, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Linalool, Benzyl salicylate, Coumarin, Sodium Hydroxide
Made in The Netherlands
