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Finally got La Toja to work for me

Purchased 10 of these sticks after reading multiple good reviews. First couple of attempts at lathering was only producing a thin airy lather, which I put down to either the hard water in my area or the low quality brush (a Vie Long wooden handle horse hair brush).

Fast forward to this afternoon and I decided to give the stick another try. Changed the brush to a Zenith synthetic and boom! I applied a liberal layer of soap to my skin and the Zenith instantly transformed this into a rich thick lather. Cue an extra close shave with a Baili tech clone and rapira swede and one happy rmac!

At least now I have a reliable option for travelling with carry on.
 
When you want a no nonsense shave it's hard to argue with the user friendliness of a decent synthetic. I also wonder if you weren't using enough soap? As naturals eat more soap and water, they require heavier loads...or thicker application in the case of a stick , like La Toja.

I'd wager that horse would work with more soap.
 
Just make sure you start with a sufficient amount of soap. That can be hard to judge at first when using a shaving stick. When you have the right amount of La Toja, it should more or less explode with lather.

Also, remember you can grate or slice up a couple of sticks, wet the soap and press it into a container to form a more conventional puck.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I use it when I travel. I originally purchased it because of the small size and the many good reviews. It did take me a few tries before I got enough soap. I usually load the brush from the puck. I found that a relatively quick soak in warm water and then rubbing it ATG on my chin and jawline produces enough soap for tons of lather. Nice soap.
 
@rmac I assume that if you bought 10 you found a good bulk price. Would you mind sharing? I would like to stockpile more sticks. 10 at Giftsandcare would be about $40.
 
@rmac I assume that if you bought 10 you found a good bulk price. Would you mind sharing? I would like to stockpile more sticks. 10 at Giftsandcare would be about $40.
I got the bulk deal off a well known auction website, cost about £36 with postage included. Works out at around 3-3.50 per stick which is pretty good in my mind.

If it didn’t work for me I’d not be at a great loss and would probably sell it on to someone.
 

Marco

B&B's Man in Italy
The truly great one was the La Toja Manantiales puck in the wooden bowl with cork lid, sadly discontinued. Last year the magnificent creams were discontinued as well. How disappointing... :sad:
 
I use this as my travel soap with a silver tip badger brush and I struggle with it, but not enough to where it doesn’t work for me, but I won’t buy anymore.
 
Not trying to change the subject. But I have kind of noticed that some not all hard soaps take a few uses before the soap will load quicker, from when you first start using them.

La Toja was one of those soaps for me. After about a dozen or so shaves. I almost gave up. Thinking that it takes either too much effort to load enough soap or it just didn’t lather very well.

I knew from the people on here that use La Toja, that I must be doing something wrong. Glad i stuck with it and didn’t give up. As now it seems to load around the same time as any of the other sticks I use.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
For those who love La Toja and don't have any of the old formula, see this GIVEAWAY thread.

 

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I use the same horsehair brush. Not impressed at first, but if I squeeze 4 to 5 drops of pure glycerine, add more water, then it turns very creamy. Worth a try.
 
When you want a no nonsense shave it's hard to argue with the user friendliness of a decent synthetic. I also wonder if you weren't using enough soap? As naturals eat more soap and water, they require heavier loads...or thicker application in the case of a stick , like La Toja.

I'd wager that horse would work with more soap.

Not trying to change the subject. But I have kind of noticed that some not all hard soaps take a few uses before the soap will load quicker, from when you first start using them.

La Toja was one of those soaps for me. After about a dozen or so shaves. I almost gave up. Thinking that it takes either too much effort to load enough soap or it just didn’t lather very well.

I knew from the people on here that use La Toja, that I must be doing something wrong. Glad i stuck with it and didn’t give up. As now it seems to load around the same time as any of the other sticks I use.
I’ve noticed that when using a soap stick the first few times I use an unused stick it takes a few shaves before it starts getting easier to apply the proper amount of soap. I think it has to do with the fact that almost every stick is “square” cut when being made instead of rounded off and that it takes a few shaves to round off the end of the stick
 
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