As the title says, I saw osma shaving soap for sale and its interesting to say the least. It's gimmick is that it has alum in it which I guess is supposed to reduce/negate irritation and cuts and maybe assist in other ways too. It sounds a bit weird, but then I remembered that people really like La Toja which basically has the same gimmick. Just want to hear some opinions on it so I can decide whether to get it or to pass.
Has anybody used Osma Shaving Soap or know anything about it?
- Thread starter SydneyShaver
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I can't speak from experience, but I did look into it briefly a good while back. From what I recall there was a guy here who really liked it and another guy who didn't particularly care for it. That's about all I recall. I wound up not getting it.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
They make two soaps, and I seem to remember the alum soap may be discontinued.
I’ve tried both. The alum-containing soap is very slick and somewhat difficult to lather. Jarrod at TSS posted lathering instructions that work well with Osma alum soap and most of the difficult-to-lather 3T soaps. FYI, I have not found any lathering method to work with the current Czech and Speake 88 hard soap.
Basically, you want to make a far-too-thickly loaded brush, smear the paste on your face and then gradually add water to get the correct lather.
I’ve tried both. The alum-containing soap is very slick and somewhat difficult to lather. Jarrod at TSS posted lathering instructions that work well with Osma alum soap and most of the difficult-to-lather 3T soaps. FYI, I have not found any lathering method to work with the current Czech and Speake 88 hard soap.
Basically, you want to make a far-too-thickly loaded brush, smear the paste on your face and then gradually add water to get the correct lather.
I have the alum soap. Good scent and pretty good performance but nothing special. I have not tried that hard to get it to work better. Too many other soaps.
I have the alum soap an use it occasionally. In my experience, it's pretty good soap; not great, but quite good. It has very little scent to my nose; it just smells soapy. I've never had any issues with getting it to lather. The pucks are smaller in diameter, but thick, and very hard. I grate them into an empty Stirling soap tub for convenience sake.
I have the Osma alum soap and like it. It has a nice light scent and is fairly easy to lather. It's no Arko!, however.
I've got both the Osma alum soap and the Osma Tradition without alum.
I like the Osma alum soap, I always get good results with it and it leaves the face feeling very clean and smooth. The scent is basically herbal. It would be a great soap for a straight razor shave. It needs a bit of special treatment to lather well.
On lathering, it is a very hard soap. It can benefit from a thin veil of water placed on top for a few minutes before shaving. Don't load the soap from the small container, take the soap out of the container and hold it in hand, or rub the soap directly on the damp face like a shave stick. Load your brush for maybe twice as long as your typical hard soap. Once you have enough soap loaded to saturate the brush tips, paint a layer of soap paste on the face. Add water in stages, to the point where the lather is almost, but not quite runny.
You would think the alum would interfere with slickness, but it works in this case.
I like the Osma alum soap, I always get good results with it and it leaves the face feeling very clean and smooth. The scent is basically herbal. It would be a great soap for a straight razor shave. It needs a bit of special treatment to lather well.
On lathering, it is a very hard soap. It can benefit from a thin veil of water placed on top for a few minutes before shaving. Don't load the soap from the small container, take the soap out of the container and hold it in hand, or rub the soap directly on the damp face like a shave stick. Load your brush for maybe twice as long as your typical hard soap. Once you have enough soap loaded to saturate the brush tips, paint a layer of soap paste on the face. Add water in stages, to the point where the lather is almost, but not quite runny.
You would think the alum would interfere with slickness, but it works in this case.
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