La Toja could be the best soap of all, period.
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- #102
So then it is just a puck of soap.
Manantiales are springs. In this case, I think they're referring to the mineral springs on the island of La Toja. The salts from these springs are used in the soaps.
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- #104
Thank you for enlighten me on that.
Owen Bawn
Garden party cupcake scented
One of the happiest days of my life was spent in a spa at the hot mineral springs in Compostella, Galicia after spending just over a month on el Camino, the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostella. It was the day after I arrived at the end of the pilgrimage. I started from LePuy in the Auvergne section of France, through the volcanic hills of Velay and over the Pyrenees into Spain. The LePuy route is still the most rural and rugged route across Spain. The main French route is today nearly all paved. A humble feeling of gratitude, accomplishment, and hot soothing water after weeks with minimal bathing and no shaving made it the perfect day. I shaved that day at the spa, but have no recollection what I used. I was too preoccupied with prayer, red wine, and this group of girls from Yorkshire and Northern Ireland I met on the way, which distracted me from shaving soap that afternoon. What can I say? I was young, and my priorities were messed up.
When I was a young, single school teacher my summers were often adventurous. Now I look forward to reading a book in the shade.
When I was a young, single school teacher my summers were often adventurous. Now I look forward to reading a book in the shade.
Bon camino
Nice to read about your experience. I did the camino Português last year and will repeat that in August.
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Scott, it should be Spanish only, I never heard "Manantiale" in Italian.
Been using La Toja for 3 weeks. 1st week on it's own, last week vs Arko and this week vs Tabac. Tabac is the standard to compare other soaps IMO.
So here's La Toja vs Tabac.
50's era Ball End Tech, Astra AP blade, same blade all week. Brushes Semogue Torga C3's and Simpson G2's in Pure. I should mention that I'm sporting a short beard and only shaving the neck. Best place to focus on for a test, eh? I'm a one and done shaver but made two passes in an attempt to assess protection in other words force irritation if possible. I measured this by the skins reaction to the aftershave.
Lathering Ease - Tie Since I don't shave bowls or palms the measure was on my skin and there is no clear winner here. Super easy to develop lather.
Lather Quality - Tie Same thing, The lathers are slightly different but neither seemed better concerning the shave or the feel of the shave. Tabac lather felt smoother while La Toja felt firmer. Both desirable qualities.
Slickness - Tabac Both are slick and both have excellent residual slickness. Tabac just barely edged out La Toja.
Protection - Tabac We're talking hair splitting here. The measure was hot spots from aftershave. Like 1 vs 2. Honestly if I wasn't specifically paying attention would not have even noticed. But Tabac just barely.
Closeness of Shave - Tie I'm a one and done shaver and both gave up a nice close shave on the first pass.
Post Shave Feel - La Toja Rinses faster, cleaner and completely, leaves my skin more neutral, clean and fresh feeling.
Scent - La Toja I like the scent of Tabac and so does SWMBO. But we both agree La Toja is fresh and therefore more versatile.
Tie - 3
Tabac - 2
La Toja - 2
It's a tie. Tabac edged out La Toja in performance categories while La Toja in personal or subjective criteria. But keep in mind all of these soaps (Tabac, La Toja and Arko) were hydrated to the point of just sheen for comparison purposes. There's a lot of dialing in not done here!
Conclusion, Tabac > La Toja > Arko.
Why is Tabac on top and not equal to La Toja? Because this is about shaving and Tabac edged La Toja in slickness and protection - shaving qualitites. As a result Tabac will remain the standard to compare other shaving soaps. All 3 will be in inventory, SAD is diminishing the need to chase the tail for the holy grail has gone away and the cost of shaving just went down! If I had to pick one of the three for a daily shave it would be La Toja. The over all ease of use, exquisite shave, scent and that clean fresh PSF give it the edge for a daily driver.
As always YMMV!
So here's La Toja vs Tabac.
50's era Ball End Tech, Astra AP blade, same blade all week. Brushes Semogue Torga C3's and Simpson G2's in Pure. I should mention that I'm sporting a short beard and only shaving the neck. Best place to focus on for a test, eh? I'm a one and done shaver but made two passes in an attempt to assess protection in other words force irritation if possible. I measured this by the skins reaction to the aftershave.
Lathering Ease - Tie Since I don't shave bowls or palms the measure was on my skin and there is no clear winner here. Super easy to develop lather.
Lather Quality - Tie Same thing, The lathers are slightly different but neither seemed better concerning the shave or the feel of the shave. Tabac lather felt smoother while La Toja felt firmer. Both desirable qualities.
Slickness - Tabac Both are slick and both have excellent residual slickness. Tabac just barely edged out La Toja.
Protection - Tabac We're talking hair splitting here. The measure was hot spots from aftershave. Like 1 vs 2. Honestly if I wasn't specifically paying attention would not have even noticed. But Tabac just barely.
Closeness of Shave - Tie I'm a one and done shaver and both gave up a nice close shave on the first pass.
Post Shave Feel - La Toja Rinses faster, cleaner and completely, leaves my skin more neutral, clean and fresh feeling.
Scent - La Toja I like the scent of Tabac and so does SWMBO. But we both agree La Toja is fresh and therefore more versatile.
Tie - 3
Tabac - 2
La Toja - 2
It's a tie. Tabac edged out La Toja in performance categories while La Toja in personal or subjective criteria. But keep in mind all of these soaps (Tabac, La Toja and Arko) were hydrated to the point of just sheen for comparison purposes. There's a lot of dialing in not done here!
Conclusion, Tabac > La Toja > Arko.
Why is Tabac on top and not equal to La Toja? Because this is about shaving and Tabac edged La Toja in slickness and protection - shaving qualitites. As a result Tabac will remain the standard to compare other shaving soaps. All 3 will be in inventory, SAD is diminishing the need to chase the tail for the holy grail has gone away and the cost of shaving just went down! If I had to pick one of the three for a daily shave it would be La Toja. The over all ease of use, exquisite shave, scent and that clean fresh PSF give it the edge for a daily driver.
As always YMMV!
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This one...
Anyone Tried ACH Brito “Mogno”?
Saw it here: https://www.giftsandcare.com/en/shaving-soaps/6804-ach-brito-mogno-shaving-soap-90gr.html I really like musgo real shaving soap, but til now there was only the one kind. This seems to be the only other shaving soap made by this company. Has anyone tried Mogno? Does anyone know...
www.badgerandblade.com
This one...
View attachment 1120263
Anyone Tried ACH Brito “Mogno”?
Saw it here: https://www.giftsandcare.com/en/shaving-soaps/6804-ach-brito-mogno-shaving-soap-90gr.html I really like musgo real shaving soap, but til now there was only the one kind. This seems to be the only other shaving soap made by this company. Has anyone tried Mogno? Does anyone know...
sorry, never tried or heard about it.
Hard to beat Tabac! La Toja is a fine soap, though.
I have to be the outlier on this one. I didn't like the scent of La Toja at all, and found the soap very dry in terms of face feel after using. Lather is good, but there are better sticks IMO. Arko, Derby, and Palmolive.
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
Out of curiosity, have you used Tabac and how do compare the scent to La Toja? To my nose, La Toja is almost a milder Tabac. I like both. My assumption is that if you don't care for La Toja, you really won't like Tabac, but all noses don't work the same.
To me, La Toja smelled more of sea and salty air. I didn't find any cologne-type smell to it at all, whereas Tabac reminds me of those floral masculine scents like Royal Copenhagen and Stetson. I don't use Tabac personally, as I'm a very cheap shaver, and a tub of Tabac is outside of my comfort zone spending-wise.
what you are trying to say is that everyone can do it wrong with specific soaps, but you don't?
Many soaps behave differently and some soaps can be absolutely amazing if you break the code, but claiming that one type is the world's best is just nonsense
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- #117
It's not nonsense, it's just an opinion that many people agree with.
Great write-up I've been doing a similar test of Tabac, La Toja, Arko, and Cella Green this past month.
I wasn't overly scientific. Using a Feather SS Shavette with Proguard blades replacing each week on turnover.
Standard 2-pass WTG, bowl lathering in captain's choice copper, West Coast badger silvertip brush.
Bowl Loading Ease: Cella green (soft, finger only needed) > Arko (easy with pocket knife) > La Toja (slightly less easy) > Tabac (hardest soap, requires some whittling)
Lather Ease: All made excellent lathers, so this is nitpicking. Cella green > La Toja > Arko > Tabac
Lather Quality: All excellent rolling slickness, cushion, protection in this category. Cella green > Arko > Tabac > La Toja
Post Shave feel: Cella green (really could have left the nivea balm off my skin was so conditioned) > Arko > La Toja > Tabac
Scent: Tabac (just classic) > Cella green (barely inched out La Toja) > La Toja > Arko (not even in the ballpark)
Clear Winner for me Cella Green!
La Toja and Tabac are great too.
Arko is a great soap and by far the most economical - but the scent is too industrial bathroom cleanser-ey to warrant a re-purchase when I finish my puck.
It may be your subjective opinion that La Toja is the best soap you have tried, but you don't know if it's best in the world because you can do it wrong with other products.
I have also tried La Toja and I think it is a nice soap. I have also struggled for a long time to perform with MWF where I finally managed to understand how to mix it for a perfect lather and smoothness. My opinion is that MWF performs much better then La Toja when I have managed to add the right amount of water to the soap but I still can't declare MWF as the best shaving soap in the world.
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- #120
Of course there is always the chance for error in anything we do. That is why I said that guys that don't like La Toja are probably not doing it right. The right mix of water and product. All things being equal La Toja is the best. Many guys agree with me.
