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[Phoenix997]

Is it just me or is it really hard work to get a&e to lather up?

My previous soaps were Muhle, Floris, and noble otter. No issues getting a good lather on any of them

This is my first a&e (vanille de tabac). I love it. the scent is great and it did not burn my neck like noble otter. Feels like a quality product.

my first shave with it was the morning. The only issue I had was that I had to work extremely hard to get even a small amount of leather. I was experimenting a lot with amount of soap and water to try and get it right.

Is there a specific technique for this soap to get the most out of it?

 

[geneaut]

I don't recall doing anything remarkably different with my A&E Vanille de Tabac. What brush are you using?

 

[pellidon]

I am currently using Boca Negra and Tobacco Road. Boar brush with Marco's Italian Soft Soap method and it works just fine. Plus I have put a small scoop of them in a bowl and gotten good results with any of my brushes.

 

[midwestshaver71]

I've got 5 different A&E soaps, never had any issues with lathering.
I do tub load and face lather, so there's that, but the soap you have is K2e base, which in my experience is a lathering beast.
Always results in a very nice sheen, and yogurt like lather.

 

[geneaut]

I am currently using Boca Negra and Tobacco Road. Boar brush with Marco's Italian Soft Soap method and it works just fine. Plus I have put a small scoop of them in a bowl and gotten good results with any of my brushes.

The Marco Method pretty much insures lather success!

 

[Phoenix997]

I don't recall doing anything remarkably different with my A&E Vanille de Tabac. What brush are you using?

At the moment I'm using a poor quality generic brush I bought from amazon. I do have an SV 2.0 brush but I am waiting for the stand to arrive before using it. And on order I have a PAA synthetic and Plisson HMW.

I used the same generic brush again today with PAA harvest moon. 10 seconds going over the soap created enough lather for 3 passes. I needed 30 seconds with a&e. I really like the a&e. I even ordered 5 more of their soaps but I don't know why I find it so much harder to lather. Maybe it's my technique

 

[Wgg2017]

Maybe it's my technique

It could be something with your water also. There are a couple soaps that are popular here that I have a hard time getting good lather from and at this point I figure it has to be something to do with my water since I bowl lather and slowly add water and have no problems with any other soap.

 

[geneaut]

At the moment I'm using a poor quality generic brush I bought from amazon. I do have an SV 2.0 brush but I am waiting for the stand to arrive before using it. And on order I have a PAA synthetic and Plisson HMW.

I used the same generic brush again today with PAA harvest moon. 10 seconds going over the soap created enough lather for 3 passes. I needed 30 seconds with a&e. I really like the a&e. I even ordered 5 more of their soaps but I don't know why I find it so much harder to lather. Maybe it's my technique

I imagine your brush is probably OK if you use it with other soaps. I’m currently packing to move so I’m not sure my Vanille de Tabac is available but I’ll look for it and try it again.

Maybe sprinkle a few drops of warm water on top of the puck and let it sit for a minute. This often makes soap a little easier to load on the brush.

 

[Albert V]

I have been playing with different soaps for two years, most are from samples (good for about 6 shaves) from Maggards. My criteria for ideal soaps includes its ability to get a luxurious lather with minimal effort. To that end A&E is on the short list, along with Chiseled Face and Maggards own brand. I have about 7 samples of A&E and have tested half of them, including Vanille de Tabac, one of my favorites so far along with Peach and Cognac. All have lathered very well and quickly.

Using samples to test soaps is tricky since one needs to scoop out and pinch and place in a bowl. So it is trickier to load a brush from a pressed dab than from a tub (especially if the soap is not soft). For my technique, I drip a little warm water over the pressed sample and soak by boar brush for a minute or two. Then I pour out the excess water from the bowl, let my brush drip out for few seconds, then go to town on the soap which quickly begins to create lather. I can drip my brush in some water as I go along if/as needed to lather.

One thing I figured out a year ago when having difficulty lathering good soaps like Stirling was my brush was too soft. I switched from badger to boar and everything changed. Seems like the softer backbone just slid around the top of the soap, while the stiffer brush properly agitated it. I am convinced that the brush made a very tangible difference. My first boar brush, Semogue 1800, did better than my boar Perfecto brush. But, it was still lacking. Then a year later I switched from Semogue to Omega brush, more backbone, and never looked back. Lathered became much better with the proper brush. You can pick up a boar brush like the 100049 for about $10 on Amazon. Might be worth a try.

Also, on a side note about A&E. One of my criteria for a preferred soap, in addition to making a lux lather, is a good' strong scent. To that end, Vanille de Tabac, Peach and Cognac, Kaizen, and Asian Plum are fantastic. L’ Orange Verte, Barbiere Sofistcato both have very weak scent. All are Kaizen 2e base. So will lather the same. But scent strength varies considerably

 

[LexLexington]

I have the Vanille de Tabac and have the same reaction as the OP. I tried several times to get it to lather - bowl lather, face lather, badger brush, synthetic brush - and it was runny every time. Watery. Too bad, too, because the smell is great. I won't be buying it again. Also it's a bizarre color for shaving soap.

 

[AndyPanda]

It sounds to me like maybe you are not loading enough product on your brush.

I have several K2e soaps and also some earlier K and K2 base soaps from A&E. The K2e soaps are not as soft as the previous bases so it takes longer to load the soap onto a soft brush. Rather than using a soaking wet brush, I use a barely damp brush (I wet the brush and then shake most of the water out - I'm using a soft badger brush) so I can get the bristles to grab some soap paste off the surface of the puck. I also wipe the top of the puck dry with a finger and spread that little bit of paste onto my face. Then I brush the thick soap paste onto my face and then dip the tips of the brush to bring a little water to my face, work that in and dip again and repeat several times working in a little water at a time. I get plenty great lather this way - just start with thick paste and add water a little at a time until it is right.

I haven't tried the Vanille de Tabac - I have (and love) Peach and Cognac, Apricity, Kaizen, Amber Rose, Chasing the Dragon and several others. Great stuff!

 

[Phoenix997]

I have the Vanille de Tabac and have the same reaction as the OP. I tried several times to get it to lather - bowl lather, face lather, badger brush, synthetic brush - and it was runny every time. Watery. Too bad, too, because the smell is great. I won't be buying it again. Also it's a bizarre color for shaving soap.

I actually like the coffee colour. something different. Yeah smell is great and strong. I haven't tried since my first time. Going to try again tonight

 

[Captain Howdy]

You're most likely not loading enough product into the brush. I have that very soap and it lathers beautifully

 

[tiberius]

Your water probably too hard. Try lathering with distilled or reverse-osmosis water, or add a little citric acid to the water before lathering (don't need much, a little should suffice).

 

[Phoenix997]

Ok so I tried something different. I always swirl the brush on the soap to load it. This time I took a chunk out with spoon and then loaded in a bowl. The first photo was good for one pass which was not a lot at all for that amount of soap. Then I took another chunk out and was having much difference for second pass. I’ll add that it was incredibly hard work and much longer to get this lather going.
Finally for the first pass I realised this soap is quite thirsty so I soaked the remaining chunk of soap with water in the bowl. I used a bit too much water and the resulting lather, while quite voluminous, was runny. I think I got the hang of it. I’ll try again soaking a chunk with less water

 

[Phoenix997]

Photos

 

[geneaut]

I have the Vanille de Tabac and have the same reaction as the OP. I tried several times to get it to lather - bowl lather, face lather, badger brush, synthetic brush - and it was runny every time. Watery. Too bad, too, because the smell is great. I won't be buying it again. Also it's a bizarre color for shaving soap.

A lot of vanilla scented soaps are a brown color, even ones using synthetic vanilla scents.

 

[Phoenix997]

Ok so third attempt was a disaster. I tried again scooping a piece of soap, and soaking it in a now smaller amount of water in a bowl. It was very runny and I continuously added more and more soap. This had no effect and after 20 minutes I gave up. I then tried swirling on the soap and then in the bowl which also didn't yield anything useful. I tried shaving with the runny soap but it just fell all over the place and made a mess of my bathroom.
This A&E is the worst soap I've ever had and that includes the Noble Otter that burns like hell. It is the ED of shaving soaps.

I was using a new brush so I thought maybe that was the problem this time. So I whipped out a Muhle soap I had lying around. Had a decent lather within 2 mins.

The worst part is I've ordered another 4 A&E soaps and aftershaves that I now have to find a way to get rid of.

To be fair the AS is really nice and soothing. I do like it and the scent is good. Just a shame about the soap

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

I tried again scooping a piece of soap, and soaking it in a now smaller amount of water in a bowl. It was very runny and I continuously added more and more soap.

How much water and how much soap did you use?

Just a suggestion, but sometimes, making a video can be a lot more useful and easier for others to judge where the problem really is.

 

[Phoenix997]

How much water and how much soap did you use?

Just a suggestion, but sometimes, making a video can be a lot more useful and easier for others to judge where the problem really is.

Compared to what I took out yesterday you can see an additional junk taken out. Video is a not a bad. Water not a lot. I soaked the chunk in it as it felt like a thirsty soap from previous tries. Maybe a 1:1 ratio. But even loading the brush from the soap with minimal water didn’t change my results. It feels like a high quality soap with high quality ingredients which is I’m finding it frustrating that I can’t use it