soap/cream levels after 35 shaves

[Ligeti]

I can't help counting things. Like the number of times I use a certain soap or cream. And it gets worse: they all 'deserve equal treatment'. So today, my soaps/cream reached the 35 shaves-point. Let's have a look at the impact:

I've already reached the bottom of the TOBS cream. The Palmolive stick is below 50% Proraso and Wilkinson show a clear depression. Tabac has lost it's branding-stamp.

 

[Atlantic59]

I can't help counting things. Like the number of times I use a certain soap or cream. And it gets worse: they all 'deserve equal treatment'. So today, my soaps/cream reached the 35 shaves-point...

I've already reached the bottom of the TOBS cream. The Palmolive stick is below 50% Proraso and Wilkinson show a clear depression. Tabac has lost it's branding-stamp.

Counting things is good. You can also go by weight. When you know the average grams per shave this predicts how long each will last pretty closely. Thanks for the photo.

 

[BigJ]

Great visual!!

This is precisely why I find cost/shave useful as a metric, IMO far more useful than price or cost/gram. Some ’inexpensive’ products don’t last long while some ’costly items’ (MdC for example) last for years in rotation. Thus, cost/shave may be similar or even favor spending a few more $ up front.

 

[nicked78]

Isn't it amazing how different the longevity is? I was wondering if you load the brush directly from the TOBS tub? When I had some TOBS cream, I just scooped some into a bowl and made lather from there. Otherwise I used it up too fast.

Soap containers are also so different to lather from. The Tabac jar is such a nice thing to work with, but I never liked the Proraso tubs that much. A bit small. (Arko is the worst though, both small and with virtually no headroom to start with. I sliced the puck in half and pressed the working portion into a lidded wooden bowl.)

I count things too. I count the number of "laps" around the puck as I load my brush. I don't track the number of uses of a soap, but I keep a journal, so I could always go back and count.

Thanks for sharing the comparison!

 

[GV27]

So are you saying this is 35 shaves per product? Or just 35 shaves total where you used the TOBS a bunch, Tabac maybe once or twice and the rest somewhere in between? Surely you haven't already gotten 35 shaves out of that little circle in the Tabac?

 

[SydneyShaver]

Awesome comparison. I will say though, a tiny sample of TOBS cream lasted me for 7 shaves pretty easily...It would definitely take me much longer to finish a tub of TOBS than a month. I guess we all use different amounts haha.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I can't help counting things. Like the number of times I use a certain soap or cream. And it gets worse: they all 'deserve equal treatment'. So today, my soaps/cream reached the 35 shaves-point. Let's have a look at the impact:

View attachment 1268898

I've already reached the bottom of the TOBS cream. The Palmolive stick is below 50% Proraso and Wilkinson show a clear depression. Tabac has lost it's branding-stamp.

Interesting!

I'd expect to have barely dented the Tabac and Wilkie blue bowl too, as I typically get three to four shaves per gram from hard soaps. Multiply the grams per puck/tub by three, and that's the miminum number of shaves I'd expect to get from it. However, the same would apply with the Palmolive stick too, and I'd expect 150-200 shaves per stick, whereas you're lined up for less than 70.

As for the cream, I'm another person who scoops out what I need, rather than load the brush from the tub. With cream, I typically need about 1ml per shave (imagine a 1cm cube of cream as a visual guide). The Taylor's tub is 5.3fl/oz which is ~156ml, so I'd expect around 150 shaves from the tub.

I've never used Prorasso, and so I can't comment there.

Please don't think I'm trying to say you're doing it wrong, by the way. I'm just sharing what I would expect to need per shave.*

*Not counting loading extra for use as beard shampoo, which I now tend to do at times.

 

[Ligeti]

Isn't it amazing how different the longevity is? I was wondering if you load the brush directly from the TOBS tub? When I had some TOBS cream, I just scooped some into a bowl and made lather from there. Otherwise I used it up too fast.

Yes: I load the brush from the tub and then facelather. I'm not worried about using it up fast: gives me room for another soap. I like variation.

I count things too. I count the number of "laps" around the puck as I load my brush.

So do I. x turns clockwise, x turns counterclockwise etc.

 

[Ligeti]

So are you saying this is 35 shaves per product? Or just 35 shaves total where you used the TOBS a bunch, Tabac maybe once or twice and the rest somewhere in between? Surely you haven't already gotten 35 shaves out of that little circle in the Tabac?

Yes: 35 shaves per product. So 35 shaves TOBS for reaching the bottom and 35 shaves Tabac for showing a small indent. The circle you see on the Tabac might be misleading. After loading the brush, a go around the circumference on the inside of the bowl with my indexfinger. The extra foam goes on the brush, the glass is clean to receive the lid. So you see an inner circle with the brushmarks and an outer rim that I cleaned with my finger.

 

[Ligeti]

Interesting!

Please don't think I'm trying to say you're doing it wrong, by the way. I'm just sharing what I would expect to need per shave.*

No worries. That's exactly how I understood your feedback and it's most welcome.

I'm pretty sure I don't mind using too much product, eventually having some spare lather on the brush after shaving.

 

[linty1]

This is a great comparison, and funny on the tabac bowl, I kinda want one of those now.

 

[nicked78]

Yes: I load the brush from the tub and then facelather. I'm not worried about using it up fast: gives me room for another soap. I like variation.



So do I. x turns clockwise, x turns counterclockwise etc.

Now why didn't I think of that???

In a similar vein, I watched a video of a guy demonstrating bowl lathering, and he said he turns the brush in his bowl an even number of times each direction so that it wears evenly . . . and I was like, "Great, one more thing to obsess over." But it's hard to overcome the natural instinct to stir counterclockwise. So I guess I will have a brush with a counterclockwise swirl built in. Hey, a guy has to have priorities.

 

[nicked78]

This is a great comparison, and funny on the tabac bowl, I kinda want one of those now.

It's a really good bowl. Nice and heavy white glass with an upscale-feeling plastic lid that's designed to let a little air in. The inner walls of the bowl have a few ridges on them to prevent soap from spinning. It's all just nicely thought out and well done. When I got mine, I took the new puck out and pressed in the rest of my first Tabac stick, which seems like it will last forever! I look forward to putting the actual puck in there. It may take a while though! (The OP clearly shows how the equivalent number of uses barely put a dent in it!)

 

[GV27]

Probably get thousands of shaves from the Tabac.

 

[santamariasteve]

I've never precisely counted the shaves per soap product, but I'd guess I get at least 2 months for each soap or creme.

I do 3 or 4 pass shaves and I shave every day.

 

[Roedeer]

I've already reached the bottom of the TOBS cream. The Palmolive stick is below 50% Proraso and Wilkinson show a clear depression. Tabac has lost it's branding-stamp.

I got my Mitchell's Wool Fat at the start of February. I've used other soaps since then, but it has become the preferred one. There's more than half of it left, even with bad loading techniques.

In the spirit of the OP, if I use ~ ⅓ of a gram per day, one puck should easily do me a year.

 

[ajkel64]

As mentioned by @BigJ, great visual. I don’t count my uses of soaps and creams.