- Thread starter
- #21
Tabac soap not slick enough, no glide with shavette?
- Thread starter Kitsunekuma
- Start date
Friction seems to hold the blade nice and tight. It's probably a little safer to keep the front corner of the blade behind the point, like a round-point razor, but it's up to you.
Haven't tried a Kai Captain but I picked up a Feather SS copy from AliExpress and it kind of blew me away. Shaves very close. Really easy to use with a mild blade. The Bluebeard shavette with ultra-sharp half-DE blades was a bit like shaving with very angry bees.
- Thread starter
- #23
Oh boy that AC blade in the Bluebeard shavette looks scary as hell! No way I would use it like that with that much blade protruding!
Also it doesn't look really safe holding it tight that way... Though I thought that the AC blades were much longer than the half DE ones.
Anyway I get usually good shaves with half DE blades in this shavette and even less irritation than with a DE razor, except when I tried Tabac which is why I'm trying to make it work.
I use Derby Extras for the moment, trying to get used to them and the shavette. I don't get as close shaves as I get with my Muehle R106 but I'm still learning so I'll try sharper blades later.
I'm glad to hear your Feather copy is more comfortable than the Bluebeard and shaves close as I plan to get the KAI Captain that should be pretty similar.
I deliberately positioned the blade with maximum exposure to give me more choice of angles. It will tuck in farther, if you prefer.
I can't use Derby Extra in my DE razor - too "tuggy" - but they feel totally different in a shavette. Way too sharp until they lose their edge after a few shaves.
That's the problem with these Parker-style shavettes, at least in my opinion. You can shave with them but they're far too eager to bite you.
The last time I used it with a DE blade I actually got blood on the wall... I'd become accustomed to a straight with a much milder, more forgiving edge and failed to adjust my technique.
I can't use Derby Extra in my DE razor - too "tuggy" - but they feel totally different in a shavette. Way too sharp until they lose their edge after a few shaves.
That's the problem with these Parker-style shavettes, at least in my opinion. You can shave with them but they're far too eager to bite you.
The last time I used it with a DE blade I actually got blood on the wall... I'd become accustomed to a straight with a much milder, more forgiving edge and failed to adjust my technique.
welcome to B&B, Sir Kitsunekama
tabac with a feather-style shavette is a marvelous combo.
also try out the feather guarded blades!
with some more experimentation, you'll reach shave nirvana!
loved your fire hose photo!
tabac with a feather-style shavette is a marvelous combo.
also try out the feather guarded blades!
with some more experimentation, you'll reach shave nirvana!
loved your fire hose photo!
- Thread starter
- #26
Ok guys I finally shaved again today with Tabac and tried adding more water to the lather.
I did not use pre-shave as I did not want to mess with other products, I tried a first pass with my shavette and it was a bit better but still not really slick enough. Tried with my DE and it was not bad but now post shave I feel some irritation.
This time though I mixed the lather faster and with more energy and understood that I had enough soap loaded on my brush to shave a whole family!
I shot a few pics to show you if it might help:
This is how much I've loaded my brush, I probably needed less than half of this:
this is the texture I got, I thought it would be enough water but I don't think it was "shiny" enough, not sure if this is too dry?
Never got that much lather before, I almost filled the bowl entirely:
I shaved with this then tried adding more water until the lather would break up to see the different stages it could reach and I tried shaving with a more watery lather, did not see much of a difference in slickness. But it basically went from the state it is on the pic to collapsing almost right away after I added more water.
So right now I think it's probably not my lather, maybe I just don't get along very well with Tabac. Let me know guys if you think it's not the right consistency but I think after all my trials I should have had a good shave with that kind of lather.
I did not use pre-shave as I did not want to mess with other products, I tried a first pass with my shavette and it was a bit better but still not really slick enough. Tried with my DE and it was not bad but now post shave I feel some irritation.
This time though I mixed the lather faster and with more energy and understood that I had enough soap loaded on my brush to shave a whole family!
I shot a few pics to show you if it might help:
This is how much I've loaded my brush, I probably needed less than half of this:
this is the texture I got, I thought it would be enough water but I don't think it was "shiny" enough, not sure if this is too dry?
Never got that much lather before, I almost filled the bowl entirely:
I shaved with this then tried adding more water until the lather would break up to see the different stages it could reach and I tried shaving with a more watery lather, did not see much of a difference in slickness. But it basically went from the state it is on the pic to collapsing almost right away after I added more water.
So right now I think it's probably not my lather, maybe I just don't get along very well with Tabac. Let me know guys if you think it's not the right consistency but I think after all my trials I should have had a good shave with that kind of lather.
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+1! Yes indeed! More water! Tabac provides great lathers IMO, once you get enough water!
Also think it has to be worked in a lather bowl for a couple of minutes
I face lather.- Thread starter
- #30
Hi there thanks for your welcoming message! Great shot to! I'm a pro photographer myself but never tried to shoot shaving products, you do a great job with your pics!
Yeah I think I'll give a try to Tabac when I get my Kai Captain!
@Kitsunekuma
Your lather looks ok to me, but back when I bowl-lathered it always seemed my lather was more airy than slick, which was not so visibly obvious. I am one of those people that believes a soap should be face-lathered for the optimal shave experience (heresy I know). There’s something about gently building lather on the face that really does something to soften the hairs and make the overall experience more pleasurable, for me anyways. I use the Tabac shave stick and it takes me 1-2 minutes total to apply the shave stick to the face and build enough creamy slick lather for 2-3 passes, each and every time.
Having said that, Tabac is not the slickest soap out there. You may like Arko or Mitchell’s Wool Fat better as those are super slippery. Tabac has a unique post-shave feel for me which is very soft and hydrated, I love it.
For a small investment, I’d recommend a stick of Arko, and take a swing at face-lathering. See what you think!
Your lather looks ok to me, but back when I bowl-lathered it always seemed my lather was more airy than slick, which was not so visibly obvious. I am one of those people that believes a soap should be face-lathered for the optimal shave experience (heresy I know). There’s something about gently building lather on the face that really does something to soften the hairs and make the overall experience more pleasurable, for me anyways. I use the Tabac shave stick and it takes me 1-2 minutes total to apply the shave stick to the face and build enough creamy slick lather for 2-3 passes, each and every time.
Having said that, Tabac is not the slickest soap out there. You may like Arko or Mitchell’s Wool Fat better as those are super slippery. Tabac has a unique post-shave feel for me which is very soft and hydrated, I love it.
For a small investment, I’d recommend a stick of Arko, and take a swing at face-lathering. See what you think!
I'm a bit puzzled, why the saturation of a fat should have an effect on the saponification process?!
Still, the lather I get from Tabac is always slick as snot, but I don't do bowl lathering. But maybe the problem is Proraso, which has a creamy lather (more like the canned foam) whereas Tabac has the normal greec yogurt like consistency with a pearl like sheene. None the less, maybe you try a face lather with a synthetic brush?
Your lather is to sticky in the first picture, but far too airy in the others. I don't know what goes wrong there. And since I'm a face latherer I can't say.
Still, the lather I get from Tabac is always slick as snot, but I don't do bowl lathering. But maybe the problem is Proraso, which has a creamy lather (more like the canned foam) whereas Tabac has the normal greec yogurt like consistency with a pearl like sheene. None the less, maybe you try a face lather with a synthetic brush?
Your lather is to sticky in the first picture, but far too airy in the others. I don't know what goes wrong there. And since I'm a face latherer I can't say.
- Thread starter
- #33
thanks for your answer,
I thought about face lathering too, might give it a try. I have that theory that maybe I don't apply the lather properly on my face and no matter what consistency I get in the bowl it won't help if I don't put it on my face the right way... I think I'll give a few tries with other methods. I'm not willing to give up yet!
I'm not really wanting to buy Arko as I already am fine with Proraso and will get some other creams soon like TOBS Coconut, Geo Trumper Eucris cream and Cella. I'll have soon more soap than I can use in a year so I am not too concerned about getting a good shave out of what I have. I just want that damn Tabac to work! Hehehe!
- Thread starter
- #34
In the first picture it is the brush right after loading it, if it is too airy do you think I've mixed it too much or for too long? I'm kinda puzzled too about the right texture to get, I think it's very airy until it reaches a point where too much water makes it collapse. But to be fair I tried it at different stages: foamy, yogurt like, watery, thick, slim... and it was basically sticky all the time so might not be the right soap for me...
Here is my stuff:
This is the brush after loading it from the soap.
This is the lather after building it on the face. Slick enough (did pass two without relathering) but also a bit too airy for my normal taste. And I remembered that I don't like to use Tabac with a boar. I prefer a syntheric or my Savile Row 3324 (but mostly synthetic).
Again, maybe you should try a synthetic brush.
This is the brush after loading it from the soap.
This is the lather after building it on the face. Slick enough (did pass two without relathering) but also a bit too airy for my normal taste. And I remembered that I don't like to use Tabac with a boar. I prefer a syntheric or my Savile Row 3324 (but mostly synthetic).
Again, maybe you should try a synthetic brush.
I started wet shaving to save money. My first few years I had one razor, one boar brush, and two soaps Proraso and Tabac. I have way too much now, but trust me, you can get a great shave with what you’ve got.
Try this:
Grab an old coffee mug. Fill the Tabac bowl with water and let sit for a min or two, then pour into the mug. Soak your boar in the mug while you shower, add more water if needed. Shake or squeeze the boar and work work the puck for about 20 sec. From your first pic, I’d say you probably are overloaded. Wet your face and paint the protolather on. Dip your brush tips in water and paint until incorporated, do this about 2-5 times until hydrated. Swirl the brush around your face, it should pop open without pressure, and you should have a pretty good lather going.
Its not an exact science and not easy to describe but once you get it down, this method will work for almost any soap. I started off bowl lathering but I only face lather now. I find it to be faster and easier to dial in the lather. Good luck.
Try this:
Grab an old coffee mug. Fill the Tabac bowl with water and let sit for a min or two, then pour into the mug. Soak your boar in the mug while you shower, add more water if needed. Shake or squeeze the boar and work work the puck for about 20 sec. From your first pic, I’d say you probably are overloaded. Wet your face and paint the protolather on. Dip your brush tips in water and paint until incorporated, do this about 2-5 times until hydrated. Swirl the brush around your face, it should pop open without pressure, and you should have a pretty good lather going.
Its not an exact science and not easy to describe but once you get it down, this method will work for almost any soap. I started off bowl lathering but I only face lather now. I find it to be faster and easier to dial in the lather. Good luck.
- Thread starter
- #37
Thanks for your message and pictures, your lather looks more watery and with bigger bubbles, I'm gonna try face lathering too as it has been proposed a few times already, I'll let you know guys if it went better but anyway I think I made some progress with Tabac anyway as I have compared with Proraso Red yesterday and it was not as slick as I remembered, I'm also gonna shave less often to give some rest to my skin and let a little more growth as I think it might also be part of the problem right now.
- Thread starter
- #38
I also think I've overloaded the brush but I usually also need to lather for my head as I shave my head too. I'll try loading less and also try your face lathering method.
I didn't think about mentioning it, but you have to consider that an airy lather dries out the skin. You have to splash some water on the face then regularly. Otherwise you loose the slickness. I mention that, because maybe you need more time for a shavette shave than with a super-speed or a DE89.
More water
You should be able to see your skin through your lather as well as having the lather slowly drip off your razor without moving the razor once there's a good amount of lather on it
You should be able to see your skin through your lather as well as having the lather slowly drip off your razor without moving the razor once there's a good amount of lather on it
