The new formula’s scent is persistent, though. The plastic bowl lid does not screw on and the soap was like a bathroom fragrance plug-in that filled the room. The original formula was similar but more subdued. Both versions lingered on the face. I applied a scented balm once with each soap and the Tabac overwhelmed the balm. Conclusion

Tabac | SEPHORA UK

According to online posts, the formula changed because M&W’s tallow provider went out of business in late 2020. M&W’s media department did not respond to my questions about the formula change so I can’t confirm this but the information appears solid.

Necessary

However, much like my own notes above, several users have noted the smell as being anything from “nothing to write home about” to “nearly repellent.” Mäurer & Wirtz used to offer an even better alternative: SIR Irisch Moos shaving soap had a slightly “greener” (as the name suggests) but much subtler fragrance and the same formidable performance features. However, the shaving soap was discontinued some years ago and the fragrance only survived as an after shave. I’d judge it as a male equivalent of what you might call an “elderly (not quite old) old lady perfume”. Because of the dense nature of the soap, I erred on the side of using more water than normal and giving it extra time to charge up.

Tabac Original Shaving Soap Stick Review - Sharpologist Tabac Original Shaving Soap Stick Review - Sharpologist

For this article I spent a week shaving with each soap, using a Merkur 34C razor with Feather blades. To test the duration of the soaps’ fragrance, I applied Nivea’s Sensitive Soothing Post Shave Balm after most shaves. The Nivea balm isn’t completely scent-free but its fragrance is very mild. The fragrance is strong and slams you in the face as soon as you pull off the cap. It’s strong enough that you might consider using something else instead of the Tabac.” Ingredients: Potassium Stearate, Sodium Stearate, Potassium Tallowate, Potassium Cocoate, Aqua, Sodium Tallowate, Parfum, Sodium Cocoate, Glycerin, Potassium Hydroxide, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Sodium Hydroxide, CI 77891, Limonene, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Citronellol, Coumarin, AlphaIsomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Salicylate, Geraniol, Cinnamyl Alcohol, Isoeugenol, Benzyl Alcohol, Citral, Eugenol. Post shave is about average, with a toss-up as to whether you ought to add some balm or go without. The skin is unusually smooth feeling after you finally put your razor down and wash-up, with a tactile sensation not unlike handling a slightly damp billiard ball, doubtless part of the wonderful world of better living through modern chemistry.TABAC ORIGINAL is a sophisticated composition fragranced with peppery-spicy notes and elegantly rounded off by exotic woods, musk, ambergris and a floral complex. An unmistakable fragrance with a discreet presence.

Tabac Original Shaving Bowl Soap Refill 125 g (Pack of 1)

Made in Germany, Tabac Original shaving soap has been popular with wet shavers since the 1950s and is formulated to soften beard hair and facilitate an easy and close shave. Gently fragranced with the Tabac signature scent, a classic, masculine blend of floral notes, peppery-spicy accents and exotic woods. Presented in smart, branded bowl with lid. Recently Tabac changed its ingredients from Tallowate to Laurate. You may have bought the Laurate version. I recently found this out and there is info on the shaving forums about this. People said they preferred the tallow version over the new version. There's a new version of the Tabac shaving soap. The reviewed version will be refered to as the "new" formulation. Eye-watering, headache-inducing strong perfumes wafting off the soap. Aroma may be strong enough to peel wallpaper off the walls. So, the tallow version seems more stable but to be honest, since the lather isn't staying on my skin without a shave for that long, it doesn't really affect the end-result.

Preferences

That is a HUGE word-salad there. Most of it doesn’t look out of place for professionally made soap, but I would prefer a few less “sciency” words in the list. Overall though, there is nothing that really jumps out at me except for the Benzyl Alcohol and the Citronellol. It is very protective when you shave, acting like a pre-shave oil while also being a good shaving soap on its own. It is much thinner, of course. However, it will still be more than enough for you to shave with a safety razor and be protected. How is the Texture? As mentioned above, it's either a YMMV type of situation or star-aligned(or else...). The lather is not as good as the Synthetic but, it's closer to the Synthetic than the boar brush.

Tabac Shaving Soap: A Great Choice For Everyone A Review of The Tabac Shaving Soap: A Great Choice For Everyone

Ease of lathering: As with the original formula, I scored this a 5 with a badger brush and 3 with a synthetic for an average of 4. But there was a major difference between the original’s lather and the new formula. The original produced a dense, silky lather while the new version was much lighter and less dense. I don’t know how chemists score density so I’ll use a dairy analogy. The original formula was like a low-fat yogurt—OK, not exactly and without the fruit—while the new formula was like whipped cream from an aerosol can. The difference on my face was noticeable and that concerned me because less dense lathers have produced inferior shaves for me in the past. My usual is a 3 pass shave. I currently have a Merkur 38C with Astra Green blades. I use a finest badger. I face lather by loading the soap on my face directly and then, I build the lather.IMO, the demise of traditional mass produced tallow based hard shave soaps is a loss. I bemoan the marketeers being put in charge of the firms that used to make these soaps. This is yet another manifestation of finance capitalism swallowing up whole our heritage of industrial capitalism.