Tabac OriginalBy Maurer & Wirtz For Men Shaving Soap Bowl Refill, 4.4-Ounces

I had never smelled Tabac before I purchased this, so I was a little leary. There are some comparisons made to an "old woman's purse" when the scent is described. However, the overwhelmingly high reputation for the lathering ability of this soap forced me to give it a try anyway. I'm glad I did, as this is now my go-to soap for day-to-day use (I do use other soaps when i want to mix it up a bit). If you have trouble making lather with other shaving soaps, try this one, it's pretty much a no-brainer. Rich, dense, creamy lather with minimal effort. I've been using soap/brush for over twenty years, and Tabac is my new benchmark for lather quality.My lathering procedure: I soak my boar brush (Semogue 620) in warm water while I'm showering. I'll also put a few drops of water on top of the soap, not much, just a flick of water off of my fingers. After the shower, I'll shake all the excess water off of my brush and swirl it around on top of the soap for 10-15 seconds. I'm not timing it, or anything, just loading the brush. I'll then splash just a bit more water onto the brush and start working the brush on my face, doing swirls and a painting motion to work the soap into dense lather that has the consistency of yogurt. With a little bit of practice/experience, you can easily build enough lather in your brush to do multiple shaving passes. Some people work up the lather in their hand, or use a mug/bowl. Those work great also, I just prefer to face-lather.I use a DE razor to shave with, so the slickness that is provided by a nice rich soap lather makes for a much more comfortable shave. Tabac soap provides great slickness. Even after a pass of the blade, there's a ton of residual slickness to allow a touch-up or buff without necessarily re-applying the lather. Once properly made, Tabac's lather is amazingly dense, and long-lasting. If you find that it isn't slick enough for you, add a bit more water to your brush.The scent of Tabac is mostly just "old-fashioned soap", in my opinion. There's some powder, a bit of lavender in the background, along with other woody/floral notes. I've read some reviews where people note that they smell "cigarette smoke" but I do not get that at all. I get some tobacco flower in with the woody/floral notes, but not cigarette or smoke. At any rate, after rinsing off when my shave is complete, there's minimal lingering aroma from the soap, and after applying aftershave, it's all gone completely. I do like the scent of Tabac, but even if I didn't, the quality of the lather far outweighs any downside the scent may have for some folks, I think.I highly recommend Tabac shave soap. Scents are a personal thing, so I can't really recommend that part of it. The things I look for in a shave soap are all here, though.One final thing to comment on; This is a very dense puck of soap. It will last a tremendously long time, and give many months of regular use. I've probably used this at least 60 times, and I don't think I've even used a third of the soap. In a cost-per-shave analysis, this sure is hard to beat, if you are somebody who tracks that sort of thing.

This is very good shaving soap.What that means is going to vary, depending on what you are used to.If you are a just starting out wet-shaving, and are only familiar with canned foams or gels, Tabac shaving soap can be a mind blowing experience that will leave you shaking your head at the marketing madness that led men to drop their shaving brushes and pick up the canned foam like lemmings heading to a cliff of mediocre shaves.In the unlikely event you are a wet shaver with broad experience with luxury shaving soaps and creams but have yet to try this standard, Tabac will impress you as a good, solid product, and a fair value for the asking price.If you are a soap and brush guy who has been limiting yourself to the US drugstore standbys of Williams and VDH, then Tabac will likely be an eye opening gateway soap that will leave you wondering, "If this stuff is this good, what about the other products out there?"No matter who you are, Tabac's unique scent will either delight or horrify you. There seems to be little middle ground here.Scent aside, Tabac will produce a rich and creamy lather that provides good glide and cushion. It isn't the last word in slick or luxurious, but it's certainly better than what you are going to find at the corner store, unless your corner store sells Taylor of Old Bond Street or Art of shaving soaps.It is forgiving enough that hitting just the right mix of water and product isn't as critical as with some other soaps, doesn't require a lot of finesse or effort to get good results, and works well with both badger and boar brushes. The lather comes quickly, easily, and in satisfying volume, and it doesn't quickly become dry while on the face.I've seen the scent described variously as clean and soapy, floral, like an ashtray and like an old person's dresser. I find myself strangely attracted to it, to the point where I bought the cologne.Tabac is one of those "must try" products for those interested in what wet shaving is all about.

Wow, what a soap! Okay, okay, I've only had experience with Col. Conk, Williams, and Van der Hagen, so I'm not wise in the ways of the premium soap world. And at 13 bucks for 4.4oz, I don't know if this is considered premium by you soap snobs, but for a guy like me, it's impressive. First characteristic is the smell. Now, there seemed to be really mixed opinions on this one, so I knew it might be a risk, but I think it smells wonderful. It's a deep scent, which actually, to my nose, does have undertones of tobacco, but with florals and maybe lemon. I love slathering this on my face. It just smells great—not overly "nice," if you get me, but great. I do not mean it smells unpleasant, of course. Quite the contrary. I mean, I don't want a soap that smells too "nice." A bakery smells nice; I want to smell more … intriguing. I think Tabac fits the bill. Second characteristic is a dense, persistent lather. It's thick and rich. This is the best part. I had to get used to adding more water than with other soaps, or this stuff would whip into a pudding. (And I'm in a hard water area.) I bought this after giving up on Cremo's "Lathering" shaving cream (a "croap"), which was sadly thin and weak. So the Tabac was a huge contrast. Bottom line: buy this soap, at least once. It's a classic (in Germany, anyway), and I can see why it's stood the test of time. I'm a three-day-a-week shaver, and I really look forward to those mornings now.

Love this shave soap.