Thread: Osma Soap

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I tried it once...Was a bit 'stingy'? Still, it was a sloppy mess.
Will report back.

We can always blame Phrank......

I have a tub as well.
Tricky to get a good lather, but indeed a terrific soap when you do. I leave the entire container filled with water while I shower then drain and build my lather. ..
And the scent is just clean and nice..

I have been finding that procedure helps make lots perform as they should. Esp loading the brush and letting it sit.

I have had a hard puck of Osma soap for several years now that I never really could get a good lather from. With soaps that I can't get to lather easily I have no patience for as there are plenty of others that for me do lather easily producing an excellent lather. As usual ymmv.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

I have had a hard puck of Osma soap for several years now that I never really could get a good lather from. With soaps that I can't get to lather easily I have no patience for as there are plenty of others that for me do lather easily producing an excellent lather. As usual ymmv.

Bob

I hear you! There really is a cornucopia of great stuff out there!! I’m going to try my best for a week or so. If I can’t get it done in that time, I’m out. Here’s hoping though. I'm not going to lie, I want to like this stuff. Especially now because I've smelt it. Nom, nom.

Originally Posted by earcutter

Don’t let you disdain for Jarrod deny you something that might actually have merit. There’s a few members here who I believe have some of the highest standards I know, who sing the soaps praises. Don’t get me wrong, I had my doubts too, but that is what this thread is for.

I do not have any "disdain" for Jarrod personally. I do not particularly care for some of his videos. Others, however, are quite informative.

One of my favorite brushes is a VP Leonhardy 7000 series premium silvertip that I purchased from Jarrod after watching one of his videos on these brushes. It was as wonderful as he said it would be.

It is not all that difficult making a soap slick. The slickest product I have every used is Trader Joe's No. 3 shampoo, body wash and conditioner. A bottle of the stuff spilled on our shower floor. My wife nearly fell getting in the shower. If I am in a hurry, I shave in the shower with a cartridge razor using that product. The residual slickness is so good that you could rinse your face and still make another pass without irritation.

Originally Posted by earcutter

I hear you! There really is a cornucopia of great stuff out there!! I’m going to try my best for a week or so. If I can’t get it done in that time, I’m out. Here’s hoping though. I'm not going to lie, I want to like this stuff. Especially now because I've smelt it. Nom, nom.

I hope it works for you as it has others but for me it did not and I could not be bothered playing around trying to get it to work for me. Everyone's experience with a specific soap can be different.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

I have had a hard puck of Osma soap for several years now that I never really could get a good lather from. With soaps that I can't get to lather easily I have no patience for as there are plenty of others that for me do lather easily producing an excellent lather. As usual ymmv.

Bob

You hit the nail on the head.

I came across Osma in France but was never tempted enough to buy as in all the years that it has been available the product barely raised its head over the (review) parapet.

Over time, I have come to accumulate so many outstanding soaps that for me merely being “good” is just not good enough anymore - especially when you have already a sizeable number of excellent soaps in rotation and space on the shelves has become scarce.

Which BTW is one of the reasons that I tend to sit on the fence for a while before I buy new stuff that people have started singing the praises of.

I am also looking for a product that convinces me on all fronts. A soap that is hard to lather before it can impress me with the slickness of its lather is not for me.

Luckily, I have no problems creating a rich lather from Mitchell’s Wool Fat.


B.

Originally Posted by beluga

Luckily, I have no problems creating a rich lather from Mitchell’s Wool Fat.

B.

Exactly! I’ve never bought Mitchell’s Wool Fat (MWF) because of all the bad reviews about it not lathering up. And as much as Osma has no reviews, when a guy who consistently buys pucks that are 50 tp 60 bucks recommends a lowly 20 dollar soap, I figure it’s worth a try. I doubt I’ll ever try the MWF though lol.

Originally Posted by earcutter

Exactly! I’ve never bought Mitchell’s Wool Fat (MWF) because of all the bad reviews about it not lathering up. And as much as Osma has no reviews, when a guy who consistently buys pucks that are 50 tp 60 bucks recommends a lowly 20 dollar soap, I figure it’s worth a try. I doubt I’ll ever try the MWF though lol.

I think that one factor that is often overlooked when people talk about difficulties getting a soap to lather is water hardness.
Some of the notoriously difficult soaps lather like a champ with soft water, but need considerably more effort with harder water grades.

Once I stayed in a hotel in a place with very hard water and was surprised how well a shaving soap lathered - until I found out that the owner had installed a water softener for his guests.

Conversely, when I read a comment that someone has no difficulties at all with a not so easy to lather soap, I cannot help wondering whether that is due to his skills or merely due to soft water.


Mitchell’s is clearly a more tempermental shaving soap and for those struggling with Mitchell’s I usually suggest Haslinger sheeps’ milk shaving soap that is much more forgiving of harder water qualities and - like Mitchell’s Wool Fat - also contains lanolin.


B

Originally Posted by beluga

I think that one factor that is often overlooked when people talk about difficulties getting a soap to lather is water hardness.
Some of the notoriously difficult soaps lather like a champ with soft water, but need considerably more effort with harder water grades.

Once I stayed in a hotel in a place with very hard water and was surprised how well a shaving soap lathered - until I found out that the owner had installed a water softener for his guests.

Conversely, when I read a comment that someone has no difficulties at all with a not so easy to lather soap, I cannot help wondering whether that is due to his skills or merely due to soft water.


Mitchell’s is clearly a more tempermental shaving soap and for those struggling with Mitchell’s I usually suggest Haslinger sheeps’ milk shaving soap that is much more forgiving of harder water qualities and - like Mitchell’s Wool Fat - also contains lanolin.


B

I'm so torn on this one. I want to agree with you 100%, but I find a lot of guys using hard water as an excuse to not work a decent lather. I know I was one of those guys for years always complaining about hard water. For a couple three years I even went cream only because it was so much easier to make a lather. I mean I do have hard water, no question, but hard water all but limits the most persnickety of soaps.

It's kind of crazy, making lather isn't rocket science in the least, but there is some voodoo involved. It took me a long time to realize that some soaps can absorb insane amounts of water and how to test my soaps. It finally hit home after watching some shaving videos years later.

Anyway, it's really easy enough to see if it's the "hard" water or if it's you - simply go get some distilled water over at the grocer and give it a whirl.