Thread: Tabac shave soap drying out fast?

I can make some nice lather, and I love the shave, but it tends to dry quickly soon into my shave. Do I have to make it more watery? or is this just the nature of the beast?

Shave faster


No seriously, when yer new you shave so slow that the optimum lather can dry out so I usually advise lathering sections of your face until your speed picks up just a touch...
Now you can always add more water, but try adding it to your face before lathering first, if you have a good creamy lather made already...
What I hinting at here is the lather has an optimum creaminess, try not to adjust that to you, try to adjust you to it...
Hope that makes sense...

Jeff, I'm assuming that you've had good luck with other soaps? IME no two soaps are the same as far as latherability goes, and it just takes a bit of practice to get it right. When I buy a new soap that I've never used before typically I'll use it for a week or two straight (no pun intended) just the work out the kinks. Usually when a soap dries out too fast it is due to a lack of hydration, so try playing with your water ratio and see what happens.

Originally Posted by jeffegg2

I can make some nice lather, and I love the shave, but it tends to dry quickly soon into my shave. Do I have to make it more watery? or is this just the nature of the beast?

I like Glens answer "Shave faster..."

However if you have not tried more and less water just do it.

The best thing I did was take a puck of inexpensive shave
soap and almost use it up trying this and that trick to make
a lather.

If you do not take a lather to the extremes it is hard
to know what it takes to obtain the sweet spot in the middle.

I had an expensive brush so I abused a $7 VDH boar brush
and a $1.29 puck of Williams. Too much water, too little,
too hot, too cold, water all at once, water dribble by dribble,
mug, bowel, palm, face Two things happened: the boar brush
settled in and became a favorite, and I got a feel for too much or
too little that translated to my expensive soaps and expensive brushes.

Since a brush lather always has more lather on the brush
do take advantage of it and add more later anytime you think
you need it. Shave as slow as you like and just lather up
as needed dribbling a bit of warm water on the brush if it should
begin dry out

So try it... it is just shaving and what ever works for you is correct.

+ 1 to what Glen says, but in my case, i usually bowl lather, and uberlather with tabac. If and when i do use Tabac solo i face lather with it, and have no problems with drying out on my face. Just my 2 cents

I think tabac is a little dry if you don't use enough water, so I would try adding a little extra to your brush ( a drop or two) and see if that helps.

My experience w/ Tabac is similar to loudeecat's. It tends to dry out before I can shave the opposite side of your face.

Follow Glen's advice...Lather portions of your face as you shave. Or apply some water with your fingers to the dried out lather and relather from your shaving brush. That's what I do.

gssixgun has a good piont. After over a year of shaving with a straight I am still so slow my lather tends to dry out. And I have to say in that time my Lathering skills have certainly progressed faster than my deftness with a blade Tobac just happens to be the soap I'm using at the moment and I cant recall if it tends to dry out faster than my other soaps or not. I'll have to pay attention and see.

Matthew

I always have to add water once during my shave with Tabac if I am shaving two passes (or more, egad!)

I'm an avid Tabac fan and use the cream and soap together. I've also been prone in the past to having my lather dry out!

Your drying out problem will certainly ease over time providing you've got your mix of water right from the outset of course, and when your muscle memory and confidence improves so your shaves will be faster.