Tabula Rasa

The only Tabula Rasa soap that I have is Steampunk. I use is like I would a cream. My lathering is similar to Matsilainen with this soap. I usually take a little bit more than an almond-sized bit out of the tub and load it into the center of a damp brush just below the tips of the bristles(badger or synthetic, usually.) I then face lather with some swirls around the face until there is good coverage. Then, I dribble a few drops of water onto the brush and go with paint brush strokes from there. If it starts feeling a little sticky, I addd a few more drops of water to the brush and continue with the paint brush strokes. This normally provides me with a nice soft lather with a nice sheen to it.

It usually works out to be a nice slick lather that smells incredible! Now, as vtmax commented, I don't find this soap as high performance as some of the artisan soaps available, but I do enjoy this soap when it's turn comes up.

Good luck, folks!

Well, shave #1 with the TR cardamom this morning. Lovely scent, most everything else seemed average except that 1) it took a lot of product relative to other soaps and creams, 2) it isn't slick enough for my taste for straight razor shaving.
…
I'll keep at it, but it's unlikely to improve much I believe. Suggestions appreciated.

Steve, sorry to hear the experience wasn’t better than that. Tabula Rasa is not one of my top soaps, but I do enjoy it a lot. I usually take out an amount the size of a single almond, spread it directly on the skin, and face lather from there. That has always worked for a nice two-pass shave (with not a lot of lather left over).

I hope your further shaves with the soap will improve. It’d be nice to hear how some of you others build lather with Tabula Rasa. Do you load directly from the tub? Face or bowl lather? How much water and when?

Yes me too, and thank you sir I used about 2 small 'almonds' in an Aesop bowl. Brush was given 2 shakes and loaded slightly dry. You could see bare metal where the brush hit the bottom of the bowl working the beginning lather. Water added until the brush strokes no longer showed bare metal in the bottom of the bowl, which is usually correct and the lather rinsed cleanly off the straight razor blade under a weak stream of running water. These signs work for everything else, and seem to work for TR too, but the slickness and residual slickness on followup passes left something to be desired relative to other soaps in the upper bracket.

It may be a better soap for DE/SE, but slickness is king with a straight razor, and it just wasn't there.

If there's anything in the above post that's a clue to getting better results, I'd love to know!

Cheers, Steve

Seeing as I was the one who started this thread I should mention my Tabula Rasa arrived from the UK in just a week. I went with Abrakabarber which smells quite interesting and Dezember which is interesting. Should have gone with the Vetiver & Tangerine or Cardamon instead. I also did a test lather and noticed that a lot of soap picks up onto the brush so I could go through these tubs fast. Will update when I shave, have a lot of new soaps in front of these ones.

Seeing as I was the one who started this thread I should mention my Tabula Rasa arrived from the UK in just a week. I went with Abrakabarber which smells quite interesting and Dezember which is interesting. Should have gone with the Vetiver & Tangerine or Cardamon instead. I also did a test lather and noticed that a lot of soap picks up onto the brush so I could go through these tubs fast. Will update when I shave, have a lot of new soaps in front of these ones.

I picked up the cardamom and like it a lot. I wouldn’t load the brush from the jar. You’ll overload the brush with too much product. The way I use it is by scooping a pea sized amount from the jar with my finger and applying it directly to my face like a cream. I then face lather. It’s an amazing soap


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Seeing as I was the one who started this thread I should mention my Tabula Rasa arrived from the UK in just a week. I went with Abrakabarber which smells quite interesting and Dezember which is interesting. Should have gone with the Vetiver & Tangerine or Cardamon instead. I also did a test lather and noticed that a lot of soap picks up onto the brush so I could go through these tubs fast. Will update when I shave, have a lot of new soaps in front of these ones.

I picked up the cardamom and like it a lot. I wouldn’t load the brush from the jar. You’ll overload the brush with too much product. The way I use it is by scooping a pea sized amount from the jar with my finger and applying it directly to my face like a cream. I then face lather. It’s an amazing soap


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I'll give that a try or else I'll use up the tub in only a few uses.

Seeing as I was the one who started this thread I should mention my Tabula Rasa arrived from the UK in just a week. I went with Abrakabarber which smells quite interesting and Dezember which is interesting. Should have gone with the Vetiver & Tangerine or Cardamon instead. I also did a test lather and noticed that a lot of soap picks up onto the brush so I could go through these tubs fast. Will update when I shave, have a lot of new soaps in front of these ones.

I picked up the cardamom and like it a lot. I wouldn’t load the brush from the jar. You’ll overload the brush with too much product. The way I use it is by scooping a pea sized amount from the jar with my finger and applying it directly to my face like a cream. I then face lather. It’s an amazing soap


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I'll give that a try or else I'll use up the tub in only a few uses.

ive found that a little goes a long way with this soap. literally do not use more than a pea-sized amount. it's such a fun soap to use.

Many years ago I thought this was a great soap but I just gave two jars to a fellow wet shaver after getting to know them again. Quite nice scents but with the wonderful newer soaps available today, I felt the lather, protection and post were pretty lacking unfortunately.

It may be a better soap for DE/SE, but slickness is king with a straight razor, and it just wasn't there.

…Abrakabarber which smells quite interesting and Dezember which is interesting. Should have gone with the Vetiver & Tangerine or Cardamon instead.

Many years ago I thought this was a great soap but I just gave two jars to a fellow wet shaver after getting to know them again.  Quite nice scents but with the wonderful newer soaps available today, I felt the lather, protection and post were pretty lacking unfortunately.

It does seem as if time has marched on, and we are spoiled with even better soaps than Tabula Rasa these days. I still enjoy my shaves with these soaps, though.

Also, the scents are often a bit of a surprise. I’ve found that they don’t always match up with my preconception.

First use with Tabula Rasa went with Abraka Barber as this was the scent I wanted. It is indeed very unique and not like any barbershop I've smelled so bonus points to them for the unique scent.

I loaded off the puck but just very little as my test lather I really overloaded it maybe 5 to 10 swirls this go around. Made a lather very quick, nice and glossy lather kinda in my wheelhouse for what I like, not as dense as I generally prefer but seeing as this is more a cream that's fine.

The shave was effortless with no major issues, I found it quite slick and decent protection. I ended up with a really comfortable shave, no irritation or redness and good post shave feel. For a cream which I'd consider this it does have the best post shave feeling and if it's considered a soap it would still be good just better ones out there.

The only downfall I found was the residual slickness was lacking but a quick stroke with the brush and slickness.

Overall I'm happy with the soap, I do have ones that are much better but if I pick this up I'll still get a good shave. I'm big on scents so if I don't know what I want to use and have a TR soap that is really good I could be reaching for it often.

First use with Tabula Rasa went with Abraka Barber as this was the scent I wanted. It is indeed very unique and not like any barbershop I've smelled so bonus points to them for the unique scent.

I loaded off the puck but just very little as my test lather I really overloaded it maybe 5 to 10 swirls this go around. Made a lather very quick, nice and glossy lather kinda in my wheelhouse for what I like, not as dense as I generally prefer but seeing as this is more a cream that's fine.

The shave was effortless with no major issues, I found it quite slick and decent protection. I ended up with a really comfortable shave, no irritation or redness and good post shave feel. For a cream which I'd consider this it does have the best post shave feeling and if it's considered a soap it would still be good just better ones out there.

The only downfall I found was the residual slickness was lacking but a quick stroke with the brush and slickness.

Overall I'm happy with the soap, I do have ones that are much better but if I pick this up I'll still get a good shave. I'm big on scents so if I don't know what I want to use and have a TR soap that is really good I could be reaching for it often.

I’ve been super impressed with tabula rasa. I️ currently have cardamom scented and have dark lavender and dezember on the way. I️ don’t think I️ would have tried this artisan had it not been on sale on amazon which is unfortunate. Now that I’ve tried it, do I think it’s worth +$30? I️ actually do. It’s just such an enjoyable soap to use and I never have to worry about under or overloading it. Plenty of cushion and glide. Scent strength is also where I️ like it, which is on the stronger side but not overwhelming. I️ purchased these soaps at around $13 on Amazon which is an absolute steal. I️ don’t know what voodoo they’ve put inside of their soaps but I️ haven’t experienced any irritation with this soap, even when shaving daily. Maybe it’s just me.


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