Announcing the Brotherhood Of Tallow Shave Soaps - BOTSS

A lot of new groups are popping up on B&B - Face Latherers, Single Edge, Open Comb, to name a few.

One thing that seems to be missing are some software related groups so I'll announce the formation of BOTSS, or Brotherhood of Tallow Shave Soaps.

WHY? To give some visibility to traditional wet shavers who prefer tallow based shaving soaps.

IMHO Tallow based shave soaps provide dense, slick, stable, "gooey" lather that other formulations do not.

You don't have to exclusively use tallow based shave soaps but if a good number of your favorites contain tallow please consider joining.

WHO? All fans of tallow based shave soaps are invited to join.

Whether your tastes run from Arko to Valobra, big name brands or artisan soaps, new or vintage, if you dig the tallow based shave soaps, you certainly qualify.

WHAT is required? Not much. Testify about your fondness for your favorites in this thread. Rave about a particularly great shave. Post pics. Have fun!

IF you want to add a BOTSS to your signature feel free.

Who knows? Perhaps joining BOTSS will prevent a great soap from being reformulated into junk.

Count me in Greg (great name by the way)!

Absolutely LOVE Tallow based shave soaps and quite frankly constitutes the majority of my shave soaps with the exception of 3 other favorites (MdC, La Toja & AdP). I'm a D.R. Harris die hard...love their soaps, also enjoy and use Tabac, Irisch Moos, Mike's Natural Soaps, Cella, P160, MWF and yes, I really do enjoy and use Arko! IMO tallow based shave soaps really do provide that extra something which makes each of my shaves quite enjoyable. Long live the BOTSS!

I am in as well. I think about 65 per cent of my soaps are tallow-based. I especially like Arko and GZD. I am waiting for my jumbo puck of Derby to air out in the medicine cabinet as I am allergic to the scenting agent used to scent it (causes me to have asthma symptoms). I did get two good lathers out of it when I first received it including one shave, the lather was OK but I need some work with that particular soap to be able to give it a thumbs up/down (as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert would have said). RIP Gene and may Roger be able to speak again soon after his jaw cancer surgery and reconstruction.

I LOVE vintage old spice. Have yet to find a soap that comes close to it. That puck will live on forever in my memory

hometownhero said:

I LOVE vintage old spice. Have yet to find a soap that comes close to it. That puck will live on forever in my memory

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How old constitutes vintage OS? I bought a boxed OS mug with an untouched puck from the early 1980s.

I have used it. Wish the scent was there but the shave was great!

Greg1911 said:

How old constitutes vintage OS? I bought a boxed OS mug with an untouched puck from the early 1980s.

I have used it. Wish the scent was there but the shave was great!

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Almost all of it if not all of it. Hasnt been made in a long while. I have one with no barcode and a price tag of $.45 and another with a bar code and a price tag of $2.99

Haslinger Salbei (sage) got the call today. This is an outstanding soap!

i have to say that i really enjoy the tallow soaps. My two favourites being Mystic Water, especially Bay Rum, and Mike's Natural, especially Lemongrass + Eucalyptus!
Great little club you started here!

Cold water, boar brush, tallow based Speick soap stick, olive oil. Oh yeah.

celestino said:

i have to say that i really enjoy the tallow soaps. My two favourites being Mystic Water, especially Bay Rum, and Mike's Natural, especially Lemongrass + Eucalyptus!
Great little club you started here!

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Those 2 brands popped up after I joined the 2012 Sabbatical but I plan to try one or both in 2013

Vintage Old Spice on deck for tomorrow - hometownhero's influence.

Rodeodave - Speick is Muy Bueno

It's all tallow for me. My current favorite is Mike's, but I find any tallow soap to be superior to non-tallow for my own face. Plus, I love animal fat.

My "go to" soaps are Speick (milled stick) and Tabac. I rarely use anything else anymore, but when I do, it reminds me why I like these so much!

Count me in as well .. My favories are Arko , Cella , Vintage Old Spice, and Tabac..

Count me into this club. I love the tallow. Mike's is at the top of my list.

I'm in. Harris, Cella, and MWF are soaps that will always be in my shave den.

If you changed the name to Society Of Tallow Soaps you could be be a bunch of old sots.

Love my Arko and Mystic Waters over most else.

I love the tallow. MWF, Palmolive, AOS, what's not to like? Consider me in.

Just bought a puck of AOS unscented, hoping it would be ok for my senstive skin/ coarse beard combo. Does tallow lather differently? I've mostly used VDH deluxe, which I don't believe to be tallow.

Very few soaps without tallow are worth my time. Arko, Tabac, Cella and MWF are all divine.

Big fan. Current own MWF and a RR offering, but in the past have used and loved Mikes, MW, Speick, Valobra and Cella. All good, all the time.