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Tabac question

What exactly is the scent profile of the Tabac AS? It is similar to the soap or is it a different scent? I had some tabac a few months ago and sold it and decided last week to buy another puck and try again and absolutely have fallen in love with this soap.
 
Tabac aftershave very much like soap.
two parts J&J baby powder, 1 part Lilac Vegetal, 1 part musk, and a crushed out cigarette.
Gotta love it, very masculine and distinctive.

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nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
The aftershave is very close to the Eau de Cologne and as noted above, similar to the soap but a little more floral to my nose.

The EdT is a sharper, different scent. More herbal and lasting.

But yeah, just try it.
 
I was sitting pondering a new shave soap, and I mentioned Tabac. My wife, who is German, just about jumped out of her chair saying "Tabac?! I hate that stuff...the way it smells! And...talk about chemicals!! Don't think of bringing it into the house!"

Now, charitably, my wife is a little stressed out with all the work associated with the holidaze...so I put aside the (over)reaction. But, in the name of (immediate) marital bliss, I moved Tabac down my SSAD list a bit.

Tabac seems to have a solid following here on B&B (like Arko and Cella and Proraso), and the reviews of its performance as a shaving soap are very positive, so I was thinking that I'd give it a try. Now...I wonder about the scent -- and why she had such a reaction to it. Apparently it's a long-time German product...and I don't know if there are/were products for women. I have to assume there must be...she's not a user of shave soap, and I never heard of Tabac anything until I fell into the B&B rabbithole, let alone use it.

I opine(d) that any fragrance of shave soap would be confined to the shaving site and would be mine alone to enjoy/tolerate, since audiences are not generally permitted in the shave den. Didn't help...still a "not in my house" reaction... [sigh...]

So...what is the deal here? I don't have a clue how it smells, and don't want to buy a puck (delivered in a plain brown wrapper of course) to discover that I hate it too, and SWMBO is on the roof holding up a cross shouting "out, out vile substance!!"). And the Tabac ingredient list, while not pure as the driven snow, doesn't seem to be overly-chemicalized as compared to other soaps.

I've seen threads really passionate (pro and con) about the scent of other soaps (e.g., Arko) but not so much with Tabac.

As a domestic contrarian, I'm tempted to get a puck anyway, but...
 
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My girlfriend and I were in a Perfumania recently and she shot the cologne down tout suite! But we live separately and I've begun collecting the whole line. I have some the AS generously shared with me by a B&B friend of mine and the soap stick shared with me by another great member here. I'll call it 'different' but don't find it at all objectionable. I didn't realize there is an EdT and an EdC.
 
Similar to the soap; they complement each other nicely. The first time I smelled Tabac, I was bitterly disappointed because I was expecting something akin to liquid magic after all of the hype. But I couldn't get the scent out of my head (in a good way--as a veterinarian, I understand the difference!), and eventually I fell in love with it. The soap's performance is legendary. Enjoy them both.
 
I get more compliments from women when I wear Tabac after shave than anything else. I'm talking complete strangers, co-workers, friends, and SWMBO. Unmistakably masculine, it's somewhere between a 70s power scent and classic barbershop. I think it's great.
 
When I first tried the soap I was most impressed with its performance - as good as any I've tried, and better than most of them. When I first smelled it, my reaction was, "That's um, . . . different." However, Tabac is one of those scents that grows on a person, and after a few shaves I was loving it, enough to order the aftershave.

The first time I used the aftershave, my wife reacted, "What's that you're wearing? I like it . . . a lot."

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I did not see that coming. She usually prefers light, subtle scents. Tabac has been called many things, but light and subtle are not among them. So, I ordered the cologne.

I have a lot of different soaps, AS, colognes, etc., but Tabac is becoming my go-to product, at least until the weather warms up and I can go back to my menthol blasts.

--Bob
 
I was sitting pondering a new shave soap, and I mentioned Tabac. My wife, who is German, just about jumped out of her chair saying "Tabac?! I hate that stuff...the way it smells! And...talk about chemicals!! Don't think of bringing it into the house!"

Now, charitably, my wife is a little stressed out with all the work associated with the holidaze...so I put aside the (over)reaction. But, in the name of (immediate) marital bliss, I moved Tabac down my SSAD list a bit.

Tabac seems to have a solid following here on B&B (like Arko and Cella and Proraso), and the reviews of its performance as a shaving soap are very positive, so I was thinking that I'd give it a try. Now...I wonder about the scent -- and why she had such a reaction to it. Apparently it's a long-time German product...and I don't know if there are/were products for women. I have to assume there must be...she's not a user of shave soap, and I never heard of Tabac anything until I fell into the B&B rabbithole, let alone use it.

I opine(d) that any fragrance of shave soap would be confined to the shaving site and would be mine alone to enjoy/tolerate, since audiences are not generally permitted in the shave den. Didn't help...still a "not in my house" reaction... [sigh...]

So...what is the deal here? I don't have a clue how it smells, and don't want to buy a puck (delivered in a plain brown wrapper of course) to discover that I hate it too, and SWMBO is on the roof holding up a cross shouting "out, out vile substance!!"). And the Tabac ingredient list, while not pure as the driven snow, doesn't seem to be overly-chemicalized as compared to other soaps.

I've seen threads really passionate (pro and con) about the scent of other soaps (e.g., Arko) but not so much with Tabac.

As a domestic contrarian, I'm tempted to get a puck anyway, but...
That's funny. My friend's mom is from Germany, and I was over at their place last weekend. My friend's stepfather, while not a DE or straight user or anything, has a fairly impressive collection of aftershaves, including Tabac.

I can't remember how it came up, I was fairly, uh, lubricated at the time, but I somehow brought up German grooming products "you know, like Tabac and Speick and stuff? Gerry uses Tabac, right?"

She just groaned and rolled her eyes, and said something to the effect of "Ugh, Tabac..." followed by slight bewilderment that I even knew about these brands.
 
That's funny. My friend's mom is from Germany, and I was over at their place last weekend. My friend's stepfather, while not a DE or straight user or anything, has a fairly impressive collection of aftershaves, including Tabac.

I can't remember how it came up, I was fairly, uh, lubricated at the time, but I somehow brought up German grooming products "you know, like Tabac and Speick and stuff? Gerry uses Tabac, right?"

She just groaned and rolled her eyes, and said something to the effect of "Ugh, Tabac..." followed by slight bewilderment that I even knew about these brands.
See? Ya gotta be careful discussing "German grooming products.":blink:
 
I love the soap, and in fact I've been a bit addicted to it using it exclusively for a couple of months now. I always have the old, "I'm stuck on Band-Aid 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me" song in my head, but substituting "Band-Aid" with "Tabac". I have been curious about the aftershave as well, so thank you for all the informative posts. I put Tabac, as well as some other aftershaves, on my Christmas list. If no one gets it for me then it's in my shopping cart first thing post-Christmas unwrapping frenzy. Mmm, Tabac. Can't wait to shave tomorrow.
 
Ha there was a thread where someone said Tabac was the smell of Archie Bunker's t shirt. It is an old man smell for sure but the soap is one of the best. Cushion, protection, fast lather, a real elite performing soap. The smell is not so bad for soap and it fades but I don't think I would want the cologne if I was under 60
 
Ha there was a thread where someone said Tabac was the smell of Archie Bunker's t shirt. It is an old man smell for sure but the soap is one of the best. Cushion, protection, fast lather, a real elite performing soap. The smell is not so bad for soap and it fades but I don't think I would want the cologne if I was under 60
Hmmm...better that than Grandma's panties...:blink: (I've seen that descriptor about some shave soap in another thread).
 
That's funny. My friend's mom is from Germany, and I was over at their place last weekend. My friend's stepfather, while not a DE or straight user or anything, has a fairly impressive collection of aftershaves, including Tabac.

My granddad used Tabac soap all the time.
 
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