3 euro soaps fighting: Tabac vs MWF vs. Martin de Candre

The battle of the european soaps
Tabac vs. Mitchell's Wool Fat vs Martin de Candre

3 of the most known soaps of old Europe compared, we have the power of Tabac from Germany against the British tradition of Mitchell's and the 'savoir faire' of Martin de Candre. Which is best?

Ingredients:

Mitchell's is known for containing lanolin, soap is tallow based ,.... a bit complex in its composition


Tabac is more complex, it contains tallow but no lanolin.


Martin de Candre uses the coconut oil as base and few chemical compounds


There are the 3 soaps with their best friend, the brush, my tireless Plisson 20 mm knot and a blue bowl for a better view of the lather




First I soak brush and soap. The MWF must be carefully soaked with no warm water, because the lanolin melts



Round I: Tabac

I started with Tabac, the load of the brush with soap is easy, no doubt with Tabac, Tabac does lather ,....



1 minute loading soap



After beating vigorously in the bowl the result is a quick and easy lather, this is the most known aspect of Tabac, the latherability



The lather is dense and rich, and covers very well my hand



After closing and opening the hand there are a lot of lather on the fingers

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Turn II: MWF

I will not write about load, I spent one minute beating in the ceramic bowl, as a curiosity that I let the lather that fell down from the MWF bowl fall in the blue bowl.

After beating vigorously, a little more than in the case of Tabac, MWF lather appears in all its glory and plenty, there is a lightweight and lubricant lather, not as thick as Tabac but fragrant and sticky



The lather is less dense than Tabac, but it feels lubricant and soft, very soft



The effect of lanolin is the lubrication, in this way the shave with MWF used to be comfortable



Turn III: MdC

MdC brings the best of Tabac, the quick lather, and the best of MWF, the large amount of lubricant lather, the scent of this soaps smells far better than the other two, IMHO



..... there is a lather that seems a bit oily, brighter, aesthetically very nice




In the hand the lather is thick and strong, but less than tabac



After closing and opening the hand it continues covered by lather





Conclusion:

The 3 Soaps are quite different, of course I'm stay with MWF is a bit harder to lather soap but the lather is good, lubricant, with a soft and clean scent. Martin de Candre is a surprise, the lather is fantastic, but very badly chosen pot, and the truth is that the scent is a bit sour for my taste, smells like incense,.... I think this soap is economic: small quantity gives a lot of lather.

Tabac is Tabac, it is here because there is no soap that works better for its price, but in my experience is that I like others a bit more , Tabac has a strong, masculine scent that doesn't go with everything, it only go with Tabac.

IMHO

1. MdC
2. MWF
3. Tabac

But no problem to choose one of these, they are 3 excellent soaps, 3 winners for your daily shave

This is one of the threads that I never get tired of reading it.
Thanks du212,thanks to you I discovered Martin de Candre,the holy grial (for me) of shaving brushes.

Well, that's a thread I had forgotten about.
Our tastes change, don't they du?

du1212, a great review with super photos. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for your photos - they are drool-worthy!

I love both Mitchell's Wool Fat and Tabac, especially in the winter.

After a quick tour of U.S. online shaving vendors, It appears that Martin de Candre is not for sale in the U.S. - how do you buy this soap?

(03-06-2012, 05:53 AM)redrako Wrote: Thanks for your photos - they are drool-worthy!

I love both Mitchell's Wool Fat and Tabac, especially in the winter.

After a quick tour of U.S. online shaving vendors, It appears that Martin de Candre is not for sale in the U.S. - how do you buy this soap?

In Martin de Candre online store (France):
http://www.savonnerie-martin-de-candre.com/en/

Thanks for a great write up and even better pictures du212.

The pictures of the lather are really nice, just what quality lather should look like.