Stubborn by nature, once I have made up my mind about something, it takes a lot to change it.



I have been "real" shaving for about two years and one of the first shaving soaps I tried was Tabac. It worked well, but I was not overly impressed because I had nothing to compare it to.



It's only after trying some of the other popular brands that I realised it was something special, and nothing really came close to the performance of Tabac. I love the smell, but I do understand that it may be the main reason why there is any debate about whether Tabac is the best mass-produced shaving soap. I was convinced that I would not find anything that rivals it's performance, but I was getting a bit bored shaving with the same soap month after month.



About two weeks ago, I ordered Taylor of Old Bond Street and Haslinger Sandalwood to mix things up a bit.



To be honest I was a bit disappointed when I opened the parcel and what I thought was a sample turned out to be the Haslinger puck! The way I like to lather is to stick a puck in a shaving mug, soak my brush, shake off excess water, load my brush and face lather adjusting the water by dipping my brush if required.



Initial impressions were good, not much of a scent, easy to lather, good slickness and nice after shave feel. I have learned that a single shave is not a good way to give a fair opinion so I have used it the past week on a daily basis. It just keeps on getting better! I don't bloom, I use a damp brush to load straight of the dry puck and then start the face lather. This stuff just explodes into luxurious, rich, stable lather.



Tried it with my straight razors, and my Fatib Piccolo, both gave amazing results.



From a price point, it's almost double the price of Tabac, considering it's half the size of a replacement Tabac puck.



Am I prepared to say it's performance is actually better than Tabac?



Not yet, like I say, it's not easy to change my mind, but maybe later. All I am prepared to say at this point, is that it at least pushed Cella down from second position to third on my list.