Thread: First Experience with Shaving Soaps

Originally Posted by Haakon

I started with a str8 last Christmas and was doing ok but I was using shaving gel from a can (sacrilege, I know).
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Then I tried
...snip...
WOW! There was a huge difference! .
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Gel or goo from a can is not sacrilege. It is just
common, boring and in general unsatisfactory.

The process of building a good lather like
making a good cup of coffee or a good cup
of tea improves life.

It is sort of like adding well prepared fresh vegetables
to a meal. My Dad used to take a can of soup
and add fresh vegetables from his garden. When
he was done the soup was no longer soup from
a can it was healthy and tasty too.

As you shop hunt for the classic Williams shave
soap or perhaps van der hagen shave soap. Not
because they are good but because they are
inexpensive and if you take some time and tinker
with them you will learn a lot about making a fine
lather and not break the bank.

Also I might note that not all shave creams
are intended to lather. Some gels work very well
when applied thinly to a face freshly washed in the
shower. Some are well compounded for tossables
and DE shaving (think traveling). Some even work
for str8 shaving.

Some shave soaps are seasonal....i.e. best
in the winter but suffer in the heat of the summer.
So if you find one that is "lacking" put it up for a
couple of months and try it again. If it is lacking
a couple of seasons in a row then toss it.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

As far as the soaps go you can get some really good ones for less than 20 bucks which would last you many months. I'm thinking the English brands and MWF too.

The English brands indeed, for they are always the best. Not that I am prejudicially for them or anything. :P

Proraso is an excellent shaving cream, it is truely a must have in any shave kit, I love the small tub (73g) as you don't end up with it sitting in your bathroom forever and it is great to throw in the dopp kit when you travel.

Have a go of the other well known soaps but you must splash out one day and get a luxury soap/cream when you think you will appreciate it. At the moment I am loving Fitjar from Norway, and a very special one... Benton Clay from Canada.
Sam