Thread: To Tallow or Not To Tallow

I use whatever my face tells me it likes. I usually don't look at whether its tallow or non tallow. The best lathering soaps for me to date have been RazoRock, La'Toja, Martin De Candre, LPL, Dr. Jon's Fitjar, Palmolive,
I tried a Clear shave soap a week or so ago that was gifted to me and shockingly it worked really well, it was called Man Cave soaps? I wasn't expecting anything good from this soap so a pleasant surprise...

Honestly, I used to think that Tallow soaps had a better aftershave feel and moisturising impact.. Yet, I don think it is the case.. some non-tallow perform quite as well with regards to glide, slickness or cushion...

Thing is, some may have a reaction to tallow (skin irritation), and some may prefer vegan soaps to soaps containing animal fat.. so that may be a factor..

Over n Out
Hani

Which is a better lubricant WD-40 or Vaseline ?? Depends on the application correct?
Same with tallow its richer and thicker aka Vaseline.
Super slick and thin Glycerine based non tallow.
Now for shaving we arent globbing either on.
So it comes down to cushion, glide, facefeel and moisturization if thats a word.
And neither matters if the product doesnt smell good.
I use both tend to lean towards tallow.
On a side note Mc Donalds removed tallow from their french fries and they just dont taste the same.

It's just one ingredient. There are good products with tallow and without; one ingredient says nothing about behaviour of a soap/cream/whatever you put on your skin.

Tallow - love it or leave it. After years of being in packing houses I can smell a hint of tallow a mile away. I don't especially like the smell of tallow (or a hint of it) but, regardless, Stirling products are remarkable in performance and price. I've used it and was very impressed in spite of (to me) an identifiable odor of tallow behind the covering scent.

tstarks,

The soaps that I prefer (Tabac, Cella, German Palmolive shave stick) all have tallow.

I don't know if it is the tallow or not, but for me they are excellent performers.

As other posters have said, if you like a soap, it doesn't really matter if it has tallow or not.

I seem to remember reading that the fatty acid composition of the newer tallow free soaps have been chosen to be in the same ball-park as the tallow soaps, so should behave and perform the same.

Have fun

Best regards

Russ

It really depends on your preference. There are some great veggie soaps out there such as Le Pere Lucien, Tiki's, MdC, etc. Personally, I much prefer tallow-based ones for that creamiest of lathers and my principal one doesn't use coconut oil which all veggies ones have to use and I just find coconut oil a tad drying.
Experiment with them to see which you prefer!

I've got my glycerin sticks on he left (usually Mama Bear), and tallow on the right (Arko, Tabac, Stirling). Every shave, I pick from the left or the right depending on how I feel. Each lathers great, but the two definitely lather differently and feel different.

It may sounded silly but me i found Williams mug to be a great soap. Of course it's not the best around but i get great shaves whit it, really slick great cushion and great protection. Of course You have to know how to lather that soap, it just needs lots of water. Anyway i got great results whit it even whit my shavette. I bet when i'm gone get used to my straight it Will perform as good. Gino

I have to say I have been a big fan of tallow based soaps, but I have two points to make about them:
1. They are sometimes too slippery, meaning you can get a few accidental razor movements across your face (usually a result of me not being properly caffinated in the morning...)
2. The resulting lather although thick and cushioning can cause trouble with sinks and plug holes. I've had a few blocked sinks in the past.

That said, I have got on well with Palmolive, Tabac, D R Harris in the past to name a few, but with vegetable soaps getting better in recent years (as mentioned above stearic/coconut acid soaps), such as Martin de Candre and Faena from Greece, I have slowly drifted away from tallow based soaps.