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I am fairly new to shave soaps and have been researching the tallow or no tallow question and the oppinions are all over the board. I've allways leaned more toward the traditional side of things as a rule so that edges me toward the tallow based soaps. I've tried DR Harris Arlington, like the shave and smell. I've recently tried MWF, seemed good but the aroma wasn't the most exciting.
I know I will get a lot of diverse responses and I welcome them.
Thanks
I don't know if it really matters or not. I have had good soaps/creams in either tallow or non tallow. I like soaps/creams that have good slickness/glide/lubricity, call it what you want, and I think I find that more often in soaps/creams containing tallow. Just an impression though, nothing provable. Try some of each and see what you think suits you best. If you like tallow try an Arko or Palmolive shave stick or a puck of Tabac.
Bob
I have come to prefer soaps/creams that contain tallow. They feel like they produce a denser and more moisturizing lather than the glycerin soaps I have owned. D.R. Harris, Palmolive, and Cella are my favorites at the moment.
There are god ones in both categories. I don't care for the translucent glycerine ones though. I've never had one that I truly loved. I've been living off of Barrister and Mann's soaps these days and I buy the tallow.
I've been enjoying Sterlings' tallow based soaps. Plenty slick, easy to whip, has great choices of aroma and fair prices to boot.
In CHRIST
Steele
I have looked into Barriser & Mann's as well. Have not ordered it yet though. Have you had any issues with it being "thirsty for water" and how that impacts your shave.Quote:
Originally Posted by OCDshaver
Looks interesting. Has had some good reviews. Super slick is the common praise. Interestinly as with the stirling soaps, it seems a lot of the traditional older soap companies have gone away from using tallow, with the newer younger folks getting into the soap business are retroing back into tallow.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steeleback
I'm a big fan of Stirling Soaps. In my experience, tallow based soaps add extra glide for shaving with a str8. You can't beat the price for the quality.
Not particularly. I really feel the B&M is one of the best soaps available today. I use them far more frequently tham MDC. I press a puck of the soap into a large latte mug from Target and build my lather right on top of it. The lather is thick, dense, slick, and very protective. I love the stuff. Especially the Roam scent. yMMV.Quote:
Originally Posted by tstarks
While I have bought and liked a few glycerin soaps, I prefer tallow soaps, with vegetable-based stearic acid soaps coming in second (both tallow and veg soaps are based on saponified stearic acid)... That said, I will give a try to most anything that isn't a translucent puck of glycerin soap at this point. I like Stirling, Tabac, and Martin de Candre, and for vegetable based soaps La Toja, and Pre de Provence.
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.
I think that Talow based soaps , moisture and nurish the skin on the face . Theyre slicky , they have fluffy lather and they calme and feed the skin. I just love Arko - its so basic soap but leaves so soft and pink skin , on your face .
I have a three soap rotation right now that represent the best of the dozen soaps I have used. Originally when I got into all of this, I thought I would be a tallow enthusiast (for some reason, probably an idea of tradition). My three soaps are:
- Martin de Candre Fougere (non tallow)
- Art of Shaving Sandalwood tallow (bought a dozen pucks cheaply)
- D.R. Harris Windsor (tallow)
Each of these three soaps surprise me every time I use them. The glide, the creaminess. Of the three, I feel that MdC is probably the best overall, and I am able to use about half a gram per shave, making it the most economical soap I own by far.
Art of Shaving is really just a Valobra puck similar (from what I hear) to Czech & Speake. It has everything in the world good about it except the scent which is faint. I solve this by adding several drops of aftershave to it before building the lather, and a little menthol dissolved in Everclear. This way I can have any of a dozen fragrances mixed in to a wonderful soap.
D.R. Harris Windsor has everything the others have, but it also has a level of cushion that really stands out. The blade rides on a layer of something, and it just impresses me as a more protective soap than the other two. Even still, MdC just has not moved from its crown-holding position.