Thread: Shaving Soap - Recommendation

I am extremely new to SR, and in the process of gearing up. I have most everything so far except for a soap or cream. Based on soap research i see Tabac and Baume.de mentioned a lot.

Being a newbie, I am sure that I will get feedback that I should start out lower end, or try several, but I am the type to buy one nice thing rather than several not as nice.

I have read cream is easier to use, but soap sounds more eclectic to the straight razor tradition. And I thought if I am going to try my hand at SRS and stropping, then I might as well try my hand at building lather from a soap.

Are Tabac and Baume.de the way to go?

Tabac is a regular in my soap rotation. It creates a nice lather with not a lot of effort. Some don't like the scent which has been compared to a 1970s cologne.
I believe Baume.be is a cream, although I haven't used it so can't say for sure.

There are many other excellent soaps out there. If you gave folks an idea of what price range you are working with and what scents you like it might help with recommendations.

If you want to see opinions on top rated soaps/creams read this 70 page thread http://straightrazorpalace.com/soaps...ps-creams.html . After that, when your head stops spinning from info overload, consider that that there is a huge variety of product out there and most will do an excellent job of making a fine lather "IF" you know how to make a lather.

Whatever soap you decide on just use it till you can create a decent lather rather than having several on hand to use. Each soap has it's own quirks and it is easier dealing with just one at a time. That said, I enjoy everything from Arko to MdC and get just as good a shave from either of those which are at either end of the cost spectrum. Out of the two you mentioned I have used Tabac and would not be without it in my soap rotation. It is easy to lather, makes a great lather if you do your part and not terribly expensive on amazon but the scent is a love it or hate it thing.

Bob

Great advice above. I use Stirling soaps and love the lather and slickness. There's also a wide variety of scents.

Soaps that I always have in my cabinet
are Tabac, LaToja, Volobra, Spieck, Arko, LEA, Musgo, others that are good but not always on my shopping list, Body Shop Macca Root, St James of London, Mitchells wool fat, MDC, and I could go on and on but I think that gives you a picture. Good soaps need not be expensive.

Welcome to the forum.

I personally would not rule out creams, they are generally easier to lather for beginners and there are some really nice ones out there.

I started out using creams, mostly Truefitt & Hill they perform really well and smell great.

More recently I have moved to soaps and am currently really enjoying a puck of Kent soap which is apparently the same as Mitchell's Wool Fat. This works really well for me.

I would advise that when you have decided what to plump for, maybe have a look on YouTube before you buy. There are some videos as to what various soaps lather like, or how easily they are or not to get good results from.

I bought a puck of Truefitt & Hill soap based on how good their creams were for me and got quite poor lather from it. Then I looked on YouTube and it seems others had similar issues too. It can depend on so many things, the type of water you have, your technique, what sort of brush you have.

I guess it all depends on what floats your boat really. If you like a nice scent then often creams tend to do that very well, whereas soaps tend to be less scent based. This of course is not always true and whilst you talk about sticking with one thing (which I have to say I do the same) you may find yourself wanting to have a go at others. The more you read on here the more things you want to try.

Bob's advice on sticking with a soap until you can get a good lather out of it is very sound. Then I have found that Bob's advice always is.

Enjoy.

A lot of good recommendations here! I have used Baume.be cream extensively and find it to be one of the best lathering agents available. A plus for the beginner is that it is extremely easy to get rich, thick lather from it each and every time. Good luck!

Tabac or baume.de lol these are verrrry different products !
Tabac ... works very well if you like the smell (I don't) but it's a bit middle of the road for me.
Baume.be (not .de by the way) is absolutely top tier, delicious warm smell, very easy to lather, very slick etc etc.

If you get the baume.be shaving cream do yourself the favour of also ordering the aftershave balm. Different smell, but imo the best aftershave balm out there. I haven't encountered something that works better.

All great feedback. Thanks everyone.

Has anyone tried this instead of the cream?

Yes, and it ended up as shower soap. Lather very similar to Geo. F. Trumper soaps - you can get a decent lather out of it, but it fades almost before you can put your brush down. The only thing the two have in common is the brand.