Thread: Cream vs. Soap

I use both at the same time

Originally Posted by ethermantis

Glycerin saved my bacon...it really made all the difference between burn and no burn.

Get a quality soap or cream, and you will not need it. Really.

As far as cream vs. soap is concerned, I find creams easier to lather up. And the best products I have ever tried were creams (cf. Shaving Soaps/Shaving Creams Reviews - Straight Razor Place Forums, but there are some soaps right near the top - although I personally doubt that they really are as good compared to Caraceni or Castle Forbes).

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Get a quality soap or cream, and you will not need it. Really.

As far as cream vs. soap is concerned, I find creams easier to lather up. And the best products I have ever tried were creams (cf. Shaving Soaps/Shaving Creams Reviews - Straight Razor Place Forums, but there are some soaps right near the top - although I personally doubt that they really are as good compared to Caraceni or Castle Forbes).

Absolutely, Robin. People spend a lot of money on glycerin around here...

However, I think that not only do people need a quality soap or cream, they need to learn to use them properly. In my opinion, lather is not second to the blade in terms of quality shaving, lather comes FIRST.

Originally Posted by JimR

However, I think that not only do people need a quality soap or cream, they need to learn to use them properly. In my opinion, lather is not second to the blade in terms of quality shaving, lather comes FIRST.

Couldn't agree more. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: With a bit of experience, you will get a passable shave with a sub par razor. But you will never get a passable shave with inferior lather. Which is why I would - in a squeeze - skimp on everything but shaving cream. Creams like Caraceni, Castle Forbes, TOBS or Xpec (technically a soap) simply cannot be beat. And in my opinion, adding glycerine does nothing to improve the quality of the lather. Certainly not if your skin doesn't like glycerine, which is often the case.

Robin and Jim,

Gentlemen, how right you are about the quality of the soap and cream to make the ultimate lather.

Sometimes as I lather, I can feel a masterpiece being created on my Hollywood face. It is much the same feeling as when everything seems to go right in one's life.

That is perhaps a tad too dramatic. Ah, but then knowing a great shave is bound to follow a great lather is worth the price of gold.

Regards,

Obie

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Couldn't agree more. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: With a bit of experience, you will get a passable shave with a sub par razor. But you will never get a passable shave with inferior lather. Which is why I would - in a squeeze - skimp on everything but shaving cream. Creams like Caraceni, Castle Forbes, TOBS or Xpec (technically a soap) simply cannot be beat. And in my opinion, adding glycerine does nothing to improve the quality of the lather. Certainly not if your skin doesn't like glycerine, which is often the case.

I'm with you guys. I'm a religious tallow-based soap user. Having to add to your soap means it's time to get a new soap.

Try: Tabac, DR Harris, L'Occitane (not tallow according to JimR, but awesome nonetheless), P160, etc.

You won't go back (if you like soaps like me). These soaps perform like creams.

I started with GFT Sandalwood soap and I got months of great lather out of that! Over that time my other half got me the Trumpers sample pack that had a bunch of creams in it and, I must admit, I wasnt particularly taken with them. They didnt lather as well as the soap and seemed very dry.

When the soap ran out I ordered another puck and, just for fun, got some of the cream as well. Now I love the cream too..!

The soap doesnt give a "better" lather, just different.

The cream usually gives a voluminous amount of thick lather from a tiny dab on the brush, and its quicker to get the lather built.

The soap gives lower quantities of lather, and not quite a thick and creamy. You have to wet the soap, wait, then load the brush and really work it to get there, but you can get just as good a lather in the end. It just takes more time.

I'm not sure which I prefer. I'm using the cream at the moment as it has a different scent to the soap and I like the lather it gives.

Get both and see which you prefer..!

Ive become very much a soap guy after sampling the wide range of products available. Hard milled soaps, esp. those with Shea Butter or Tallow, give the same cushion of as a cream with a much slicker lather. However, its is harder just starting off to get the same lather from a soap that would you with a cream. Its more work and a much different technique.

Id suggest that you:
Soak the top of the puck with a tablespoon of hot water for a min.
"Load" the a wet, but not dripping brush with a thick, soapy paste.
Add water to the brush a bit at a time while working the lather into the face/bowl until you have the lather you are looking for.

Finally, soaps can be made drier or wetter based on your preferences of lather.

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Get a quality soap or cream, and you will not need it. Really.

As far as cream vs. soap is concerned, I find creams easier to lather up. And the best products I have ever tried were creams (cf. Shaving Soaps/Shaving Creams Reviews - Straight Razor Place Forums, but there are some soaps right near the top - although I personally doubt that they really are as good compared to Caraceni or Castle Forbes).

You are 100% correct in saying that quality products will absolutely eliminate the need for additives. I'm going to read through your reviews to see which creams you find to be slick as soaps (which is why I prefer them to the creams that I've tried)

Originally Posted by Oglethorpe

I'm with you guys. I'm a religious tallow-based soap user. Having to add to your soap means it's time to get a new soap.

Try: Tabac, DR Harris, L'Occitane (not tallow according to JimR, but awesome nonetheless), P160, etc.

You won't go back (if you like soaps like me). These soaps perform like creams.

Totally agree, but like I said, I need to evaluate more creams I guess because if they can be as slick as soaps but provide more cushion, then that's a game changer, IMO.

Originally Posted by sarend

This is part of the fun of SR shaving--there are man possibilities to explore.

I like to think this was not a typo