Thread: Drug store shaving soap?

Greetings SRP Brethren: AS you can tell by my short tenure I'm very much still a novice and a newbie here at SRP,. I'm sure enjoying all the reading I'm doing thus far. Especially all the stuff I've learned about honing stones because I am a knife enthusiast and collector and I've been learning the art of sharpening for several years already. I'm great with a knife but just learning how to hone a razor. Well I've taken on my first steps toward better shaving. I got out a round cake of shaving soap that I bought at a local drug store about a year ago. I bought it at the time to travel with and I've used it and it's surprisingly better than the crap in the aerosol cans.

It's called Burma-Shave shaving soap. Today I got my face wet and I rubbed that cake of shaving soap all over my face and shaved with a Gillette Sensor and it worked great. I went up to the corner drug store this afternoon to see if I could find another one or maybe another brand of this shaving soap that they might carry. They had one called "Williams" shaving soap and it came in a really cheap looking box so I didn't buy it until I learned more about it.

But this Burma-Shave soap is noticably better than the stuff in the aerosol cans. I've got 3 questions here. First of all is this stuff I got at least reasonably good quality ( it seems to be).? Second: Is there a brand that can be got at local drug stores or other sources locally that might be available here in the Kansas City MO area? Third: Do you have to use a shaving mug & brush to get optimal results or is just rubbing it on your face sufficient?

Sorry if this is old boring stuff for you well established shaving experts but I am willing to learn and I won't learn unless I ask dumb questions.

Burma Shave is reasonably good.Williams is reasonably good.There are a lot better than both,but it will work to get you going.I think a brush and mug(both of which you can get cheaply)would help you a lot as you can really whip up a nice lather with them.VanDerHagen sells a mug/brush combo in many drugstores.

There's no dumb questions, only dumb answers.
I can't say anything about Burma shave soap but Williams is the old school type most people tried at a time or another. It provides a decent lather with a good brush without breaking the bank (1$ pucks around here...). However, i find it doesn't lubricate and lather quite as well as Proraso or Tabac, which are the ones I use. You can easily find Proraso products at drugstores around here but I'm not too sure about Kansas.

You don't HAVE to use anything special but if efficiency, comfort and shaving quality are worth something to you, I'd pick up an omega boar brush from a drugstore (+/- 10$) and use a ceramic bowl you might have laying around. I find the exfoliating action of the brush critical to the eradication of ingrown hair and just all around better for my skin.

I will eventually start checking out these top notch sources that a lot of you guys get your stuff from. So far I have a Theirs Issard Razor that I got from Garrett Wade about 10 years ago. It's been in my footlocker all this time. I sent it to a guy who sold straight razors out in PHoenix AZ some time back and he told me that it was truly a quality made blade from FRance. I paid about $90 for it. I've also got a Russian boar Razor STrop that I did buy from that guy in Arizona and I paid about $40 for it. It's still in the original packaging and I've yet to use it.

I will check into getting a quality brush and mug when I get me another job ( currently laid off). Because if times get really bad I don't want to be buying those expensive throw away razors.

This is right up my alley because I've been collecting knives, axes, machetes and other edged tools for some time. I already know the basics of sharpening and I'm looking forward to learning razor honing skills. I bet it will even help me with my advanced knife sharpening I've been learning. I am really impressed with this website and this Forum. A really nice bunch of guys so far and the Forums are very educational in all the sectors.

For now I'll just get myself another bar of that Burma Shave unless I can find something local that will work better. I might go talk to a local barber and see what he says. I might be able to get some stuff through him. Tell me more about Shaving Soap. I'm all ears

I can't find Burma Shave around here I may have to look a little harder.

Personally, I CAN NOT get Williams to work well enough for me. I've heard, however, that the old formulation works very well and is tallow based and rose scented

The only other drugstore soap I've tried thus far has been VDH Deluxe. As a matter of fact, I used it exclusively for a while. I've gotta admit, it performed pretty damned well...

I got something called UHD at Wallmart. It comes in a green box. It contains aloe and Shea butter. It is a mile better than the old williams. I like it and it has a nice mild smell. Makes a good lather and seems to lubricate well. It is cheap at less than two dollars.
When you put the lather on it is better if you have a brush and can go against the grain of the wiskers to make them stand up and absorb the moisture. I make circles with mine pushing up against the grain. Mack

Originally Posted by mackie

I got something called UHD at Wallmart. It comes in a green box. It contains aloe and Shea butter. It is a mile better than the old williams. I like it and it has a nice mild smell. Makes a good lather and seems to lubricate well. It is cheap at less than two dollars.
When you put the lather on it is better if you have a brush and can go against the grain of the wiskers to make them stand up and absorb the moisture. I make circles with mine pushing up against the grain. Mack

I usually avoid the Red Chinese owned WalMart like a bad disease>> but I might just go to one close to me just to get some of that shaving soap you mentioned. It sounds like it might be better than my Burma Shave. I found an old shaving brush in my medicine cabinet. It's handle in shamrock green in color and the hair looks like that of a white hog. It's similar to the bristles in a high quality China Bristle paint brush that you use for oil based paints and stains.

We also have a Target store here in the town I live in. I'll see if they have any different shaving soap. I know that the Burma Shave Soap Im using isn't nearly as good as some of the stuff you seasoned professionals use but it's still better than aerosol can shaving cream. I learned that really quick. It was the most comfortable shave I've had in many weeks.

I'm going to do some checking here locally. WE have at least 6 different drug store chains here in my county. And it seems like they all carry different shaving items. I"ll check some of them out too and keep you guys posted as to what I come up with.

if you can find the spare change, there is a soap company here in va that sells a shaveing package of soap, a wooden bowl, and a decent boars hair brush for 20 bucks not including shipping. i myself am getting ready to order from them to try their soap out, they have 2 types of soap, one is olive oil based, the other is glyceren and hemp oil based, that should help you kill two birds with one stone, they are called old dominion soap company, they are on the web.

Originally Posted by wvloony

if you can find the spare change, there is a soap company here in va that sells a shaveing package of soap, a wooden bowl, and a decent boars hair brush for 20 bucks not including shipping. i myself am getting ready to order from them to try their soap out, they have 2 types of soap, one is olive oil based, the other is glyceren and hemp oil based, that should help you kill two birds with one stone, they are called old dominion soap company, they are on the web.

That sounds interesting "wvloony" Either PM me or you can e-mail me at [email protected] the address and contact info for this place. AS soon as I get back to work and get some cash in the drawer I do want to try out that Thiers Issard shaving soap that the other brother is doing a thread on in this section. But I'll try this stuff you're talking about. The price sure is right.

OH well Rome wasn't built in a day and I won't master my new hobby in a day either . But if it's reasonably good stuff for that price I'll maybe get it whirl. JD

Instead of hitting the big chain stores, go to the smaller "mom & pop" stores. They often carry items the big boys don't. You can also check out a beauty supply store for after shave, brushes, and soap. A big coffee mug works well as a shaving mug.