A report from the dark side.

Well, I did it. I was in a hurry this morning so I reached under my sink and pulled out the can of Gilette Fusion "Hydra Gel" that I got free in the mail seemingly a hundred years ago. Result: Good shave, FAST shave, nice smell, and my face feels pretty good. Now it by no means approaches the best of shaves I've had with soap, but I was pleasantly surprised. I struggle with my lather due to hard water and an arid climate, so I have to admit it was nice to use a product that didn't try to turn to glue on my face and was lightning quick to apply and rinse. So I will be keeping a can of some kind of goo under the sink for those instances when time is of the essence. Am I a heretic now?

PS Anybody have recommendations for a slick, slow-drying shave soap that performs well with hard water?

you may find something here
http://straightrazorpalace.com/soaps...ard-water.html

I wont cooment on the other:p

I live in Salt Lake City, where the water is very hard, and it's very arid too. I've had good experiences with a few of Mama Bear's soaps. But last week, I went to the drug store and bought a bottle of glycerine; eight drops in the mug before whipping up my lather, and wow, what a difference! I assume this will work for most soaps, so you should give it a try-- that crap in the can is too dry, your face will thank you for it.

Yeah, I've done the glycerin thing. What I find works best so far is using distilled water to lather with. It's room temperature, but that's fine. Guess I'll give Tabac a shot. Thanks. I'm still shocked at how well the glop performed.

I confess that when I'm on the road, which is several days a month, I use a small, travel-sized can of spray shaving foam because it is quick and very convenient. It may not be as satisfying, but my morning shave when I travel is more of a "wham-bam, get-it-done" kind of thing, while my daily shave is more of a mellow and relaxed zen-like experience.