Thread: Shaving cream or soap?

I have tried Gilette and "Vergulde Hand" (Dutch brand) shaving soap with poor results: lots of skin burn and cuts and they cause a dry skin.
Then moved on to: Palmolive shaving cream with added lanolin for sensitive skin/heavy beard. I liked that but it is no longer for sale in the Netherlands. Have been using Palmolive regular shaving cream for a while. The stuff is not bad but the tubes are crap: after a while they start to leak....
Now I am using Gilette for sensitive skin but don't like it. You need an awful lot for a very poor lather.

Basically I would like to use a shaving soap rather than a cream because I like whipping up a lather but have up to now been disappointed by soaps.

Any suggestions?? I am interested in soap that does the job. The job is no more and no less than a comfortable shave. Lather IMHO serves only 2 purposes: to soften the hairs and to lubricate the skin. I am less interested in its scent because that is something you can correct w/ after-shave.

Any thoughts??

I get a nice lather from using creams and am more than satisfied. You should give it a try. You might like it. C'mon .. the first one's free. You've never had anything like this. You'll feel fantastic.

X - The Shaving Cream Pusher

So far I've only used the William Marvy soap (that comes with Tony's kits) and Prorarso. As of yet, no cremes.

The WM does an alright job. Seems to be able to produce a good fluffy lather, but half the time ends up a little to much on this thin side. Lubrication while shaving is again, alright. Basically I have no complaints, but nothing fantastic to say about soap either.

The Proraso I really like. It's a softer soap but I always can get a really nice lather out of it. Goes on well, lubricates nicely and stays moist long enough that I can really take my time. It also has menthol in it so I get that nice evaporative cooling effect. I kinda like the smell too, a little but minty, similar to vicks vaporub.

I also have a cake of the Williams shave soap that I haven't tried yet.

If you like soaps, don't mess around; get some soap made by either Harris or Truefitt & Hill. It's expensive, but lasts many (5-6) months so the price per shave is still very low.

I'm a soap man myself. I've tried the vulfix cream but thought the scent too chemically and artificial. My favorite soaps are the haslinger from shavmac and Geo Trumper soaps.

I was a die hard soap man, but on the road I use creams because it is so much easier.

I do get a better lather and scent from creams, but I feel more natural and comfortable using soaps. My grew up watching my dad use them and I started using them, so its probably more just habitual than anything.

I still wouldnt want to choose one or the other...it als depends on the scents. The scent of coconut for instance comes out much better in a cream than in a soap.

I like variety, so I use both.


Terry

Give the Tabac Soap a try. You can pick it up from Shavemac.

RT

While I'm not very experienced in soaps, I tried the one they sell at classicshaving for $5 or so. In my limited experience I think it's good.

Kees,

The Tabac is first rate. I love it. Since you are in the Netherlands, you might be able to find also Haslinger, Speick, Joris, Rivivage, D.R. Harris, Geo F. Trumper and maybe some Arko.

Nenad