report from an experiment
The main shortcoming (imho) of the scientific community is that negative results don't get published. Here's one to save other folks the time...
Tempted mainly by its smell, I tried lathering up with some Burt's Bees bar soap tonight. It did make a decent lather, but not as thick or full as a proper shave soap. Lubricity was good; better, in fact, than some shaving soaps. Dried out my skin a bit, though.
But then, and here's where we veer sharply from the realm of science, the lather gods caught on to me. They angled my blade a little high on a backhand xtg pass across my chin and it dug in hard, angling it up like a bike whose front brake locked up. Deep cut, much blood, and the only styptic pencil is in my dog's first-aid kit in the car. No telling where that last got used.
So, a little direct pressure and a good few washcloth rinses later, everything's cool.
Anyway, that bar soap doesn't shave as well as it smells.