Originally Posted by
AxelH
Cream filling? That's what you find in an eau claire (sp?), not a lathering bowl! Hydrate a puck? That's weird.. the only puck I've actually applied a literal interpretation of "hydrate a puck" to is j.b. williams mug soap. despite it's long-held slogan of a "famous for its long-lasting lather", due to its many degraded reformulations it's really "Infamous for it's crappy lather!" I immersed it in water once, in an air-tight screw top lid container overnight, then refreshed it a few times with a little water (not immersed) and kept it sealed after use with residual water and gooey goodness on the surface of the puck. All soaps I keep either sealed with whatever moisture they may accrue from use or allowed to air dry for the day (if I didn't bother to close them).
Creams are better for sharing with others (even the softer vegetable oil soaps (glycerin soaps) needed to be melted and in a container that allows for brush loading).
Pucks win hand down for practicality because with less water they are less microbe-friendly and need less preservatives (though parabens are great as skin cell endocrine disruptors if you have a tough beard). They are a heck of a lot more bang for the buck, too. Less microbes and chemical preservatives that go with that problem, more economical/lasts longer. And let's face it: if you're a real man you won't have a problem with simply loading a brush from a puck of soap, especially if you have enough of a mind to use a str8 or DE. Besides, most of us seem to have some wait time moistening the whiskers which we can do while cleaning off the protective oil on the blade and stropping. Splash on some water and/or gentle hand soap, load up brush and develop the shaving lather gives us a head start on the softening prep game.