Anyone else anti-tallow?

[mars]

I've been DE shaving now for about 14 years.

I'm not a fan of tallow-based soaps. I'm not a vegan nor an animal activist. While I do not enjoy the tallow smell that some artisan soaps have, I could tolerate it.

I find that the slickest, closest cutting, and most moisturizing soaps I have tried have not included tallow:

Pre De Provence
Saponificio Varesino
La Toja

Am I alone?

 

[ScottChapin]

Feign the thought. You are alone!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[shavefan]

Definitely not-anti tallow. But I have veggie based soaps that out perform some tallow soaps (and vise versa)

 

[HouseOfChains]

I've tried quite a few soaps but haven't tried the ones you prefer though I think I might have a sample of them.
I'm in the camp that believes a good soap is a good soap regardless if it's tallow or vegan. I do find some tallow soaps have a "fattier" face feel when lathering but it doesn't make it slicker, etc.
One of my favorite artisans (Highland Springs) is vegan and it can hang with any top tier tallow soaps.
I think a lot of guys just think tallow is better by default. It's a total YMMV thing.

 

[mrlandpirate]

my advice

Spoiler

try more soaps

 

[ghostlife]

I only use tallow soap. It is simply the best.

 

[HereticHermit]

A good soap will perform regardless of vegan or animal fat orientation.
But tallow ones that have seem to make the kind of lather that I like personally. I will not seek out vegan soaps because there are more good tallow ones around.

 

[naughtilus]

A new artisan soap in Australia is announced for launch, with soap base using lard. This is the proper base for soap making in Europe for ages, considering that cows were farmed for dairy and pigs for meat.

Give that one a try when it's out.

 

[Little Joe from Mexico]

I only use tallow soap. It is simply the best.

Same here. Coincidentally, I've been at this for over 12 years myself and have recently decided to only use Tallow shaving soaps going forward - both, artisan and mass produced.

 

[HereticHermit]

A new artisan soap in Australia is announced for launch, with soap base using lard.

In terms of storing longevity Lard based soap tend to go bad faster is what I have read on some other forums.

 

[naughtilus]

In terms of storing longevity Lard based soap tend to go bad faster is what I have read on some other forums.

No reason to go bad if it's saponified correctly. Never had lard soap go bad, but they were rock hard bars.

 

[TBoner]

Tallow is not magic. It's just fat. So is lard. The fatty acid profile can be replicated or replaced without a problem. There are unsaponifiables in all fats (but not in pure fatty acids like stearic) that may contribute something to lather, or not, but really, the tallow-or-die thing is silly. There's tallow in a lot of soaps because it's cheap and traditional. Lots of old firms used to buy a bulk soap base and then augment it to make shave soap. Old Trumper labels listed ingredients as "Soap base, shave soap base," which pretty much meant they bought an 80:20 tallow:coconut soap in bulk and added saponified stearic and maybe a touch of additional saponified coconut to it. In a blind test, a well-made veggie soap could not be distinguished from a well-made tallow soap, and the vintage Floris and non-tallowate vintage Taylor soaps bear this out. Floris was making a soap with no tallow when the big English firms all still used it, and it was widely regarded as the top tier.

I use tallow and vegan soaps alike, and if you can tell me what specifically about tallow makes Speick great while also explaining why La Toja lathers like it does without tallow, I'll buy you a frame for your organic chemistry degree.

 

[ackvil]

I have found that tallow based soaps rarely disappoint. However, there are many fine non-tallow soaps.

 

[ghostlife]

if you can tell me what specifically about tallow makes Speick great while also explaining why La Toja lathers like it does without tallow, I'll buy you a frame for your organic chemistry degree.

The issue is the veggie soaps are full of carcinogens and xenoestrogens to make them perform like tallow based soaps

 

[Little Joe from Mexico]

Tallow is not magic. It's just fat. So is lard. The fatty acid profile can be replicated or replaced without a problem. There are unsaponifiables in all fats (but not in pure fatty acids like stearic) that may contribute something to lather, or not, but really, the tallow-or-die thing is silly. There's tallow in a lot of soaps because it's cheap and traditional. Lots of old firms used to buy a bulk soap base and then augment it to make shave soap. Old Trumper labels listed ingredients as "Soap base, shave soap base," which pretty much meant they bought an 80:20 tallow:coconut soap in bulk and added saponified stearic and maybe a touch of additional saponified coconut to it. In a blind test, a well-made veggie soap could not be distinguished from a well-made tallow soap, and the vintage Floris and non-tallowate vintage Taylor soaps bear this out. Floris was making a soap with no tallow when the big English firms all still used it, and it was widely regarded as the top tier.

I use tallow and vegan soaps alike, and if you can tell me what specifically about tallow makes Speick great while also explaining why La Toja lathers like it does without tallow, I'll buy you a frame for your organic chemistry degree.

I don't think there's an argument about tallow being better than non-tallow or vice versa. The discussion is about personally preferring one over the other and why. I've gotten great shaves out of non-tallow soaps, but I don't find them to be as slick and protective as tallow soaps. The difference is not great to me, but it's noticeable.

When I started traditional wet shaving, there were many threads springing up all over the place complaining about many of the great British soap makers changing their formulas to non-tallow versions. Back then I just used what sounded good to me and was affordable, regardless of content. Now, I know what I like best and it has tallow every time. I never tried Speick, but I like La Toja. I have a stick for travel, but I don't like it as much as any of my tallow soaps and I don't think I will buy another.

 

[mars]

I wasn't trying to start a debate or convince anyone else of my tastes. Was just curious. I've done a lot of exploring over the years and just thought it was interesting that I gravitated towards non-tallow soaps. Wondered if anyone else did for performance reasons.

 

[mars]

The issue is the veggie soaps are full of carcinogens and xenoestrogens to make them perform like tallow based soaps

Hahaha.. This is one of the most absurd things I've ever read on this site. And, that's saying a lot.

 

[TBoner]

The issue is the veggie soaps are full of carcinogens and xenoestrogens to make them perform like tallow based soaps

 

[namya]

Certainly not alone - I avoid tallow, animal fat and lard soaps. I am not a vegan or vegetarian and have tried a few in the past but just prefer it this way and have found some great soaps along the way. I can also get to focus more on creams which I like.

 

[Little Joe from Mexico]

I wasn't trying to start a debate or convince anyone else of my tastes. Was just curious. I've done a lot of exploring over the years and just thought it was interesting that I gravitated towards non-tallow soaps. Wondered if anyone else did for performance reasons.

Got it. Same here. I also find it interesting that I have gravitated to tallow soaps. I do have oily skin and can grow a full beard, but my hair is not coarse. I also shave every single day. Maybe some of these things have something to do with our choices.