The value of soap and lather...

[musicman1951]

Welcome to B&B!

Blades are a very YMMV thing. You need to find the blade that is a good marriage between your face/beard and technique. If you're near the start of DE shaving you may find that the perfect blade today is not necessarily the perfect blade for 6 months from today.

I prefer some soaps over others, but I can get a fine shave from just about any soap. I strongly suspect that your years of experience with Proraso are the reason it worked better than the new soap. It usually takes me a few days to hit that perfect ratio of soap to water with a new soap. The first day it might be pretty good, but just a tad too thick. The second day, of course, it's pretty good but a tad to thin. I eventually find the sweet spot. They are not all the same and they won't all produce exactly the same shave - or why would we have so many choices - but it may be worth a little more experimenting before you dump a soap. There is no rule against test lathers either, so experiment away.

 

[Rapt_up]

I strongly suspect that your years of experience with Proraso are the reason it worked better than the new soap. It usually takes me a few days to hit that perfect ratio of soap to water with a new soap.

Thanks! And yes I agree, so far the only soap I have rejected are based on scents. SW Carpathia, and B&M Death and War. Not so much my thing.
Have definitely noticed that it can take a few runs at a soap to get the right consistency. And that some (most?) of the artisan soaps take a lot more water than I had been using with Proraso.

 

[steveclarkus]

Well today I had my first lesson in the value of good soap and lather. I regularly use Proraso and have been for years with my cartridge razors since its easily available in my area and I've never had an issue with it. But since I started with a DE razor I thought why not explore other options.
I posted elsewhere about trying my first blade samples and I was highly disappointed that the Nacet blades didn't seem to perform as well as the less recognized Wilkinson Sword (german) blades I had been using.
At the same time I had received some soap samples and was trying one of them. It seemed to be making a good lather and spreading on my face well, but the shave felt much worse and I had been blaming the blades. Today I switched back to my usual Proraso and a new Nacet blade...Presto back to the shaves, as good or better than I had been getting before. Smooth, easy, and nice and close...
Lesson learned.
Soap matters, and only change ONE thing at a time when trying something new... I know its been said many times, but I guess it bears repeating and I am proof of why.

My sentiments exactly! I tried ARKO a few years back and that has been my soap ever since. When something works, just keep at it

 

[Rapt_up]

I know razors get all the attention especially with folks new to wet shaving, but really I think if a new wet shaver wants to make the biggest difference in their shave they should get a good brush and one of the many fine soaps out there.

The RR 400 makes lathering so much easier, faster and gives better combination of scrubbing and softness for painting for me than my previous pharmacy Omega boar brushes and for barely any more money, if you can find one on sale or second hand. Just do it!

 

[know1special]

I know razors get all the attention especially with folks new to wet shaving, but really I think if a new wet shaver wants to make the biggest difference in their shave they should get a good brush and one of the many fine soaps out there.

The RR 400 makes lathering so much easier, faster and gives better combination of scrubbing and softness for painting for me than my previous pharmacy Omega boar brushes and for barely any more money, if you can find one on sale or second hand. Just do it!

Couldn't possibly agree more.

Making an effective lather absolutely lays the groundwork for an effective shave and without it you're probably headed for a bad time.

 

[Rapt_up]

Couldn't possibly agree more.

Making an effective lather absolutely lays the groundwork for an effective shave and without it you're probably headed for a bad time.

Exactly! Its been fascinating to me that I do everything the same, and change the lather only (either by technique or by the brush used) and get a significantly better shave. Without that effective lather, you're going to experience discomfort. I can and have shaved without any soap or lather, and it is VERY unpleasant. As this thread mentions at the start, even with good equipment the wrong lather, or not enough of it, can change the whole experience.

@AimlessWanderer has produced a guide that is a huge help and promotes a much wetter lather than I think many people use, and that lets one feel things much better, and that lather can be created and still be very slick if you use the right tools.

The improvement gains in brush and soap are so much more bang for the buck than in razors. At least thats my experience so far.