I prefer Tallow based soaps but they are not the only soaps that I use. I do respect your opinion though.
Anyone else anti-tallow?
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So far I've only tried aylm and mdc for vegan soaps. I like them both and I will continue to use them, but I prefer my tallow soaps especially for post shave which is important to me. I may try more vegan in the future if I like the scent enough. The only reason I've held on to my abbate is because I like the scent so much.
I’m pro good soap. There are a lot of them, tallow and vegan. I do have a slight preference for tallow. I find them to have very good slickness; my most important quality in a soap. SV is a vegan soap that has the same level of slickness, IMO.
There was some strong pro-tallow sentiment awhile back. I think it stemmed from the formulation switch in the old English house brands (Penhaligon’s, etc.). Tallow was removed and the new soaps were terrible. People generally blamed the decline on the removal of tallow, but more likely they were just bad reformulations.
There was some strong pro-tallow sentiment awhile back. I think it stemmed from the formulation switch in the old English house brands (Penhaligon’s, etc.). Tallow was removed and the new soaps were terrible. People generally blamed the decline on the removal of tallow, but more likely they were just bad reformulations.
I couldn't stop laughing.
With that in mind, I'm anti-anti. Buy what you will, use what you want, and if you don't like something, don't buy it. Variety is the spice of life, and life is good.
I have tallow based as well as vegan based soaps I use interchangeably. I do not see a big difference. Some soaps take longer to load, some take longer to lather, but they all work once you get the lather where you need it.
I think I've been blessed with skin that it isn't sensitive.
A majority of my favorite soaps are tallow, perhaps by coincidence. But there are many excellent non-tallow soaps out there that I’m happy to use.
La Toja, (a non-tallow) is the best performing soap stick I know of.
Interesting thread!!
Most of my favorites are ‘tallow’ based, but I also like some ‘vegan’ soaps. The issue IMHO is that making a top-tier vegan soap is more difficult.
Most of my favorites are ‘tallow’ based, but I also like some ‘vegan’ soaps. The issue IMHO is that making a top-tier vegan soap is more difficult.
Personally i’ve used both and find that both both work well. My problem is if the veg soap has soy, i get this weird burning tingling sensation after applying it. Now my only criteria is that the soap not contain any soy. It’s weird and not exactly pleasant and i’m steering away from soy soaps going forward.
Proraso bought Valobra. I wonder how long before it's reformulated as plant based product.
It doesn’t matter to me. Some of my very favorite soaps are vegan.
Soap commander
Gd janus vegan
Tcheon fung sing
Soap commander
Gd janus vegan
Tcheon fung sing
Soaps that start vegan tend to be good performers. Reformulations from tallow to plant base often dissappoint.
I like tallow soaps, and i also like to eat bacon - my wife is vegan, but I am still a carnivore. Animal fat free soaps are very good, as good as tallow based ones these days. So if someone has an ethical issue with animal fat containing soaps, there are many good choices with out animal fat. They use the same fatty acids coming from a plant instead of an animal (palmitic, stearic, oleic).
I am not "anti-tallow". If anything, history shows that even very cheap tallow soaps are very easy to get it "right".
I respect your opinion and your choice.
Here's the thing, though. They're going to kill those cows anyway so that other people can eat steak, hamburgers, etc. Once they've been killed for their meat, we (humans) can either use the other parts, too, or we can discard them. In my opinion, it's more respectful of the animal if you use the other parts, too. I mean, if you are going to kill a cow, you might as well make good use out of much of it as you can.
I'm not a vegetarian, but even if I were, I would still use tallow soaps. Nobody is killing a cow just to make soap.
I'd be against killing animals solely for the making of soap, but as far as I know that issue hasn't really come up. Otherwise, I'm just against bad shaves, and try to avoid (re-)buying products that tend to lead to irritation and ingrowns. Whether or not the soaps contain tallow doesn't really factor into it. One might even say that's a whole other animal. . . (I'm so sorry!)
I prefer tallow-based in general. Some non-tallows have surprised me though. This thread demonstrates how some folks respond to the titles without reading the OPs or further. 
So far I've found that soaps with shea butter leave my face feeling great, so I've been using those more and more.
The reason that tallow (especially beef tallow and pork tallow/lard) has been used for centuries for producing soaps is that it is a very cheap by product of the meat industry. Tallow is a good source of several fatty acids. However, every one of those fatty acids can also be derived from plant sources. In fact, stearic acid, one of the important components of shaving soap, is found in higher concentrations in Shea butter and cocoa butter than in tallow.
The performance of a shaving soap depends on the blending of various fatty acids. A talented soapmaker can source those ingredients from either animal or vegetable sources to achieve the final result. Thus, there are excellent tallow base soaps and there are excellent vegan based soaps. Likewise, there are some poor quality soaps of both genre.
The performance of a shaving soap depends on the blending of various fatty acids. A talented soapmaker can source those ingredients from either animal or vegetable sources to achieve the final result. Thus, there are excellent tallow base soaps and there are excellent vegan based soaps. Likewise, there are some poor quality soaps of both genre.
My two favorite soaps are tallow based but I really enjoy these 3 veggie soaps and highly recommend them:
Provence Sante Green Tea
Dr Jon's
Soap Commander
Provence Sante Green Tea
Dr Jon's
Soap Commander
Tallow...schmallow!
It ain't what they got, it's how they work. Period!
(unless you're a vegan, then don't touch the stuff with a barge pole!)
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