Are we interested in creams or soaps: Some data from the forum

[ChampagneGary]

When I returned to wet shaving last December after maybe 40 years away, I thought I would be using shaving cream. After all, what else is there? Well, nearly a year later, I have about 20 soaps and only 3 creams (different tubes of TOBS I got cheap and use when traveling). As I'd click on B&B, I always was a bit surprised that the number of viewers of the soap sub-forum seemed almost always higher than the number of cream viewers. As a retired behavioral scientist, I thought it would be easy to quantify this and see if its true. So, here goes.
Method: Data were collected over 14 consecutive days, 1 to 3 times per day (mean= 2.7 times/day). When I checked B&B, I noted the number of viewers listed for the cream and soap sub-forums and entered these numbers into an Excel spreadsheet along with the date & time of observations. I tried to spread out the observations across morning, afternoon, and evening (PDT).

And the results: There is a consistent bias toward viewing the soap threads. In the 38 observations, there were 2068 soap thread views and 750 cream views. The average numbers viewing were 54.4 and 19.7 at each observation for a 2.7:1 bias for soaps. The preference was very consistent, too, with there always being more people viewing soaps than creams.

So, why? I'm sure there are a lot more soaps to choose from than creams (and we generally include croaps in with creams). But, I have a real preference for soaps and it's hard to say why. Performance? Physical characteristics (scent, appearance, lathering)? Jars vs tubes?

While data on the number of viewers tells us about our interest, it doesn't necessarily tell us about whether, as a group, we prefer or use soaps more than creams. But there are data on that in the "What's your soap/cream for today" threads. The soap & cream threads were created within 6 days of each other in July 2012. Briefly, 66, 892 posts were made in soaps and only 23,221 in creams (an average of 57.3 & 20 per day). The ratio of posts & views of the post is around 2.8:1.

Clearly, we love our soaps.

 

[AvariCe]

You may find these results interesting.

 

[GoneRetroInOH]

My theory would be that B&B is a self-selecting population of do-it-yourselfers. They have often chucked the use of convenient mainstream products and reverted to more traditional ones that require a little effort. Soap preference may be an extension of that. With soaps you start from a most compact dry product from which to raise lather. Creams are worked in a similar manner but they have modes of storage, such as sealed tubs and tubes, that may seem a bit closer to mainstream. The minimal packaging and storage requirements of soaps allow for easier entry into the market, thence the variety of manufactured and artisan soaps.
Additionally, there are some elder members who remember DE products being used by fathers and grandfathers in pre-cartridge times. Often a part of that recollection is the soap mug and brush that sat in the bathroom somewhere. At some point in the hobby, there is a predisposition toward duplicating that.

 

[BigJ]

You may find these results interesting.

THANKS. Really interesting.

My takeaway is that my preferences (face lathering soaps) are very mainstream here. Out of the ordinary anywhere else!

 

[ackvil]

My informal observation has been that many new shavers start off using creams because of the ease of lathering but branch out because of the variety, durability, and scents of soaps.

 

[AvariCe]

THANKS. Really interesting.

My takeaway is that my preferences (face lathering soaps) are very mainstream here. Out of the ordinary anywhere else!

We're a bunch of weirdos here, after all.

My informal observation has been that many new shavers start off using creams because of the ease of lathering but branch out because of the variety, durability, and scents of soaps.

I preferred creams when I started because I found it easier to load the brush as well as lather with it.

 

[mike_the_kraken]

You may find these results interesting.

Good stuff there, thanks for posting.

One thing I'd like to see is a measure of product availability. Are there simply more choices in soaps vs. creams? Secondly is there a correlation between first exposure and preferred technique (e.g., tried face lathering first, and prefers face lathering currently).

 

[fightingillini22]

Good stuff there, thanks for posting.

One thing I'd like to see is a measure of product availability. Are there simply more choices in soaps vs. creams? Secondly is there a correlation between first exposure and preferred technique (e.g., tried face lathering first, and prefers face lathering currently).

In my non-scientific personal observations, I have noticed that a lot of beginners tend to bowl lather creams. As they gain experience, they branch out into soaps and also into face lathering. I also started as a bowl latherer but now exclusively face lather. I have no explanation, except that maybe it's assumed it's easier to judge a lather based on looks when you're starting out?

 

[jjking54]

Started with creams ... Thought I'd never change.

Now I own exactly zero creams.

Thought I'd always bowl lather too ... Now I only face lather

 

[mdevine]

Like many others, I mostly used creams initially due to ease of use. Once I tried a couple of well made soaps, I found that I preferred that to the creams (I tended to get a slicker, more dense lather with soaps and a puck of soaps tended to be a better value as they tend to last much longer than a tub of cream). For the past five years, I used soaps for all but a handful of my shaves. I recently picked up a couple tubs of Art of Shaving Lavender Shave Cream (b Glowing had it on sale at $6.25 a tub and, as AOS soaps are the best I've tried, I had to try the cream at that price). The AOS cream compares with the best of my soaps, and I'm tempted to buy more if I ever find it at that price again. The AOS kelp shave cream is $10, and despite having at least five years worth of soaps and creams, I'm considering it.

 

[AbbyW2]

As a "behavioral scientist" myself, I'd like to point out that the OP seems to be making the classic error of conflating correlation with causation.

If, indeed, there is musculoskeletal more discussion of soap than of cream, it mostly means that there is more interest in discussing soap than in discussing cream.

it could be that more members have a daily driver cream or two that suits them, but curiosity about soaps. I consider myself a cream man, but I have narrowed my rotation down to two. But I am actually an über lather user so I am using soaps everyday and keep 8 or so in rotation while always looking out for the next to try.

Of course, it's a far worse behavioral science error to consider oneself representative. So let's stick to resting simple facts as simple.

 

[EternalBachelor]

I like the ease of creams, but for me, it comes down to one thing. Soaps tend to last longer than their cream counterparts, so I'll pick soap over cream when given the choice. I'll admit, there is also something aesthetically pleasing about using a puck of soap as well, all though cream is convenient both in that it is easy to create lather with it and you don't have to dig up a container for it either.

 

[mike_the_kraken]

I started with creams, but ease of use for a croap is pretty stellar( and very, very close to a cream).

 

[stoof2010]

I started with both creams and soaps and bowl lathering.
Now I have 2/3 soap and 1/3 cream in my den. Mostly use soaps. I also still use a bowl for creams, but have face lathered them. For me it's the added benefit of face lathering to condition beard which is why I started and continue that... shaves just seem better.
That said, soaps do offer more variety as well as there seems to generally be more available with the rise in artisan makers.
Super and Uber lathers will always have their place.
I'm still fairly new (1 year today!!!) But I've settled on my favorites that just happen to be some of the cheapest stuff. Arko, Palmolive stick. I still use my other 50 soaps/creams, but those two are like an old friend that I can trust for a great shave.

 

[Downing]

I started off with bowl lathering with soaps, switched to creams and have never looked back. My preferred brush, the Kent BLK8, is a large, very soft brush, and I found it was much easier and quicker to get a good lather with creams. I've face lathered a few times but don't really care for it. I enjoy the process of whipping it up in a bowl more.

It's fairly obvious that soaps are more popular. There's been an explosion lately of soap makers. Everybody and his brother is getting into the action. Creams, not so much, but there are plenty of makers out there so I know creams aren't going anywhere.

 

[SuperChris]

I use both soaps and creams and almost always bowl lather.