Are we ripping ourselves off?

[Howie]

Serious question.

If one stops at the beauty section of any drug store and looks at the moisturizing soaps that promise this, that, and whatever else, would not these be good or even excellent shaving soaps? Most, if not all, claim to moisturize, and firm up skin. After all, they are soaps, right? They leave a slick film when lathered, and I would assume they would all be able to lather well. They are readily available, come in 4 oz sizes or bigger, and are reasonably priced.

What do all these "artisan" or "boutique" soaps claim to have better and distinguishing than the types that I've just described?

When my small stash of soaps dwindles, I for one will try these moisturizing beauty soaps.

 

[lowjax]

From what I have seen, these soaps do not lather well. They make thin and watery lather w/out much cushion at all. That said, it's nothing new. People have been using bath soap to shave with for decades.

 

[4freek]

Interesting you mention this,
I was in the dollar store the other day and noticed a tallow based goat milk soap
Now I have no idea what some of the last ingredients do but I bought a 2 pack for $1.50 for the shower to try.
I was surprised at how amazing it lathered and how close the ingredients are to a shave soap.

Ingredients
Sodium Tallowate,
Sodium Cocoate
Aqua
Glycerin
Caprae Lac (goat milk)
Parfum
Sodium Cloride
Tetrasodium EDTA
DMDM Hydantion
Titanium dioxide
Hexyl Cinnamal
Linalool
Benzyl Salicylate
Butylphenyl Methylpropional
Limonene
Benzyl Benzoate

 

[ackvil]

There is a difference between facial and shaving soaps. One starting off point is to see the difference between the two as explained in the wiki section. As I understand it shaving soaps contain oils that give a protective lather than permits the razor to cut your beard without damaging your skin. Also, shaving soaps produce a far thicker lather that maintains sufficient moisture so that it does not dry out or your skin. Facial soaps, on the other hand, produce a thinner lather that do not provide sufficient protection for your skin.

You can use shaving soap to clean your face and neck but, IMO, you should not use facial soaps to shave with.

 

[Howie]

4freek: I haven't scrutinized the ingredient lists from my "proper" shaving soaps, but I would bet that many of these ingredients would be in common with what you bought.

 

[Cacique]

Soap is pretty much the same thing, something that lathers, and many soaps have similar ingredients. The difference I think would be in how much of what ingredient is in the soap. Having more of certain ingredients would be what makes the shaving soap have a thicker, protective lather that glide easily, rather than just watery, soapy suds on you.

 

[Jefebadskin]

One of my friends shaves with some Nivea product not intended for shaving. There are just some lucky jerks out there that can shave with Ajax and a Brillo pad and have no problems. I'm not one of them.

 

[AABCDS]

Having a good, irriation-free shave is worth more than the savings of buying and using soap not specifically meant for shaving.

 

[Pedro Navaja]

Yes and no. We are ripping ourselves in that we continue to pay more and more for shaving soap and all the wonderful scents and mixes that are out there. But shaving with regular soap ain't it. I've tried it and sure enough I'm not looking forward to do so again. Itchy and dry. I actually think shaving soap is one of the better deals when it comes to personal care. There are plenty of inexpensive soaps out there that are great and will last you for a long time to be worried with this.

 

[Mandina]

So many really, really nice shaving soaps are so cheap per shave that any such savings are arguably quite insignificant, even for those of us who have to be reasonably careful with our spending. My lathers with soaps like Cella, Tabac, Pre de Provence, Klar Kabinett, and inexpensive sticks like La Toja provide a bit of luxury to my life at a budget price. I save much more by taking my own lunch to the office.

 

[ouch]

Well, you convinced me- we're all wrong. Time to close up shop. Nice knowin' you guys.

 

[inspiringK]

It can't really be a ripoff, I know many of those beauty soaps cost way more than a stick of Arko.

I have tried non-shaving soaps a few times, anything from special linseed oil soaps, to Pears, ect. even tried Irish Spring once. They can all get the job done, but really cannot be mistaken for shaving soaps. They all lacked at on or all of these: ability to create stable lather, provide sufficient slickness, provide protection, and/or provide a decent after shave feel.

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

I buy an artisan shaving soap made at Carden Farms here in NC. It is a glycerine based soap and works quite well. He is always at the NC State Fair every year, as well as selling it online for folks that don't get to the Fair. One of his shaving soap pucks fills up an Old Spice mug to the top.

It costs $6 as of last year (the Fair runs Oct 17-27 this year, so I have not seen him yet) and I get a year and a half out of a puck shaving once a day with two passes. I honestly don't know how much less expensive shaving soap can get.

Well, I did pick up 17 pucks of vintage Oster tallow shave soap for $3 a puck on eBay a few months back, but that was an oddball situation.

Stan

 

[Viseguy]

There is a difference between facial and shaving soaps. One starting off point is to see the difference between the two as explained in the wiki section. As I understand it shaving soaps contain oils that give a protective lather than permits the razor to cut your beard without damaging your skin. Also, shaving soaps produce a far thicker lather that maintains sufficient moisture so that it does not dry out or your skin. Facial soaps, on the other hand, produce a thinner lather that do not provide sufficient protection for your skin.

You can use shaving soap to clean your face and neck but, IMO, you should not use facial soaps to shave with.

Mark well these wise words. (Thought this would be nicer than a plain old "+1". )

 

[Howie]

Also, shaving soaps produce a far thicker lather that maintains sufficient moisture so that it does not dry out or your skin. Facial soaps, on the other hand, produce a thinner lather that do not provide sufficient protection for your skin.

^^^ This certainly is debatable.

For example, I can produce a "thin soup" by just swirling my brush a few times over a William's cake a then try to face lather with it. Would it be a thick enough lather? No.

Could a "beauty bar" be used to produce a thick and rich lather? I don't know yet. Looking for responses from folks who had success in doing so.

 

[bluesman 7]

Serious question.

If one stops at the beauty section of any drug store and looks at the moisturizing soaps that promise this, that, and whatever else, would not these be good or even excellent shaving soaps? Most, if not all, claim to moisturize, and firm up skin. After all, they are soaps, right? They leave a slick film when lathered, and I would assume they would all be able to lather well. They are readily available, come in 4 oz sizes or bigger, and are reasonably priced.

What do all these "artisan" or "boutique" soaps claim to have better and distinguishing than the types that I've just described?

When my small stash of soaps dwindles, I for one will try these moisturizing beauty soaps.

Funny I had this same thought two days ago. We have very hard water and I use RO water for my shaving soaps. We use a bath soap called Kirk's Castle that lathers well in hard water. I read the ingredients and they looked pretty good. I worked up a lather with my brush and RO water for a fair comparison. Lots of lather but it was very airy with zero cushion.

 

[Cacique]

Bath soap is meant to bubble airy, pull the dirt off and onto the suds and off they go. I don't think you'd be able to get a lather from a bath soap close to a shaving soap. Having soupy thin lather sounds to me like an issue with too much water. Have you tried less water? If not another cheap soap or cream?

 

[ackvil]

Bath soap is meant to bubble airy, pull the dirt off and onto the suds and off they go. I don't think you'd be able to get a lather from a bath soap close to a shaving soap. Having soupy thin lather sounds to me like an issue with too much water. Have you tried less water? If not another cheap soap or cream?

My thoughts, also. I can get a decent lather with Williams if I work it enough.

I wish one of the soap makers would weigh in with some words of wisdom.

 

[aihpcfl]

Most here are shaving with what makes the most sense to them in terms of quality, performance, and cost. If you get quality and performance from a lesser priced bath or face soap, go for it.

 

[Viseguy]

Could a "beauty bar" be used to produce a thick and rich lather? I don't know yet. Looking for responses from folks who had success in doing so.

This is not one of those responses. I've tried getting a shaving lather out of Ivory and MWF bath bars. The results were unsatisfactory. The best way to find out is to try it yourself.