Bar soap vs canned shaving cream

[Ad Astra]

If the bar soap is this Mogno, you're in for great shaves!

Though Mongo still feels confused.


AA

 

[GR5233]

If I had a bar of Stirling’s bath soap with me I’d probably use that. But I’d probably use a canned foam or gel over most other bars of bath soap

 

[Knuckleballer]

I’ve tried Dove bar soap a few times and it doesn’t provide a very comfortable shave at all. Nowhere near enough slickness. Very tuggy and irritates my skin. Barbasol is not bad at all, I can get a much better shave with that especially if I mix it with some water in a lathering bowl and apply it with a synthetic brush that won’t absorb all the foam.

 

[musicman1951]

Interesting question. Since I've never tried shaving with bar soap I don't have a valid opinion. My guess would probably be canned goo, but one of these days I'll have to try the bar soap shave.

 

[frbock]

So, I do have a can of Gillete Foamy. There's only so many days in a row I can go with the shaving soap (TOBS, Noble Otter) without my face reacting. It's kind of the reset day.

 

[Mempho]

Considering the shipload of soap I'm hoarding, this is a ridiculously hypothetical question, like, "Is it possible to shave inside a Black Hole?"

 

[Old Hippie]

I've used Yardley Wild Rose and Yardley English Lavender many times over and had excellent shaves with both.

I get Yardley's Oatmeal and Almond here in a 2-pack for about $7. I cut a bar in half and drop half in my mug like a puck. I get pretty good shaves with it -- I tend to wait to buy new ingredients for another batch of my shaving soap until I'm ready to make more, so having a bar of Yardley around is handy.

O.H.

 

[amdamsky]

I've tried lathering with my hand soap of choice a couple times (Imperial Leather) and I've found it doesnt really work. It builds up ok, but it dries out very quickly. So for that reason I'd have to go for canned stuff. My go to canned stuff is actually Arko, and its one with hemp oil, which helps sooth the face just a little, plus its actually fairly cheap as canned stuff goes (£1.99)

 

[bdehne]

Barbasol.

 

[Steve56]

If the bar soap is this Mogno, you're in for great shaves!

Though Mongo still feels confused.


AA

Everyone knows that this is Alex Karras, the former NFL (American) football player, who along with his wife, were pretty good character actors. He was also the antagonist sheriff Wallace in ‘Porky’s’.

And gents’ if you havent watched Porky’s, you need to.

I’d post a YT link to the principal’s office scene, but would probably get pulled, after the mods stopped laughing.

 

[5whiskey]

Barbasol isn't that bad if you cut it with a dab of warm water.

 

[Chandu]

I can easy get a decent shave with canned foam but I highly value slickness and I have never seen canned foam with that level of slickness.

So my choice would be bar soap.

 

[Owen Bawn]

I really enjoy using canned foam once in a while. I particularly like the Noxzema in the white can. That traditional camphor scent gets me right here. It's been discontinued, I'm sad to say. I wet my face, and rub whatever bar or liquid soap is at hand onto my beard. I rinse a little bit off, and apply a little bit of foam over the soap film. A terrific shave. Probably use foam once or twice a month.

 

[bdehne]

I answered "Barbasol" to this question. This question and similar questions have come up many times over the years but this time, after I thought about how I answered, I realized I had never really tried bar soap with the exception of my home made bar soap once. So, yesterday, I had nothing important to do so I thought, why not? I had several bar soaps available but decided to use Yardley Frosted Cranberry.

Razor: Rex Ambassador, 2.5 WTG, 1.5 XTG (jaw line only) and ATG.
Blade: 7'Oclock Sharp Edge (2)
Brush: Semogue Boar
A/S: Old Spice

It was a new bar just out of the box so I decided to simply hold the bar in my hand, load the brush then face lather, adding a little water along the way. Lather built quickly and felt plenty slick in my hand. I built what looked like a decent lather and went to work.

The first pass with the grain felt just fine minus some cushion that my usual shave soaps provide. It seemed to be plenty slick but the lather did tend to dissipate quickly. Despite the dissipation of the lather, it remained slick enough to shave.

I wanted to make sure it was a fair trial so I did my usual 2 passes on neck and face with a third pass on the jaw line.

The end result was a comfortable shave, just a few weepers that rinsed away and a solid DFS finish.

Observations:

• Easy to lather
• Not much scent. As another member mentioned, lathering with this soap did not have as much scent as I would notice when washing with the same soap. Still, enough scent to be pleasant.
• The lather is plenty slick but dissipates quickly. Even after the lather dissipated, it was still slick enough for a decent shave.
• Not much cushion, probably due to the dissipation of the lather.
• Immediate post shave feel was good. I did my usual warm water rinse followed by a cold water rinse then a splash of Witch Hazel.
• The Old Spice gave a bit more sting than normal.
• About an hour after the shave, my face felt a bit tight but that feeling disappeared after a couple of hours. This might be a drying soap if I used it daily.

Conclusions:

• If I was to try this again, I would only lather a quarter of my face at a time. I think this would preserve the lather long enough to provide a bit more cushion and prevent the weepers I had.
• I think loading from the bar in my hand may have not provided all the soap had to give. Perhaps lathering in a mug or bowl would be better.
• In a pinch, I believe Yardley soap is good enough to get a decent shave.
• I still prefer my other shave soaps to be sure. Arko is cheap and provides far more cushion and is slicker but then, I am sure we already knew that.
• All in all, it was fun to experiment.