jackgoldman123
Boring and predictable
I am fairly certain anything touching the skin will be absorbed/adsorbed.
Canned Foam
- Thread starter razorhead63
- Start date
I think anything topical such as shave cream in can form is not enough to harm anyone, I think it would have been known by now the bad effects it would have.
Nothing mythical. Tabac, Speick, and Palmolive hard soaps.
I enjoy an occasional Proraso canned foam shave. It works great, but I hate storing cans vs. tubes which work great even without a brush.
As far as the ingredient debate goes, the sun is exponentially more dangerous to your face than any allowed ingredient. If I were to focus on skin health, it would consist of constantly applying sunscreen religiously and wearing larger brimmed hats. I am trying to do better in that respect.
As far as the ingredient debate goes, the sun is exponentially more dangerous to your face than any allowed ingredient. If I were to focus on skin health, it would consist of constantly applying sunscreen religiously and wearing larger brimmed hats. I am trying to do better in that respect.
If you are talking molecularly stable yes. BUT...try to keep it in a liquid form at room temp. It is NOT stable as a liquid at atmospheric pressure and room temp. Therefore it flashes off. I guess would have been better served to say it is a volatile substance.
jackgoldman123
Boring and predictable
then maybe the propane in the can?
Like I said earlier
Now here's an interesting point. When was butane first used in aerosol shave foam? Was it in the mid-50s or was CFC then used? If it was originally CFC when did the formulations switch to butane?
My guess is they used whatever was cheapest, or best for a specific use, such as medical inhalers. The aerosol can, as we all know, was invented during WW2, but I doubt they used flammable gases, as they would be transported on military aircraft and ships with lots of explosives aboard. So that formulation probably would have continued initially.
When I was preparing to fly out of China, I had a an aerosol can, a travel size high-end shave cream, and I thought it would be nice to take along. The airline said no aerosol cans with butane, etc., but I couldn't decipher the contents of the can. So I took it into the bathroom with a lighter, sprayed the aerosol and lit the lighter. I suddenly was holding a blowtorch with a four foot flame. No, I would not call butane "stable."
Can you carry a can of shave cream on a flight, perhaps a small one? Even if you can, don't. Or any other aerosol that might be flammable. If the plane crashes and it's your fault, that could really ruin your day.
Aside from that, I consider aerosol shave cream safe to use on my face, as long as I'm not smoking while shaving.
The isobutane is already a gas, and it will likely evaporate from the foam and dissipate quickly. Look at your can of shave cream. Consider how many months it lasts. Visualize the amount of foam you use for a shave, what it weighs (which is virtually nothing), and what portion of that is isobutane.
Oddly enough, Barbasol extra has isobutane as the third ingredient, while Walmart Equate has it as the fourth ingredient, yet Equate seems to have more propellant.
But if the isobutane bothers you, perhaps you could try shaving with whipped cream, which uses nitrous oxide. I'm considering trying a sugar-free variety. Anyone try this? It looks a lot like shaving cream to me.
FYI: Aerosol Spray - used, body, uses, CFCs Blamed for Ozone Layer Depletion - http://www.discoveriesinmedicine.com/A-An/Aerosol-Spray.html
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I guess this is a good time to come out of the closet, and admit that I like canned shaving cream. Walmart Equate is my favorite, but I also use Barbasol regular and extra moisturizer, particularly with aggressive razors/blades.
The key is to shake the can WELL! With Equate, you can feel the contents moving around and can tell when it is mixed, after at least 10 seconds, maybe 20. If you don't shake it every time, the foam will be watery half way through the can. And the stuff that comes out the first few days is rather dry. If you look at Youtube, most don't even shake the can once before passing judgement in their "review," though I did see one guy shake it for about 10 seconds, rather apologetically.
Some say foam isn't slick enough. I don't think that's true of Barbasol, especially extra moisturizer, which has lanolin. Equate is lighter, which I like because I can better assess blade angle and pressure, but I sometimes smear a little glycerin soap on my face first. Slickness problem solved.
Among the advantages of foam: You don't have to worry about hard water inhibiting lather from shaving soap. And if you are living in a hot, humid area, such as Louisiana in the summer or India in monsoon, you don't have to deal with a perpetually damp shaving brush, which may harbor staph or other nasty stuff. (You could try rotating three brushes, in this case.) Foam quality is consistent, so you can better assess the performance of your razor and blades.
I have become distrustful of the products in the shaving section of supermarkets and chain drug stores. They seem to be selected more on profit margin than quality. They do not have any shaving soap I would buy, or anything else, besides canned shave cream. And out in the boonies, that's about all there is.
Why do some people detest foam? Some foam is not so good. About 20 years ago I had to go on a business trip to Manhattan on short notice. I grabbed a change of clothes and my razor and headed to town. I discovered I had forgotten my shaving cream. The only thing the Duane Reade had was Barbasol, which I had already discovered years before to be atrocious. Reluctantly, I bought a can. If anything, it had gotten worse: all air and no lubrication. And yet Barbasol sold like this for many years. So no wonder people had a low opinion of canned foam.
Now, of course, Barbasol is incredibly thick and very effective, the opposite of what it had been. I presume someone bought the company and turned things around. Anyone know the story?
For many years, Walmart's house brands led the race to the bottom on quality. But finally they got smart, and now Walmart's house brands are actually better than a lot of the name brands, which have continued to cut quality in favor of profits. The formulation of Equate shave foam is smart, not too thick, not too thin, so it works well with cartridges, I presume, but also works with DE razors, as long as you shake it WELL.
I've got shaving soap I like, some fine silvertip brushes, and I've been experimenting with hand soaps: I love Dove. But I am not going to buy on spec any more fancy shaving soaps; I've been disappointed to many times.
The big advantage of shaving soap is if you don't wash your face first. Guys who go to barbers for shaves, such as in India, do not wash with soap and warm water first. So the shaving soap must do the washing for them. In America, hot and cold running water was not common until maybe the 1930s. So shaving soap was doing dual duty: soap and lubricant.
Times have changed, folks! Foam, for most people, doesn't have to stand in for soap and water, so the formula can be less soapy -- less alkaline, which results in less razor burn. However, that could be the other reason for the prejudice against foam: Some people just put it on a dry face and proceed directly to scraping away. This is not good!
If you haven't washed first, at least splash your face with water first, preferably a few minutes before shaving. Then you could let the foam stand on your face for two minutes or so to moisten your whiskers before shaving.
As we know, your whiskers need time to soften, and washing your face is good prep for shaving. But not everyone knows this. The advantage of cartridge razors is it enables them to get away with bad technique: Just apply foam and shave. No wonder their expensive cartridges only last a few shaves.
Shaving foam works just fine with a good razor and an above average blade. A lot of the blades I read that people like, I do not like. I wonder if shaving soap helps mediocre blades work better, vs. foam? Foam is a good, consistent way to test a new blade.
In short: Foam is fine, provided you use it correctly.
The key is to shake the can WELL! With Equate, you can feel the contents moving around and can tell when it is mixed, after at least 10 seconds, maybe 20. If you don't shake it every time, the foam will be watery half way through the can. And the stuff that comes out the first few days is rather dry. If you look at Youtube, most don't even shake the can once before passing judgement in their "review," though I did see one guy shake it for about 10 seconds, rather apologetically.
Some say foam isn't slick enough. I don't think that's true of Barbasol, especially extra moisturizer, which has lanolin. Equate is lighter, which I like because I can better assess blade angle and pressure, but I sometimes smear a little glycerin soap on my face first. Slickness problem solved.
Among the advantages of foam: You don't have to worry about hard water inhibiting lather from shaving soap. And if you are living in a hot, humid area, such as Louisiana in the summer or India in monsoon, you don't have to deal with a perpetually damp shaving brush, which may harbor staph or other nasty stuff. (You could try rotating three brushes, in this case.) Foam quality is consistent, so you can better assess the performance of your razor and blades.
I have become distrustful of the products in the shaving section of supermarkets and chain drug stores. They seem to be selected more on profit margin than quality. They do not have any shaving soap I would buy, or anything else, besides canned shave cream. And out in the boonies, that's about all there is.
Why do some people detest foam? Some foam is not so good. About 20 years ago I had to go on a business trip to Manhattan on short notice. I grabbed a change of clothes and my razor and headed to town. I discovered I had forgotten my shaving cream. The only thing the Duane Reade had was Barbasol, which I had already discovered years before to be atrocious. Reluctantly, I bought a can. If anything, it had gotten worse: all air and no lubrication. And yet Barbasol sold like this for many years. So no wonder people had a low opinion of canned foam.
Now, of course, Barbasol is incredibly thick and very effective, the opposite of what it had been. I presume someone bought the company and turned things around. Anyone know the story?
For many years, Walmart's house brands led the race to the bottom on quality. But finally they got smart, and now Walmart's house brands are actually better than a lot of the name brands, which have continued to cut quality in favor of profits. The formulation of Equate shave foam is smart, not too thick, not too thin, so it works well with cartridges, I presume, but also works with DE razors, as long as you shake it WELL.
I've got shaving soap I like, some fine silvertip brushes, and I've been experimenting with hand soaps: I love Dove. But I am not going to buy on spec any more fancy shaving soaps; I've been disappointed to many times.
The big advantage of shaving soap is if you don't wash your face first. Guys who go to barbers for shaves, such as in India, do not wash with soap and warm water first. So the shaving soap must do the washing for them. In America, hot and cold running water was not common until maybe the 1930s. So shaving soap was doing dual duty: soap and lubricant.
Times have changed, folks! Foam, for most people, doesn't have to stand in for soap and water, so the formula can be less soapy -- less alkaline, which results in less razor burn. However, that could be the other reason for the prejudice against foam: Some people just put it on a dry face and proceed directly to scraping away. This is not good!
If you haven't washed first, at least splash your face with water first, preferably a few minutes before shaving. Then you could let the foam stand on your face for two minutes or so to moisten your whiskers before shaving.
As we know, your whiskers need time to soften, and washing your face is good prep for shaving. But not everyone knows this. The advantage of cartridge razors is it enables them to get away with bad technique: Just apply foam and shave. No wonder their expensive cartridges only last a few shaves.
Shaving foam works just fine with a good razor and an above average blade. A lot of the blades I read that people like, I do not like. I wonder if shaving soap helps mediocre blades work better, vs. foam? Foam is a good, consistent way to test a new blade.
In short: Foam is fine, provided you use it correctly.
I have been rocking the Equate Sensitive and Barbasol Original for a solid month now, no longer using a brush and not missing it one bit. I like using a pea-size of Cremo rubbed in as a pre-shave, it makes everything super slick, comfy, with a heavenly post-shave feel that rivals the “fancy” stuff.
jackgoldman123
Boring and predictable
If I had to use canned foam, SMN for me.
I like using Cremo first too to get the extra slickness and then adding Barbasol or Harry's Gel on top - works great with my Fatboy and a Nacet blade.
jackgoldman123
Boring and predictable
Now I'm interested in the canned foam - but here is an alternative. Ingredients are nice too.
- Water
- Potassium Palmitate
- Potassium Stearate
- Glycerin
- Potassium Cocoate
- Potassium Olivate
- Fragrance
- Goat Milk
- Viola Tricolor Extract
- Sweet Almond Fruit Extract
- Alcohol
- Sodium Palmitate
- Sodium Stearate
- Sodium Cocoate
- Sodium Olivate
- Magnesium Sulfate
- Sodium Silicate
- Potassium Hydroxide
- Sodium Citrate
- Limonene
- Linalool
- Citronellol
- Geraniol
I have found products heavy in Palm Oil (2nd on list above) to be plenty slick, but are very drying for me. Most of the Gillette canned stuff is like this so I don’t even bother. Barbasol and Equate contain no Palm Oil whatsoever.
Still, the above product could be good, but I don’t mess with anything heavy in Palm Oil, way too drying in my experience, even in the soap sector as well.
I have used kmf as a pre shave which also works good with barbasol
Now I'm thinking of using my Barbasol 100th Anniversary foam for tomorrow's shave.
Had to rush out this AM but needed to shave
Found a can of Barbasol while packing for Canada that my wife had for crafts.
Decided to use it (I tried the CaD soap and found I like the Barbasol homage)
I cant remember last time I used canned foam. Even when I used a cartridge I used gel
Was pleasantly surprised with how slick and smooth it was
Don't think I'll trade in my 15 soaps and 25 brushes but I honestly could use it and be satisfied
Found a can of Barbasol while packing for Canada that my wife had for crafts.
Decided to use it (I tried the CaD soap and found I like the Barbasol homage)
I cant remember last time I used canned foam. Even when I used a cartridge I used gel
Was pleasantly surprised with how slick and smooth it was
Don't think I'll trade in my 15 soaps and 25 brushes but I honestly could use it and be satisfied
The only downside of Barbasol is the empty can when you're finished.
For what I want from a shaving cream,
I like Barbasol better than any other commercially available cream or soap.
