I generally use a soap, but I'm not sure why. I always have a tub of Castle Forbes Lavender in the den and it lathers quickly and does a great job, but I don't seem to use it often lately. And my soaps are mostly unscented, so that's not it.
Creams, Soaps, Gels or Foams
- Thread starter Atinofpeas
- Start date
Well . . . croaps, actually. The old soft soap, if you will.
I prefer soaps but Barbasol foam does speed up the process when I have to shave at 3 am. I still use my Semogue SOC Boar brush to apply it.
Clayton
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A brush does help to work the lather into the beard, and it lifts the hair up so that the razor will cut it easier. A brush also allows you to hydrate the foam easier. I have also been shaving since 1980 and I prefer making my shaving lather with soap and brush, but during the work week when I have to shave at 3am I use Barbasol and my Semogue SOC Boar Brush. Using the canned foam does speed up the process, it's just not the fun way to make lather. Atleast I get to use my Injector razor, and my brush.Who said anything about using a brush?
I use the foam the way it is supposed to be used.Simply rub throughly a SMALL amount in your beard by hand and of you go. Of course the foam gets worked properly into the stubble unless millions of men since the late forties that got wonderful shaves this way were simply lucky
The brush is an eighteenth century residue when access to hot water and bathing was problematic,you don't need it after a hot shower and face wash.
I have been shaving with a DE and canned foam since 1980 and only when I joined the...internets I "found out" that for some reasons unknown to men foam is no good
Even creams in tubes work better when applied brush less than when applied with a brush,"lather" is just air and it's importance over exaggerated, the only thing you need to shave is lubrication not air .
Clayton
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A soft soap may be easiest for newbies. They don't last long, tho.
DR Harris, Cade, MWF are my usual and the cost per shave is not bad. Good protection.
Mac
DR Harris, Cade, MWF are my usual and the cost per shave is not bad. Good protection.
Mac
Another soap guy! They just work better for me! 
Soaps, about 90% of the time.
I like the act of loading the brush from the puck, and building the lather.
I do have some cream that I use (GFT Spanish Leather, and TOBS Eton College + Avocado).
I like the act of loading the brush from the puck, and building the lather.
I do have some cream that I use (GFT Spanish Leather, and TOBS Eton College + Avocado).
Soaps are what I prefer
Soaps, then creams close behind.
If a particular product is not available as a soap, I have no issues buying it as a cream.
Some products straddle the line between these two categories anyway and it depends on the manufacturer whether he describes it as “soap” or “cream”.
Gels and foams?
Don’t clearly remember when I used one for the last time.
I may have found one in one of those toiletry bags that airlines hand out so you can shave on the airplane on a long flight.
It is just not the same experience.
Yes, you can shave with it.
No, it is not something someone would look forward to.
B.
If a particular product is not available as a soap, I have no issues buying it as a cream.
Some products straddle the line between these two categories anyway and it depends on the manufacturer whether he describes it as “soap” or “cream”.
Gels and foams?
Don’t clearly remember when I used one for the last time.
I may have found one in one of those toiletry bags that airlines hand out so you can shave on the airplane on a long flight.
It is just not the same experience.
Yes, you can shave with it.
No, it is not something someone would look forward to.
B.
Shaving soaps. Other options can be used, to be sure, but dedicated shaving soaps do make a difference. They also provide more of a cushion, and offer some protection against cuts and weepers IME.
