Does anyone else prefer glycerin to tallow?

[scoopster]

I like both kinds for different reasons. You can't get scents like QED soaps anywhere and I get really good results with some of the QED products (Lime and Sandalwood specifically).

I get a thicker and more protective lather from the tallow based soaps. Is it the tallow or the sum of the whole? Probably the sum of the whole. I don't care - I just know what I like and what works well. I have also tried old and new formulation Trumpers. I feel they are very close in performance. I give the older formulation the edge but the veggie formulation holds its own with tallow Trumper and with Harris which I also have and like quite a bit.

If you are into trying different soaps keep an open mind. Look at the reviews and don't fret about whether the soap has tallow or not.

 

[studioguy]

I like and use both styles.

 

[bythbook]

I like both glycerin and tallow soaps. I've just opened a couple of QED soaps - great results, same with SCS - and I've used Mama's for awhile with great results. I love GFT soaps. Harris... eh. T&H... eh. Likely I need to spend more time with them!

and I have very good results with the tallows. (But sorry, but Irisch Moos smells too much like Irish Spring shower soap for me to enjoy it much.)

I'm a shaving sl*t. I have very few bad shaves, I like some products more than others, but I like a lot of stuff a whole lot! (And I like a lot of creams, too!)

And there's so much more to try....

 

[The Seeker]

I too fall into the tallow camp. My three favourites are Valobra, MWF and Tabac. There are a few glycerine soaps I like such as Honeybee, Mama Bears and Trumpers Coconut, but for me the tallow soaps eclipse them all.

 

[Aaron622]

Yes. I still fail to see how tallow, if it shows up anywhere on the ingredient list, magically makes the soap amazing. Why is that all the people who love Tabac rave about tallow and not Potassium Stearate and Sodium Stearate which are the first two ingredients? The only shaving product I currently own that has tallow in it (Cella, tallow is the second ingredient), which it does make a very rich creamy lather, doesn't shave better than my glycerine soaps.

 

[Kratos]

This is like the musclecar vs. rice rocket argument. Both go fast. Just by different methods. I use whatever products I get the results I want with, however they are formulated. I like Tabac. I also like Mama Bears. Participate, don't discriminate!

 

[Evbo]

Why is that all the people who love Tabac rave about tallow and not Potassium Stearate and Sodium Stearate which are the first two ingredients?

Well, to paraphrase what others have said above, this is very much an individual preference. I've found that as much as I love using QED's soaps (the scents! ) I can't deny the fact that for me, a high quality tallow-based soap will produce a superior, creamy, cushioning, moisturizing lather. But again, that's just me. To each his own.

 

[markb]

Regarding glycerin soaps, I prefer the milled soaps to the melt-n-pour types (not to say there's anything wrong with them) but on the whole, tallow is at the top of the list for me. I cannot image not using MWF or Tabac.

 

[waterbear]

There is a bit of confusion going on here....a glycerin soap CAN be made with tallow since glycerin soaps are made by rebatching soap shavings with alcohol and sugar!
What you are actually comparing are tallow (or animal fat based soap) to all vegetable fat based soaps. IMHO, animal fat based soaps win hands down if you are talking about cold processed soap, however, if properly formulated with a blend of fatty acids that mimic the fatty acid content of animal based soaps then vegetable based ones can come very close (KMF cremes come to mind here).
Glycerin soap can be either animal or vegetable based (and I have made my share of tallow based gylcerin soap!) You never quite know what you are getting in a rebatch soap (and all glycerin soaps are rebatch. That is what makes them glycerin soaps and melt and pourable!)
It's really all about the fatty acid makeup of the soap and, if you limit yourself to cold process soaps, a tallow based soap is going to outperform a vegetable based soap.
With a glycerin soap, unless you KNOW how the initial cold process or hot process soap that went into the rebatch was made, you really don't know just what you might be getting. However, the vast majority of soaps being made these days for rebatch or melt and pour are vegetable based.

 

[waterbear]

Yes. I still fail to see how tallow, if it shows up anywhere on the ingredient list, magically makes the soap amazing. Why is that all the people who love Tabac rave about tallow and not Potassium Stearate and Sodium Stearate which are the first two ingredients? The only shaving product I currently own that has tallow in it (Cella, tallow is the second ingredient), which it does make a very rich creamy lather, doesn't shave better than my glycerine soaps.

The three primary saturated fatty acids in tallow are stearic acid, myristic acid, and palmitic acid and the sodium and potassiom stearate, myristerate, and palmitate are the sodium and potassium soaps of these fatty acids!
Your point is?

 

[pmast]

Life without Tabac would be like life without Young Frankenstein or Blazing Saddles.

 

[Antique Hoosier]

I have not used enough glycerin soaps to really give them a fair shake. I have used a handful from the cottage vendors and just always seemed to gravitate toward to Triple Milled soaps which for me is where I am most comfortable spending my shave dollar. TABAC, Geo. F. Trumper Rose, or MWF could easily be my only soap and I don't believe any of the glycerin rivals could hold my interest when I have had such pleasant success with the likes of those premier soaps.

 

[Aaron622]

The three primary saturated fatty acids in tallow are stearic acid, myristic acid, and palmitic acid and the sodium and potassiom stearate, myristerate, and palmitate are the sodium and potassium soaps of these fatty acids!
Your point is?

Without getting into the chemistry of soap (which I will admit I don't know much about other than what I've read on the forums), my point was simply that people seem to care so much if and where "tallowate" appears on the ingredient list (on Penhaligon's and Harris soaps for example), but that there are other ingredients that could possibly factor into how a soap performs. Sodium tallowate is the first ingredient in my Ivory bath soap, but I wouldn't dream of shaving with it.

 

[ctakim]

Didn't we have to give up objectivity when we joined the Tallow Loving Coalition? I can't remember the fine print from when I signed up!

 

[waterbear]

Without getting into the chemistry of soap (which I will admit I don't know much about other than what I've read on the forums), my point was simply that people seem to care so much if and where "tallowate" appears on the ingredient list (on Penhaligon's and Harris soaps for example), but that there are other ingredients that could possibly factor into how a soap performs. Sodium tallowate is the first ingredient in my Ivory bath soap, but I wouldn't dream of shaving with it.

You are quite right. A soap can be made from individual fatty acids and mimic the effects of tallow quite well if the fatty acids used are the main saturated fattly acids found in tallow. KMF shave creams are an excellent example. It is primarily soap made from Myristic acid and Stearic acid (two of the main saturated fatty acids in tallow) but does not contain Palmitic acid which is the third saturated fatty acid. It is entirely from vegetable sources but it really does come close in terms of cushion and lather, IMHO. However, most soaps are not made this way but are made from complete fats and oils. In this respect tallow will outperform just about any other kind of soap, all other things being equal.
Glycerin soap is made by rebatching (melting) soap shavings with alcohol and sugar. It can be a soap made from tallow, and will exhibit many of the characteristics of a cold processed tallow soap or, more likely these days, it can be all vegetable. The closest vegetable oil to tallow in performance is palm and palm kernel oil but it is a distant close (and the politics and carbon footprint of palm oil farming are not good!)
I have been making soap as a hobby for over 35 years now and you learn a thing or two over that length of time!

 

[BEAR DEN]

It is definetely a case of YMMV!

 

[strat1117]

My two favorites are AoS (tallow) and L'Occitane CADE (non-tallow).

Go figure.

 

[RILEY]

I would be quite content to draw from the Mama Bear well for the rest of my shave career and dispose of all my other soaps & creams & never look back, thats how good her soaps are for me ... but I wont, cause I cant actually bring myself to grow a pair & put my money where my mouth is , no but seriously her soaps are that good

 

[beaverboy]

I would be quite content to draw from the Mama Bear well for the rest of my shave career and dispose of all my other soaps & creams & never look back, thats how good her soaps are for me ... but I wont, cause I cant actually bring myself to grow a pair & put my money where my mouth is , no but seriously her soaps are that good

+1 to that. There's enough quality and variety from mama bear to keep me happy for a life time! As for tallow based soaps I find that they dry my face out too much and leave it red and itchy.

And who doesn't love the convenience of melt and pour when milling your soaps into containers. It sure saves a lot of wear and tear on the cheese grater!

 

[Confilo]

It is not ease of lathering it is the quality of the lather.
Tallow is the one, the rest with some exceptions are Soylent Green