I would also ask for scientific evidence (or at least a review) rather than anecdotal accounts such as a friend of my neighbor's cousin's brother-in-law had a reaction to Product X.
Ingredients of inexpensive creams and soaps
- Thread starter Medivh
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Their ''facts'' were more like - ''obviously, the quality of cheap cosmetics is no match for the high end stuff'' and the usual cheap = bad, expensive = good cliches implying, that only cheapskates and people who don't value their health would ''torture'' themselves with lesser quality products.
Since i've never used any soap/cream that I would consider as high end, I have nothing to compare, but so far I have no issues and I get great shaves from my inexpensive products and I wonder what could possible a high end product do to improve my already great shavings, skin or whatever. I'm no soap maker so what do I know about these things.
There's a difference between cheap and inexpensive as well as a difference between high quality and high cost. Sometimes the quality is worth the additional cost, but not always. The additional cost could be due to the ingredients, manufacturing process, packaging, or just marketing. In the end, we are responsible for our own research and choices based on our own experiences or those of trusted sources.
I'll avoid SLS/SLES in soaps because it's a detergent and has no benefits for the skin. Also, soaps like Arko/Derby lather fine but they dry out my skin during and after the shave so I'll avoid those. People have said to just use aftershave balm to counteract the dryness but I would rather not dry my skin in the first place if I have the choice. I have found plenty of soaps that doesn't dry my skin so I stick to those.
Cella has been using the same formula since 1899 and everyone using it since then seems to have done just fine
This was my thinking too. There are plenty of shave older formula made shave soaps and cream that have people have been using for years.
I'd say that they have tested these soaps and creams already and I'm not aware of them causing health issues. I'm sure there may have been some brand that did. But not all the old classics do or did.
Regarding health issues, do self-diagnosed acquisition disorders count?
This strikes me as another example of the all too common (in my opinion) theme of people stating their opinion as if it were fact.
99% of the time I just ignore this sort of talk. If I'm sufficiently invested in the conversation to want to drill down on the topic, I might ask questions such as, "Can you tell me more about what you know and tell me how you know it?" Or, to use your example, "Obviously, the quality of cheap cosmetics is no match for the high end stuff...'', I would probably ask, "How, exactly, is that obvious?"
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I guess a car hitting me or me hitting my car some place would have equal opportunity. They say smoke,salt, sugar, alcohol and wheat are also killers. The devil's got us surrounded man, Go figure ...
The cheap stuff is what our fore fathers used to build nations, win wars, conquer diseases, the land, seas, skies and space. They didn't go all soft and say "oh, I am out of my XYZ hi-premium handmade artisan insanely expensive shave cream and now I can't fight this war or win or invent electricity and the light bulb".
A truly inspirational book worth a read and summarized nicely in this art of manliness blog is a good read for the "avoid the cheap stuff, go for premium uber expensive". This article would perhaps put even us wet shavers with various ADs to shame
7 Lessons in Manliness From the Greatest Generation
They were humble men who never bragged about what they had done or been through. They were loyal, patriotic, and level-headed. They were our Greatest Generation.
www.artofmanliness.com
or for a shorter more brutal summary refer to our very own Williams Fan of yester years.
Williams shaving soap - Reviews
www.badgerandblade.com
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Arko Stick - Not just lemon!
Not much time ago, i had posted here my humble opinion about the scent of Arko Stick, after doing only a test lather. Given my recent digging about Cella, i thought to make another small search about Arko's ingredients, since people can't even agree on what the smell is... And at least to me...
www.badgerandblade.com
Yeah, I've heard life is the leading cause of death. With rare exceptions, I've not heard of anyone surviving a case of life in the long run.I guess a car hitting me or me hitting my car some place would have equal opportunity. They say smoke,salt, sugar, alcohol and wheat are also killers. The devil's got us surrounded man, Go figure ...
Alleppo and Castile soaps containing laurel oil ( lauric acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid) and olive oil (oleic acid and linoleic acid) can be very slick, but they are not very good at providing a stable lather that protects the skin while shaving. I have shaved using a couple of these soaps, but quickly decided that I can do much better.
Stearic acid is a key component of a high-quality shaving soap. If is found in many animal based fats such as beef and mutton tallow, lard, duck fat, etc. That is why tallow based shaving soaps have been popular. However, it can also be found in a variety of vegetable based fats such as Shea butter, Cocoa butter, Cupuaçu butter, Kokum Butter, and Mango butter. Thus, it is possible to produce a high-quality vegetable based soap.
When purchasing a soap, I always look for the fats that are used in making the soap as they will determine the performance of the soap. Soaps that are based primarily on fats low in stearic acid content such as coconut oil and palm oil do not perform up to my standards.
Cold River Soap Works makes a shaving soap called Oliva whose first ingredient listed is virgin olive oil. However, the second ingredient is Stearic Acid. It also adds Kokum Butter and Shea Butter. I have not tried it, but it does seem to have a significant amount of stearic acid.
When talking about shaving soap/cream, it is important to distinguish 3 properties of modern (artisan) products:
It is the fragrance components and moisturizers that make a premium product expensive, especially if they use a natural essential oils, as these are the most expensive ingredients.
- Saponification quality
- Fragrance
- Post-shave feel / moisturization / skin-care
It is the fragrance components and moisturizers that make a premium product expensive, especially if they use a natural essential oils, as these are the most expensive ingredients.
Here is a cheap ingredients shave cream in less than a dollar.
Thanks for bringing this review to my attention, it is a very honest review and I enjoyed reading it.
I'm new to wet shaving, so I'll reserve my opinions in the matter of this thread to myself, but it is an interesting discussion.
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This one contains lots of parabens. I'm not sure how bad they are, but people try to avoid them.
It is the third category I find the oddest to pay for in a soap. Moisturizers and "skin conditioners" are expensive ingredients and most of what I put in the soap gets either scraped off during the shave or rinsed off at the end of the shave and goes down the drain. However, if I put them into the aftershave or face cream, they all end up staying on my face. Why wouldn't I use an inexpensive soap with the relatively inexpensive ingredients required to provide saponification quality and then use a quality post-shave treatment that can use less of the more expensive skincare ingredients because they all stay on my face?
This is simply not true. I am very sensitive to SLS; it causes all kinds of problems for me. I choose to avoid it, and it is not particularly hard to do so.
The two places where it comes up most often are in toothpastes and in shampoos.
Toothpaste. If I use SLS-containing toothpastes, I get canker sores. This particular problem is not at all rare; many people with canker sores find they completely go away if they get rid of SLS in their toothpaste. Finding SLS-free toothpaste isn't particularly EASY, but it is not particularly difficult, either. There are any number of "natural toothpastes" on the market that are SLS-free, including, off the top of my head, Schmidt's, Kiss My Face, and The Natural Dentist.
Shampoo. If I use SLS-containing shampoos, I end up with horrific seborrhea (which manifests as horrible dandruff and itchy scalp). This problem can be solved by using shampoo bars rather than liquid soap. These are readily available on the internet. The best I have ever tried is Mystic Water (especially the one that has Neem and tea tree oil in it), but there are many others: Dr. Jon's, Lisa's Natural Herbal Creations, Stirling, Chagrin Valley Soaps, and many, many others.
As a public service announcement, I will let the board know that at one point in time my dandruff was so bad that I was referred to a dermatologist and placed on prescription anti-dandruff shampoos. My dandruff problem was almost gone within two weeks of switching to a shampoo bar, and by a month was gone completely. I have been using shampoo bars since about 2015 and will never go back. About the middle of last year I also switched from shampooing every day to doing so every other day, using just conditioner on the in-between days. This keeps my hair perfectly clean without stripping natural oils from my scalp, which allows the sebaceous glands on my scalp to relax and not overproduce.
If you struggle with persistent dandruff, SLS may well be your problem. I would strongly recommend a trial of Mystic Water Neem and Tea Tree oil shampoo bar, or another shampoo bar.
Shaving Soap: There is absolutely no problem avoiding SLS and SLES in shaving soaps, and you don't have to pay a lot for a boutique soap to avoid them. You do, however, have to stay away from VDH and other "melt and pour" soaps, which contain SLES. These soaps do tend to be very inexpensive, but you don't have to pay a ton to get real shaving soaps that are not made from a commercially available "melt-and-pour" base such as that sold by Brambleberry.
It is obvious from the above that I strenuously avoid SLS and SLES. Aside from that, I avoid parabens. Reading ingredients lists is worthwhile and pays off in the long run. It is absolutely possible to completely avoid SLS and parabens without too much work and without spending a fortune. I do not believe that it is necessary to buy expensive shaving soaps to avoid these things, but I do avoid any and all "melt-and-pour" shaving "soaps," as these have a lot of detergents/foaming agents in them.
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