Making Your Lather Better with Shea Butter

[Loric]

I love Shea Butter, of all the things people make shaving soap out of Shea Butter makes my skin feel the best. Hands down my face loves the stuff. I find myself drawn to Shea Butter soaps, and longing for it in my not Shea Butter soaps/creams. This weekend I found a solution.

I have a tub of pure Shea Butter I use on my dry hands. I picked it up at a natural foods store for a couple of dollars. I found that if you load your brush with just a thin coat of Shea Butter before you load your normal shave soap, you get some exceptionally slick hydrating lather. It does seem to come at the cost of some latherablility though. Not enough to ruin your shave, but its something that begs a bit more experimentation.

I'v only tried it for two shaves, but so far I'm cautiously impressed. Good luck with your shaves to my fellow Shea Butter fans, and if anyone tries this let me know how it works out for you.

 

[Mandina]

Thanks for the tip, which I'll try out. On a more or less related note, since I've added some lanolin (and glycerin) to my home-mixed pre-shave oils (which I apply before using a hot towel on my face to promote absorption and eliminate excess), even Williams leaves my face feeling as soft and smooth as does MWF, Pre de Provence, etc. I'll try the shea butter as well.

 

[Loric]

Yep, its not that much different from "super lather" but its more my style I guess.

 

[Skyrider55]

Have you tried applying the shea butter as a pre shave kinda like an oil? It might be more consistent than loading a brush where quantity can vary. You might get some lather ability back and find that sweet spot.

What are your favorite shea butter soap and creams. I haven't tried any yet that I can think of. I've seen that Spencer and Devon shave cream. They have a banner at the top of my B&B login screen. It's shea butter based witn aloe. I've written the to see if they have a sample pack. At $28 a tub I'd want to try a sample first. So far I haven't heard back. There are three scents, spice, sagebrush and uncented. I've never tried a shea butter cream and I'm curious.

 

[celestino]

i only use Shea Butter for my final post-shave application. i love the suff and have been using for over 10 years. Great moisturizer. The soaps i use are fantastic and there is no need to add shea butter to them. However, if you are enjoying it this way, then all the best.

 

[SAMerritt]

Sounds like something new to try! I usually just use a pre-shave oil, maybe I will swap the oil for some Shea Butter.

 

[Loric]

Have you tried applying the shea butter as a pre shave kinda like an oil? You might get some lather ability back and find that sweet spot.

What are your favorite shea butter soap and creams.

I dont mind the slicker more concentrated lather. In fact I prefer thicker more gel like lather to shave with. I find it more protecting. I just know some people will take offense to the lather changing. I have also used Shea Butter as both a pre and a post shave product. I however like the extra glide that it provides my shave, in this instance.

My favorite Shea Butter soap is Man in The Moon Herbs Shea Butter soap. It lathers, protects, and conditions amazingly. IMO a top shelf soap. Plus Gail the artisan will custom make you any scent she has. As for comercial soaps Provence Sante and Institut Karite are both very very good. I just find the Man in the Moon lather to be slightly more stable. Both flavors of Provence Sante are great sweet scents but I easily prefer the Green Tea. The Institut Karite is a similar but powdery sweet sent that is also nice. I find both of these products perform very similarly whith PS smelling better, but the IK has lanolin in it too (another nice bonus for your skin).