Milk in shaving soaps

[raiden]

Let me preface this by saying that I am a newbie to wet shaving so forgive my ignorance.

What is the deal with milk in shaving soaps? Donkey milk, sheep milk, why not cow milk? Why are milks considered a super weapon for great post shave feel in shaving soaps? Why don't other soap companies follow suit and start including milk in their soaps? Is donkey milk a prohibitively expensive ingredient that can't easily be added to other soaps without jacking up the price? I don't understand.

 

[TropicalHotDogNight]

My guess is that cow's milk is not very fatty.

 

[psfred]

I don't get it either, but it's popular. The milk will add some sugars, some fats, and some protein, and is supposed to make the soap more skin friendly. Me, I don't think it does much, but if it makes other people happy, it's all good.

 

[DoctorShavegood]

Cleopatra took baths in donkey milk to revitalize her beauty.

It is also reported Napoleon’s sister, Pauline Bonaparte, used *** milk for her skin’s health care as well.

According to recent scientific studies, because of its components like minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids, a bioactive enzyme, donkey milk is indeed beneficial for the skin.

 

[psfred]

Lol, I doubt donkey milk or anything else is gonna beautify this old mug!

All I need from shaving soap is slickness.

 

[TropicalHotDogNight]

Lol, I doubt donkey milk or anything else is gonna beautify this old mug!

All I need from shaving soap is slickness.

I value post-shave over slickness. I find that these sorts of ingredients keep my skin moisturized, so that I don't feel irritated or dried out. I'm not sure that animal milks themselves contribute, but I find that the soaps that include them often are full of many other great things that keep my skin happy.

 

[BigJ]

Lol, I doubt donkey milk or anything else is gonna beautify this old mug!

All I need from shaving soap is slickness.

 

[jackgoldman123]

Something very very good about one donkey milk soap I have. The difference is noticeable to me. The glide and protection is superb and post shave feel exquisite. The soap is no longer made, I have 7 sticks.

 

[SlopeRocker]

Something very very good about one donkey milk soap I have. The difference is noticeable to me. The glide and protection is superb and post shave feel exquisite.

Precisely. That’s why WhollyKaw remains my #1 choice...

 

[HereticHermit]

My guess is that cow's milk is not very fatty.

Yep, donkey milk is high on trace minerals but artisans should look at Asian water buffalo milk. They have a very high fat and soluble proteins in cattle in addition to Omega 3 fatty acids. All together wonderful ingredients if you ask me.

 

[psfred]

The slickness comes form stearic and palmitic acids, not the donkey milk. I get lovely post-shave feel from cocoa and shea butters added as superfat (non-saponified fats).

If you like the soap, milk surely isn't going to hurt you any....

 

[Fairwind]

Asian water buffalo milk

Like Donkey milk, both are kinda hard to get in the USA where a lot of the soaps are made. But what lye does to fats in the process I question whether milk has any real effect. I'm not a believer. Just MHO.

 

[psfred]

The lye converts fats and oils into glycerine and salts of fatty acids until it's all used up. Typically there is more fat that the lye will convert (called superfat in soapmaking), and those fats more or less stay in the soap and provide the "after shave conditioning".

I suspect the basic constituents of the soap make for good shaving soap, there is a more or else ideal ratio of fatty acids that give all the desired qualities except for the superfat and "after shave conditioning".

 

[Keto]

The lye converts fats and oils into glycerine and salts of fatty acids until it's all used up. Typically there is more fat that the lye will convert (called superfat in soapmaking), and those fats more or less stay in the soap and provide the "after shave conditioning".

I suspect the basic constituents of the soap make for good shaving soap, there is a more or else ideal ratio of fatty acids that give all the desired qualities except for the superfat and "after shave conditioning".

 

[Keto]

The lye converts fats and oils into glycerine and salts of fatty acids until it's all used up. Typically there is more fat that the lye will convert (called superfat in soapmaking), and those fats more or less stay in the soap and provide the "after shave conditioning".

I suspect the basic constituents of the soap make for good shaving soap, there is a more or else ideal ratio of fatty acids that give all the desired qualities except for the superfat and "after shave conditioning".

Sorry if I hit post too quick, my comment was that's very interesting how the lye reacts to the fats, with super fats. So I guess there's fats in milk products ( different percentage in different types of milk) and from being the ex Dairy Farmer I do know higher milk fat means higher price paid for it. So where does that put the relationship with donkey milk versus goat milk or even albino mountain sheep milk if you could get it .lol. say in the end product .

 

[SHAVEWIZARD420]

Milks as mentioned are great for post shave moisturizing. Goats milk and donkey milk in particular. You should experiment and find what works best for you.

 

[kluber]

I don’t know but two of my top soaps include milk. Haslinger schaufmilch and wholly kaw.

 

[Clay S]

The first ingredient would be water in your example, or aqua as is on a lot of lists, I guess so you don't realize your paying mostly for water . The ingredient list is order by amount. If nothing else is added, they would be the next 10 ingredients though.

 

[Glaze3]

Love to know what percentage of a soap formula is donkey milk. Always got to take marketing/ ingredients claims into consideration. Example in a body wash it may list that the first 10 ingredients are botanical extracts of XYZ when in reality a big Tea bag of those extracts are dipped into the water phase of batching the formula and let’s say it’s a 5000 gallon batch. Well because it’s put into the water phase ( like making tea ) the first ingredient is no longer water but a list of all the botanicals that were in that tea bag. Benefits 0.. in the industry it’s called “ blessing the batch “ so I’d like to know what percentage of the formula is donkey or any other kind of milk and what is the percentage needed to get real benefits from it.
Example with Aloe it’s 7% and anything less is basically a marketing claim to create brand excitement and we as consumers believe marketing hype.

I’ve used both Wk and Haslinger which I find to be good shave soaps but wonder how much reall benefit is coming from the milk in the formula and what would be the difference in performance if the donkey milk was taken out of the exact same formula.

Not hard to find out. The older WK formula was exactly the same minus donkey milk. I find the donkey milk formula to be a much creamier lather. Post shave is very close between the two, so the benefits for me are mostly in the lather.

 

[SlopeRocker]

Not hard to find out. The older WK formula was exactly the same minus donkey milk. I find the donkey milk formula to be a much creamier lather. Post shave is very close between the two, so the benefits for me are mostly in the lather.

This....+1,000!