Most protective soaps for fragile skin?

[TheKman]

Right, so i'm going to do a week with SMN to assess whether lanolin is helping as much as I think. Then a week with B&M. Results from these tests will be used to determine next steps.

Today was a three pass with SMN followed by alum and witch hazel. 9/10, very low irritation, DFS.

 

[elgrumpo]

I had my first shave with the B&M Latha Unscented soap today, with Proraso White Pre Shave under my chin, and very happy with the result. I can see why their soaps have a big fan base and I think that I'll be joining them.

 

[TheKman]

Today went well too, very low irritation, 9/10, BBS.

Tomorrow I'm gonna' try the Wee Scot brush and the Timeless Razor for a change.

 

[TheKman]

Made some very interesting observations over the weekend and this morning concerning Lanolin.

First, the quality of my shaves on Sat-Mon declined sharply. Having chosen the Timeless 0.68 SB for Saturday's shave I went back to the Rockwell 6S (plate 3) for Sunday and today to ensure it wasn't a razor issue. Nope, still declining. I have a progressively harder time getting close and resulted in greater irritation and some residual redness. I did get a decent shave and achieve BBS on all occasions, but the neck irritation was becoming more obvious each day.

Following some research into the use of Lanolin topically, the protective effects are reported to be both cumulative and residual. Meaning that the longer you use it the greater the protective effect and the greater the cumulative protection the more residual protection will be present after cessation. This falls closely into line with my observations here.

So, armed with this finding I'm going to switch back to the Fat for a few days and get back to square one, then try the B&M

 

[RazorPete]

Made some very interesting observations over the weekend and this morning concerning Lanolin.

First, the quality of my shaves on Sat-Mon declined sharply. Having chosen the Timeless 0.68 SB for Saturday's shave I went back to the Rockwell 6S (plate 3) for Sunday and today to ensure it wasn't a razor issue. Nope, still declining. I have a progressively harder time getting close and resulted in greater irritation and some residual redness. I did get a decent shave and achieve BBS on all occasions, but the neck irritation was becoming more obvious each day.

Following some research into the use of Lanolin topically, the protective effects are reported to be both cumulative and residual. Meaning that the longer you use it the greater the protective effect and the greater the cumulative protection the more residual protection will be present after cessation. This falls closely into line with my observations here.

So, armed with this finding I'm going to switch back to the Fat for a few days and get back to square one, then try the B&M

I am a big fan of the Fat myself. I agree with you about lanolin - its a great product for the skin of most people. Only a small number show sensitivity to lanolin and for those folks, there are plenty of other great products to use...

 

[TheKman]

It's been a couple of days with the Fat and the irritation is getting steadily better, whether it's because the skin has had some healing time, or the Lanolin is helping protect, or there's a scent in the SMN I'm reacting to isn't clear yet. Suffice to say MWF is becoming the staple soap for now.

B&M Reserve Spice will get a run on Friday, which should yield a test result by Monday again. In the mean time I found this:

Wet Shaving Soap - Lanolin Unscented - Men's Grooming - Face, Bath & Body - Washpool Farm Soaperie

Very short ingredients list, no scent, tallow and lanolin... If only to support a local boutique I think this will be next after B&M.

 

[TheKman]

I've had two shaves with the B&M Reserve Spice now and I'm pretty impressed with this one so far. Had two days growth this morning and went for the Rockwell 6S on plate 4 (this and plate 3 have been my control configuration for these tests) with a Rapira Plautinum Lux blade, three passes, one very minor nick, very low irritation and buttery smooth face afterwards. Literally, buttery smooth, like I'd used butter as shave cream. Fascinating post-shave sensation, different feel to the Fat but equally nice.

I see what everyone means regarding the strange consistency of this soap. There appears to be a very fine line between too little which produces a slimy goop thing and having too much water which doesn't appear to lather that well. On both occasions I think I added a little too much water, but the results can't be argued with.

At this early stage I'd say the B&M Reserve Spice and Mitchell's Wool Fat are on par. Next up will be the Washpool Farm Lanolin.

 

[MrProraso]

I find Cella and Dr harris windsor shave soap are the most slick and offer me the most protection.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheKman]

Update; four shaves with the B&M now and I think I have it sorted. The key appears to be over loading the brush which makes balancing the water a little simpler, if more time consuming. Of course, this produces a huge amount of lather, but the consistency is right.

Observations? So far the B&M performs pretty well, definitely better than the SMN, but still not as good as the Fat. The scent that's in this soap doesn't appear to react with my skin which leads to a good degree of comfort during the save, however, by the third pass there is evidence that the level of protection is not quite up to par (par is relative to the Fat) and some heat starts to build up on the skin of the neck. With the Fat I can comfortably attempt clean up after the third pass, with the B&M I have to call it a day.

On the positive side, the decline in comfort is not nearly as rapid as the SMN was and I still feel like I could continue to use the B&M with confidence. It seems some compromise in hardware is required to get the best from it though, like a Feather blade rather that Rapira Platinum Lux, just to keep the number of passes down. That's an experiment for another day.

Lastly, I've been experimenting some more with Lanolin in a post-shave setting. After yesterdays shave with B&M I felt a little Alum sting and some residual razor burn, nothing serious, but enough to warrant treatment. A few days ago I put a mix of QV Skin Repair and Lanolin cream at a ratio of three-to-one into a 5ml squeeze bottle on the off chance I'd need to repair some damage. About an hour after yesterday's shave it was applied, and within another hour the razor burn felt better.

While waiting for the Washpool Farm Soaperie products I'll go back to the Fat for a while before the next round of tests.

 

[TheKman]

Soaps and stuff arrived just now from Washpool Farm Soaperie in Queensland:

Of primary interest of course is the Unscented Shave Soap, pictured left. Also pictured is a lip balm a Rhassoul Clay soap bar and a small sample of a goat's milk and shea butter bar. Being unscented the shave soap has a distinctly animal aroma, being predominantly tallow of course. On a warm Badger brush this might be cause to get my hands on some essential oils.

Maybe I'll try it tomorrow.

 

[TheKman]

Shaved twice now with the Washpool Farm Unscented and on both occasions it's performed very well indeed.

Plus side: protection is quite good, lathers up pretty well, slickness is high and irritation level is very low.

Down side: the animal aroma isn't great and really requires addressing. Also it doesn't have the nice moisturising post shave feel of MWF.

From a purely function perspective it's excellent and leaves my face clean. However, astheticly it leaves something to be desired.

In terms of ranking it's a definite second so far. Add some fragrance and finish with a little lanolin post shave and the overall effect is identical, but MWF is a one-step operation.

 

[W8lkinUSA]

That's so bizzarre since MWF requires aggressive work for me, even after blooming the soap. Whereas, B&M glissant-base is quick and consistent without blooming.

 

[TheKman]

They all have their little proclivities, MWF is notorious for being difficult lather with hard water. My water is very soft and is seams a softer brush allows a little room for error with the lather, don't really understand why.

I've played around with adding things to lather just to see what happens and it's had very little effect on the process for me, where others have reported loosing the lather altogether. For example, I added some glycerin to the Washpool Farm Unscented lather and found it gained in volume quite rapidly. When I added some lanolin to SMN it was quite a bit harder to build volume, but within a minute it was ready to go. I don't have access to hard water to test, but I'm certain it would change the outcomes quite a bit.

From memory the B&M will have some glycerin in the formulation, where the WPF and MWF don't. I can't really test the idea, but maybe glycerin soaps are better for hard water areas?

 

[W8lkinUSA]

Quite possible. I have taken a break from wet shaving (despite picking up more discontinued B&M), so won't test glycerin with MWF for some time. Thanks for the tip though.