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My two theories about shaving soap

Rudy Vey

Shaving baby skin and turkey necks
Soap mechanics? How 'bout mechanics soap.

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And if it doesn't work out, you can have it for breakfast.

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Personally, my lather looks like sloppy wet homemade yogurt. And I like it that way. Gave up completely trying to make anything fluffy or that explodes. I agree that it's important to be able to make a good lather that works for you, but it's a lot easier to get better lather by using a more appropriate soap than climbing that asymptote. A soap that's missing something is always going to be missing it no matter how awesome you make lather.

with that soap, you don't need a razor ......
 
Great post, however for a newbie as myself a few links to examples for context sake are helpful and save me some time trying to find what you are referring to.

1. The Xillion Theory

Anybody who's been around this site for any length of time will understand what I'm talking about here. It seems like every time somebody makes a post about a particular soap, like "Hey, anybody tried Jermyn Street?" or whatever, Xillion will post the most amazing lather porn in the universe, and everybody on B&B will think, "Jermyn Street (or whatever soap was asked about) must be the best soap in the world; I need to buy some right now."

But I got to thinking.......All of Xillion's lathers look amazing. So, either he's just posting the same amazing lather picture every time and pretending it's from the soap in question (which I'm neither implying nor insinuating) or he just makes amazing lathers out of pretty much all his soaps. Think about it: the only thing all those lathers have in common is Xillion. So, the point is not that Jermyn Street or X or Y soap is completely amazing; it's the Xillion is an amazing lather maker.

I'll make an analogy. I'm sure that Rory McIlroy has his clubs built to his exact specifications and all, but does anybody doubt that he could just walk into the clubhouse at your local golf course, rent the crappiest set of K-Mart golf clubs in the world, and still kick your butt on the course? Why? Because he's Rory McIlroy. He plays great golf not because he has the world's best clubs, but because he knows how to use them.

What is my point? My point is that the goal should be changed from "I need to buy the world's best shaving soap" to "I need to become an outstanding lather maker." This is the approach I have taken. Every day when I make lather I try to make the best lather in the world. Lather that is better than yesterday's lather. Lather that would make Xillion jealous. And you know what? By concentrating on becoming better at making lather, I have an awesome lather EVERY SINGLE DAY.

2. A corollary theory

I think that soap lather can only be so good, and no more. I think soap lather approaches ideal as an asymptote. I think that, at a certain point, it becomes physicochemically impossible for a lather to be any better than it already is.

What is my point? My point is that there is no magic shaving soap that makes lather that is 10 times better than any other soap lather. If you have a reasonable shaving soap and you are a talented/experienced lather maker, almost all soap lathers are essentially identical. This also points out the absurdity of "I need to buy the world's best shaving soap." It changes the rubric to "I need to buy a quality shaving soap." Because I truly believe that, although there are subtle differences in shaving soap characteristics (mostly having to do with how difficult or tricky it is to coax the best lather from it), if you have a quality soap and you know how to make lather, you can make a lather that abuts its physicochemical limits, that essentially reaches its asymptote. And that, my friends, is shaving soap bliss.

So find a quality soap in a scent you enjoy and then practice. McIlroy didn't become an awesome golfer without going to the driving range a few times.
 
+1 Good thread.

Noob here :confused1.

My interim conclusion on shave soap & lather:

Once the soap's basic shaving requirements have been activated--softening the skin (i.e. increasing flexibility, aka "cushion"), lubricating the skin, hydrating the hair, leaving the skin moisturized--all else it provides is a psychological or economic benefit.

Dennis
 
Great post, however for a newbie as myself a few links to examples for context sake are helpful and save me some time trying to find what you are referring to.

Here is one (of many) of Xillion lsthers. He REALLY wrecks the curve around here. Amazing drool inspiring lather ever which almost bring a tear to your eye....snif. Beautiful...
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Here is my take on the Op's subject and he's right. It's about technique and not the soap which make the difference. pic is of Mike's soap which can be finicky.\ to lather but comes down to experience.
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I'm with you man scent it is big with me in my rotation however all my favorite scents are very good performers as well. RazoRock King Louis is about in my top 3 of favorite scents and heavy in my rotation eventhough I have many others with a bit more luxuirous lather and protection. I shaved with Mike's pepermint rosemary this morning and the lather was exceptional like some of my best soaps but I can't say it protected as well as ADP or Tabac or panna crema but it was close enough and I like the scent. Some soaps no matter the razor or life cycle of the blade just never ever give me a nick and others soaps will more often but the scent is worth it. I suppose it is the persons skin type, hair growth direction etc. when you get down the the minute differences of the top soaps.

The Fragrance of the soap has become my number one factor in deciding if it stays in the den or not. I can produce great lather from Williams all the way to MdC. I will admit that my technique for lathering Williams is much different that what is needed for MdC ....but a great shave feels just as great as a great shave with MdC. So, as stated earlier for me it is all about the fragrance now days.
 
I still struggle with certain soaps, but I keep trying/fine tuning them. Tabac is one soap that lathers like crazy with minimum effort though!
 
Bruce, I nominate this for post of the decade. :)

I second that nomination. This post has several interesting points. One very important point, to me, is one lather at a time. I hopped from one soap or cream to another. Also, I recently came to a similar conclusion but had not articulated it. This post puts it in words and makes it more usable to me. When I started, my technique was terrible and I blamed it on the soap. I did buy a bunch and nothing much helped until I began reading a lot at B&B and learning. For a while I stuck to creams because the were easier for me to lather, but I found I just don't care for them, went back to soaps and am making better shaving lathers every day. Thanks again for this great post.
 
I just think Xillion just has good photography skills. I don't trust any lather whipped up like that in a bowl for visual effect.
 
Will someone please send a tub of Caswell Massey, Wilkinson shave soap bowl (not the stick) and other more or less un-latherables to Xillion so that we can finally see how fantastic lather from these soaps looks like.
 
Here is one (of many) of Xillion lsthers. He REALLY wrecks the curve around here. Amazing drool inspiring lather ever which almost bring a tear to your eye....snif. Beautiful...
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I saw this pic a while back which got me interested in trying the TOBS Jermyn Street soap. I tried to replicate the lather with my TOBS sandalwood soap, and I got the same results ONLY with some extraordinary effort. I had to use my dense Shavemac with 2 60 second loading periods lol. So I'm doubting this kind of lather is practical from TOBS at least.
 
Does it all come down to consistency though? I have gotten equal lather from different soaps which shave differently. I am envious of the skills posted on this thread though...
 
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