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Cerbul13

After trying a BEA stick, which despite its no aroma smell, I concluded that my face was actually not suffering from the blades, but instead, Proraso was causing me irritation, not even half as bad as Palmolive cream, but anyway, much worse then BEA stick.
Now the trick is, I also experienced how protective and hydrating this stick can be, and I couldn't believe my eyes how huge difference can be between those. The glycerin that I was adding to proraso soap was not enough to protect anywhere close to BEA stick.

However, I am absolutely not sure what exactly I am sensitive to, and I am trying to avoid everything that can be avoided in a shaving soap.
So what do you guys think that would be my best bet? What does differ between a normal soap and shaving soap? Which of the ingredients that is making a soap "shavable" can be irritating? Should I avoid scents/fragrances? Or does the normal soap that you use to wash your face/hands use different fragrances then the ones used in shaving soaps?
I am trying to find something that is very hard to, but I have to start somewhere, as writing down the ingredients of the shaving creams/soaps I have tried, don't help at all, so I guess that my best bet would be start by finding the soap with the least toxic ingredients, yet still able to deliver a proper lather. Cause if I can't find one that can give a proper lather, I can very fine shave with normal hands soap, which I did anyway for 3 years, after I found that no canned goo is friendly with my face. (this was 10 years ago, before changing to electric shaving).
 
Evbo

Evbo

Most irritation from shaving soaps tends to come from the scent components, i.e., fragrance and/or essential oils. If you're noticing an adverse skin reaction to scented soaps, my advice would be to stick with unscented products. There are lots of options available to you and ALL of them are going to be worlds better than using hand soap!

Good luck!
 
ridnovir

ridnovir

try artisan makers who offer unscented versions of their soaps Mikes Natural Soaps, Mystic Water, Queen Charlotte Soaps
 
D

david1201

2nd on Mikes, Mystic Water, have some fantastic shave soaps that use only Essential Oils (would stay away from fragrance oils). I have a significant wheat sensitivity, have to be careful what I buy.

Have had good luck with Razorock King Lavender Karite, Mudder Focker as well.
 
C

Cerbul13

So I understand that my bet bet so far is to try soaps either unscented or with essential oils instead of fragrances, and without menthol(which I don;t like at all as a shaving ingredient anyway).
Any other chemicals that I need to beware of, that are known to cause problems?
 
D

david1201

If you stick with the better Artisan soaps you'll be fine. Mike's & Mystic water have samples on the cheap, so easy to try a few.

Also, Stirling Soap has a Naked & Smooth that is a very nice soap, and very inexpensive.

Cerbul13 said:
So I understand that my bet bet so far is to try soaps either unscented or with essential oils instead of fragrances, and without menthol(which I don;t like at all as a shaving ingredient anyway).
Any other chemicals that I need to beware of, that are known to cause problems?
Click to expand...
 
Evbo

Evbo

Cerbul13 said:
So I understand that my bet bet so far is to try soaps either unscented or with essential oils instead of fragrances, and without menthol(which I don;t like at all as a shaving ingredient anyway).
Any other chemicals that I need to beware of, that are known to cause problems?
Click to expand...

According to Michelle's (Eyebright's) insightful post above, some people can't tolerate lanolin and/or wheat protein (if you have a wheat/gluten allergy). So you might want to be wary of those ingredients as well.
 
C

Cerbul13

Evbo said:
According to Michelle's (Eyebright's) insightful post above, some people can't tolerate lanolin and/or wheat protein (if you have a wheat/gluten allergy). So you might want to be wary of those ingredients as well.
Click to expand...

Hopefully is not my case, at least as much as I am aware of.

I wouldn't mind being able to use some lanolin + glycerin + essential oil + tallow based shaving soap, but if is needed to be without an essential oil, will do so.
Is it only fragrances being common allergy causes, or is it also the essential oils? For the fact that I am tempted to order one that has Almond essential oil.

Indeed, I try to get as much info as possible, and rather order one time, instead of paying shipping costs 3 times the actual products..

Or, if anyone knows some europe alternatives to those fragrance free natural soaps?
 
Evbo

Evbo

Both fragrance oils AND essential oils can irritate skin, altho in general it seems to be fragrance oils that cause the most problems.
 
olschoolsteel

olschoolsteel

All good points members have posted. If i were in your shoes i would look for something with just the bare ingredients to make a slick lather as thats all you are looking for. Lanolin and tallow are animal products that make it slick, same as glycerin. I second the recomendation to try a $5.00 puck of naked and smooth from Stirling. Maybe even some plain jane Williams. I was going to suggest Cella as you might find it over there easier without ordering, but it comes in a huge brick. I think cella is tallow based and has Almond oil in it.
 
VerbaVolant

VerbaVolant

Cerbule,

From your posts I understand you are new to wet shaving and, as some members will recommend, you should start establishing a base line/reference, before you move ahead.
I do apologize if I sound patronizing but your posts show that you do not have enough experience to call Proraso the culprit for your discomfort.
In my opinion, you do not get irritation from Proraso soap chemicals but razor burn from poor lather. If you believe your skin reaction to chemicals from Proraso is what causes "irritation" did you try the lather on forearm (inside) or face without shaving and see if indeed you get irritation?
That is not to say that Proraso soap cannot cause you trouble.


I believe this is part of the problem:
Cerbul13 said:
...Cause if I can't find one that can give a proper lather...
Click to expand...

Cerbul13 said:
...I can very fine shave with normal hands soap, which I did anyway for 3 years, after I found that no canned goo is friendly with my face. (this was 10 years ago, before changing to electric shaving).
Click to expand...
Well, I can tell you from personal experience that Proraso croap will make good (actually excellent) lather, proper lather that is, and very different from "normal hands soap" lather.

Also take into consideration that you tried different products that require different techniques to create lather: shaving soap stick vs croap vs cream.

I would dare suggest you don't give up on Proraso croap, yet.
Stay with one razor/blade combo for at least two, three weeks or more.
Make sure you don't get skin reaction/rash from Proraso croap by testing in areas mentioned above, without shaving. Take a brake from shaving a day or two and let the skin heal properly, before you start again.
If you decide to use Proraso croap again, load the brush for a minute or so and get good, thick lather that will make your skin feel slick even after you rinse it off.
There is much more to say and I am sure other members here will help as well.
Good luck.
 
C

Cerbul13

VerbaVolant said:
Cerbule,

From your posts I understand you are new to wet shaving and, as some members will recommend, you should start establishing a base line/reference, before you move ahead.
I do apologize if I sound patronizing but your posts show that you do not have enough experience to call Proraso the culprit for your discomfort.
In my opinion, you do not get irritation from Proraso soap chemicals but razor burn from poor lather. If you believe your skin reaction to chemicals from Proraso is what causes "irritation" did you try the lather on forearm (inside) or face without shaving and see if indeed you get irritation?
That is not to say that Proraso soap cannot cause you trouble.


I believe this is part of the problem:



Well, I can tell you from personal experience that Proraso croap will make good (actually excellent) lather, proper lather that is, and very different from "normal hands soap" lather.

Also take into consideration that you tried different products that require different techniques to create lather: shaving soap stick vs croap vs cream.

I would dare suggest you don't give up on Proraso croap, yet.
Stay with one razor/blade combo for at least two, three weeks or more.
Make sure you don't get skin reaction/rash from Proraso croap by testing in areas mentioned above, without shaving. Take a brake from shaving a day or two and let the skin heal properly, before you start again.
If you decide to use Proraso croap again, load the brush for a minute or so and get good, thick lather that will make your skin feel slick even after you rinse it off.
There is much more to say and I am sure other members here will help as well.
Good luck.
Click to expand...

If I read again what I said, then yes, I could agree that I sound like I didn't have success with proraso. Actually I had great success and I am able to make a very nice lather. BEA stick requires more work to get a slick enough lather, and I actually got it quite foamy first time. Just for the sake of trying out, I made a test with lathering normal soap in a bowl, which resulted in an even more foamy lather, no protection at all. The only thing that works when using normal soap is to apply directly to face, add a bit of water to make it less totally slick, and done, you are good to shave. Curiously enough, I love the coconut smell of the proraso, I like the lather it makes, however, is not as hydrating and as protective as BEA stick. This I can put my hands down about. YMMV ofc, but what I am sure about, is that my face feels overly sensitive for 3 4 hours after shaving with proraso. And trust me, I had nick free shaves with it, and still was getting the burn feeling for 3 4 hours. When I was using the palmolive cream, I was getting this the whole day, up until I woke up next morning. One thing that I can be 100% sure about is the hydrating qualities are not as good as BEA, as for the protection, can't be entirely sure since it can be the irritation itself making me feel that the protection is not as good as it should.

I might simply have a reaction to menthol, which doesn't make proraso bad, it only makes it BAD FOR ME.

One way I check for this problem, is to use the soap/cream directly to my face 30 minutes after I finish shaving. I will feel the burn instantly. The normal hands soap does not burn at all, in the contrary, feels relaxing.
 
Last edited:
Songwind

Songwind

Menthol is a known irritant for some people, as is eucalyptus.

If you like the shave stick route, La Toja has a very mild scent and makes an excellent creamy lather. Arko is a good performer but I find it dries my skin out if I'm not careful.
 
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