Opinion: Women's shaving gels beat Men's gels and foams by a mile

[amdamsky]

I'm not normally a canned shaving gel/foam person but I do use it occasionally, either out of laziness or time restraints, but I've always had issues with it. Unlike the soap and brush it never sat right on my face, was never easy to lather, was clumpy or most concerningly... stung my skin and felt like burning.

I've used many gels and foams over the last year:

• Arko Hemp
• Aldi own brand sensitive foam and gel variants
• Gillette original foam
• Gillette series gel
• Nivea fresh kick foam
• Nivea sensitive foam
• Harry's gel
• Poundland off brand foam

and probably more...​

​

And none of them worked.

But a thought crossed my mind: Why not try the women's stuff? its supposedly supposed to be super mild and sensitive? what's the harm in trying? So I picked the only two women's gels that seem to exist here: Gillette Satin Care with aloe and Bic Soleil Lady, both in travel sizes.

How did they perform? Amazingly! Both went on amazingly smoothly, creating a nice thick, even lather with no leftover lumps of gel, and most importantly, neither caused my face to start feeling warm or tingly, which is a massive win. Overall the bic went on slightly nicer, but had a slightly strange smell that I recognise but can't for the life of me identify, not that it was off putting, while the Gillette had no smell. The Bic was also £2 for 75ml while the Gillette was £1.29 for the same amount, or £2 for 200ml.

I won't be switching full time but its nice to have a gel that I can reliably use now

 

[StewB]

Good advice. Don't let marketing dictate what you try. A good product is a good product.

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

For a really hurried shave, I find Cremo or Lucky Tiger work well; better than any of the mainsteam shaving gels.

 

[JesseL26]

I'm not normally a canned shaving gel/foam person but I do use it occasionally, either out of laziness or time restraints, but I've always had issues with it. Unlike the soap and brush it never sat right on my face, was never easy to lather, was clumpy or most concerningly... stung my skin and felt like burning.

I've used many gels and foams over the last year:

• Arko Hemp
• Aldi own brand sensitive foam and gel variants
• Gillette original foam
• Gillette series gel
• Nivea fresh kick foam
• Nivea sensitive foam
• Harry's gel
• Poundland off brand foam

and probably more...​

​

And none of them worked.

But a thought crossed my mind: Why not try the women's stuff? its supposedly supposed to be super mild and sensitive? what's the harm in trying? So I picked the only two women's gels that seem to exist here: Gillette Satin Care with aloe and Bic Soleil Lady, both in travel sizes.

How did they perform? Amazingly! Both went on amazingly smoothly, creating a nice thick, even lather with no leftover lumps of gel, and most importantly, neither caused my face to start feeling warm or tingly, which is a massive win. Overall the bic went on slightly nicer, but had a slightly strange smell that I recognise but can't for the life of me identify, not that it was off putting, while the Gillette had no smell. The Bic was also £2 for 75ml while the Gillette was £1.29 for the same amount, or £2 for 200ml.

I won't be switching full time but its nice to have a gel that I can reliably use now

I absolutely agree. Most men's shave gels dry my skin out despite having moisturizers, Here in the states I use women's Skintimate Vanilla Brown sugar shave gel. It has 6 moisturizers including Shea butter, Not only does it perform amazing it smells amazing too it leaves my skin so hydrated and smooth. Most men's shave gels smell like teenager cheap perfume. I also use Dove women's bodywash and deodorant it works way better than the men's version and they have better scents too...

 

[Filudo]

I think the best one is Trader Joe's honey-mango shaving cream......beats most, slick as can be......

 

[SalS]

I think the best one is Trader Joe's honey-mango shaving cream......beats most, slick as can be......

Try Jack Black you can thank me later.

 

[StewB]

I will have to try the JB product at some point. I have so many others to get through (and enjoy) first, though. One of these product that works well for me (that may be marketed at women, seeing as Ulta sells it) is Hempz shave gel.

 

[rsp1202]

Aveeno Therapeutic Shave Gel works well. Unscented. It won't foam like canned stuff but you can build a decent lather.