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Shave soap discovery

I was in mood to explore today. I've been using Cetaphil bar soap as a facewash and I've been impressed with the rich lather it produces, but today I suddenly became curious about its possibilities as a shaving soap.

So after my shower I put the bar of Cetaphil in my lather bowl, held it in place, and loaded a dryish Omega Lucretia Borgia. Once the brush was well-loaded, I put the bar of soap back in the shower and continued to lather in the bowl, adding drops of water until I had a rich, meringuey lather. This is the procedure I use for all my soaps.

I let it sit for a few minutes to see if the lather was stable, and it was. I wet it slightly again then applied for the shave (Gillette Superspeed with Voshkod blade on its third shave). I did a full (3-pass) shave with touchups, resulting in a BBS shave. The lather was very slick and had a fine cushion. There was no skipping or other unpleasant behavior from the razor/blade.

After the shave, my skin felt great -- not as conditioned as it is after MWF, but the same as with Palmolive or PdP. An application of Thayer's Superhazel revealed that the shave was easy on my face as well, with only some very slight burn on the neck (but there always is for me, no matter which soap I'm using). I'm impressed!

I'll upload some pics this weekend just to prove I'm not crazy. :drool:
 
Haha, I was just washing my face with it and was thinking about how it would do as a shave soap! Bring on the pictures!
 
stfly, I don't think so. Most body soaps are not that much different than shave soap. In fact, shave soap may be more prone to leaving residue due to its moisturizing components (glycerin, lanolin, etc).
 
Time for some pictures! Lathered up some Cetaphil today just to take pics (no shave).

First, the bar of Cetaphil in my lather bowl
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My Omega "Lucretia Borgia" (synthetic badger) loaded
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After 30 seconds of lathering
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After a couple of minutes of lathering, it's ready to use
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This is some rich, creamy, slick stuff! Like any good lather, it won't compress much when squeezed.
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The lather is almost as good as MWF, though like I said in the original post, Cetaphil isn't as conditioning.
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stfly, I don't think so. Most body soaps are not that much different than shave soap. In fact, shave soap may be more prone to leaving residue due to its moisturizing components (glycerin, lanolin, etc).

I'll try to lather with some Dove and Nivea soap. That's a very nice pic of you with your son. Mine likes to do the same :001_smile
 
We have the same Omega brush, the red/clear handle. I reach for the brush about 3 times a week, very nice brush but does dry slowly (as most boars do). I also shave with my 11 year old son on Sundays. He gets first pick of the brush/soap combo and I remove a blade from a slim and let him go to town. It is fun for both of us.
 
The question isn't if you can get away with one shave with it, the question is if you can use it every day to good results.
You were probably extra careful with your prep and technique because you were doing a test - on that basis you could probably get a decent shave with just hot water.
 
I'm about 100% confident that my son (2 year old) will be getting his first shave set this Christmas so he, too, can start shaving with daddy!

Great pics, thanks for sharing.
 
Regular soap works well sometimes. I've been known to use Dove in a pinch. never had any cuts or anything.
 
That "razor" he's using is from the Thomas the Train set, or at least it looks like it...My 5YO already knows what Kind of Razor he wants when he is "OLD" like me...I can't wait to give him my 23C...
 
The question isn't if you can get away with one shave with it, the question is if you can use it every day to good results.
You were probably extra careful with your prep and technique because you were doing a test - on that basis you could probably get a decent shave with just hot water.

That's quite possible. Given the quality of the lather I expect it would be a suitable shave soap, but only long term testing will tell. It's intended to be a daily face wash, so there are no harsh ingredients or fragrances that would cause irritation.

My main soap is MWF right now, but I'll be giving the Cetaphil bar a long term test when the weather warms up again.
 
We have the same Omega brush, the red/clear handle. I reach for the brush about 3 times a week, very nice brush but does dry slowly (as most boars do). I also shave with my 11 year old son on Sundays. He gets first pick of the brush/soap combo and I remove a blade from a slim and let him go to town. It is fun for both of us.

That Omega (#31025, "Scarlatti") is my favorite brush! Absolutely fantastic.
 
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