SHEA BUTTER vs. TALLOW

[JoeG]

I'm on my third Sterling, made with beef tallow, shave soap sample and so far they have been the mildest most protective shaves I can get. Cella, I believe, is also is also made with beef tallow. Great shave and easy to lather.

I also use Institute Karite and a Himalaya Shea Butter with soy bean oil (let this one cure until it stops sweating) from etsy and both work similarly well.

If I had to chose just one soap maker it would probably be Sterling.

So tallow beats shea butter for now.

 

[Bull]

Sterling is in my top 3 for sure

 

[clk]

Try shea butter after tallow. Good Stuff!!

 

[wildcatstrat]

Why not both!? Strop Shoppe special edition with tallow has shea butter as well. Best. Soap. Ever. (IMHO and YMMV, lol)

 

[Andy77]

They're pretty different ingredients, often exist in the same soap and are not at all mutually exclusive. So "soap vs tallow" is a false choice.

Tallow can make up a sizable (even half or more) portion of soap. It is readily saponified (ie reacts with lye to make soap) and It is possible, though probably not desirable, to make soap from only tallow and lye.

Shea butter doesn't react much with lye and so can't comprise the bulk of a soap's ingredients. Most Shea butter additions to soaps are in the couple of percent.

So think of tallow as the backbone of a soap and shea butter as an 'add on ingredient.'

Or better yet, think of tallow as the steak and Shea butter as the salt and pepper.

 

[GreekGuy]

So think of tallow as the backbone of a soap and shea butter as an 'add on ingredient.'

I think this is the best way to view it. Shea butter can be added to veggie soaps and tallow soaps alike. Same with lanolin. Its just another ingredient.

 

[Obsidian Butterfly]

I've use up to 20% shea in a vegan soap before and it turned out pretty decent. That much shea does inhibit lather a little so it wouldn't be the best choice for a shave soap base oil but you can definitely use it at more then just a couple percent.

My go to shave recipe is mostly tallow but it also has a healthy dose of coco butter. Most butter have a decent steric content and are often used at higher percentages in vegan soaps.
I've only tried a couple store bought soaps as I prefer my own recipe but I can say that tallow is my base oil of choice for shave soap.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Shea butter is an additive to soap (for the most part), with some superfatting properties (or soaping properties if you're willing to waste money). Tallow is a base fat for soap. A far better comparison would be cocoa butter, which in my opinion proves superior to tallow but costs about ten times as much... to the point where I will ONLY make it for myself and personal acquaintances, as the cost per puck for a heavily cocoa butter soap would be prohibitively expensive. I've not worked with shea butter, but I believe it's closer to Cocoa butter cost than Tallow cost, and given that it's hugely oleic... very similar to olive oil (Something like a 40% stearic, 60% olive blend would be almost identical to Shea for saponification purposes), and costs far, far more, it's not even something to consider as base fat. It's presence in shaving soaps is usually as an additive. More like lanolin than tallow. It can be made to work, but Cocoa butter and tallow both prove superior.

 

[celestino]

Try shea butter after tallow. Good Stuff!!