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Slickest Creams...What makes them so slick?

OK so I am trying to find what makes a slick cream, slick.

To help the matter here is a list of creams I found throughout B&B based on searching for "Slickest Creams" I picked the creams I kept seeing listed over and over again but may have missed a few. Anyways I wanted others to weigh in on this list and help me see what in the world is in the ingredients that is making them so slick. This list is in alphabetic order.

Castle Forbes
Aqua (Water), Stearic Acid, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera), Myristic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Coconut Acid, Glycerin, Lavandula Augustfolia (Lavender Essential Oil), Triethanolamine, Sodium Hydroxide, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Propylparaben

Cremo
Water (Aqua), Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Glycol Distearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Polyether-1, Hydroxypropyl Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Allantoin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Xylitol, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Fruit and Carica Papaya Fruit Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Linalool, Limonene, BHT, Perfluoromethylcyclopentane, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Titanium Dioxide, Citric Acid, Fragrance (Parfum)

Godrej
Aqua/Water, Stearic Acid, Glycerol, Potassium Hydroxide, Lauric Acid, Myristic Acid, Perfume, Sodium Hydroxide, Borax, Cera Alba (Bees Wax), Sodium Silicate, Ethoxylated Lanolin, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben.

JM Fraser
Aqua, stearic acid, coconut oil, glycerin, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, sodium borate, imidazolidinyl urea, parfum.

Queen Charlotte Soaps
Tallow, olive oil, coconut oil, glycerin, aloe vera extract, kaolin clay, natural vitamin E
 
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Godreg and Soap Opera have been the slickest I used. The fact they provide great cushion as well keeps them in the rotation.
 
So, what's in all of them?

Two things - fat (oil) and glycerin.

Then different preservatives, scents and moisutrizers.

Some contain vitamins or other skin nourishment or softening components, like lanoline.

What do you need for a smooth shave?

Glide (for protection of the skin) and wetness (for softer stubble).

Some say they get excellent results from just cold water.

I like using olive or almond oil for softening the stubble some 10-30 minutes before I lather, warm water, soap or cream (for when I'm in a hurry). I don't find the cream gives better glide, just more lather, a lot quicker, which you might argue is the point.

To me, it feels like very expensive cosmetic products are mostly marketing hoaxes. Overprized. Overrated - will anyone who spent top dollars on something say he's not content? I guess not. Again, someone will argue that you get what you pay for.

As for after shave, I found that a little walnut oil, nothing else, soothes and protects my skin well. And it has a nice smell, too.

:eek:)
Perkus
 
So, what's in all of them?

Two things - fat (oil) and glycerin.
Then different preservatives, scents and moisutrizers.

Some contain vitamins or other skin nourishment or softening components, like lanoline.

What do you need for a smooth shave?

Glide (for protection of the skin) and wetness (for softer stubble).

Some say they get excellent results from just cold water.

I like using olive or almond oil for softening the stubble some 10-30 minutes before I lather, warm water, soap or cream (for when I'm in a hurry). I don't find the cream gives better glide, just more lather, a lot quicker, which you might argue is the point.

To me, it feels like very expensive cosmetic products are mostly marketing hoaxes. Overprized. Overrated - will anyone who spent top dollars on something say he's not content? I guess not. Again, someone will argue that you get what you pay for.

As for after shave, I found that a little walnut oil, nothing else, soothes and protects my skin well. And it has a nice smell, too.

:eek:)
Perkus

Yep.:thumbup1:
 
Musgo Real has been the slickest I have used, and I will go out on a limb and attribute it to the lanolin in the cream.
 
Godrej
Key ingredients; PEG-30 Lanolin, Glycerin (couldn't find a complete list)

Copied from my tube of " Godrej Deluxe Lather."

Aqua/Water, Stearic Acid, Glycerol, Potassium Hydroxide, Lauric Acid, Myristic Acid, Perfume, Sodium Hydroxide, Borax, Cera Alba (Bees Wax), Sodium Silicate, Ethoxylated Lanolin, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben.

Bill
 
Thanks gents, I think after reading some things online and here I am going to go back and see what I can do with my cream. I felt like I was rocking the cream very well based on thickness and consistancy but I seem to lack the slickness to really cut very nice and smooth. I achieve BBS daily however the blade doesn't glide as smooth as I found after trying out Tabac, damn it for trying something new :confused1 I guess I am just second guessing myself on my skills so time to go back and try some new stuff. I find the hardest thing with wet shaving is YMMV for everything :glare: what works for me might not work for you, and what works for you might not work for me...One thing I can say is I love love love wet shaving just the perfectionist in me is making me batty :a6:
 
Slickness can generally be attributed to waxes and oils. In shaving creams that would be the oils (like coconut), glycerin, and lanolin (sheep wax)
 
YMMV = B&B discussion bliss!

Why, if not YMMV, would there be so many interesting discussions, opinions and brawls to read?

:eek:)
Perkus
 
I like your aftershave of Walnut Oil. In my case I use a mixture of Walnut Oil + Vegetable Glycerin + Aloe Vera as an aftershave. Never dry skin, burn, nicks, rather it leaves the face smooth and comfortable.
 
Matthew makes his products & I am in the industrial chemical business & neither of us are really sure. I am going to one of my chemist tomorrow & find the answer to this. I feel Matt & I both should know this answer. I am embarrassed. Grayson
 
It is the glycerin. some soap ingredient lists add it in, but it comes from saponification of fats. Triglycerides have glycerine backbones and turn into soap salts and glycerin which is a lubricant. It has these slippery hydroxyl groups which weakly bond with water to create slip.

some soaps or creams have for instance steric acid, some have coconut oil. Steric acid reacts to simply form the soap after reaction. But if you have a true fat, not a fatty acid you also get glycerin. This makes it difficult to tell how much glycerin there is in a soap, especially since it can be drained off.

also if you spill a little strong base on you skin it gets slippery because it undergoes saponification with your skin. Don't do that though. It is very dangerous. However it is bound to happen in an organic chemistry lab :blush:
 
You've listed five shaving creams, three of which are soap based, one includes Sodium Isethionate which is a surfactant and that contains no soap, and the last product listing is an incomplete list so I cannot comment on that. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the order of ingredients and the percentages of each. We know that glycerin is a major contributor to "slip and glide" but where is it in the list? In Castle Forbes it is low on the list and lower than the Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) on the list which tells me a lot. Formulas for this kind of product are usually quite similar to one another so patterns do emerge in comparison. Godrej has the glycerin listed very high on the list and leave to to wonder whether that product is in a tube. That requires a larger percentage of glycerin to just get it free flowing and get it out of the tube! Fraser is also listing glycerin fairly high on the list so that must be a fairly loose in consistency. Of course the soap of Stearic Acid is what gives it "creaminess" and "lubrication" so that is another part of answering this whole question. The amount of water in such a formula also has an effect on these qualities in shaving cream. I have done exhaustive studies of shaving cream over the last few years and acquired a great deal of information from old soapmaking and cosmetic chemistry books. Even places like U.S. and World patent sites can provide a wealth of knowledge so these places are good places to gather and collect info! Many here are right in assuming that glycerine plays a big role in this question of what is the most "slippery" of creams but all ingredients play a role in this so unless you know the formula for each then making a comparison can be difficult! The important point here is to look at the ingredients list not only for particular ingredients but also the order of these ingredients! That may tell you more!
 
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