Soap or Cream. And Why?

[NickXC90]

Hi Guys,

Up until recently I had been using GFT Sandalwood shaving cream and Simpsons Natural Shaving cream. I recently decided to grab me some MWF soap and some Edwin Jagger Aloe soap and give them a go. I read lots of threads about MWF and even EJ being hard to lather so I followed instructions and seem to get a decent lather out of both. The problem I find is that the lather doesn't seem to be very slick. The MWF does turn out a little slicker than the EJ but compared to the creams I've used I wouldn't really call either slick

This is a pain, because I can only shave once a day and that means it takes 24 hours to practice again! Maybe I should give some time to just creating lather without shaving....

I'm not conviced about soaps, they seem to take longer to prep and to date I haven't had great success with them.

In light of this I was wondering, what do you use? Cream or Soap? Why? I know the ymmv thing but I'm keen to here WHY you use WHAT you use.

Cheers Guys,

Nick.

 

[Micheal Halliday]

I am anxious to hear others on this as well. I started out with Col. Conk Bay Rhum soap, and have been trying a number of other things, TOBWS creams, WCS Creams, Poraso Soap, QCS Vostock soap.

I am currently settled on using Vostock of Proaso soap and super lathering with a TOBS cream.

Hi Guys,

Up until recently I had been using GFT Sandalwood shaving cream and Simpsons Natural Shaving cream. I recently decided to grab me some MWF soap and some Edwin Jagger Aloe soap and give them a go. I read lots of threads about MWF and even EJ being hard to lather so I followed instructions and seem to get a decent lather out of both. The problem I find is that the lather doesn't seem to be very slick. The MWF does turn out a little slicker than the EJ but compared to the creams I've used I wouldn't really call either slick

This is a pain, because I can only shave once a day and that means it takes 24 hours to practice again! Maybe I should give some time to just creating lather without shaving....

I'm not conviced about soaps, they seem to take longer to prep and to date I haven't had great success with them.

In light of this I was wondering, what do you use? Cream or Soap? Why? I know the ymmv thing but I'm keen to here WHY you use WHAT you use.

Cheers Guys,

Nick.

 

[Matt_Bloodletter]

MWF isn't the easiest to start with but it will be great. The old standby "use more product" is key here. Use more water and more soap than you think you need. Practice palm lathering as there is nothing like feel to reinforce what works. The MWF will last months with daily use. A few test lathers won't hurt. I have hard water but with additional water and product it works.

I like both but I could use soap permanently and never feel like I was missing out.

 

[Ducati Scotty]

Make sure you're getting enough water into your lather, you need more with soap than with cream. I prefer to add it later in the mix. If you add it too soon you can get big bubbles that never come together into a good lather.

If your lather looks like Cool Whip and is very stiff, it's too dry. Add a few drops of water at a time until you notice a very subtle sheen to the surface. I usually find that just right, and it won't be quite so stiff. If you add more it will start to degrade.

I use both, but soap most of the time. I face lather and find it a little quicker and easier to do with soap. With creams I find it's easier to make lather in a bowl.

Scott

 

[cottontop]

I prefer creams. Why? I don't know why, I just do. But, if the truth be known, I actually use them both together by putting a dab of cream on whatever soap is in my mug.
cottontop

 

[DE85]

+1 on using both! I find that it might save a little time to add a dab of cream to the bowl with the soap. It gives you the best of both world and provides a first class shave. Just the other day i mixed the two with a little bit of glycerine. Here are the pictures. I used Williams soap.

 

[RVshave]

I'm a soap guy, partly for the cost, I get more for my money. I love the massage of the brush while face lathering. I don't have room for a lot of stuff like bowls and scuttles. I love the tallow products and those seem to be soaps

Nothing wrong with making test lathers to get it right.

 

[Niles]

I also recommend more practice lathering soaps. It can only help. I like soaps better. But they do takee a bit longer to get a shave worthy lather.

 

[UnCL3]

I like the TOBS creams (Almond is my favorite). Every now and then, I'll superlather with Conk's soap and TOBS, or just the Conk's.
I think the Conk's soaps are OK for the price, and they last quite a while. If I were a REAL cheapskate, I think Colonel Conk would be the way to go

 

[jdkdonk]

Creams. Way easier to get a decent lather, at least for a relative newbie like me. I get very inconsistent results with soap, I need more practice.

There are a lot of fun looking soaps out there though. One of these days I'll get around the soaps again, maybe I'll figure it out better this time.

 

[Bad Robot]

On the whole so far I prefer soaps. They take a little longer in general to lather (relatively of course since we are not talking more than a couple of minutes here). So far I find a well lathered soap to be slicker than creams. Of course I haven't tried all the creams and soaps so ymmv and all that.

 

[Kerrplunk]

Hey Nick
For me cream seems to lather faster and slicker. Soap tends to put a strain on my elbow/shoulder/psyche. I'm ready to try my Stirling soap puck that's in the mail. But cream is for me.

 

[Martel]

I tend to use creams due to time concerns...By which I mean I'm lazy. Lately I've been sticking to Bigelow and injectors, saving Sundays for Tabac and my Mergress. I didn't start as a soap guy anyway, but for me VDH deluxe really persuaded me it was worth looking into. One day I may even try williams.

 

[cantujm]

I use both, creams and soaps, but I like using soaps better. I started off using creams and have just recently picked up some soaps. I like how much more slickness a good soap lather can provide. I still use creams, just not as often as soaps. I normally shave six days a week and I've found that five days I use soap and one day a cream just to mix things up a bit.

 

[Kilgore]

I like soap, creams & croaps. MWF is a chore but will provide
a VERY slick lather if you can get it to behave. I never had lathering issues with EJ soaps.

You might look into some 'croaps', Cella & Vito's are wonderful.

 

[Teppanyaki]

My 2 cents-

Soaps may be cheaper compared to an equivalent cream as the product is denser. They also frequently do not need any, or fewer, preservatives due to their solid form. They take a bit longer to lather and may need a brush with some "backbone."

Creams lather more easily but run out faster, may have preservatives, and lather up more quickly.

Croaps, or soft soaps ("cream + soap"), are somewhere between the two.

I prefer soaps as I am trying to get as many synthetic chemicals out of my bathroom/kitchen/house as I can, like the cost savings of soap as they last a while, and can get custom scented soaps from some vendors.

 

[dfoulk]

I prefer soaps for a couple reasons. I feel that I have more control over the thickness of the lather with a soap. I can make it as thick or thin as I want to. With a cream I can't get the lather as thick as I'd like sometimes and don't feel that I'm always getting the protection I'd like. Also, I like to have many choices, so I have a lot of soaps. If I don't use one for a while it's no big deal. With creams this is not the case as they will go bad eventually. There is no one here using a vintage Yardley shaving cream (not sure if it even existed) because it would have gone bad by now and have been tossed in the trash. So in choosing soaps I can take years to use them up without worrying about having them dry up and go bad on me.

 

[Triig]

I use both as well. I think creams seem to lather quicker and easier. Well the soaps I've tried require more work, they feel more slick and leave my face soft and moisturized. I usually alternate between soap/cream every day.

That being said, the only creams I've used is AoS and TOBS. And the only soaps I've used is Stirling and Mike's. I'm still a newer wet shaver (8 months), so your mileage may vary.

 

[EloquentRune]

If I am not pressed for time I will grab soap. I always have a higher quality shave from the lather I whip up myself with soap than I do with the few creams I have. Taking the little bit of extra time with soap to get that slickness and texture I want brings me much greater pleasure than just whirling up some cream quickly into a lather that just gets the job done.

 

[Eeyore]

I don't care; there are good soaps and good creams. Both worth using.