Tallow hand soap for shaving? Will review soon!

[huck1995]

Out of necessity, I used a bar of homemade tallow based hand soap to shave with this morning.
Stay over at my parents place to help finish building a covered patio porch instead of dealing with a near 2 hour commute to come back today.
Luckily for me, I made a brush and razor set for my father that he keeps on display since he only uses a electric shaver that o could use. I also gave him a pack of Gillette Silver Blue blades, so I was pretty much set.
I pretty much just lathered directly on the bar of soap and face lathered. Not the thick creamy lather I'm used to, but it provided a comfortable shave.
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That's a pretty sweet looking setup you made for your dad! It's a shame it's primarily a display set though.

 

[myshavegottarave]

You're not the first to mull over following that path...
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I'm trying to understand the directions in that ad. When is says "rinse", is it talking about the brush? So use the ivory bar like a shave stick, face lather, then "rinse"? Then moisten the brush and face lather again? Is that what it's saying? Just not understanding the "rinse" suggestion mid-directions.

 

[rockviper]

@myshavegottarave Their process is:
1) wet face, then rub soap on it
2) face lather with brush
3) rinse off face (basically, 1st lather was to wash your face and hydrate whiskers)
4) ... repeat 1+2
5) shave

 

[huck1995]

Well I tried the hand soap using roughly that method. It worked alright actually. Not luxurious, but effective. Not a ton of cushion, but plenty slick, and so it was a VERY close shave. The biggest issue with it is the issue I expected it to have, which is that even if you start with a thick, creamy lather, over time it still develops larger bubbles, which is the reason the cushion wasn't quite there. Definitely works though, and for the price you definitely could use worse. But that being said, you can keep one of these in reserve in case you run out of shaving cream/soap, but don't be so stingy that you're using it just because it's as cheap as dirt. xD

 

[mawashi]

My cheapest soap/gel is Johnson baby shampoo lol.

Honestly it lathers quite good

I think that hair conditioner should work as well.

 

[RayClem]

Although not a bar soap, I have found that Trader Joe's Formula No. 3 "All for One, One for All" shampoo, conditioner, and body wash is a great beard prep and can also be used for shaving. It is one of the slickest products I have ever used. It is my favorite product for use in the shower on those rare occasions when I shave with a cartridge razor, but it could be used for DE or straight razor shaves.

 

[emwolf]

I had a bar of Avon Wild Country soap. Not a good shaving soap, although it was not proclaimed to be as such. I've had a couple of bath soaps that even came in the round puck that said to use them for shaving (i remember one was Swedish Dream Sea . Neither was worth lathering. That said, I've bought some shaving soaps in the past that weren't worth lathering.