The Dove Sensitive Beauty Bar Miracle ?
- Thread starter alohakid
- Start date
It's a staple in my rotation. Only soap I can buy locally that doesn't irritate my face. Lots of threads on here about shaving with it. I love the stuff.
Yes, a lot of folks have experimented with Dove and many enjoy using it. I use Dove Men + Care as a superlathering ingredient for blends I've created based on Williams and Van Der Hagen shave soap. Roughly 15% of the blend by weight is Dove. Have posted on this.
Dove Men + Care 3 in 1 (orange) I saw the shaving razor on the box, tried it, liked it and is now 1 of 4 of my regular soaps
Rather than start a new thread, I'll respond here, as I just shaved with Dove, as an experiment. All I can say is I could use it as my sole shaving soap. That said, it's not going to knock my favorite soap (Old formula Tabac) or cream (Santa Maria Novella) off their thrones, but it's totally acceptable as a shaving medium.
I did add a bit too much water, so there's that, but overall, color me impressed.
I did add a bit too much water, so there's that, but overall, color me impressed.
I'm glad I found this thread. I just did a little experiment with my Dove 3 in 1 Men+Care orange bar. It says "shaving" so I lathered some of it up, but didn't shave. In my opinion, it lathers better than Proraso but I haven't shaved with it yet. Good, quality, thick lather from it for sure though.
If anybody tells me he uses bar soap with great success, I wonder where he sets the bar.
Of course, you can shave with bar soap and I have done it a few times out of necessity when travelling and when I was out of shaving soap or cream.
Could I shave with it?
Yes, I could.
Was it a shave that I would like to repeat?
No, not unless I have too.
As a straight shaver I appreciate that shaving soaps and creams are optimized differently for the job (lubrication and softening facial skin and hair) than bar soaps.
I even believe that many shavers don’t give a shaving soap or cream enough credit for a great shave.
A great shaving soap (e.g. old formula Tabac) can give an old blade new life, that is to say that when on the previous day the blade seemed to be tired and ready to be discarded when using an average cream or soap the next day it felt much younger and ready for a few more shaves when using a first tier soap.
So everyone should use the (shaving or otherwise) soap or cream that he is comfortable with.
Having tried a few substitutes, I can say that they invariably fall short of the real McCoy.
B.
Of course, you can shave with bar soap and I have done it a few times out of necessity when travelling and when I was out of shaving soap or cream.
Could I shave with it?
Yes, I could.
Was it a shave that I would like to repeat?
No, not unless I have too.
As a straight shaver I appreciate that shaving soaps and creams are optimized differently for the job (lubrication and softening facial skin and hair) than bar soaps.
I even believe that many shavers don’t give a shaving soap or cream enough credit for a great shave.
A great shaving soap (e.g. old formula Tabac) can give an old blade new life, that is to say that when on the previous day the blade seemed to be tired and ready to be discarded when using an average cream or soap the next day it felt much younger and ready for a few more shaves when using a first tier soap.
So everyone should use the (shaving or otherwise) soap or cream that he is comfortable with.
Having tried a few substitutes, I can say that they invariably fall short of the real McCoy.
B.
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Hi Brutus,
You are right that lather quality can give an old blade new life. As I learned to make better and slicker lather my shaves per DE blade increased significantly.
Curious if you are applying some general experience with bar soaps meant for bathing to the Dove bar specifically referred to by the OP. If you have shaved with Dove Sensitive Care or Men+Care, as the basis for your comments above, then given YMMV thank you for sharing your experience. If not you may want to try some and share how it works for you.
For typical bar soaps like Ivory, Dial or Safeguard you are right that there are issues in that, while slick, the lather dissipates quickly due to saponification with sodium versus potassium hydroxide. Dove has a very different formulation that does lend itself to producing a lot of stable lather.
I've personally experimented with Dove Men+Care to confirm this as have many other B&Bers. There are a number of B&Bers who regularly enjoy shaving with Dove. In my case the lather was almost too thick for my preferences with slickness that was fine but not as good as my shaving soaps. Definitely a good travel option if one wanted a single soap for bathing and shaving.
I've found that it is an excellent superlathering agent and now use it regularly as part of a custom shaving soap blend as follows:
1) 2 pucks of Williams shave soap (roughly 1/4 of total, can use Arko as others have done since Williams was discontinued)
2) 1 Stick of Arko (15% of total)
3) 2 pucks of Van Der Hagen Deluxe (roughly 1/3 of total)
4) 1 ounce of Proraso Red (superlathering, 6% of total)
5) 2 ounces Ivory (more tallow based slickness, 12% of total)
6) 2 ounces of Dove (superlathering 12% of total)
Grate the Williams, Arko, Ivory and Dove. Mix in the Proraso and then melt and pour in the Van Der Hagen and knead the mixture for consistency. Makes five 3+ ounce pucks of excellent shaving soap.
Lather quality and ease is as good or better than any of my other commercial off-the-shelf shaving soaps in all dimensions except for scent.
I've lots of detailed posts on my Dove experimentation and blends if you are interested.
@alohakid Did you ever get yourself a bar of your preferred Dove soap to see if it works for you as a shaving soap? If so how did it go?
Does the ordinary beauty bar from Dove work just as well or is this miracle limited to just the sensitive?
Dove Beauty Bar is not designed to be a shaving soap. In fact, it is not even a soap. That is why it is labeled as a ""beauty bar". The ingredients are: Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Lauric Acid, Sodium Oleate, Water, Sodium Isethionate, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Sodium Laurate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Tetrasodium Edta, Sodium Chloride, Kaolin Or Titanium Dioxide.
The primary chemical is sodium lauroyl isethionate that is synthetic surfactant (detergent) derived from coconut oil. However, it does contain sodium oleate, sodium stearate, and sodium laurate, which are sodium esters of various fatty acids. Thus, the product does contain some soap. The product even has some unsaponified fatty acids (stearic acid and lauric acid). Thus, it can be considered superfatted.
The formula is somewhat similar to many shampoos. These products lather quickly, but the lather is normally not as stable as a real shaving soap. Back when I was still working, I traveled frequently and I often used whatever shampoo and conditioner was available in the hotel for my shave. For those whose shaving needs are less strigent, Dove Beauty Bar and indeed many face and bath bars can be used.
One product I tested for shaving is Yardley of London moisturing bath bar with cocoa butter. The ingredients are: Sodium Tallowate, Water (Aqua), Sodium Palm Kernelate or Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Glycerin, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Fragrance, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Chloride, Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Iron Oxides, Yellow 5, Red 33, Tallow Acid, Coconut Acid, Petrolatum, Pentasodium Pentetate.
This is a tallow based soap (not a detergent) that contains cocoa butter Shea butter, and Vitamin D. While the lather is not as stable as many shaving soaps, I much prefer Yardley with cocoa butter to some products sold as shaving soaps. When you consider that you can purchase 6 x 4 ounce bars for $18.99 on Amazon, this has to be one of the best price to performance bargains you can find. If the bars are sold at a local store, you can find them even less expensive.
While I can shave with shampoos or Yardley, I much prefer using a proper shaving soap. However, if I were shaving on a miniscule budget, I would consider these two inexpensive options.
The primary chemical is sodium lauroyl isethionate that is synthetic surfactant (detergent) derived from coconut oil. However, it does contain sodium oleate, sodium stearate, and sodium laurate, which are sodium esters of various fatty acids. Thus, the product does contain some soap. The product even has some unsaponified fatty acids (stearic acid and lauric acid). Thus, it can be considered superfatted.
The formula is somewhat similar to many shampoos. These products lather quickly, but the lather is normally not as stable as a real shaving soap. Back when I was still working, I traveled frequently and I often used whatever shampoo and conditioner was available in the hotel for my shave. For those whose shaving needs are less strigent, Dove Beauty Bar and indeed many face and bath bars can be used.
One product I tested for shaving is Yardley of London moisturing bath bar with cocoa butter. The ingredients are: Sodium Tallowate, Water (Aqua), Sodium Palm Kernelate or Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Glycerin, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Fragrance, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Chloride, Titanium Dioxide, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Iron Oxides, Yellow 5, Red 33, Tallow Acid, Coconut Acid, Petrolatum, Pentasodium Pentetate.
This is a tallow based soap (not a detergent) that contains cocoa butter Shea butter, and Vitamin D. While the lather is not as stable as many shaving soaps, I much prefer Yardley with cocoa butter to some products sold as shaving soaps. When you consider that you can purchase 6 x 4 ounce bars for $18.99 on Amazon, this has to be one of the best price to performance bargains you can find. If the bars are sold at a local store, you can find them even less expensive.
While I can shave with shampoos or Yardley, I much prefer using a proper shaving soap. However, if I were shaving on a miniscule budget, I would consider these two inexpensive options.
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No offense, but you might need a little more work with Proraso. I've used the Dove Men + Care quite a few times and it is not as good as a tube of Proraso. The Dove only wins in availability and price for me.
If you are using Proraso in a tub instead of a tube then that's understandable. In my opinion the tubes are much easier to get right. The tubes are also less likely to give you soap scum in my experience---even though they are supposed to be the same ingredients.
Thank you RayClem, that's a helpful analysis. Interestingly the Dove Men+Care I've been testing and blending has a somewhat different formula that possibly includes some tallow though it still has Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate as the #1 ingredient. Note these bars are a few years old and a new package of Men+Care that we recently purchased no longer lists the tallow.
Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate or Sodium Palmitate, Sodium Stearate, Water (Aqua), Sodium Isethionate, Lauric Acid, Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Sodium Cocoate or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance (Parfum), Dipropylene Glycol, Sodium Chloride, Propylene Glycol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Green 5 (CI 61570), Orange 4 (CI 15510), Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891)
Interestingly the lather from this is very thick and extremely stable. Almost too thick hence my use of it as an effective superlathering agent in blends. Suspect, based on my posted blending experiment with Dove and Ivory, that blending this with the Yardley you've recommended would deliver a budget shaving soap that produced lather that was both slick and stable.
Sorry, I can't comment anything about Dovo, but I do envy that you managed to get to the point when you finished all your shaving creams/soaps
