Great list in this thread, especially as you include a number of my favorites:
Haslinger (all eight varieties)
MWF (which may take awhile to master)
Speick
Haslinger (all eight varieties)
MWF (which may take awhile to master)
Speick
What soap for dry and sensitive skin?
- Thread starter InvictusManeo
- Start date
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
After the shave you could use a dollop(almond size) CeraVe moisturizing lotion, that lotion will do wonders for most folks. Most soaps are slightly Alkaline on the PH scale so getting your skin more to neutral PH level will help and CeraVe is more neutral on the
PH scale for myself! CeraVe can be bought at most pharmacies & Amazon in North America and is very common + affordable.
(old archived photo, this works well for a moisturizing balm, better than others I have tried over the years!)
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Kind sir, when should we include this lotion during the shave routine? Is it to replace the aftershave product? I also suffer from sensitive dry skin
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
I use it when the shave is completed, my procedure usually I like to wash my face with warm water when done shaving to remove most soap residual and then towel dry my face then apply some aftershave(optional) then apply a little CeraVe moisturizing cream.
Hope this helps you!
You can maybe try this:
www.badgerandblade.com
Beeswax shaving soap
I found a random shaving soap at one of the local "arts and crafts" fairs in Auchendinny, UK. It was supposedly made without tallow, lanolin, glycerin, you know the usual stuff. Here is the list of the ingreedients: It comes without any container, but it fits perfectly in the Taylor of old...
www.badgerandblade.com
Stirling Sheep is one of the most moisturizing soaps Ive ever used.
- Thread starter
- #27
Thank you everyone for the replies: Here’s some updates for me/ things I did based on recommendations here.
Overall, my shaves are much better, and my skin feels much more moisturized. Good luck to the reader to discern which of the 10 interventions I made is most/more/somewhat responsible for the improvement.
- I’m better/ faster at straight razor shaving
- My edges have improved through acquisition of better hones, and better honing skill.
Proraso Blue pre-shave: Absolutely wonderful. Easily the biggest game changer for me. Improves soap lathers. This is the first thing I’ve tried that allows me to shave without showering immediately before shaving. Now, I just need to find a similar non-mentholated product for times I don’t feel like mixing with the cooling effects. Please comment with recs.
Stirling soaps: easy to make LONG lasting lather. Probably the 2nd best post shave feel. I got 2 scents:
Haverford: Fantastic scent, even though my wife said the soap looked like poo when it was in the bowl. Lather is a light brown/ off white color, but performance is great and scent pleases this guy who used to smoke vanilla scented pipes.
Bay Rum: Another great performer this time in a classic/traditional scent. Wife has never said the soap looks like poo.
Proraso White Shave Soap: Scent is ho-hum. Super slick. Super easy to make long lasting lather. Great post shave feel. Really a great all around performer, especially when paired with proraso pre and post shave.
Mitchell’s Wool Fat: Easily the best immediate post shave feel. Lather definitely SHORT lasting, re-lathering/ rewetting lather is a must. Trickier to find the sweet spot, but probably the best of the lot when you get it right.
Speick Cream: I only used it once, mostly because I’m more of a soap guy in general. Not memorably good, not memorably bad in any way either.
CeraVe: I’ve been using morning/night when I remember. My skin feels more moisturized overall, but I still look old. I found out after purchasing that this product had been supported by Dylan Mulvany. I have not worn, not had the compunction to wear a dress since using though.
Tabac (aquired in 2021; probably tallow based?): Used today for the first time in a few weeks since posting this thread. Great lather. Great scent for this old guy. Really pretty good in moisturizing and long lasting lather. And a really good post shave feel.
Maybe all of the problems I was having before were due to poor SR technique, slowness, poor edges, resistance to relatheting, resistance to using face moisturizer, previously acquired and now resolved bitchiness.
Or, just now (slightly) satisfied preshave AD, hone AD, soap AD, and postshave AD.
Hope y’all enjoy the process as much as I do.
Overall, my shaves are much better, and my skin feels much more moisturized. Good luck to the reader to discern which of the 10 interventions I made is most/more/somewhat responsible for the improvement.
- I’m better/ faster at straight razor shaving
- My edges have improved through acquisition of better hones, and better honing skill.
Proraso Blue pre-shave: Absolutely wonderful. Easily the biggest game changer for me. Improves soap lathers. This is the first thing I’ve tried that allows me to shave without showering immediately before shaving. Now, I just need to find a similar non-mentholated product for times I don’t feel like mixing with the cooling effects. Please comment with recs.
Stirling soaps: easy to make LONG lasting lather. Probably the 2nd best post shave feel. I got 2 scents:
Haverford: Fantastic scent, even though my wife said the soap looked like poo when it was in the bowl. Lather is a light brown/ off white color, but performance is great and scent pleases this guy who used to smoke vanilla scented pipes.
Bay Rum: Another great performer this time in a classic/traditional scent. Wife has never said the soap looks like poo.
Proraso White Shave Soap: Scent is ho-hum. Super slick. Super easy to make long lasting lather. Great post shave feel. Really a great all around performer, especially when paired with proraso pre and post shave.
Mitchell’s Wool Fat: Easily the best immediate post shave feel. Lather definitely SHORT lasting, re-lathering/ rewetting lather is a must. Trickier to find the sweet spot, but probably the best of the lot when you get it right.
Speick Cream: I only used it once, mostly because I’m more of a soap guy in general. Not memorably good, not memorably bad in any way either.
CeraVe: I’ve been using morning/night when I remember. My skin feels more moisturized overall, but I still look old. I found out after purchasing that this product had been supported by Dylan Mulvany. I have not worn, not had the compunction to wear a dress since using though.
Tabac (aquired in 2021; probably tallow based?): Used today for the first time in a few weeks since posting this thread. Great lather. Great scent for this old guy. Really pretty good in moisturizing and long lasting lather. And a really good post shave feel.
Maybe all of the problems I was having before were due to poor SR technique, slowness, poor edges, resistance to relatheting, resistance to using face moisturizer, previously acquired and now resolved bitchiness.
Or, just now (slightly) satisfied preshave AD, hone AD, soap AD, and postshave AD.
Hope y’all enjoy the process as much as I do.
I love Lothur Grooming shave soaps. They have a nice clean scent, it is easy to lather, are very slick, and have a post-shave feel, unlike any other soap I have used. Absolutely fantastic shave soap. In fact, if I have to choose only one shave soap to use for the rest of my life, it would definitely be Lothur.
Drinking lots of water help with dry skin.
One ounce of water daily for each two pounds of body weight.
Could help. Instruction from my Dermotoligist.
One ounce of water daily for each two pounds of body weight.
Could help. Instruction from my Dermotoligist.
Sir,
Just to give a little background…I have incredibly sensitive skin. My skin breaks out pretty easily and I have dry skin. I also suffer from eczema (not really on my face, but definitely elsewhere). I can even break out just by touching my face too much. I’m the type to just randomly have allergic reactions to my skin where I have to get prescribed steroid packs to heal it. I have incredibly sensitive skin unfortunately. For me personally, I’ve noticed (most) soaps and creams with fragrances make me break out. Lanolin also makes me break out and just irritates my skin. I stay away from any soap that has lanolin. I also try to stay away from fragrances as best as I can. Beef tallow doesn’t seem to do much to my skin, which is good so I don’t really have a preference on vegan or non-vegan—as long as it doesn’t have lanolin!
First thing I recommend is drink a lot of water. Definitely stay hydrated. Next step is use gentle cleansers. I highly recommend Vanicream Gentle Face Cleanser. Imo, it’s the holy grail of facial cleansers. It does nothing to my skin but clean, which is great! I also highly recommend Vanicream Facial Moisturizer and their normal cream for everywhere else.
For soaps/creams, I’ve noticed Proraso Blue doesn’t irritate or make me break out even though it has a mild scent and menthol. In fact, I’ve noticed my break outs have mostly stopped since I started using it. It also doesn’t dry my face out. Other soaps I recommend are Canada Shaving Soap and Zingari Man Unscented. Canada is only made with 5 ingredients. It’s basically a dupe of MdC. Less ingredients, less chance of irritation. The maker of Zingari Man is allergic to lanolin so she formulated her soap to not include it. Both soaps have pleasant natural scents because of the ingredients and both absolutely do not dry my face out.
I think that’s what is most important. A soap NOT drying your face out. For my skin, no soap is necessarily going to moisturize it without an actual moisturizer after shaving.
Post shave, I’ve actually found while scented, Nivea Sensitive Soothing and Cooling balms work well for my skin. However, I still need to use an actual moisturizer after since they’re not super hydrating for my skin. Now I just mainly use them for a nice scent to have on me, or a cooling effect. Once I’m done with my bottles, I’ll probably try the Sego Aftershave Balm from Zingari Man.
Also, don’t forget sunscreen. I recommend the Trader Joe’s Facial Sunscreen. It’s cheap and basically a dupe of a highly recommended facial sunscreen that costs nearly 5x as much.
I hope this helps!
Just to give a little background…I have incredibly sensitive skin. My skin breaks out pretty easily and I have dry skin. I also suffer from eczema (not really on my face, but definitely elsewhere). I can even break out just by touching my face too much. I’m the type to just randomly have allergic reactions to my skin where I have to get prescribed steroid packs to heal it. I have incredibly sensitive skin unfortunately. For me personally, I’ve noticed (most) soaps and creams with fragrances make me break out. Lanolin also makes me break out and just irritates my skin. I stay away from any soap that has lanolin. I also try to stay away from fragrances as best as I can. Beef tallow doesn’t seem to do much to my skin, which is good so I don’t really have a preference on vegan or non-vegan—as long as it doesn’t have lanolin!
First thing I recommend is drink a lot of water. Definitely stay hydrated. Next step is use gentle cleansers. I highly recommend Vanicream Gentle Face Cleanser. Imo, it’s the holy grail of facial cleansers. It does nothing to my skin but clean, which is great! I also highly recommend Vanicream Facial Moisturizer and their normal cream for everywhere else.
For soaps/creams, I’ve noticed Proraso Blue doesn’t irritate or make me break out even though it has a mild scent and menthol. In fact, I’ve noticed my break outs have mostly stopped since I started using it. It also doesn’t dry my face out. Other soaps I recommend are Canada Shaving Soap and Zingari Man Unscented. Canada is only made with 5 ingredients. It’s basically a dupe of MdC. Less ingredients, less chance of irritation. The maker of Zingari Man is allergic to lanolin so she formulated her soap to not include it. Both soaps have pleasant natural scents because of the ingredients and both absolutely do not dry my face out.
I think that’s what is most important. A soap NOT drying your face out. For my skin, no soap is necessarily going to moisturize it without an actual moisturizer after shaving.
Post shave, I’ve actually found while scented, Nivea Sensitive Soothing and Cooling balms work well for my skin. However, I still need to use an actual moisturizer after since they’re not super hydrating for my skin. Now I just mainly use them for a nice scent to have on me, or a cooling effect. Once I’m done with my bottles, I’ll probably try the Sego Aftershave Balm from Zingari Man.
Also, don’t forget sunscreen. I recommend the Trader Joe’s Facial Sunscreen. It’s cheap and basically a dupe of a highly recommended facial sunscreen that costs nearly 5x as much.
I hope this helps!
I just realized I’m late to the party haha.
If you have apprehensions towards CeraVe for whatever reason, politically or not. CeraVe has been known to actually cause people with sensitive skin issues regardless if they’re a “sensitive” formula or fine with people with eczema. Supposedly they changed ownership the last few years and have been using cheaper ingredients. CeraVe makes my wife break out and she doesn’t have nearly as sensitive as skin as I do. I also suspect my break outs got worse when I picked up that 2 pack of CeraVe from Costco.
Vanicream imo, is a lot better and has never caused me issues. It was the one prescribed to me from my doctor awhile back for an eczema flare up.
Obviously if it works for you then “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Hi. I have been wetshaving for years but have only realised relatively recently that I actually have pretty sensitive skin that doesn't respond well to fragrance. It actually seems to be getting worse as I get older. Yesterday I took delivery of a new kilo brick of Vitos Red, a soap I have used happily past, but when I used the new soap for yesterday's shave it made my face light up like Christmas tree...it still feels a little funny now, so I have a kilo of soap I probably can't use.
Whilst many people praise modern artisans for all the "skin-kind" ingredients, it means nothing for me because my skin will react to all the fragrance oils in them. Like you, I had a reaction to new-formula Tabac, and your description sounds familiar. Unless you hit on a bad ingredient (e.g. the Benzaldehyde in Vitos) you will be better off with traditional soaps than artisans. I recommend Haslinger, MWF (if you can get the old Tallow version) and other hard soaps (Harris, TOBs) and traditional EU creams (Proraso, Palmolive, etc). Also, if you do buy artisan stuff, I recommend looking for soaps that have been manufactured in the EU and actually have European Cosmetic Regulation certifications. I think that a lot of "artisan" products slip under the rug in that regard, but I have had less problem with artisan products from UK makers who do have the necessary certificates in place, as amongst other things, this usually means that the fragrance oils are applied with a bit more moderation than some imported soaps (although there are also artisans manufacturing and selling uncertified soaps inside the EU). P&B comes to mind, and I can particularly recommend Signature Soaps, whose soaps are formulated to account for the needs of people who suffer from eczema, psoriasis, etc. (and also happen to be fantastic soaps).
Whilst many people praise modern artisans for all the "skin-kind" ingredients, it means nothing for me because my skin will react to all the fragrance oils in them. Like you, I had a reaction to new-formula Tabac, and your description sounds familiar. Unless you hit on a bad ingredient (e.g. the Benzaldehyde in Vitos) you will be better off with traditional soaps than artisans. I recommend Haslinger, MWF (if you can get the old Tallow version) and other hard soaps (Harris, TOBs) and traditional EU creams (Proraso, Palmolive, etc). Also, if you do buy artisan stuff, I recommend looking for soaps that have been manufactured in the EU and actually have European Cosmetic Regulation certifications. I think that a lot of "artisan" products slip under the rug in that regard, but I have had less problem with artisan products from UK makers who do have the necessary certificates in place, as amongst other things, this usually means that the fragrance oils are applied with a bit more moderation than some imported soaps (although there are also artisans manufacturing and selling uncertified soaps inside the EU). P&B comes to mind, and I can particularly recommend Signature Soaps, whose soaps are formulated to account for the needs of people who suffer from eczema, psoriasis, etc. (and also happen to be fantastic soaps).
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Apparently I was very late too! Still - good info and advice in your post that may help someone in the future!
