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Why soap sticks?

I've never tried soap sticks and to those who do, what are the advantages in rubbing the stick over your face then applying a wet brush to lather.

Does It give a different sort of lather, closer shave etc, as opposed to loading from a puck?
 

Legion

Staff member
For me, it's very quick and easy. The result is 100% repeatable every time. Needs zero lather building equipment (other than maybe a coffee mug to soak the brush in). The sticks take up less room in the bathroom. If you are travelling they fit in a Dopp kit.

And so on and so forth. Face lathering is the way.
 
I've never tried soap sticks and to those who do, what are the advantages in rubbing the stick over your face then applying a wet brush to lather.

Does It give a different sort of lather, closer shave etc, as opposed to loading from a puck?
For me it is just a handy thing to take with me when i travel. Also since you are not loading directly on the soap, you don't need to let the soap dry/air out as much.
I only use it for travel.
The amount of soap you load is quite easy to get right when you rub the stick directly on your face.
However, i like to use big badger knots, which needs a little extra soap. it can be a little difficult to get enough soap on your face just by rubbing the shave stick on. The knot soaks up too much soap sometimes.
This is not an issue with synthetic brushes though.
 

EclipseRedRing

I smell like a Christmas pudding
All well as the convenience for travelling etc. soap sticks worked so well for me that I now use the same method even for tripple milled hard soap pucks. I remove the puck from the mug, rub it on my damp face in the style of a stick, and then face lather. I get superb results with every soap, including those which I formerly found difficult to lather. Not sure why - maybe I apply more soap using this method, but I enjoy it for sure. Rubbing the soap directly onto my face has undoubtedly seen the biggest improvement in my lather, and overall shave experience, since I started shaving. A big claim? Not big enough! Give it a try.
 

Legion

Staff member
All well as the convenience for travelling etc. soap sticks worked so well for me that I now use the same method even for tripple milled hard soap pucks. I remove the puck from the mug, rub it on my damp face in the style of a stick, and then face lather. I get superb results with every soap, including those which I formerly found difficult to lather. Not sure why - maybe I apply more soap using this method, but I enjoy it for sure. Rubbing the soap directly onto my face has undoubtedly seen the biggest improvement in my lather, and overall shave experience, since I started shaving. A big claim? Not big enough! Give it a try.
I've done the same to reduce my stockpile of pucks. I cut them in half and wrap them in foil, to make for easier handling stick sized dimensions.
 
The purpose of the shave stick is to use for travel. You have to use them every day so they soften up with usage. Then I agree they are quite convenient. Applying a fairly dry shave stick to your beard can be rough.
 

EclipseRedRing

I smell like a Christmas pudding
It happens to be "Sticks And Samples Week" this week in the Shave Of The Day forum. Here are my posts so far this week with some of my shave sticks:

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You build the lather on your face, then when it's perfect you start shaving. Meanwhile all the scrubbing you did building the lather feels great and conditions the whiskers to be ready to shave.

The first time that I face lathered was the day after the last time that I used a bowl!
 
There really is no reason to avoid them. If you you don’t like the application style, then you can just grate and compress them into a bowl. FYI, often soap sticks are cheaper per gram than their puck counterparts, so if you grate them yourself…
 
For me it is just a handy thing to take with me when i travel. Also since you are not loading directly on the soap, you don't need to let the soap dry/air out as much.

This.

And my (subjective) impression with sticks is that they provide less lubrication than shaving soaps (in a bowl) or shaving creams. This impression could be the result of rubbing the product directly onto my face rather than loading a brush with it.

And the idea of grating shaving soaps, as someone suggested, has never appealed to me.


Be it as it may, I prefer shaving soaps (in bowl) and shaving creams over shaving sticks.


B.
 
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Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
I like the stick bars because they are great for travel or just peel off a few slivers with my pocket knife and press into the bottom of a bowl and make lather that way (that is the way I mostly use it lately bowl lathering).
I mostly bowl lather, but when traveling a stick is nice and small and will kick up a nice lather in no time.
Speick is my favorite stick because it has a nice mild spicy scent with some of the best lather qualities out there for a hard soap + it is triple milled soap or quad milled because it is hard but add a little water it becomes a nice soap lather any one would enjoy.
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Have some great shaves!
 
I fancy trying speik next time I order soap. What put me off was a free arko stick with blades I ordered. Found it a bit small to get lather so grated it into some cream.
 

Legion

Staff member
I fancy trying speik next time I order soap. What put me off was a free arko stick with blades I ordered. Found it a bit small to get lather so grated it into some cream.
Were you rubbing the soap on your face, or trying to rub the brush on it?
 
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