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RICHEST tallow based soap?
- Thread starter RicoSuave
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I was mistaken.
I gave DR Harris too much credit. When I went back and looked at my data, it is in the bottom 2% of my collection. Although the soap contains tallow, the primary ingredient is Potassium Palmate. That is seldom a good thing IMHO.
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- #43
Ok, “prof,” educate us - WHY is “potassium palmate” no bueno?I was mistaken.
I gave DR Harris too much credit. When I went back and looked at my data, it is in the bottom 2% of my collection. Although the soap contains tallow, the primary ingredient is Potassium Palmate. That is seldom a good thing IMHO.
I'm not the prof, but I can tell you that for a shave soap to make a really nice, stable lather, it has to have a lot of stearate in it. Potassium palmate as the first ingredient almost guarantees that the lather won't have enough stearate in it. Worse is if the first ingredient is sodium sterate; the lather will end up the same, but it will take longer to get there because sodium salts make for a harder puck of soap.Ok, “prof,” educate us - WHY is “potassium palmate” no bueno?
Looking at Moon. I like the look of Old School. 6 oz and a veteran discount on some sites too. Better than Stirling, is it?
Edit: Free shipping from The Razor Company. Wowzah!!
Edit: Free shipping from The Razor Company. Wowzah!!
Quite the peculiar "finding"on DR Harris ... hardly in line with common knowledge on this matter among the "science community" at large
Arko for the WIN my friend!
Mitchell's Wool Fat is among the "richest" I know... worked properly, that is.
Of the four choices given, I only have experience with Moon or Stirling and both of those are good. But, all the soaps listed have received a lot of praise from a good number of B&B members.
Of those tallow-based soaps not listed that I have experience with, my list includes: MWF, Noble Otter, Tabac (tallow) and Mike's Natural Soaps.
Of those tallow-based soaps not listed that I have experience with, my list includes: MWF, Noble Otter, Tabac (tallow) and Mike's Natural Soaps.
I find the B&M as well as the Stirling mutton almost equal and the best soaps I've used. The regular beef Stirling also good, but nothing impressive. I haven't tried the rest and quite frankly have no desires, since I mostly care about razors and blades to some degree and anything else like brushes and cosmetics doesn't excite me at all.
First, be aware that there is a difference between palmate and palmitate. Palmate means that palm oil was saponified either by sodium or potassium hydroxide. It contains a variety of fatty acids. Palmitate means that palmitic acid was saponified. Palmitic acid is a specific 16 carbon chain fatty acid.Ok, “prof,” educate us - WHY is “potassium palmate” no bueno?
Palm oil is derived primarily from the African oil palm tree. It is prolific producer of oil. Thus, oil derived from this tree is among the least expensive oils available in the world. It accounts for about 1/3 of all edible oil. Although the tree is native to Africa, it can be grown in other tropical areas. In countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, indigenous forests have been cut down to plant the oil palm tree. This has devastated the habitat of many tropical animals such as Orangutans.
The oil from the African oil palm tree is very high in lauric acid and myristic acid with lesser amounts of oleic acid and palmitic acid. It is nearly 50% lauric acid which is a medium chain fatty acid with 12 carbons in the chain. It only contains 2.5% stearic acid, a 18 carbon long chain fatty acid.
Tallow, which is an animal fat, only contains 14% stearic acid, but that is 5-6 times greater than palm oil. Tallow contains nearly 50% oleic acid (C18) and 26% palmitic acid (C16). Tallow lacks the medium chain lauric acid which is so prevalent in palm oil.
From my subjective observations, significant quantities of stearic acid are required to produce a quality shave soap. It does not matter whether the stearic acid is derived from animal or vegetable sources. For example, Shea butter is 25-50% stearic acid, far higher than tallow. Cocoa butter is about 35% stearic acid. Thus, both of these butters are excellent sources of stearic acid.
Thus, if you want a quality shave soap, look for stearic acid, tallow, Shea Butter, and Cocoa butter as primary components.
Many soaps in Europe have been reformulated to replace tallow with the less expensive palm oil. Thus, some soaps that were formerly tallow based and had a good reputation may not be palm oil based.
Does Moon Old School have a cologne scent?Recently purchased two soaps from Moon, “Old School,” and “Warmest Regards.”
Aside from the great scents, I’m in awe of the RICH lather they both produce.
Despite owning soaps from the likes of Stirling’s, B&M, etc., I think Moon probably surpasses them all in terms of RICHNESS. Maybe producing their own in-house TALLOW proves the difference.
Does anyone else agree/disagree?
Do you know of a soap that’s even RICHER?
Thx, gents!
Moon Soaps describes the scent as: Notes of tobacco play on top of vetiver, leather, mahogany, and sweet vanilla.
It is primarily a woody oriental scent. Some colognes might fall into this category but they tend to balance a complex variety of scent notes such as citrus, floral, woods, musks, spices, etc. For example, Calvin Klein Obsession for men is considered to be a woody oriental scent, but it is far more complex than Old School. According to the Fragrantica web site Obsession combines top notes of Cinnamon, Lavender, Coriander, Mandarin Orange, Lime, Bergamot and Grapefruit; with middle notes of Myrhh, Nutmeg, Carnation, Brazilian Rosewood, Pine Tree, Sage, Jasmine and Red Berries; and base notes of Amber, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Musk, Patchouli and Vetiver.
Another one I would add - La Toja.
I grab that stick and it explodes!
Even though it's vegan.
My favorite tallow soap is the old Art of Shaving formula. I believe it was manufactured by Valobra.
Dr Jon’s, Catie’s Bubbles, and Southern Withcraft vegan soaps equal my tallow soaps in lather quality.
The original La Toya shave stick contains: Potassium Stearate, Potassium Cocoate, Potassium Palmitate, Sodium Stearate, Aqua, Glycerin, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Palmitate, Coconut Acid, Parfum, Mineral Salts, Coumarin, Limonene, Linalool, Butylphenyl, Mehylpropional, Tetrasodium EDTA, Litro Sodium Etidronate- Cl 77891
Thus, it is based predominately on stearic acid and cocoa butter (which is high in stearic acid) along with some palmitic acid. As I stated in my earlier posts, a good shaving soap needs a lot of stearic acid. It does not matter whether that stearic acid comes from plant or animal sources.
I get the feeling you got all A's in chemistry.
Definitely ARKO
If I had to go strictly vegan soap in order of preference it would be:Sorry, just a few credits short!
OK, “professor,” give us ONE example of a vegan/non-tallow based soap you find SUPERIOR to any tallow based soap out there.
MdC original or fougere
La Toja
Southern Witchcrafts
