- Thread starter
- #41
You know you are right ! When i started keeping my face moiste with water, my lather stayed slicker and the shaves were closer as i was shaving into a very wet, lathery, soapy, slicky area !
Soap vs Creme
- Thread starter Royalpar1
- Start date
You know you are right ! When i started keeping my face moiste with water, my lather stayed slicker and the shaves were closer as i was shaving into a very wet, lathery, soapy, slicky area !
In regards to closeness of a shave, I think there are many other more important factors than the soap vs cream debate. Cut angle on your razor, blade exposure ie. open comb vs closed, age of the blade, material type/coating of the blade, how many passes you take, how well hydrated your facial hair is. Any others?
I started with creams and later tried Arko soap. It takes a lot of passes, touch-ups, and buffings either way in order to get BBS. I do find that soap, at least Arko, leaves behind a little more slickness after the stroke, so I can do something almost like a dry shave in the tough-to-get areas without lathering for the 5th or 6th time. A soap like Arko is effective and cheap, whereas creams tend to cost quite a bit on a per-use basis. Soaps are often recommended over creams for straight razor shaving, but I cannot say if that is because it is more effective or if it is a respect for tradition.
I love the diversity of the experience wet shaving provides hence i do not stick with a particular product or product format.
I love my soaps and cremes, i do not feel one category is better than the other they are just different. After that it comes to personnal preference hence why this is a YMMV world.
I love my soaps and cremes, i do not feel one category is better than the other they are just different. After that it comes to personnal preference hence why this is a YMMV world.
- Thread starter
- #45
this week has been havoc on my rotation, i started out with ABC Soap, MdC, C&S88, tommorow LPL. Its been great week of soap, tommorow i will start my Croaps which will start with my birthday SMN !!! then i ll crawl along with Xpec, AdP, ABC, CF, OMG life is good with soaps , croaps and cremes !
I must have missed the memo that we've adopted the British spelling of the term.
We're getting civilised at B&B
- Thread starter
- #48
Problem is that i cannot spell, but my Italians make wonderful lather from my soaps , croaps and cremes ! Love them all and they all work great. IMHO YMMV lol
Well, we are a pretty international.crowd here.
Prefer soaps by a narrow margin. Seem to get slicker lathers with them. Good creams are hard to beat though.
I just want to throw out that a $70 price tag does not make a product "the finest in the world." I greatly prefer RazoRock Essential Oil of Lime soap ($7.99) to many more expensive products (D.R. Harris, Mitchell's, Tabac, AOS Tallow, etc.)
As for the topic, I prefer soaps to creams, but "I can't tell you whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy."
- Thread starter
- #53
Beg to differ, most of the higher priced products use higher priced ingredients. While a price tag does not make it the best in the world. I can tell you that my ABC, AdP, SMN, or Xpec blows most of the competition out of the water.
I prefer soaps by a wide margin. They are slicker and have much better cushion on my face. I have a few creams just for variety.
That's exactly what those manufacturers would lead you to believe.
- Thread starter
- #56
I have used most of what are considered the best of the Artisan companies touted on the boards, including Stirling, CRSW, Mikes, PAA and ad neuseaum. They are just not as good as the ones I mentoned. Not IMHO or YMMV, they are not as good. They usually don't last as long, and they use more chemicals and lower end ingredients. Think about it, a can of soap for 7.00 including packaging, marketing, and all the other costs associated with manufacturing, shipping, processing, CC fees etc.etc. You feel that those soaps are as good as a ABC, or Xpec or SMN ? forget the price, the cheaper soaps do not compete.
In my limited (6 month) experience, I prefer soaps to creams. I think for two reasons: one, because you load product "incrementally" with soaps by swirling, it seems easier to dial in getting the right amount of product you want, two because the soaps, especially the artisan soaps, seem to have tallow and added ingredients like lanolin, shea butter, argan oil, etc. that most of the mass-market creams (e.g. TOBS) don't have, and they seem to make for a better shave, at least for me.
That said, I've tried higher-end creams like XPEC and they are pretty awesome.
That said, I've tried higher-end creams like XPEC and they are pretty awesome.
And you know this how?
In general, I agree with RoyalPar that the high-end stuff is better. The best shave I've gotten so far was with ABC. That said, there are a few soaps I've tried in the 15 buck range that at least for me, come pretty close. Like Barrister and Mann, for example.
You're saying that it's impossible for anyone to have the opinion that a product is as good or better than your "elite" products?
Why?
I think it all goes back to marketing, hype, and a $70 price tag, personally. I'll stick with my artisans.
And, of course, this is MHO and YMMV.
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