Poll: Which gives better straight shaves for you? Creams or soaps?

[Brent]

All,

I recently read on a random website about shaving where an article writer mentioned that either soaps or creams worked better for straight users (not telling which one to skew the results). I found this very curious and wanted to get the opinion of the group.

So, in your experience, what gives you a better shave when you use a straight? Creams, Soaps or either one works just as well?

Thanks,
Brent

[professorchaos]

Doesn't matter as long as it contains tallow or lanolin.

[taffy]

I have to say, both, never noticed any real benefit of either over the other, if that makes sense!

[Kentos]

I find my best shaves come from a little bit of proraso, and a little bit of mama bears. Cella and P160 seemed pretty good too, but for some reason, probably mentally, the proraso/mama bears is king for now.

[jss4fish]

Soap, MWF to be exact, but I am new so I could be wrong...

[mvh]

Had the best shave so far with Cella. But with Olivia's creams I had fantastic shaves too!

[Catalin]

I am mostly a soaper, but I love my Musgo (lanolin) too. I think they both work equally well...

[Wid]

Soap here. MWF, Cella or Tabac are my favorites.

[maxman]

It doesn't matter to me as long as I can make a thinner lather.
The thick merangue type lather isn't what I like for straight shaving.
I favour MWF, Arko, Trumper's and Malaspina soaps for straight shaving (at the moment).

[dmcconnell]

I find my best shaves come from a little bit of proraso, and a little bit of mama bears. Cella and P160 seemed pretty good too, but for some reason, probably mentally, the proraso/mama bears is king for now.

+1. MamaBear's is right up there for me on par with my MWF and Valobra (like Cella). I use Proraso pre/post with everything so it is a constant for me.

[Sledgehammer39]

I picked soaps, but truthfully I like making uberlather from a dab of cream and soap.

[nortac]

I'm new to straights and I've continued to use the same uberlather of Proraso, VDH Deluxe and a few drops of glycerin that I used with my safety razors, except wetter.

[otto76]

I find my best shaves come from a little bit of proraso, and a little bit of mama bears. Cella and P160 seemed pretty good too, but for some reason, probably mentally, the proraso/mama bears is king for now.

Gonna have to try this one. I have been mixing Proraso/Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Shave Gel and enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Kentos]

Gonna have to try this one. I have been mixing Proraso/Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Shave Gel and enjoyed it quite a bit.

It just seems to maintain it's "composure" adding more water than a usual DE shave lather. Other soaps seem to either get thick like whipped cream, or frothy. The proraso/mamas turns thinner without getting frothy or runny. YMMV of course:).

[Harvitz81]

It just seems to maintain it's "composure" adding more water than a usual DE shave lather. Other soaps seem to either get thick like whipped cream, or frothy. The proraso/mamas turns thinner without getting frothy or runny. YMMV of course:).

I was about to post this same thing. As long as it can take a lot of water without breaking down it doesn't really matter what the product is. In general I prefer soaps, but have some creams that will always be in my den.

[Balcmeg]

Definitely soaps - Preferably DR Harris, but I get a good result form Castle Forbes cream as well!
As long as it doesn't contain a lot of glycerin or lanolin I'm fine. (I get a allergic reaction to both of those)

[danjared]

Definitely soaps - Preferably DR Harris, but I get a good result form Castle Forbes cream as well!
As long as it doesn't contain a lot of glycerin or lanolin I'm fine. (I get a allergic reaction to both of those)

That's strange considering that the saponification process creates glycerin. Can you elaborate on what you mean by "a lot of glycerin"? Which soaps have you had trouble with?

[danjared]

I was about to post this same thing. As long as it can take a lot of water without breaking down it doesn't really matter what the product is. In general I prefer soaps, but have some creams that will always be in my den.

+1. I think it's really a matter of figuring out how to generate the right lather to suit the need. It can take some extended trial and error with some soaps, but persistence pays off (unless the particular soap just sucks).

[Balcmeg]

That's strange considering that the saponification process creates glycerin. Can you elaborate on what you mean by "a lot of glycerin"? Which soaps have you had trouble with?

Just because of that I wrote "lots of glycerin" i had trouble with several Mama Bears for example, just as with different face washes that contain glycerin, it seems to be ok. It might well be that it is something other than the glycerin I react too, but as far as I can find it is the ones that commonly is called "glycerin soaps" that I react too.

[grump]

Soaps for me!

[danjared]

Just because of that I wrote "lots of glycerin" i had trouble with several Mama Bears for example, just as with different face washes that contain glycerin, it seems to be ok. It might well be that it is something other than the glycerin I react too, but as far as I can find it is the ones that commonly is called "glycerin soaps" that I react too.

Ah. I'm curious if you have tried any of the major brands, with G.F. Trumper being a good example. Of the small artisan soaps I've tried, I've noticed a bit of a small burning sensation, as if the lye had not fully reacted with the saponifying oils. I've never had that burning with G.F.T. or C&E Sienna (or Caswell-Massey, but that one is disqualified for having disappearing lather).

[otto76]

It just seems to maintain it's "composure" adding more water than a usual DE shave lather. Other soaps seem to either get thick like whipped cream, or frothy. The proraso/mamas turns thinner without getting frothy or runny. YMMV of course:).

Tried this today, Proraso w/ some of the mentholated Czar's choice Mama Bears. It was one of the best lathers I've had, especially for straight shaving! Slick, cushioned, and most importantly didn't start running or drying up on me. The SR shaves are taking longer so most things I've tried have done one or the other. Thanks for the tip!

[Balcmeg]

Afraid not, Mama Bears is the only shaving soap of that kind that I tried, as well as some other facial soap bars from the regular brands (Body Shop, Lab series)
It might very well be that it is not the glycerine itself I am reacting against but some ingredient associated in the making of them. However, for the purpose of avoiding the irritation my definition works ;)



Ah. I'm curious if you have tried any of the major brands, with G.F. Trumper being a good example. Of the small artisan soaps I've tried, I've noticed a bit of a small burning sensation, as if the lye had not fully reacted with the saponifying oils. I've never had that burning with G.F.T. or C&E Sienna (or Caswell-Massey, but that one is disqualified for having disappearing lather).

[dpmtherrien]

Without a doubt, for me its soaps, just about any soaps work for me.

As for creams, not at all.

[gull]

Either works fine for me. I prefer soaps, but that's just because they last longer, and I can put them in my wooden bowl.

[johnmrson]

I'd have to say that I think I get a slightly better shave from a tallow soap but soap is harder work to get right so I use cream about 80%of the time.

[oscar11]

As far as closeness of shave, I might give a slight edge to soap in general. However, I've found several creams that perform as good as any soap I've ever used and find myself leaning that way after 40 years of wet shaving. I get much better skin care with the creams I like than any soap I've used.

[bkfist]

I happen to PREFER soaps, but just for what is available and cost/performance. I find as much variation between brands of soaps, or brands of creams than I do between soaps vs. creams in general.

For example, Musago Real cream gives a better shave than all but my top 4 soaps do, and even Proraso (Bigelow) gives as good of a shave as some of the crummier soaps that I've tried in the past and gotten rid of (got rid of the Proraso also, as I just don't like it)

I've tried a few "melt & pour(able)" soaps in the past, both "commercial" and "artisan", and all those gave me performance well below that of the Proraso cream and just about every other soap I've tried besides them (I don't have any of those any longer either.)

[Gustav]

I do not know why soaps work better for me, they just do!

[king1976]

Either for me....

[Brent]

Thank you for all of the replies and votes. Being a data type of person I find the results of the poll pretty interesting. As you can see the "either" choice was the big winner followed closely by soaps. Cream preferance only got about 8.5% of the vote.

If you are interested the article I was referencing is located here:
http://www.shaving101.com/index.php/education/product-basics/67-pick-your-poison-soap-or-cream.html

As you can see in the soap section it mentions soaps are preffered by many straight users. There are other references of about the same on the website too.