What's new

What's the difference: Shaving soap vs shaving cream?

Obviously they're both used to make a lather. In a generic sense when I think of soap I think of cleaning, and when I think of cream I think of moisturizing. Is that true when it comes to shaving soaps/creams? What are the differences between the two?

And what's the bottom line? Does it come down to YMMV, personal preference, etc., or is one better than the other depending on your skin type, beard, prep routine, etc.?
 
In practical use, soap becomes cream then becomes lather you shave with. Cream is already at the cream stage, so it is a little quicker to use. There are some modest other differences, but really, soap is concentrated, dehydrated cream.

Many people find a boar brush more suitable for soap, and a badger brush for cream, but I don't see a major difference in a good boar brush vs. a badger brush. But that is another topic.
 
Excellent product lines can be found in both soaps and creams. I use both but mostly cream. It think it just gets down to personal preference.
 
It is a matter of personal preference, and either is fine. You can mix soap and cream together and make a super lather, and take that one step more and mix in some glycerin and make a uberlather. :thumbup1:
 
Preference is all. Some say soaps are slicker and creams more cushioning; I don't what the difference between those two descriptions is meant to feel like, I just go on the shave.

I've been swayed by soaps, as I got better results with them than the two creams I have - Taylors and Proraso (which are still good for their price). But having tried T&H Ultimate via a sampler the other day, I found it seriously good. I didn't think expensive always means better, but sometimes it does.

So some tinkering is worth doing to find out what works best. Some can get excellent results with either.
 
Does it come down to YMMV, personal preference, etc., or is one better than the other depending on your skin type, beard, prep routine, etc.?

mostly personnal preference that can be impacted by your skin type though.
a dry skin would prefer cream and an oily skin would prefer soap.

My skin is quite on the oily side and I definitely prefer soaps. I will not use cream anymore once I've finished the few tubes I've left.
I have the feeling that after a shave with a cream my skin gets oily quicker and I have some kind of a "heavy" feeling on my face.
 
Preference is all. Some say soaps are slicker and creams more cushioning; I don't what the difference between those two descriptions is meant to feel like, I just go on the shave.

The funny thing is I always notice the opposite. My creams (Proraso, GFT Violet, EJ Sandalwood, C&E Sienna, AoS, a large pile of T&H samples) all seem slicker but less cushiony to me than any of my soaps (conk almond, C&E Sandalwood, SCS, ARKO). I love them both, just have the opposite experience.
 
B

bluefoxicy

There's a huge difference between soaps and creams. Nobody takes their soap product and blends it with a quantity of water to make a tube-squeeze cream; mostly when you find a liquidy, gelatinous cream product under the same brand as a soap, it's got a completely different ingredients list.

Conventionally, the soaps seem to actually be better. There are cream products like Musgo that stand out; but I don't think Musgo even makes a soap. This is in contrast to AoS or Tabac, where the cream product isn't in any way related to the soap product; Tabac cream is a joke compared to Tabac soap too.

Don't get it in your head that X vendor's Amber Spice Shave Soap and X vendor's Amber Spice Shave Cream are the same thing, different consistency. Look at the ingredients; most of the time, if not always, you'll find they're not.
 
Soaps are most often made with high-sodium alkali, whereas cream soaps are made with high-potassium alkali. The potassium soaps are more soluble in water. If you add water to a sodium lye soap, you get, in the words of my father, "apricot preserves" rather than a creamy gel.

More info in the wiki.
 
What soapbox said. It really has to do with potassium versus sodium.

bottom line, though, it that you use them to make lather. Once it's lather, I don't think it makes much difference whether you started with a cream or with a soap.

I prefer soaps, but I'm not exactly sure why. I guess I just like making a lather from a soap. I like the process. I guess it feels more like old school shaving to me. I dunno. But I use soaps about 7 out of every 8 days or so, and my creams are getting lonely.
 
I would interject that, even among soaps, there's a huge discrepancy in terms of the basic approach to soap (glycerine, tallow, both, etc). So, to ask this is a bit like asking "what's the difference between cars and trucks?" While there are some marked differences most cars have from most trucks, there is such a variety within each category that those differences can lose value quickly. In general, the only statements I think you can make as sweeping generalizations are in terms the form in which they arrive (solid versus cream) and how you convince them to lather.

That is to say, generally, soaps are coaxed into lather better by stiffer brushes. You can more easily transfer agitative force to the surface of the soap, mixing it with the water in your brush, if your brush isn't floppy. Creams need no such coercion - they're already soft, so you can get straight to whipping them, even with a floppy brush.

Performance varies so wildly among soaps and among creams that I can't begin to make a comfortable generalization here. FOR ME, and MY FACE, I tend to notice more hydrating lather more often from creams, but ultimately slicker lather from soaps more often. YMMV, quite significantly, so trust the shave and not the rule.

:001_huh:
 
Well some of it is also ease of use. I believe the general feeling is that creams are easier to lather, while soaps are harder. I know before I saw the tutorial about soap lather, my lather was horrible.

Soaps I think will last longer and usually are cheaper, while creams are easier and only a little more expensive.

My 2 cents.
 
Another point to bring up is preservatives. These are the things that people either can get contact dermatitis from (especially formaldehyde releasing preservatives like imidazole urea or quaternium 15) or have concerns about other theoretical risks (such as parabens). The more water a product has, the more preservatives are needed to maintain the shelf life. So its not surprising that since creams have more water than soaps, creams generally contain more preservatives than soaps.
 
Take some soft soap, soften it by adding water, throw in some preservatives required by the soap's wetness, then print a fancy label with the price of the soap moved one decimal to the right: Voila! shaving cream.
 
Soaps and creams both make lathers. Some like one more than the other. Personal preferance. Try one of each and see what you like.
 
Top Bottom