Soaps versus Creams...

I primarily use soaps, and get great lather and great shaves. Recently I wanted to try a cream, so I went out to Bath and Body Works and bought some of the Bigelow brand that's made by Proraso.

Initially I was using too much product (I think), and not enough water, but it was creamy as butter and rendered great shaves. What I realized is that I wasn't using enough water. I discovered this tonight...after my shave. There was still quite a bit of lather in my bowl after three passes, so I tossed in some more water and began creating more lather, and dear God the lather that it created, lol.

So my question is, do creams usually require more water than say a soap, or does it just vary from product to product? Just curious and I figured if anyone would know, it would be you guys.

Thanks in advance


Rick

I find that creams usually need less water than soaps. The amount of water varies from a product to another.

I wonder then, maybe I was using far too much cream. I was squeezing out around two inches of product into my lathering bowl, and then whip it like a rented mule.

Oh wow, that is quite a lot of product. You need an almond sized dallop, maybe 1 inch MAX, and even that if you do 4-5 passes for whatever reason.

+1 on the above post that creams use less water than soaps. Quite simply, they are "wetter" to begin with, and thusly need less water to be added to them.

rickcharles606 said:

I wonder then, maybe I was using far too much cream. I was squeezing out around two inches of product into my lathering bowl, and then whip it like a rented mule.

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Yikes. That's a lot of cream.

Squeeze out as much cream as you put toothpaste on your toothbrush. A little less even. Starting out it's better to practice and create too much product than not enough but 2 inches of cream would last me a week.

Thanks guys, and this supports exactly what I thought...I was using too much product.

I tend to treat soaps and creams exactly the same way by swirling a soaked and squeezed brush over the surface so that the bristles are lightly covered. This can only apply if a tub is used, obviously. Any more product than that is overkill I find.

David

The general rule of thumb is an almond size amount of cream. However, the consistency of creams varies. I find the Proraso type creams tend to be heavier and richer in consistency than some of the other lanolin based creams such as Godrej. But all of them can give you a great shave. But for all I still use the same amount of product.

Today, I lined up all my creams and soaps and just experimented with the amount of water and product. Even though I've used all these products successfully in the past, I guess I just wanted to "play" around with it. Glad I did too because I found that while my soap lathers have been nice and creamy, I wasn't producing a lot of lather. I was being too stingy with the water. I love this stuff, lol.

I painted my kids with tons of great lather today, they had a blast. Thanks again to all the input guys, it really helps.

rickcharles606 said:

I painted my kids with tons of great lather today, they had a blast. Thanks again to all the input guys, it really helps.

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Oh, you do that with kids. No wonder... I was throwing lather at my wife and not getting positive feedfack. I thought there was something wrong with my technique but it sounds like I was just selecting the wrong target!

Thanks for the clarification!

I use Bigelow creme and i also head shave. I use an amount of about the cap size with the water that the brush is holding while being soaked.

Rick:
I don't have a opinion on this because I primarily use Chelsea's (artisan), Unscented Shave Soap and I find that this soap generates volumns of great lather and produces many a great shaves.

I never had the need or desire to try any creams...guess I'm too set in my old ways

Christopher

Luc said:

I find that creams usually need less water than soaps. The amount of water varies from a product to another.

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+1 for me soap requires more water.

rickcharles606 said:

... around two inches of product ...

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Wow! That must have been fun!

This reminds me of when I let my father-in-law borrow some of my Bigelow/Proraso when they were visiting. That tube went very quickly!

Dan