shaving soap vs. shaving cream

Are shaving soaps in general more popular than shaving creams?

I'm saying this because whenever I go on BB there seem to ALWAYS be more people currently viewing the soap section rather than the cream section.

I've always thought that there were more varieties of shave cream than soaps, but perhaps soaps are indeed MORE POPULAR.

If you had to use either just soaps or just creams, which would it be, and why?



(currently I've just been bowl lathering with proraso and SMN cream, but am interested in trying some soaps, any suggestions?)

I prefer soaps. They last longer and for me give the razor a little more glide than creams.

I prefer cream i get more lather then soap

I face lather creams...good compromise on speed/quality.

It depends on the day for me. If I'm in a hurry, I definitely reach for cream because I can whip up lather quicker with cream. It may only be a minute or two difference, but some days that counts. Also, I try to keep creams and soaps with significantly different fragrances around, so it often just depends on what I feel like smelling that morning for 10 minutes or so.

I guess if I were really put to task, I would say I generally prefer soaps to creams. I think they're generally a bit slicker and the razor tends to glide a little easier with soap.

I've personally only ever used soap, and not a wide variety either...actually just Colonel Conk Bay Rum....I feel so ashamed

I have just used soaps. I like how long they last. Plus it is enjoyable to have that puck or bowl in your hand and take a good long whiff of the scent at any given time. Most creams I see come in tubes and you cant do that with a tube. I enjoy Omega shave soap, which is the same as Proraso shave soap, Omega just slaps their name on it. It is somewhere between a soap and a cream.

coverton341 said:

I've personally only ever used soap, and not a wide variety either...actually just Colonel Conk Bay Rum....I feel so ashamed

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You should buy a few new soaps ASAP, only one? ***!!!

sdaniels said:

Are shaving soaps in general more popular than shaving creams?

I'm saying this because whenever I go on BB there seem to ALWAYS be more people currently viewing the soap section rather than the cream section.

I've always thought that there were more varieties of shave cream than soaps, but perhaps soaps are indeed MORE POPULAR.

If you had to use either just soaps or just creams, which would it be, and why?



(currently I've just been bowl lathering with proraso and SMN cream, but am interested in trying some soaps, any suggestions?)

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Thats all the people asking how the heck to get Mitchell's Wool Fat to lather!

Italian soft-soaps...so I don't know what my answer is!

I think this is a great question, I made a poll to compliment this thread.

Today I used a cream, but I often use just a soap, or both. I think that with me it is pretty much 50/50.

I have to say that none of the creams that I've tried have matched the performance of the soaps. In my experience the best performing cream has been Proraso in the green tube and I'll always have it in my rotation.

Here are great soaps listed in order of performance: Tabac, Irisch Moos, MWF or Cella.

I like and regularly use both. Soap tends to have a larger variety of scent and producers but I like the ease of cream use. Plus, I find that even with the same manufacturer i occasionally prefer their same scent cream over soap.

I'm with BigRich. I like and regularly use both. It really just depends on what I want to use that specific day. I don't prefer one over the other but it's just good to change things up from time to time. Soaps I use: Tabac & Trumper coconut. Cream I use: CO Bigelow.

I started with creams and then got curious and tried a soap.

I think soaps are easier to face lather which is now my preference.

It may change again in the future, but for now I'm just a face lathering soap guy.

Blix said:

You should buy a few new soaps ASAP, only one? ***!!!

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I know, I know. I really should venture out of my hole but it was the first soap I used and I really really like the smell and it works great for me. But, to entertain the idea, do you have any recommendations? Preferably something that I can buy on-line so I can justify it to myself that I didn't really spend any money, it was just me putting numbers into a website

I greatly prefer soaps, but still keep a cream or two on hand.

I shave seven days a week and use soap SIX of those seven days (I know the ratio precisely because I use cream on Sundays only).

The only true cream I've used in Proraso, which I really like. Everything else I've used is either a hard soap, like Tabac, or an Italian soft soap. Right now I prefer the Italian soft soaps like Cella and P160, although Tabac is also great. I'm anxious to try some creams other than Proraso. I'm looking at the AoS creams and the three Ts right now.

My unscientific research shows that veteran wet shavers use soaps more often than creams.

I love my TOBS creams but they are bit pricey especially compared to my Soap Opera soaps. I think the creams have a more velvety lather that is slicker. I like Cella and Mama Bears' soaps too. Soap is my every day lather. Creams are my special occasion lathers.