Shaving cream troubles

I've tried a bunch of diffferent kinds of shaving creams. None seem to work other than bluebeard's revenge and that is too expensive for me and the tub is too small, but it works better than anything else ive ever used. I just got musgo real and what a disaster I can't lather it at all. I need a cream priced at $15 and lathers easily and is soft and not overly dense and performs like bluebeard's revenge without the hefty price. I really don't know what to do. It seems every cream I read about has issues. I have read some pretty bad reviews on shaving creams that cost $52.00 and some great reviews on creams that cost $13 like proraso and musgo, neitehr of which work for me at all. What do I do? I was thinking cyril r. salter but I read some pretty bad reviews of that on straightrazorplace.com.

Taylor of Old Bond Street! Within your $15 price range and still very nice!

As good as the reviews are for users, they all bring the element of subjectivity that arises from the availability of the product and the experience of the reviewer. There are a lot of options in that price range.

Al raz.

For some inexpensive creams that may suit your needs look at Godrej, Ingram, Detol, Bigelow, La Toja, or Palmolive. I have tried all of these and all of them are less than $15 and work fine for me.

Try Razorock.
Very inexpensive, $6 - $9, and it's idiot proof to lather. Not to mention it works awesome! It's an italian soft soap, so it's similar to a dense cream. Don't fear the denseness, it loads on a brush and lathers with ease. Smells really good too!

I tried razorock, it's okay works better than proraso for me but not as good as bluebeard's. It doesn't soften as much as bluebeard's. The lather is better than others I have used in and above that price range though. How about cyril r. salter? Straightrazorplace.com says the salter indian sandalwood dries out while all of B&B's reviews on it say its great but nothing about drying out. So does it dry out?

Maybe you should stick with Bluebeards revenge, after all it must be costing you a fair bit to buy and try creams that don't work, quality is worth the price and over time you'll know exactly how much to put on your brush and may use less quantities of it.

I don't want to buy bluebeard's revenge in the future though because there are many creams that some people claim work great but people on the straightrazorplace say the opposite of what people say on here. I lookd at trumpers sandalwood and salter sandalwood, the reviews on here were the exact inverse of the reviews on straightrazorplace. Here trumpers sandalwood isnt good according to the reviews and on straightrazorplace it is. On here cyril salter sandalwood is regarded to be great but straightrazorplace says the lather is easy to make but dries out easily. Bluebeard's is too expensive to buy regularly and I've read that even using conservatively with a small plastic tub like it comes in, you can't get more than 5 months usage out of it. With all thoe other creams out there I find it hard to beleive the only one that works for me is one with a sexist marketing campaign and not a traditional product.

AirForceMX said:

Taylor of Old Bond Street! Within your $15 price range and still very nice!

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+1. TOBS was my first real shaving cream. I found it easy to lather from day 1 and have yet to find anything to match it or make as much lather from so little product.

But ... with what you have now, try loading more product than you think you need. Much, much more. Then add more water than you think you need, a few drops at a time. Again, much more. I bet with enough effort you can get it to work.

Of course it's better if you don't have to spend all this time and effort (and learning), and that's the benefit of some of the more expensive products. But it's a good feeling when you finally beat a more difficult soap into submission and learn what it's capable of. I struggled with Mithell's Wool fat for a long time, but think I finally cracked it.

that's good because I literally cracked it. It started cracking after swirling my brush on it and broke into 4 pieces one day when I did a swirl with my brush on it.

With all thoe other creams out there I find it hard to beleive the only one that works for me is one with a sexist marketing campaign and not a traditional product.

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It is good to read you want to get away from this cream, for various reasons.

But ... with what you have now, try loading more product than you think you need. Much, much more. Then add more water than you think you need, a few drops at a time. Again, much more. I bet with enough effort you can get it to work.

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+1 ... I'd also suggest many practice lathering sessions. Lathering is a skill that can be learned a bit at a time, just like other skills. Perhaps use just one soap or cream for learning how to make the best lather possible, and stick with it until you can get a great lather. Try a super lather: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...How-to-make-SuperLather-with-a-bowl?p=2125082

Read, read, read! Look for nuggets of information that will help you increase your lathering skills. http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Category:Lathering

You can turn around these 'shaving cream troubles' if you can see the opportunity through the troubles. It is a great chance to become a lather master! Or at least be on the road to becoming a lather master. Possible? I think so. I do know it is only possible if you stick with the process. Let us know how the progress is coming along. Feeling discouraged is OK, but it is also OK to keep that feeling in the background as you sense small accomplishments in lathering skills.

I agree with the Musgo, I have trouble with the lather. I find Proraso one of the easiest to lather up with.

TOBS creams lather very nicely. Trumpers Coconut also works well (thanks CFSoto), I just go the cream is it is wonderful.

Eric V said:

I'd also suggest many practice lathering sessions. Lathering is a skill that can be learned a bit at a time, just like other skills. Perhaps use just one soap or cream for learning how to make the best lather possible, and stick with it until you can get a great lather. Try a super lather: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...How-to-make-SuperLather-with-a-bowl?p=2125082

Read, read, read! Look for nuggets of information that will help you increase your lathering skills. http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Category:Lathering

You can turn around these 'shaving cream troubles' if you can see the opportunity through the troubles. It is a great chance to become a lather master! Or at least be on the road to becoming a lather master. Possible? I think so. I do know it is only possible if you stick with the process. Let us know how the progress is coming along. Feeling discouraged is OK, but it is also OK to keep that feeling in the background as you sense small accomplishments in lathering skills.

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Great advice, Eric.

Try headblade , it is cheap and they say you can get a 100+ shaves from one 8.oz bottle

I hate to agree, but it sounds like the fault is with the Indian not the arrow.
ALL those products can't ALL be bad, you might need to refocus on your technique.

Real shaving cream is very easy to lather and a good performer.

sumit said:

I've tried a bunch of diffferent kinds of shaving creams. None seem to work other than bluebeard's revenge and that is too expensive for me and the tub is too small, but it works better than anything else ive ever used. I just got musgo real and what a disaster I can't lather it at all. I need a cream priced at $15 and lathers easily and is soft and not overly dense and performs like bluebeard's revenge without the hefty price. I really don't know what to do. It seems every cream I read about has issues. I have read some pretty bad reviews on shaving creams that cost $52.00 and some great reviews on creams that cost $13 like proraso and musgo, neitehr of which work for me at all. What do I do? I was thinking cyril r. salter but I read some pretty bad reviews of that on straightrazorplace.com.

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I'm not made of money either, but shaving soaps or creams last a long time so you're getting a pretty good bang for the buck. Recently I got some of Al's Shaving Cream on special for $16 and was pleasantly surprised with the scent (I chose Calypso which reminds me of bay rum), the lather, and was also happy to find out that it was all natural ingredients. I don't have any ulterior motive in recommending this particular product, but it sounds so much like what you're after that I'll make a deal with you. Get one of his shaving creams for $16 and if it's not what you're looking for I'll buy it from you for what you paid + postage. I certainly know that I will like it. http://www.alsshaving.com/

Shaving cream other than that you get at a Wal-Mart costs more because it is a specialty item that doesn't cut corners on quality. But when you consider the fact that it lasts a pretty good while and makes your face feel better than department store fare it's really a good deal.

Try Kiss My Face. It's very reasonably priced and idiot-proof to lather.

Okay, outside of the box ... are you using a badger or boar brush? My boar makes me work at getting a lather in a bowl.

Have you cleaned your brush with the dish detergent then vinegar to remove any buildup on your brush? A "dirty" brush doesn't lather as well as a "clean" one.

Lastly, ingredient-wise, what does Blackbeard's have or not have, that ones you dislike have or not? Maybe GOOGLE the "ingredients" with the word "shave" and see ... I know a long shot & a lot of research ...

Again, I know this post is out-of-the-box

One other you might want to try is edwin jagger cream, very nice on the face and easy enough to lather, can't remember what the price is though