Vegan Shave Soaps Revisited...

[katz]

Sue of Honeybee soaps has provided me with the following ingredients list for her soaps. She gave permission to post here.

Here is the complete ingredients list for my shaving soaps:
Coconut Oil
Palm Oil
Castor Oil
Safflower Oil
Glycerine (kosher, of vegetable origin)
Purified Water
Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent)
Sorbitol (moisturizer)
Sorbitan oleate (emulsifier)
Soybean protein (conditioner)
Wheat Protein (lather increaser)
Vitamin E
Shea Butter (moisturizer)
Hempseed Oil (moisturizer, assists glide)
Aloe Vera (soothes skin)
Kaolin Clay (assists glide)
Fragrance or Essential Oil
Cosmetic Color (FO soaps only)

[Exapno]

Hello Katz, while not a vegan I am a vegetarian with many vegan tendencies. I try to avoid any product using animal derived ingredients or unnecessary preservatives and chemicals. Fortunately in the past couple of years this has actually become easier to do. I'll be following this thread with interest. To add to your research, I recently contacted Mühle and Edwin Jagger regarding their products and they replied with the following: "There are no animal ingredients in any of the shaving preparations. They are mainly derived from plant ingredients – 99.9% with the balance being a synthetic fragrance stabiliser in the fragranced products"

A link to their ingredients was provided:
http://www.theenglishshavingcompany.com/edwin-jagger-natural-and-paraben-free-ingredients-list.html

There are also several choices regarding vegan shaving brushes these days too. B&B has an excellent database/wiki for ingredients of various products and they're often listed in reviews. Best of luck with your research, I'll be very interested in your findings.

[fccexpert]

Point taken...

If you saw my vegan food list, I suppose you would have an even stronger opinion regarding my choices.

Actually, I really don't care what you choose to eat or not eat, but I do object to the use of the pseudo-science and propaganda techniques by many who are clearly trying to scare us so that they can profit from our fears.

[kingfisher]

The new RazoRock LaFamiglia soaps are fine performers that are vegan and lack parabens, foaming agents, etc.

[fccexpert]

[QUOTE=TheVez2;4349033]It doesn't get much more pure and simple than Martin de Candre. Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Water, Coconut Oil, Potassium hydroxide (lye), glycerin, and fragrance.

QUOTE]

This would imply, however, that they are not made from "natural" ingredients (at least as far as I think I understand the usage), but from purified fatty acids and potasium hydroxide. I'm curious how the fatty acids were produced.

Should make a perfectly good soap, however, just not by the traditional process.

[json]

havent tried them but heres a link to vegan soaps/shave soaps/etc.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ScodioliCreative

I believe musgo is naturally derived, last time i looked it may have contained a paraben but still all veggie based (from what i remember of the box) along with most of the portuguese creams and la toja creams.

Also am vegan myself, but i use a few tallow based soaps as they are just amazing performers. I have veggie soaps that are just as good, but if it works why try and replace it unless you find better.

[nwjs]

Even our beloved Proraso contains Methylparaben, which is on the "Top Five" bad chemical list.

So do blueberries... unless you are specifically allergic against parabens, I wouldn't worry about it.

[nwjs]

Be afraid, by sort of afraid!

Really, this type of chemical six degrees of separation is often used to scare people, usually by someone with a hidden profit motive.

You can use this same thing argue that we should not be using soap:

Soap is made from fats - which are know to cause obesity and heart attacks and sodium hydroxide, a stong base which is also used to disolve flesh from bones.

Or what about sodium chloride (aka table salt, and also found in many soaps).

Sodium chloride is made from sodium, a metal so reactive that it will burst into flame on contact with water and chlorine, a poisonous gas used as a weapon in World War I.

Not to mention that virtually all soaps contain the corrosion-catalytic chemical dihydrogen-monoxide, an industrial solvant that kills thousands of people every year.

[katz]

Actually, I really don't care what you choose to eat or not eat, but I do object to the use of the pseudo-science and propaganda techniques by many who are clearly trying to scare us so that they can profit from our fears.

I agree completely. Pseudo-science and propaganda techniques run rampant in everything it seems. However, at this point in my life I am trying to simplify things and use products that contain as little synthetic chemicals as possible.


Also, I'm not out to bash any one company or cast them in a bad light, I'm just looking for a product that suits my tastes and addresses my particular concerns.

It is a fine line we must walk, I suppose...

[nwjs]

However, at this point in my life I am trying to simplify things and use products that contain as little synthetic chemicals as possible.

I prefer products that do not contain too many needless chemicals, like colorants and dyes, which add nothing to functionality, although I'm not religious about that. With preservatives like parabens, things are different, imho. They keep the much bigger problem of bacterial growth under control. I always wonder how products that claim to be "natural" and "free from preservatives" avoid spoilage and oxidation, especially if it's creams (shave or otherwise) that contain a lot of water.

[Malaspina]

One of the things you can look for in a vegan shaving soap is Palm. When soapmakers are looking for an oil that matches, or at least closely resembles tallow, Palm is the vegetable oil of choice.

[pdillon]

If you are interested in creams, you might also consider Nancy Boy. I'll leave it to you to do the fact checking, but at a glance it looks like the cream should be kosher. And I think their ethos is in line with yours.

[katz]

Update - I'm still waiting on a couple of return emails from companies. As soon as I receive those I will post my findings.

[Graybeard57]

I have no comment on the merits of using vegan soaps, but without a doubt Sue of Mama Bear's prides herself in maintaining exacting, clean, vegan soaps. Contact her through her website to reassure yourself about the ingredients. I've found her to be very receptive to answering questions. Her soaps work well and smell good, too.

[katz]

Is it true that soaps should "season" for a few months before use? I have read that on a few sites...not sure about it.

[Fkread]

I agree completely. Pseudo-science and propaganda techniques run rampant in everything it seems. However, at this point in my life I am trying to simplify things and use products that contain as little synthetic chemicals as possible.


Also, I'm not out to bash any one company or cast them in a bad light, I'm just looking for a product that suits my tastes and addresses my particular concerns.

It is a fine line we must walk, I suppose...

Have you looked at any local farmer's markets? I purchase soap from 2 different markets and both are willing to experiment.
We all have our various reasons for what we do in terms of our preferences. Similar to your situation, I want something that doesn't have a bunch of petro-miles on it. I recently switched to DE from a cartridge bc it's easier to recycle a blade than a cartridge. My younger brother switched a few years ago when he inherited our grandfathers kit.

I still buy on-line when I have a bigger order (we both need soaps) and I look for something with minimal/recyclable packaging.

Also, I pay about a 3rd of the price of the soaps I buy on-line.

[cryhavoc]

Is it true that soaps should "season" for a few months before use? I have read that on a few sites...not sure about it.

Never heard that, why buy something you can't use? I open and use mine when they arrive YMMV

[TheVez2]

You can't use soap, right after it is made. Most need to sit for a while (a month or more) to ensure the saponification process completes. Soap makers account for this and dont sell soap until it is ready.

[Absolute Mustard]

From the ingredients list on the packaging.

Picture from Marco:

1. “Fragrance”[COLOR=#4D3004][FONT=Arial] can be one or more of 200 chemicals. Companies don't have to disclose the actual components of each fragrance, under the guise that their fragrances are trade secrets. Fragrance has been known to cause many side effects, including headaches and allergic reactions. Why put an unknown synthetic chemical on your skin when you don’t have to? The Environmental Working Group has an extensive database of cosmetic chemicals and their corresponding danger rankings. "Fragrance" recieves one of the highest rankings possible in their score system. For more on fragrance, read my article.

[cryhavoc]

1. “Fragrance” can be one or more of 200 chemicals. Companies don't have to disclose the actual components of each fragrance, under the guise that their fragrances are trade secrets. Fragrance has been known to cause many side effects, including headaches and allergic reactions. Why put an unknown synthetic chemical on your skin when you don’t have to? The Environmental Working Group has an extensive database of cosmetic chemicals and their corresponding danger rankings. "Fragrance" recieves one of the highest rankings possible in their score system. For more on fragrance, read my article.

way to advertise your website, I saw no shave soaps on it. Do you have any?