"I like creams because soaps are harder to use"

I see this come up a lot, especially from newbies who start with a tub of TOBS or tube of Proraso and then branch out into soaps. With all the gear and "methods" brought up here, I can see why it might be confusing, but it's really not harder to use a soap. What it is is 30 seconds longer.


Here's how I just explained it to a newbie friend of mine, and I could see the lightbulb turn on above his head, so I'll share here.


Take a step back to that tub of cream. To use it, you get some of that cream out of the tub into your brush. Doesn't matter if you're dipping your brush, scooping with a finger and placing it into the brush, or scooping with a finger and placing it on your face (and then into your brush when you lather). You're extracting concentrated shaving cream from a container and then lathering it, in a bowl or on your face.


For soap, you can't just dip your brush. For all but the softest ones, you can't easily scoop with a finger and load up the brush. But one way or another, what you're really trying to do is the same thing you did above: load up that brush with concentrated shaving cream. Think of brush-loading, in the context of a soap, as getting some unlathered shaving cream from that puck.


(I think this is where some newbs get confused, having seen the old-fashioned mugs with a soap puck at the bottom, and grandpa building a lather right in there. Let's simplify for now. Don't do this.)


So whether you're using a damp brush or a wetter brush, a harder puck or a softer croap, all you're really trying to do in step 1 is make that same TOBS/Trumper/Proraso/AOS cream from your soap. It should take about 30 seconds, give or take--don't be shy about loading up that brush. Once your brush is loaded up (with what some call "protolather," and what I'll call "shaving cream"), you're now at exactly the same step you were when you dipped that brush into your TOBS. Step 2: Build a lather in your bowl or on your face just like you do with a cream.

Hope this helps!

I've only used a cream once. I found i enjoy the soap method more, although I don't really know why. Either isn't difficult. Your analogy to the prelather / unlathered shaving cream being the same as a cream makes a lot of sense. Great explanation.

I think it is important to consider that(any)creams can be used in brushless form and give adequate protection and performance.

Soaps not so much.

I agree with you that soaps aren't all that much more work, but you must admit that they are a little more. Plus, scooping out a bit of cream from a tub and flicking it or smearing it into a bowl (or just smearing it around your face) removes a variable. It's not much a difference, but it is there. It's not much easier, but it's easier.

I use soaps much more often than I use creams, but I do appreciate that advantage to creams. It's one of the reasons I tend to bring creams with me when I travel, rather than soaps (another being that the same, soft nature of creams make it very easy to put some in same sample container for travel).

You do give a great explanation of how the difference isn't as great as some seem to want it to be, but I'll not question someone's choice on the matter of convenience.

Nice explanation. I get a number of PMs dealing with the same subject. For some reason, newbies often are intimidated by soap. Often, the way to branch out is to try a croap like Cella. Once they try that and like it, they have no problem moving on to a hard soap.

Good explanation. Keeps it simple which is what shaving should be. Some try to make it more complicated than it needs to be. I like you KISS approach.

I don't really prefer soaps over creams or vise versa. I use both regularly and usually end up using whatever I feel like just before I shave. I like the variety of traditional wet shaving.

Until you can lather and get a good shave with Williams, your still just a NEWB!

Lightcs1776 said:

Your analogy to the prelather / unlathered shaving cream being the same as a cream makes a lot of sense. Great explanation.

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Thanks.

Look at it this way: A lot of folks seem to start with soaps by wetting the brush and "going at" the soap without a clear picture of what they're doing. At the very least, that's probably going to result in insufficient loading. At the very worst, they're trying to make full-on lather on top of the puck (not impossible but definitely not KISS), which leads to disappointment after 15 seconds of aimless brush twirling.

dionesius3 said:

Until you can lather and get a good shave with Williams, your still just a NEWB!

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I have a friend who has been traditional shaving for almost as long as I have and he still can't get a decent lather from Williams!

Thanks for the nice thoughtful post. One other variable that I believe that would come into play is the type of brush. In my experience a boar brush will pick up (load) soaps a whole lot easier than a badger. For any newb, I would suggest mastering a load from a harder soap with a boar and then experimenting and mastering a harder soap load with a badger.

Just my rusty 2 cents worth.

timetofly said:

Thanks for the nice thoughtful post. One other variable that I believe that would come into play is the type of brush. In my experience a boar brush will pick up (load) soaps a whole lot easier than a badger. For any newb, I would suggest mastering a load from a harder soap with a boar and then experimenting and mastering a harder soap load with a badger.

Just my rusty 2 cents worth.

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I've stopped using my high end badger brushes entirely, and now use a soft Muhle synthetic. I "mastered" the badgers, but they are such a pita compared to the synthetic it's not even funny.

krusty said:

I've stopped using my high end badger brushes entirely, and now use a soft Muhle synthetic. I "mastered" the badgers, but they are such a pita compared to the synthetic it's not even funny.

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Same here, albeit I now use boars exclusively. I only bought badgers for the "experience" and when I began using brushes thought boars were viewed as "sub par". Boy was I wrong!

ackvil said:

I have a friend who has been traditional shaving for almost as long as I have and he still can't get a decent lather from Williams!

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That's because Williams isn't the best soap around. An American friend sent several pucks to me one Christmas - eventually I got a lather out of it but I really didn't feel it was worth the effort. Especially not when I could get a more glidey lather from a Godrej puck. I distributed the other Williams pucks to various friends and colleagues.

Cksnffr said:

Hope this helps!

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Yes, a good and helpful post. When asked to explain the difference between a cream and a soap made by the same firm. I just point out that the soap is dryer and that when you're using a cream you're using a soap to which the manufacturer has knowingly added water.

Soaps are a bit more work and a bit more tricky - not much but some and that puts inexperienced people off. Some soaps can be a bit inconsistent whereas creams tend to be consistent.

krusty said:

I've stopped using my high end badger brushes entirely, and now use a soft Muhle synthetic. I "mastered" the badgers, but they are such a pita compared to the synthetic it's not even funny.

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I still use my Rodney Neep handmade silvertip. I still use my Semogue 620. But otherwise I've gone down the Muhle synthetic route also. Personally I prefer the black fiber brushes to the ones that emulate silvertips but both types are excellent and a joy to use.

The condescension toward creme here is really remarkable. Creme makes fine lather, in many cases thicker than soap. It's a personal preference

Driver said:

The condescension toward creme here is really remarkable. Creme makes fine lather, in many cases thicker than soap. It's a personal preference

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Not sure where you're seeing condescension. If anything, the point of the post was that soaps "can be almost as easy to use."

Ahum. Creme a are for "newbs", who clearly can't understand how soaps work. The typical

I still enjoy a few creams but find myself using soaps 95% of the time.

I use creams in summer, basically for a change from soaps
As a rule I use soap, and when I bought a Hammered Copper and later, a Hammered Brass Shaving Mug from Turkey recently, I switched from being a die hard face latherer to a die hard bowl latherer
I found creams easier to mix because by squeezing the tube into a bowl, I got a measured amount, and better lathers.
I always used to try to eke out my soaps and wondered why my lather was too thin, then I read 2 things on here that made loading a brush and mixing lather a breeze:
Load it like you stole it
Load it like you hate it