Shaving Soap vs Cream
Five differences between Shaving Soap and Shaving Cream
a mustache and still need to shave, how is your face doing? Does it feel tight and difficult to shave every day? Well maybe it is time to investigate some options. First of all we will not discuss the shaving creams that come in an aerosol can. These are cheap imitators of the real thing and create more harm than good over time because of the chemicals in these products. Yes, they are less expensive, but is your face worth more than going on the cheap? We think so!
Also, this is not a discussion about straight razors, verses multi-blade razors! We will leave that for another discussion. So with that being said, let’s look at five differences. Your face may thank you.
Water or Not!
The first thing to know about shaving creams and shaving soaps is the water content! Shaving soap comes in a small puck or disk and requires the additional of water usually with a shaving brush to whip it into a lather to apply to the face. This will take some practice and of course requires some time in the process. Shaving creams come with the necessary water already in the cream. So whipping it up into lather can be quickly and easily accomplished.
Product Delivery
Shaving soaps come in the most predominate form of triple-milled hard soap discs. This means that the product is hard, and with adding the water and brush takes quite a bit of time to turn it into a really good lather. Once you become good at it, the best shaving soaps on the market produce a very rich, very soothing lather for a comfortable shave.
Shaving creams (or Gels) come already packaged with water so working them into lather is almost without effort. Shaving creams come in a tube or jar and by substance are very thick. The cream can easily create lather with just the use of your fingers, although a good brush is still recommended.
Product Ingredients
The ingredients in both the cream and the soap are varied and extensive. These ingredients are unique to the various quality and manufacturer. However, the creams all seem to have at least the following ingredients:
- Aqua- water
- Stearic Acid –saturated fatty acid used as a surfactant
- Myristic Acid – surfactant and emulsifying properties to increase the lather capabilities
- Coconut Acid – a triglyceride used as a surfactant with its cleansing properties
- Sodium and potassium hydroxides – gives consistency to the water and fatty acid ratio
- Glycerin – used to help retain water and give density stability to the cream
- Triethanolamine –neutralizes the pH of fatty acids and to help with the other ingredients that have low solubility in water
The shaving soaps list of ingredients was investigated to be well over 80 to 100 possible combinations and then some. A lot of different oils, butters and chemicals were in these possibilities. There did not seem to be any common ingredient so each manufacturer will use their unique proprietary mix.
As you look at the ingredients, and which is best for your use, it is more trial and error by the shaver and what helps his face to get a smooth clean shave. It is also a matter of personal choice when it comes to environmental and animal rights concerns. Look at the ingredients if this is a concern.
Scents
Basically, the creams or gels will carry a much stronger scent when applied than the soaps will. The different scents that these products can come in are well over 100. I mean literally, they come in so many that it will have to get down to the personal preference of the shaver. However the lubricating and ease of shaving properties should take precedence over the scent. Maybe one should consider the scent as the “icing on the cake” after considering the skin enhancing and preservation qualities.
Travel considerations
As expensive as these items can be, one should consider how easy it is to travel with. Not much of a problem unless you are going to travel by air. With today’s flight regulations in most airports, United States and Canada for sure the shaving soap is the big winner on this one. Do not make the mistake of taking your expensive shaving cream in your carryon luggage, as it will be too large of a liquid and will likely be confiscated. The truth is, that using and being comfortable with both shaving soap and shaving cream is a good idea for different situation scenarios.
Although this was not meant to be an exhaustive article, it was designed to give the serious male who values his appearance both now and in the future an idea of the products available for shaving. If you learn nothing else from this, please take the time to quit using those cheap aerosol can creams, and take the time to pamper your face. It will thank you twenty years from now.