Soaps or creams?

As a newbie to all this lark, I'm just standing at the entrance, staring down the rabbit hole at the moment, but I have either been very lucky with my choices of soaps and creams, or I'm just bloody well ridiculously good at this shit, but I can get a great lather from all my soaps. My one cream: OSP, though, is amazingly easy to whip up in to a bowl full of smoothness and rewards one with a fantastic slick lather.
Could be you have quite soft water?
I moved from a hard water area to a soft water one & it's noticeably easier now to get really good lather from both soaps & creams.
 
Could be you have quite soft water?
I moved from a hard water area to a soft water one & it's noticeably easier now to get really good lather from both soaps & creams.

Yes, our water is quite soft, we never have problems with limescale in the kettle or washing machine etc (yet I persist in "descaling" the non existent scale in my espresso machine on a monthly basis...), so that's obviously a bonus for me.

I wonder if there are soaps that are specifically formulated for hard water?
 
Господа, мыло и сливки - разные ипостаси. Для меня лично крем необходим для скорости и нехватки времени. Как бритвенная щетка

Excuse the Google translation:

Evgeny said:
Gentlemen, soap and cream are different incarnations. For me personally, the cream is necessary for speed and lack of time. Like a razor brush
 
I would say that for either beginner or "in a hurry" experienced shavers, cream is the best choice. It is generally easier to lather.

On the other hand, a well made soap (doesn't have to be expensive), again IMHO, provides a better shave in terms of skin protection and razor glide.

Having said that, good quality cream provides you a quality of shave that doesn't necessarily make you feel it would have been better to use a soap. At the end of the day, we should try both options to figure it out which one suits best our needs and likes.

I have been using mainly creams for the last 2 years, after having alternated with soaps for the previous 8 years. Now, I went back to a rather professional soap. Very cheap but super efficient. The only downside (it is not a downside for me personally) it is the scent: it is a mere almond scent, which doesn't last till the end of the shave. Personally, I prefer to get the job done obtaining the best results possible. However, for some shavers, beside the results, also the scent is very important. I think that if I was going to care more about the type of scent, and its "durability", I would be more inclined towards cream.
 
I personally feel that creams give a lot more protection.
I have not found much difference between soaps & creams with respect to glide/lubrication/slickness.
Well as usual, YMMV. You may not find any difference ever, and others may find a bunch of. Probably another thing that is influencing my finding is that the soap I am currently using is tallow based. But again, very subjective area. If I could afford to use TOBS or Geo Trumper every day, I would probably use only creams :D
 
I started using creams +35 years ago.... but when I saw the (DE) light I tried soaps... and never looked back.

I think they're more... versatile?, they are traditional, I have never finished a puck... and Phoenix and Beau only makes soaps...
 
I use, enjoy and have many of both. Don't really prefer one over the other and the time difference in loading and prep between the two for me is negligible. I also travel with both and shave sticks so...meh.
 
I have been experimenting with mixing my different creams and soft soaps with MWF hard soap and I'm finding the result excellent.
I put a bit of the cream in my bowl with a little water and leave it floating in hot water whilst I take a shower.
Then load the brush with with MWF and lather up in the bowl with the cream.
I find I'm getting a superb result, much better than cream or soap alone.
MWF dries my skin on it's own and with my creams alone I don't get such good performance, best of both worlds!
Thanks to @ajc347 for the tip :)
 
I have been experimenting with mixing my different creams and soft soaps with MWF hard soap and I'm finding the result excellent.
I put a bit of the cream in my bowl with a little water and leave it floating in hot water whilst I take a shower.
Then load the brush with with MWF and lather up in the bowl with the cream.
I find I'm getting a superb result, much better than cream or soap alone.
MWF dries my skin on it's own and with my creams alone I don't get such good performance, best of both worlds!
Thanks to @ajc347 for the tip :)

Try adding a few drops glycerin into the lather. That should hopefully make things even better. [emoji106]


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I'm favouring soaps after reading the thread on Wickham V2. Darren states that bacteria can grow easier in creams than in hard soaps. Soap makers should be adding preservatives, as Darren says, because it's a potential health risk. This especially if you have several soaps and they go well past their sell-by date. But even with whatever preservatives are used, soaps look to be safer in the long term.
 
I'm favouring soaps after reading the thread on Wickham V2. Darren states that bacteria can grow easier in creams than in hard soaps. Soap makers should be adding preservatives, as Darren says, because it's a potential health risk. This especially if you have several soaps and they go well past their sell-by date. But even with whatever preservatives are used, soaps look to be safer in the long term.
Tubes of cream are usually safe as no contamination or tap water enters. Tub of cream may be a bit at risk, but most creams have preservatives.
 
Tubes of cream are usually safe as no contamination or tap water enters. Tub of cream may be a bit at risk, but most creams have preservatives.

No tap water gets in my cream tubs. Once the lid is off, a small clean spoon removes a bit of cream, then the lid is turned tightly back on. Not sure what can contaminate the contents in those few seconds
 
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