To have an enjoyable and smooth wet shave, the first thing you have to do is choose either shaving soap or shaving cream.
And, such kind of job raises the question:
Shaving Soap Vs Shaving Cream Which is better?
It’s ‘TRUE’ that the discussion of shave cream vs shave soap is sort of an ancient one. If you’re sort of a newcomer to wet shaving, then it becomes nothing less than a challenging task for you to pick the right one for you.
In my earlier days, I wasn’t much of a serious guy while choosing either shaving soap or shaving cream. But, with days passed by, I have become more experienced and finally, I thought of doing thorough research on this topic – shaving soap vs cream – which one is better.
While doing my research on the mentioned topic, I had gathered plenty of information regarding both of the shaving kits. And, trust me, that research of mine helped me a lot to choose the right one for my wet shaving.
Here, I’m going to share all that I have learned while doing my research on finding out the differences between shaving soap and shaving cream.
I believe the following piece of discussion will change your views about shaving soap and shaving cream completely. Even you’ll come to know many unknown things about these 2 shaving kit types.
At the same time, it will also help you choose the right sort of shaving kit for your wet shaving as it is a detailed version of the discussion.
Let’s give it a ‘START’.
To help you get a clearer picture of shaving soap vs cream, I’ll begin this discussion with a few words about shaving cream and shaving soap.
Trust me, you’ll surely find it no less than an interesting one!
Shaving Cream – Few Words
Most of us, especially the case mine, had our very first shaving experience during the time of our high school years. If I am not wrong, back at that time, shaving cream that comes in a can or jar was our main point of attraction. That’s the reason, I guess, most of us preferred the shaving cream just because of curiosity.
Although the shaving cream might not be the ‘BEST’ one to be found in the market, it was worth a try for the first time shaving.
When my father noticed, he gave me a warning about not using such a shaving cream type for a variety of reasons. But, being a teenager, I had my own level of curiosity. Sometimes, I just wondered – how can a shaving cream be bad since there were lots of advertising going on? My main point of logic was – if it were that bad, then why it was shown on TVC?
Anyways, let’s get back on our track..
Most of the shaving creams available in the market can be found either in a small tube or jars. It feels very easy while working with it. And, you get the flexibility of producing lather either in a tiny shave bowl or even directly on the face.
I will always suggest you have a clear knowledge of how to lather with shaving cream so that you do it the right way.
Shaving creams tend to be soft in their nature and they come in the market with varieties of scents one can ever imagine. However, many of those contain hard fragrances that some of you may not give a warm welcome.
At this moment in time, you can find hundreds and thousands of shaving cream types produced by different shaving cream manufacturing brands. Even some types come with natural ingredients that may work ‘BEST’ for you depending on the type of your skin.
The procedure of making shaving cream is literally so easy that you may even think of giving it a try!
Just kidding Mate, Don’t Go For a Try!
The fact is that if you can find out the perfect shaving cream for your skin, you’ll be the ultimate gainer. Therefore, make sure to do an extensive level of research about top rated shaving creams before you buy any random one.
Shaving Soap – Few Words
Shaving soaps tend to have some sort of hard texture. Like the shaving creams, they have glycerin in them. And, in comparison to those normal or regular soaps, they consist of sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide as the saponification agent.
When it comes to doing the lathering thing with shaving soap, it is more or less similar to that of shaving cream. You just need to place your shaving soap in a shaving bowl and, you do the brush swirling on the soap to produce lather.
If I am not wrong, it may take around a minute of the task of brush swirling to get a proper level of lather. In this case, always keep in mind – doing the brush swirling in the right way will result in getting a thick and nice lather that you ultimately need for good shaving.
When it comes to scents, shaving soaps come with varieties of scents. But, according to my experiences, they would be somewhat subtle in nature.
If you choose shaving soap for your wet shaving, you make sure to choose the best one to avoid any unpleasant shaving experience.
Like the shaving creams, shaving soaps also come with varieties of types and brands. Therefore, I would recommend you to make comprehensive research so that you can come up with the best one for you.
Shaving Soap Vs Shaving Cream Which Is Better?
By this time, you have got a decent idea about these two different shaving kits. But, you don’t know which is better – shaving soap or shaving cream.
To give you a complete idea, I’m going to divide this section into a few parts so that you can see the differences between shaving soap and shaving cream all by yourself.
At the same time, the following sections will also help you get acquainted with the differences based on some important criteria.
Let’s head over to our discussion on shaving soap vs shaving cream….
Shaving Soap Vs Shaving Cream – Ingredients Differences
Ingredients of Shaving Soap
- Shaving soaps are made using almost the same technology type that is used for making a traditional soap, yet a slight variation occurs in terms of the ingredient selection. And, such kind of variation is done with the specific purpose of creating more of stable and slick leather.
- As the saponification agent, potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide are used. To give a hard texture to the shaving soaps, sodium hydroxide is probably used. And, potassium hydroxide is mixed so that you can apply brush swirling on the soap to produce lather.
- For the production of shaving soaps, one of the most important ingredients that has been used traditionally is called Tallow.
- At the present time, palm oil is considered as the substitute for tallow as such oil doesn’t contain any kind of animal fat.
- Coconut oil is also a popular ingredient that is used worldwide for making shaving soaps.
- Furthermore, materials like fatty acid and stearic acid are also used in the production procedure of shaving soaps since those ingredients have properties that are helpful for creating a stable and dense lather.
Ingredients of Shaving Cream
- Shaving creams are found in tubes or aerosol can/bottle. You can apply all types of forms with a shaving brush.
- Shaving creams typically contain around 20 to 30 percent soap (triethanolamine or potassium).
- There is about 10 percent glycerin, emulsifiers, emollients, and foaming agents.
- About 10 percent of Hydrocarbon propellants are added as the aerosols contain diluted creams that are dispensed from the pressurized cans.
- A huge amount of water is mixed in the cream formulations that mainly works for controlling the flammability of the hydrocarbons.
- Beard-softening occurs because of hair hydration that mainly depends on pH.
Shaving Soap Vs Cream – Differences in terms of Advantages
Advantages of Shaving Soap
- Shaving soap has some sort of ability to offer a kind of stiffer and fluffy lather. And, such sort of lather can create more like a ‘cushion’ thing between your face and the razor. The created lather is also somewhat slicker in nature which helps you to slide your razor faster across your skin.
- For wet shaving, you get a whole lot of control over the shaving activities when you use shaving soap. From the starting to the finishing touch, you get the whole control over your lather. With shaving soap, you get the flexibility of deciding how vigorous and fast you’re going to whip the soap. And, this helps you to create your expected type of lather.
- Furthermore, with shaving soap, you can control the aeration, thickness, and volume of the lather. But, for doing so, you need to have a bit of ‘EXPERIENCE’ because such control cannot be earned overnight.
- Also, shaving soap is cost-effective as well compared to shaving cream. Shaving creams come with the position of pre-lathered where the whipping thing is no longer required. But, when you use shaving soap, you have to whip that yourself. It indicates that shaving soap tends to last for a longer time than shaving cream.
- To a great extent, shaving soap is just a ‘COOL’ shaving kit. When you do the shaving thing with soap, you can get the feeling of some sort of satisfaction.
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Advantages of Shaving Cream
- Shaving creams come with a pre-whipped and aerated condition. So, you don’t need to do the whipping thing to create lather.
- Compared to shaving soaps, shaving creams tend to be more convenient. With shaving soaps, you have to whip on the soap with your brush to create the lather. But, if you use shaving cream for shaving, the lather is already inside the can or tube. It requires no whipping with your brush for creating a lather.
- In terms of protection, shaving cream takes a step ahead of shaving soaps. You can feel a sense of being more relieved when you shave with shaving creams.
Shaving Soap Vs Cream – The Ultimate Differences
• Lathering Method
Lathering is one of the most vital parts you have to come across each time you go for shaving. And, the lathering method for shaving soap differs totally from that of shaving cream.
With shaving soaps, you have to swirl the shaving brush for creating a lather. And, this procedure of creating lather requires one minute of brush swirling on the shaving soap. At the same time, you have to use a bowl where you have to put the shaving soap first and then, you have to apply the lathering method.
However, with shaving cream, there is no need of using any bowl to create lather. Although some people may like to use a bowl, most people like to apply the cream directly on the face. If you choose shaving soap, you can never apply that directly to the facial skin.
• Smell/Scent
If you make a search, you’ll find that shaving cream comes with hundreds of different scent types.
Besides, shaving cream has some sort of scent that tends to be stronger than that of the shaving soap. I’m saying this based on my personal experiences.
Trust me, I have used hundreds of shaving soaps and shaving cream types. And, after making the comparison between their scents, I found the pattern that I have already mentioned.
• Luggage Friendliness
In the case of carryon luggage, shaving soap definitely takes a win here. Actually, it is much easier to carry shaving soaps when you’re traveling from one place to another.
But, shaving cream has got a drawback here which is you have to make the disposal of it.
So, it gives a clear picture that shaving soap takes a clear ‘WIN’ here.
• Lasting Longer
It is common sense that longer a kit lasts, it will offer you more shaving times. From my personal experience, I have observed that shaving soap tends to last for a longer period than shaving cream.
You would surely be amazed to know the fact that shaving soap can last for a period of up to 3 months of duration even you use it for your daily shaving. If you estimate the total cost for a year, I guess shaving soap will help you save more than the shaving creams.
But, if you calculate the money you can save, you will see it so very little that is can hardly be a reason to pick one over the other.
• Slickness
In the case of sickness, I do believe that shaving soap tends to a bit slicker than shaving cream. When I tried to shave using the shaving soap for the first time, I found my shaving was a bit aggressive in nature. But, with the passage of time, I developed my own lathering technique that helped me get control over my shaving method with shaving soap.
I will try to let you know about my lathering technique hopefully in the near future so that you can also get a clear idea about the right lathering procedure.
Conclusion
So, have you got the answer to debate – shaving soap vs shaving cream which is better?
I think you have got a clear idea after reading such kind of thoughtful and valid comparison.
If you ask me which shaving kit is better, I would tell you both – depending on the type of skin you have.
Practically, shaving soap or shaving cream – both of these kits can help you with your shaving.
If you’re completely new and do not have any experience regarding shaving, you should try to get proper info about your skin first. Getting adequate information about your skin will help you to decide which one to go for – shaving soap or cream.
When you decide one, then you should make a deep research on the available brands, types and some other necessary info to choose the right shaving kit for you.
Still, confused?
Then, you can knock me for any help regarding your shaving query.
I believe that my experiences won’t let you own.
Happy Shaving!
