I have been wondering for quite a while if additives improve or ‘makes’ a great shaving soap. The difference between the soaps I like and the ones I do not is vast. But why are some soaps great and others not worth the time it takes to click on to buy? Two of my favorite soaps are very different, Klar Seifen, and Biotique Palmira. Klar is a hard puck, with great glide, cushion, mild powdery soap scent and post shave feel. Palmira is a croap, super slick, feels almost slimy, and has a rather heavy artificial odor. The internet is not much help, with our Google-ized minds, we can go to 100 websites and think we have 100 sources, but they could all just be quoting the same root source. The internet is really not much better than a single book; one where you have no ability to really see the expertise or bias of the author. With that in mind, I started an experiment on myself. I bought some shaving soap base from Brambleberry, and will shave 5 days with just one additive each week to see what that does to my shave. Each shave will be ranked on a scale of 1-10 on a number of factors that matter to me. The factors are Lather, Shave Feel, Cushion, Glide, Skin Feel, Irritation, Closeness, Initial Feel, and 5 PM Quality. Lather is self explanatory. Shave Feel is how the soap feels as I shave, does it feel as a shave soap ought to feel or oily, or like body soap. Cushion - does the additive add or detract from the soap bases protection. Glide is the degree of slip, which to my mind is different from Cushion. Skin Feel is how my skin feels after shaving, separate from the quality of the shave itself, is my face moisturized or dry?. Irritation, do I feel that I can get a BBS shave or do I risk irritation. Closeness is simply if I achieve a BBS shave or not, this is my best guess, as I have not had a baby’s bottom to compare my face against in years, and when I did the thought of comparing the two never entered my mind. 5 PM feel is how I feel after the day’s work, if I had a really good shave, my 5 o’clock shadow is far less then a so-so shave. I started with just the base, for five days, no scents or additives to give me a base line of performance, I also decided that this would be ranked as a 5 in each category. This way I am comparing the additive’s effects against the base, not against some other soap, or against each other. This means the base scores 200 points at the end of one week.
That will probably change as I get my hands on them. So far, Lanolin, Jojoba Oil, Shea Butter, Glycerine, Bentonite, and Castor Oil. I had these around the house, which makes the experiment cheap, at least to start.
CATEGORY lather Shave Feel Cushion Glide Skin Feel Irritation Closeness 5:00 PM Totals Mon 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Tue 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Wed 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Thur 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Fri 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 total 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 200 This is on ok shaving soap, not bad, but not very good either. It was just adequate, and I have to admit the lack of any scent was kind of off putting, though I could see someone liking the blank slate that no scent would offer for colognes and aftershaves.
The first additive was Lanolin. It was an improvement over the base, leaving my face feeling more moisturized, but did not lead to very close shaves, and I felt slight irritation on my neck each day. It also added an odd almost sticky texture to the lather. It also left my face feeling a bit greasy right after the shave, but that went away in an hour or so. It definitely added a feel of cushion and glide. Its performance improved as the week went on,, whether this was me figuring out how to use the lather or something else, like it works better with a duller blade, I can't say. It does mean I will be revisiting Lanolin later.
Weekends I use commercial soaps, and change razors so that I have a comparison. I used Arko, and switched to an old Flair. I use only a late 40's Tech and astra blades while experimenting to eliminate as many variables as possible After a weekend reset, I switched to Aloe. Aloe proved a nice glide, and overall decent shave. It did make the puck rather soft and the lather was a bit sticky at first, but that changed as I lathered; there are also some large bubbles in the first stage of lathering, but they collapsed quickly and I was not able to see any other effects to the lather. The cushion was a bit less than better quality commercial soaps, and it did not leave my skin feeling dry. I was not able to get as close a shave as I would have preferred without irritation. Aloe improved the soap a bit more than Lanolin, but not by much.
Catching up to the present. I had high expectations for Jojoba, and it had the most dramatic results so far. It removed cushion and glide, closeness of shave was just about impossible. The lather took extra effort to build, and felt like it created a stone fortress around each whisker. These were mediocre shaves at best, with a well grown stubble each evening. On the upside, it was fantastic for my skin. After my weekend reset, with Arko and a Muhle Ritmo, SWMBO commented that my face felt, "Very nice." So Jojoba may be fine as part of a balm, a pre shave oil, or to treat dry skin, but is detrimental in pursuit of a close shave. Next in the queue will be Shea Butter.
Shea butter last week. Excellent shaves every day. Close, comfortable and I never felt like the blade was dragging or that that the lather was substandard. Shea brought the soap up to about the same feel and quality of shave as Arco or maybe Speik. I nicked my upper lip on Friday, even the best soaps can't help failure to pay attention to the job at hand.
Great question. I was wondering the same thing. For example, I have played around with glycerine making uberlathers, and there is definitely a point where enough becomes too much and almost seems like it works the other way. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
For 125 Grams of soap(give or take a gram), each addition is between 8 and 12 grams. Since I am producing very small batches, I have not been able to be more accurate than that, and for the really sticky stuff, like Lanolin, I could have been off by a good 50% of what I thought I was adding. Lanolin melts at a much higher temp than the soap, and sticks to everything, so I can not be certain that the entire amount was fully incorporated into the soap. This will not be the case for Bentonite, I suspect 12 grams of bentonite would produce a top quality mud bar, and not a soap, so that will be more of a thumb in the air, tongue parked in the corner of my mouth guess.
When I add bentonite, I only use 1/4 teaspoon to a 4 ounce bar of soap. I stir it into a little alcohol, to make a paste,before adding it to the soap. The alcohol will evaporate and not be a part of the finished product.
Rather hard to describe the results I observed with Castor Oil. On Monday, it seemed like a bit of a failure, but I realized the the lather was feeling much dryer on my face than it really was, and I had been adding excess water to achieve the feel I normally expect from a soap. This was not unpleasant, but quite different. Once I used less water, the shaves improved quite a bit, while the soap itself felt as though it was drying out on my face. There was decent Cushion and Glide on the first pass, but after just a couple of seconds there was no residual slip for a quick touch up pass, unless I reapplied lather. By Thursday, my face was starting to feel oily, and by Friday, it was unpleasantly so. I suspect Castor oil would be a very good choice for someone who suffers from dry skin, or lives in a moisture wicking winter climate. Reset myself with Klar Seifen, and an old Gillette Flair over the weekend, solid 8's and 9's in every category; a good reminder of a near perfect shave. I do think my skin is getting softer due to all these oils and Butters being applied Monday through Friday.
What additives are you going to try in the coming, weeks or month? Really great thread and I am super interested. How's about Mango oil or butter. I do not recall which is in I Coloniali and a few other soaps. then again, I bet I could guess just by looking at some of the most popular soaps what additives, if I were you, I would try in the coming trials. Looking at L&L, I would try - Avoicado Oil, Mango Seed Butter, Grape Seed Oil (good for salads too ) Barrister & Mann - Safflower Oil, Silk Protein, Coconut Milk, Glycerin CRSW - Kokum Butter, Shea Butter, Lanolin, Silk Protein, Glycerin, Castor Seed Oil Chiseled Face - Aloe Vera, Coconut oil, Castor oil, Mango Butter, Avacado Oil, Silk Powder Mickey Lee soapworks - Coconut Milk, Aloe Juice, Kokum Butter, Castor oil, Lanolin, Shea Butter, Avocado Oil Mike's Naturals - glycerin, Kokum butter, avocado oil, shea butter, lanolin, saponified coconut oil, kaolin clay Wholly Kaw - Castor Oil, Kokum butter, Cocoa Butter, Glycerin, Shea butter Tallow & steel (new essential oil line) - glycerin, Argan Oil, Pomegranate seed oil, Macadamia Nut Oil, Coconut Oil, Avocado oil, Castor oil, Bentonite Clay, Tamanu oil, Silk These are just a few artisans that I did a quick search of on trythatsoap.com. It seems that many of the top soaps also have some of the ingredients you are trying. Is there any chance that solo they might not be as good as when combinbed with other oils and butters? Another question I have, are you adding them after saponification or before? I would think, and I have no knowledge of soap making but will take a stab in the dark any way, that if you are looking for moisturizing and glide that the ooil, might be better not saponified yet saponified also could be interesting for other reasons such as lather formation, density and cushion. I suspect each oil has different concentrations of fats and different fats and so the fatty acid ratios could change the characteristics of the final soap and subsequent lather. At least that is my thinking and I am probably way off base but its fun to speculate. Thanks again and good luck looking for effects and hopefully a better shaving soap. Final question, when you do find the perfect mix, where can I buy some??? Frank
I have several more additives in the coming weeks. Buttermilk, Gyclerine and Corn Starch are all complete and waiting their turn. I am also looking for small samples of several others, including Cocoa Butter, Hemp Oil, Coconut Milk (powdered) and powdered Goat's Milk. Since this is very experimental, I don't want to buy large amounts of anything until I find I like it in the soap. I am very open to other additives being tested, as suggestions are made, and I access them. These are all being added to a commercial melt and pour soap, so the base is fully saponified prior to anything I add, and I fully believe that most of these additives would work better in concert with one another. The issue to my mind is that if I were to combine additives, I will not know which one is doing what. As an example, some soapers will add Confectioners Sugar to their formula to alter the texture of the lather, but Powdered Sugar contains Starch to prevent clumping. Until they are separated, you can't be sure which is the one providing the benefit you seek. If I were to somehow create the ideal shaving soap, at least for me, it would have a high degree of Glide and Cushion, with a residual bit of slip so that I could touch up a spot without applying more lather. It would feel like it was softening my beard, and would permit close, daily shaves with no irritation. I would also not feel the need to any aftershave, lotion or treatment on my face, it would leave me feeling moisturized, but not greasy. I don't have any desire to sell the soap once I finish this, but I will be happy to share the results, so someone can make their own. Since this is melt and pour as a base, all you need is a heat source, glass jar and a very understanding spouse to make it yourself.
