What home-made substitutes have you guys used as shave soaps in a pinch? I've used regular dove soap well-lathered up. It wasn't great, but it got the job done, as long as I was quick before the soap dried out too much. I imagine some moisturizer cream might also work if you quickly shave right after applying it. Perhaps a hundreds of years ago, people may have used melted animal fat or some sort of natural oil or grease, but those things can't be good for your skin either (no wonder a lot of guys had beards back then). So, if you had to shave without any ready-made product, what would you try as a shaving soap?
I would shave with my face in the shower spray. The main purpose of lather is to hold water on your skin while you shave, shaving constantly wet skin bypasses the need for soap. I've done it before. I suppose if I was just wanting to use odd stuff, I'd be willing to try shaving with K-Y jelly.
Yes, I had a mirror, about 5 inches across, though I only needed to use it when I was shaving around my (at that time) goatee. Water was a good enough lubricant. I shaved mostly by feel. Shave, rub, if I felt stubble, I went over it again. I've only done it a few times, since half the fun is picking the soap and brush and making lather. If I was forced to give up soap for whatever reason, I would have no issues just shaving under water in the shower. It's very important that the spot you are shaving needs to be in the shower stream while you are shaving it. Edit: also, just the bare minimum. I'd do one pass plus touchups. I don't know if you could do 3 or 4 pass shaves using this method, and it's been so long since I've done it, I don't recall if the post shave felt any different than a lather shave. I remember that I did it to prove a point. That lather's main function is to hold a layer of water on the skin's surface, or to act in the same manner as a layer of water on the skin. There's a reason it's called "wet shaving."
