I've never used bar soap. But Williams mug soap is cheaper than a 20oz soda. I found it at the neighborhood grocery store.

I have in the past, you have to do what you have to do to get by but it'll be a loooong time before I run out of shaving soap again. I tend to look at shaving as a luxurious experience, good soap, nice brush and a smooth shave is the way to start the day.

the KMF definitely improved the HN lather, but it still dried out before I got done. maybe more cream.... I'll practice lathering with some variations to see if I can get it to have more staying power. as is I have a $6 bar of soap that needs a $7 cream to be still inferior to a $3 puck of VDH.

so far the 3 or 4 bar soaps I have tried have been less than satisfactory. weak lather and hard to clean up. the mix of used lather and whiskers doesn't seem to want to rinse off the blade like with shave soap, and it leaves residue in the sink.


i'd like to find some good cheap options to VDH that I can buy locally (tucson). what is available off of the shelf here is mostly spray cans of goop.

amen brother, amen.

Sorry to hear this. My original opinion still stands: bath/body bars are made for bathing and shave soaps are made for shaving. I never use bath bars for shaving purposes. My later comment was to point out that a nice soap like HN would work better than a typical cheap bar of soap from your local grocery store.

Now, if worse comes to worst, you can use the HN soap as your bath bar. It's an outstanding bath bar. Get a poof and use it like you use a shave brush; take the poof to the soap and vigorously lather it for at least a count of 9 or 10, then lather it with your hand, add a bit of water, lather it a bit more, and then cleanse. Fantastic. If you've never used a poof or loofah in this way with bar soap, prepare yourself for a truly luxurious showering experience. So, the $6 won't be a complete waste.

Also, the KMF will work as a shave cream by itself, without any soap. You can lather it with a brush just like any other quality cream. So, that $7 won't be a waste, either, because you can get a boatload of great shaves from that cream.


Having said all that, if you can't get a workable lather (at LEAST as good as VDH) out of the combination of HN and unscented KMF, you are lathering it improperly. Keep working at it until you figure it out.

Or, don't. Just use the KMF for shaving and the HN for showering. All your money will have been well spent. And when it comes to getting a true, high quality shave soap, I always order mine online. The fact that no soaps are locally available isn't a deterrent at all, at least not to me it isn't. Good luck and happy shaving.

I have used Dove unscented before. Works in a pinch.

I think I'd prefer to use the 20oz soda versus the Williams.
Kidding, of course, but the Williams shave soap is probably the closest thing to regular bar soap of any of the shaving soaps I've encountered. Worked hard to generate a decent lather with so-so results, and it left my face extremely dry. The scent was subtle enough, and in a pinch, I'd probably still choose it over regular bar soap if my options were limited.

Exactly! I'd rather invest in quality products (such a good soap or cream) and make each morning a 'special' time...

I'm a little late to the "party", but you might try making your own shaving oil... I'm not sure how good it would be to face shave with just the oil (without soap of whatever type). Cheap to make and will help with the glide-ability of whatever soap you're using. I personally think it forms a level of non-water-permeability on the skin so the later isn't as prone to "soaking in", as it does to me (I have NO scientific evidence other than the power of observation). Also depending on your oils, can be really moisturizing. There's a tutorial in (~gasp~) the Tutorial's section.

Castor Oil is found at my grocery store in the area with the laxatives - $1.79 for 4 oz
past that, look in your cupboards (or buy fresh): I went with 24 oz bottles of each Safflower oil (with high olein and vitamin E) and grapeseed oil
You could use just about any oil, other than canola.

My personal blend is 1/3 each oil I'm using. For $25 plus tax, I have the ingredients for 72 oz of oil. (and if it doesn't work out, I've got some great salad or cooking oils!)

I've been cartridge shaving with bar soap (Pre de Provence -made of Shea butter) for many years. Just found the wonderful world of DE shaving and won't look back. I've gone soap crazy recently. The PdP soap is sooo nice and the scents are great ( lavender, sage, green tea) so ill continue to use them. The bars are huge (250g - 8.5 oz) and last a looooong time so they are well worth the extra $$ IMHO.

Now I use the bar soap to initially wash/soften my face THEN shave soap during shaving. I then generally use a liquid body soap for my body (axe, dial etc) so needless to say, this whole soap thing is starting to get out of hand. This has got to stop!

Ditch the liquid soap for showering with! Use the Pre de Provence bar soap for your shower. It's a hundred times better. Buy a poof or a loofah or whatever you want to call it, and use it the same way you use a shaving brush, only use it to generate a rich lather for your shower. Life is too short to use liquid so-called soaps.

I have used Dove bath soap as a shaving soap, with generally favorable results. Here is my review: Dove shaving soap review

You know, PdP makes an excellent shave soap in addition to their bar soaps.

Wow. No, I never knew that, and have been buying their soaps for years! Just checked around (amazon where I've been buying it - amongst others) and low and behold......PdP shave soap! I've either been passing it up or didn't realize what shave soap was a long time ago and just filtered it out in my brain, but just bought a few bars to try ( like I need any more shave soap - lol). THANKS!

Just used my PdP shaving soap this morning and we always have 3 or 4 of their bar soaps in the shower. I've used, with favorable results, the PdP bath soaps for shaving along with a brand call Black Soap that makes a musk and a sport scent, the Swedish Dream soap works well and one I can't remember the name of the brand but it's a fir/pine scent, square bar and it comes in a card stock box with green plaid design. Works good. In a pinch.

I have. I wouldn't make it a habit but once when I was traveling I ran out of shave soap and I used Neutrogena face soap. I figured that it was a glycerin soap so maybe it would be slick enough...and it was. Not a terrific shave but it worked, no irritation. I wouldn't trade in my Cella though.

Tried it with cartridge razors before owning a brush - hard to get a good lather and it dried quickly. I think it's an okay substitute if you can keep your face moist.

This is actually what brought me to the forum tonight! I am currently a cartridge shaver that can get horrible acne flareups. Seriously, as a 35ish year old male, you would think I was 15 based on acne issues. It's really annoying....

I use Cetaphil Anti-bacterial soap to shave. While it's not the best shave it's somewhat passable and the only thing I have found that keeps me from getting breakouts from shaving. Every single gel type cream or Barbasol White style cream gave me breakouts. So I pretty much resigned myself to using Cetaphil as my breakouts seemed to decrease by a large margin.

However, after getting a horribly infected ingrown hair on my neck and a massive nick in my cheek earlier in the week, I decided there has to be a better way, which brought me here! I would love to get into DE shaving, but am scared reading some of the ingredients in the different shave soaps and creams. Lanolin, tallow, coconut oil...yikes sounds like an acne nightmare Just kidding. Hopefully once I do some research I will come up with a solution and join the ranks of DE shavers.

Anyway, thanks for all the insight! Looks like tons of good info 'round these parts. I will update to let you know how I fare.

A good pre-shave facial scrub (Neutrogena, Aveeno, Dove for Men, Nivea, etc.) and the use of witch hazel as a post-shave splash or as an astringent applied with a cotton swab went a long way for me in quelling the acne problems that followed me into my 30s.

Have you been tested for allergies? If you are topically allergic to one of the ingredients common in your other shaving soap/cream choices, that could be the culprit behind your breakouts as well. As I understand it, several of The Shave Den's approved vendors of soap are happy to work with a customer with such an issue to produce a soap that is allergen free for him or her.

Hi! Welcome to the Den.
Be sure to sign up for the July Newbie Give-Away.

Hope you find what works for you. Don't hesitate to ask questions, and be sure to keep us updated.

Just FYI, saponified tallow and saponified coconut oil are non-comedogenic. In fact, saponified coconut oil is actually quite drying to the skin; if you are prone to acne, a shaving soap high in saponified coconut oil might actually help to REDUCE breakouts. Lanolin can definitely be comedogenic in some people. If you have a problem with acne, you might want to avoid it (most shaving soaps do not contain lanolin).

The idea that tallow soaps cause more acne than vegetable-oil-based soaps is a myth; an "old wives' tale," if you will. No truth to it at all.