Probably a stupid question... please excuse my lack of knowledge, I'm new to this- what is the difference between shaving cream and shaving soap? I've read that you would basically lather either one the same way in a bowl. Are they kind of the same thing? Are they made from a different base? Trying to figure it out. Also I deduct "croap" must be a hybrid. This may have already been a discussion, but I couldn't find it with the search. I'm left to feel that I'm the only one dumb enough to have to ask.
Well, a cream is soft and sometimes comes in a tube. If it comes in a tub, it's still soft enough to scoop a little out with your finger. A soap is harder and usually requires you to swirl the brush on it to load some soap. Croap is a soft soap and many of the Italian soaps fall in this category - Proraso, Cella, etc.
Shaving soap is hard like a bar of soap. Shaving cream is soft like cold cream or toothpaste. Croap is not as hard as a bar and not as soft as a cream. So you might scrub a bar for 30-60 seconds. Or a croap for 5-10. A cream you just squirt a bit on your brush and lather. You can leave a croap out or unsealed and it will dry almost as firm as a bar. You can also moisten a bar and let it sit in an airtight tub and it will soften like a croap. Cream is cream but I suspect if you left it outgoing enough it would get crusty.
Nope. You're not dumb to have to ask. We're happy to fill you in, as Mikewood & Feeltheburn have already done!
Although you may get great lathers with creams and soaps alike, some people prefer one over the other. I, for example, use soaps/croaps exclusively.
In addition to the information above. Soaps and creams has different ease of lather. Creams usually require less water than soaps. My first product was a soap (Palmolive stick) I had some difficulties with drying lather. Then I bought 2 croaps(proraso sandalwood and proraso eucalyptus/menthol). The croaps was a bit easier to load and lather. But now I get really good lather from that Palmolive stick =) One just needs to practice a little bit and figure out the right soap/water ratio or cream/water etc.
When I started out I used only creams, much easier to build a really nice lather. Once I got the hang of using a brush, water ratio and such I went to soaps and croaps. As for using a bowl, I pretty much face lather 100% of the time. Don't ask why I have a scuttle, a ceramic bowl and a newly purchased stainless bowl.
I too started out with creams but moved onto soaps after I mastered using a brush and making a decent lather. I still keep at least one cream on hand for days that I am in a rush and just need to move things along.
If the soaps have the better lube & glide, how much difference is there between a tube cream that's lathered with a brush and just a can of barbasol?
I'd say that's not always true about the cream/soap comparison. Some creams have exceptional glide. Some soaps don't. There's still plenty of YMMV to be had with preference for different lather properties and a lot comes down to how good you are at making it. One thing that helps me is to use one product for a week or two straight and make small adjustments from day to day. After a few days, I'm usually getting much better lathers from whatever I'm using. Barbasol to me feels dry and not very slick. Some people like it though. If I had to use stuff from a can, I prefer Edge gel. I actually used up an old can of that a while back to see how it compared after not using canned stuff in a while. The shaves were ok.
I would also say that's 100% not true about cream/soap comparisons! People have their personal favorites and much of it is YMMV and that includes a good amount of the placebo effect and interpretation. Finding the products that work for you is a matter of trying things out for yourself. As for the difference between a can of goo and a cream (or soap!) lathered with brush.. it's about the same as the difference between a really good pizza and something you found in the cat box.
I don't know enough about how they're made to say if they really are from the same sort of base ingredients, but I can tell you that, in practical terms, yes they're basically the same thing. Only the original/pre-lathered consistency is different. Too right about the soap v cream fallacy. There are fantastic products in both 'categories', or whatever. Lots of folks who are new to the wet shaving thing start out with creams as they feel it's just that little bit easier, but as with anything that involves a more or less daily repetition, it's all quite easy in pretty short order. You hear talk of this or that being good because of it's 'easy' to lather, but in truth lathering any of 'em is about as difficult as putting on a hat. Another one you'll hear a lot of is the ol' 'yeah, I used to use creams but now I'm more of a soap guy' . The tacit implication of course being that soaps are somehow more 'advanced' and using them is some sort of weak rite of passage, as in "Hey fellas take a look. My Big-Boy pants finally fit!'. Rubbish...all of it. The 'croap' appellation never really settled with me either, seems like just another silly internet shorthand, totally unnecessary; besides which it's obviously got a spare letter O in it. I love the soft soaps from the traditional Italian makers and guys like Cold River, I just don't see any reason to call 'em anything but soft soaps.
^That's funny! As far as the difference goes. The way I understand it is soaps are a little simpler than creams. Soap keeps a good long time without much in the way of preservatives or anything like that. While creams have more water in them and may need some other ingredients to keep them from separating and spoiling. I usually try not to have more creams on hand than I can use up in a year or so just because I'm afraid they'll go bad before I get to them. Not sure if that fear is justified but it does keep me from buying way more than I need. Seems like soaps can sit around forever and be fine.
Thanks for the wealth of knowledge, and the humor is also appreciated! @Mr. Shaverman because of your avatar, I read all your comments imagining a crazy Patrick Bateman talking. >>"it's about the same as the difference between a really good pizza and something you found in the cat box... do you like Phil Collins?"
Another random thought about soaps/creams. Shaving cream is a very complex product, and is nearly impossible to manufacturer in your home or garage with any luck. Soaps, fairly simple depending on what you choose to do. So, there are a million internet 'soap artisans' out there, which I think accounts for much of the popularity of soaps. Soaps also play into a lot of romantacized classic shaving images, like the mug, and that also kind of boosts it. I was fairly anti-soap for a long time, but I've been starting to come around to adding some into the line up. I still consider myself a cream guy though. I've never met a soap I like to use more than anything by TOBS or Proraso in a tube.
The only slick cream i have found was boots from UK. Tobs was next closest but again, soaps are just better overall
From what I understand you don't need a license for soap production at home since it doesn't fall under the cosmetics/parapharmaceutical product production which is regulated by the Health minister. On the other hand, shaving cream(or any cream) is defined as falling under this definition and you need a license for production and be able to stand up to certain standards. All this is true in EU, I'm not sure about US. That's why you don't see a lot of EU artisans in this field.
