I can get a perfectly useable lather with Proraso, but, imho, there are far better products out there. Compared with most of the market, Proraso is a very poor product - imho
Have any guys had success using hair conditioner as shave gel? (Just thinking about what else the OP can try that may be around the house) Just looked them up. The prices are reasonable & there's a 20% off sale currently. (Curse my shave purchase sabbatical!) Thanks for letting us know about them. http://www.hugonaturals.com/products/categories/handcrafted-soaps/
I've used hair conditioner as a shave lube a number of times. It's not my personal preference, but in a pinch with no shave gel, foam or shave soap present, I've opted for the conditioner. On the plus side, it does provide better lubrication and tends not to dry out the face unlike regular bar soaps. Plus you can find the little 3oz bottles for travel. downside is it can clog your razor if you're not careful with the rinsing. Most bar soaps deplete your face of any moisture and you'll wind up with dry, irritated skin post-shave if you don't apply some sort of balm or lotion afterwards.
Ordinary bath soap? I wouldn't call it that, but I use Shea Moisture's Three Butters Utility Soap. I use it as a bath soap, shampoo bar, and shave soap.
When I shower shaved, I would use bar soap all the time. Since I have switched, I have tried it a couple times outside the shower with mediocre results. I never really invested much time in trying to make it work better. Williams while not a favorite, works really well if you take your time with it. It is about a buck a puck and well worth it in my opinion over using bath soap if possible.
I've used that Swedish Dream bath soap, a few different Pre de Provence bath soaps, Black Soap Musk and Sports. None of them are ordinary but they are bath soaps. Worked ok, You just have to change the water ratios, and work up a new lather for each pass,....in some cases.
But that said, the best answer for budget shaving is Williams. Value wise it is the best product out there. period.
I have occasionally used my shower soap to shave my legs. (Usually it was because I forgot to take my shave soap into the shower & didn't want to get out of the shower to get it.) My shower soap lathers pretty well. It runs a very close second to the stuff I make for shaving.
I associate bar soaps with dry itchy skin, and don't have them around for anything. Now I'm curious to see how my arsenal of shower gels would lather, though. And whipped soaps; a couple of my whipped soaps say they can be used for shaving I think..
I believe that ANY regular shower or bath soap's limitations as a good shaving lather would greatly benefit from a decent application of pre-shave oil. I know thats more challenging for shower-shavers (one of which I used to be) to apply, but it would reduce the amount of dryness & irritation many soaps can cause.
A lot of good advice here. But I agree with picking up a puck of Williams. It's a scant over $1.00. If you have not used Williams before, it can be a bit tricky to lather. Soak the puck, drain water and lather in the same mug the puck. Looks foamy at 1st, but if you are patient, you get a nice slick lather. I am a fan of Williams. Not my favorite, but the razor glide provided by Williams almost always leads to a comfortable BBS!
See, ymmv again. I have no problem lathering a dry puck o'williams with a wet brush... kaboom goes the lather. you may have hard water.
Victoria, Good bar soaps are a whole lot LESS likely to dry out your skin than a liquid soap or gel. Commercial bar soaps dry out the skin because the makers have removed the glycerin from them so they can sell it as glycerin for a larger profit. Artisan soaps and quality soaps can almost be moisturizing if they are superfatted. For a cheap experiment, go the Dollar General or The Dollar Store and buy one bar of Yardley bar soap in a scent of your choosing. It's only a buck. It's not the nicest soap in the world, but it's a large step up from commercial bar soap. When you get ready to step up to the good stuff, send me a PM and I'll give you a list of awesome soaps that'll make it so you never want to use a liquid or gel soap again. I'm talking here about bath soap for bathing, not for shaving.
I've tried it on rare occasion with soaps that had tallow listed and once in an emergency. It wasn't a pleasant experience although the job got done. One to avoid, at least for me.