After using a few soaps and a few creams, I have found that generally the creams all cause some irritation, and the none of the soaps do. Before I list the various samples, has anyone else found soaps to be generally less problematic than creams?
If anything I've found it the other way around, especially with shave sticks. I use soaps and creams equally and usually don't have a problem with irritation. However, when I do, the culprits seem to be one or two soaps and sticks.
Reverse for me as well. Excellent shaves from the creams I use (Taylors and T&H). Although I can get a good shave from soaps, particularly MWF, they never seem to be as good as my shaves with cream.
For me creams and soaps usually performs the same and I can get good shaves from both.Speick,Musgo,TBS creams comes to my mind as great shaving creams but for me shavesticks are just better.
Think he's asking about irritation, guys. Not performance. Without knowing which creams, it's a bit difficult to offer any help. They're different brands of creams? Then it would seem something they have in common would be the culprit. May be something as simple as fragrance oils or essential oils are causing the irritation.
I don't get much irritation except from canned goo. I have tried a couple shave creams that gave mild irritation, and no soaps. But even those creams that irritated, it was just that scent so I don't think that's really a cream vs. soap issue.
Right - am askding about irritation, not how well the creams work. For creams I have tried Trumpers' coconut, TOBS sandalwood, and Body Shop's maca root, all with some irritation. For saops: VDH deluxe, Proraso, and Omega, all with zero irritation. I have used Clubman's shave cream also, with no irritation. By irritation I mean skin itching by the third pass, and then red all day. I get better shaves with the creams, in some cases, but it is not as comfortable.
That is unusual, especially with the trumpers coconut & body shop creams. They are both what i would call "gentle" and for sensitve skins. I cannot speak for the TOBS. It could be that you are getting really close, due to the quality of the creams & or apply a bit too much pressure giving you a bit of razor burn. Could it be that your blade is at the end of its use when you get the irritation?
That sounds like an allergic reaction. You should look and compare the ingredients of the soaps and creams you have listed. Try to identify what the creams have that the soaps don't and then you will know what to avoid. There was an ingredient thread that some had started but I can not find it right now...sorry didn't look very hard...Also, are you keeping everything else the same in your setup, number of passes, etc. except the cream/soap product Older thread along the same issue
It could be that.Trumpers,Taylors and TBS are made by the same company,Creightons but not sure it they share same formulation also.TBS is parabens and SLS free. The soaps arent "top" soaps but works well.The 3 of the contains parabens and SLS so hes not allergic to that.Omega also could contain lanolin on it and many ppl have bad reactions to lanolin.I wonder if maybe hes getting a better protective lather from the soaps that from the creams.That happened to me when I made the transition from creams to soaps and I thought that soaps were bad cuz I couldnt make good lather from them,just a thought.
After giving it some more thought: I think I tend to use the creams with a new blade and also use more pressure when I use creams because they tend to feel smoother. I will have to rethink the whole cream/soap chemical question. My initial idea was that there are more ingredients in the creams than in the soaps, and that therefore there would be a higher chance of a bad reaction because there are more potential irritants in the creams. (Also, the Omega contains lanolin, but that is not one of the irritants for me.)
Thanks! I have been reading through these ingredient labels. Now we just need a similar listing of chemical name descriptions! :think002
Irritation seems to be a moving target for me. I used to get some reaction to Omega shaving cream and Tabac soap, but now both are fine.
I think that irritation caused by different creams and soaps will vary from person to person and there is no answer in general.
Interesting thread, when I used the L'Occitane Cade cream the stuff tingled to the point of discomfort even though the shave itself was good. But using the soap didn't cause the same problem.
Being a newbie, of all the creams I have tried TOBS Sandalwood with no irritation. As a matter of fact, it out performs soaps hands down!
Williams Mug Soap A gentleman I met at a bar told me to use Williams Mug Shaving Soap because it's a no nonsense shaving soap. Apparently it has very few ingredients (listed here americarx.com/Products/15534.html and the ingredients in it, I was told, are mild and cause little to no irritation. I have found this to be true, but i have only made the switch to classic shaving about 2 months ago and have tried very, very few products. Also Williams is only about $2.00 a puck and can be found in drugstores usually. -Chris
I prefer the soaps but I think is a question of taste, for many people the creams work very well. Regards. Daniel.
