I saw this stuff on one of those vitamin sites, on sale for 3 bars x 3 ... I forget the price, but it was very good. Well, my boxes arrived yesterday and I'm treated to an oval puck about the color of Dial soap. But, here's the good part: first ingredient: sodium tallowate. And, it's enriched with: lecithin, yogurt, sesame oil, almond oil, papaya, lanolin, wheat germ oil, and honey. I haven't actually used it for washing yet, but I couldn't resist a test lather. It produced a nice brush lather (maybe a little thin) which appears stable. Yes, I'm going to try shaving with it.
Here ya go, thus far: http://www.puritan.com/skin-care-012/lifes-finest-special-soap-060476 Note that the "3 for $15" purchase means 9 bars total. Pic of bar:
Ooo it's so orange. There are some hand soaps around which aren't bad for shaving..curious to see how this one does...
Well... here's the update you've all been waiting for I shaved with this soap this morning! And I have to say, all-in-all: penguin-approved! (but, um, I forgot to take pictures) I did this as a "puck lather" and I may try a "face lather" tomorrow. In any case, my brush loaded nicely with an average looking lather. But, when applied to my face, it fluffed up nicely and was nice and protective & slick. No lather degradation on my face as I shaved for the first pass. Second pass... the lather in the brush had degraded/collapsed a bit and I was on the fence about recharging the brush. I decided not to and applied the lather to my face again. This time, the lather was definitely thinner, but the second pass shave still went just fine. I did only a 2-pass today (usually do 3), but I am quite happy with the results. The lather was protective, cushy, and slick. I got a good shave with no nicks or irritation. The lather on the second pass was a small issue or a non-issue depending on how you like your lather, but a simple recharge of the brush or a bit more water would have taken care of that. Still, the second pass lather was perfectly useful. The only negative was that my face felt pretty tight and dry (similar to English creams) after the shave. But, a little PSB took care of that right away. Also, in case it matters, there's very little, if any real scent to this puck. I'm going to keep this in rotation for the week, I think. And I'll report any significant additions to the above. At the moment, I don't know if it will join my regular rotation since the shape doesn't fit into a regular jar (tho I could grate it up, I suppose). But, I could see it becoming a good travel soap for washing and shaving (not sure about it's use as a shampoo as well, but it should work if maybe a little drying ... hmmm... one more thing to test). If you try it yourself, please post here and let me know your results.
Nice. Good to know there are other plain soaps that can do the job in a pinch. I've had decent results with Hugo natural .The trick is to lather the soap, as you did, right on the bar...
End of the week of use report: This stuff is good as a shave soap! Not as good as some big names, but certainly veyr useable and comfy. It's best done as a puck lather, imho. Face lathering worked, but wasn't quite as cushy as puck lathering. I don't recommend it as a shampoo bar, however. I found it drying to my hair. But, ymmv. When I get around to it, I may grate some into a jar for future use.
