This is interesting stuff. I'm definitely going to try tallow soaps. I've been putting off making the MWF dive but i think it's time.
I grated it up into a container yesterday. Haven't gave it a whirl but this weekend i will. Was thinking of tomorrow but I have an important meeting and if i react and have a nice red hamburger face. Probably won't be the best meeting. I am thinking of melting some VDH onto 1/4 a puck of MWF as the rest of the puck is in a different container. To try some vanderfat. :happy102
It might love it... haha. Will find out when I get my VDH will be grating a puck of williams and adding VDH to that. Then pouring the extra vdh over my MWF. Just grating it made my hands feel moisturized it is impressive stuff. Looking forward to giving it a shave this weekend.
I find soaps having more moisterizing qualities, but then again I have rather sensitive skin. I like creams too, the good ones hardly differ from soap. I pretty much always add glycerine to ANY lather I make, 'cause soapier = better, excepty maybe when I'm trying them out. Überlather with some mama bear's soap & TOBS cream will be hard to top for me. So in the end "Both at the same time" is probably the best answer.
Been super busy and grabbed a container with white soap for the weekend. It was Williams though. I should give MWF a whirl tonight. Then I am waiting for my VDH to make vanderwilliams and vanderfat. I must say that for me Williams is a wonderful soap. Very great for the low price. The only draw back is the scent. However the scent to me isn't horrid... one of the worst i have used but its not bad. I might try to grate some and add hot EO and menthol and some water to try and incorporate it as well as i can.
With so many great soaps out there with so many wonderful scents, why put up with ANY soap you don't like the smell of?
Posibly because it costs a fraction of other soaps. And the scent is strong to me at first then goes away. I am thinking of adding some EO as i said to make it smell like what i want. I just wish that it was able to melt and pour could add menthol which could compliment the scent as well. I have to try it mixed with other soaps and such first and super lathers. If i still dislike the scent it will be booted out of the rotation. However I really doubt that will happen. I read somewhere about poking small holes in it and using cologne just a spritz and that it helps. Not too sure about putting cologne on newly shaved skin.
If it was horrid smelling. As well as strong smelling. I would PIF it or just toss it out if it was that bad. I just want to try somethings out as the lather is very slick. For me the lather doesn't explode but when you get the lather it is great. Face feels very supple and not dried out. I just hope I can get it to work. Might be a constant in the rotation if the scent can be fixed or even just gotten used to.
I use both also, but I have found that using soaps gives me a more consistant, slicker, lather. Why don't you try using both, together? Use a little bit of cream, half the size of your thumbnail, in a shaving mug, or whatever you use. Then load up the brush with soap, mix together in the mug, with a little hot water, and Wham,, you will have an outstanding lather.. Also, Soaps with Ceramic, or Wooden bowls, just look better on the bathroom counter than a tube of cream.
I've done "uberlather" a couple times. I guess I just want to be able to make a usable lather from soap without "cheating" (not really but you know what I mean, i hope). I actually just got some TSD soap yesterday and used it this morning...BAM! tons of thick, rich lather! I dont think I am doing anything different but I'm sure liking it!
That's great to hear about the TSD soap as I'm looking forward to being able to get some one of these days. SWMBO is curtailing my ADs at the moment. :rolleyes005
For me lately it's been soaps. VDH or Proraso Green Tea. On ocassion if I want to try a particular scent I might try a cream. I really like the scent Vetyver so when I see a soap or cream with that scent I will try it. Normally though its soaps cause they are more economical.
I really prefer the lather I get from creams, but a tube of cream doesn't last nearly as long as a puck of soap. Soaps are cheaper and they seem to have a better variety of scents. It took me a long time to be able to get any decent lather from soaps and getting a boar brush helped a lot! They still take more work, and more time, so I use soaps when i have time to work up the right lather. Shave sticks are a compromise though. They are technically a soap, but you apply it directly to your face and it seems to lather up faster than soap in a bowl.
Soaps has better lasting scent, especially floral ones.They last more and turn out to be significantly cheaper than creams of the same class and quality.The ritual with the swirl is unforgettable, and also u can use them as a bath or hand soap, if they fail to impress.They can last for decades, I am not sure about creams.They also have more ways to lather.
Actually, in my experience, creams usually have a stronger scent. Creams, because they contain much more water and are already soft and because you use more of the product, can have more scent added without affecting the texture / hardness or lather. (I'm comparing to hard soaps not melt and pour glycerin, where scents can be added at very high levels. As to lathering in more ways, I can't think of more ways to lather soaps vs creams. I use soaps about 95% of the time, myself.
I prefer creams to soaps just because I seem to get a better lather with cream. I am sure if I could figure out the right technique for water/soap ratio then I would like them just as much but so far I have not had the best luck. YMMV. TUck
