Blending shaving soaps together

I want to share with the forum my success with blending what I already consider excellent shaving soaps for even better results.

For example, yesterday I loaded a damp brush with Saponificio Varesino Felce Aromatica and worked it into a lather in a bowl containing a bit of Musgo Real Oak Moss shaving cream, a few drops of argan oil and maybe 3/4 teaspoon of warm water.

Saponificio Varesino soap and Musgo Real cream are, by themselves, among my favorites but putting the two together works better.



The addition of the argan oil – refreshingly inexpensive from Walgreen’s – adds superb and lasting lubrication.


This combination produced a fantastically rich, moist and slippery lather with long staying power that led to one of my closest totally irritation-free shaves ever.


YMMV

















“The more you know, the less you need.”  Yvon Chouinard

I used to do Superlather all the time 6-8 years ago, when I had trouble getting a good enough lather from a particular cream or soap.

Mixing a cream with a soap almost always seems to make the best of both products.

I don’t do it any longer, I seem to be able to make very consistent good to great lather from the soaps I use now.

But superlather is always a great way to improve upon the lather quality.

I taught my father to use a brush and make his own lather 3-4 years ago.
Showed him to Superlather a cream and a soap - and to this day he still makes his Superlather in his bowl every morning.

Thanks for sharing your experience, Claus, which adds to my appreciation of this new (to me) lathering technique.

I was on a long line at the local whole foods and to pass the time I began reading labels. I picked up a bottle of Dr. Bronners lavender liquid soap and my eyes picked up shaving? As anyone who has a bottle of Dr B's soap knows that the good Doctor waxes eloquently on what his soap can do for you. One item I had missed was shaving. I used about a dime's worth of Dr. B's as a preshave soap leaving the suds on my face before applying my bowl prepared brush. I was using Wholly Kaw Dark Vetiver already an A listed product in my book. The result was a noticeably denser lather on my face, noticeably more glide, and an even better aftershave face feel. All other shaving soaps responded in a similar way. Now I wouldn't consider shaving without a dot of Dr. B's soap. I think it improves every soap I have used in this way.

We use Bronner’s liquid soap for hand washing, pretty much exclusively now. It never occurred to me to try it as you describe. Will give it a go later.

(02-09-2021, 06:44 AM)RyznRio Wrote: I was on a long line at the local whole foods and to pass the time I began reading labels. I picked up a bottle of Dr. Bronners lavender liquid soap and my eyes picked up shaving? As anyone who has a bottle of Dr B's soap knows that the good Doctor waxes eloquently on what his soap can do for you. One item I had missed was shaving. I used about a dime's worth of Dr. B's as a preshave soap leaving the suds on my face before applying my bowl prepared brush. I was using Wholly Kaw Dark Vetiver already an A listed product in my book. The result was a noticeably denser lather on my face, noticeably more glide, and an even better aftershave face feel. All other shaving soaps responded in a similar way. Now I wouldn't consider shaving without a dot of Dr. B's soap. I think it improves every soap I have used in this way.

Nice! I always have Dr. Bronner's on hand, but never thought of using it this way. Looking forward to giving it a try tomorrow! Thanks for the tip.

Tried a squirt of diluted Dr. B in one of my Stirling samples yesterday and this morning and noticed a difference. 

Depending on which Dr. B you are using, you might wind up with some unusual scent combinations ( for better or worse).

The almond Dr. B really overpowered the soap I was using today, but it was still pleasant and the lather was dense and slick.

I need to try adding a bit of shave cream to soap. I'm new at this and eager to learn.

I like Proraso Green shave cream but just too much menthol for me.  Now I cut down on the amount of Proraso I normally use and add some Derby Normal.  Now I get the amount of menthol I like.

P.S. - Never have smelled much of the Eucalyptus anyways.

(04-20-2021, 07:04 PM)Chappy Wrote: I like Proraso Green shave cream but just too much menthol for me.  Now I cut down on the amount of Proraso I normally use and add some Derby Normal.  Now I get the amount of menthol I like.

P.S. - Never have smelled much of the Eucalyptus anyways.

I do this all the time and agree that great soaps and creams are even better. Just now I am using hard musgo real soap , grated and mixed with castle Forbes cream. Lather is outstanding. My opinion is that the best qualities of each is enhanced.