Facial Cleansers for shave prep. A survey.

[fhalden]

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to use and react to 9 facial cleansing products. I'm on a quest to find a replacement for my lifetime soap, which will also be my baseline soap - Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap. I used it daily in the shower before the shave, for years. Then, it was joined by Kiehl's Facial Fuel, which I'll also react to. Well, the Musgo is harder and harder to find, and the last two times I purchased it, the stock was clearly very old, and roughly handled. Like the last one out of a very old box.

Ach Brito, who makes (made?) the Musgo soap, also makes a Lime Glyce soap under their own brand, that in all practical and reasonable respects is the same soap as the Musgo puck, except the smell. I still prefer Musgo, but I fear the writing is on the wall.

So I'm starting a search for a new soap to use to help hydrate my beard and clean my face gently. I have assembled the following products:

1. Musgo Real Lime Glyce (the baseline)
2. Neutrogena original formula facial bar
3. Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser
4. CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser
5. Kiehl's Facial Fuel
6. Nivea Men Moisturizing Face Wash
7. Thayer's Ph Balancing Daily Cleanser
8. LaRoche Posay Hydrating Gentle Cleanser
9. King C. Gillette Beard & Face Wash

This is not an exhaustive list in any sense except that it is what was available at the local Walgreens. If I find the need, I'll continue on to an Autumn of whatever different is at CVS, but I'll worry about that if I have to.

So, my plan, life events permitting, is to use each product for a week, and then decide if I want to give it another week. For the project, two weeks with a product should give me some sense of questions like drying out or oiling up with use, and more time to shave with whiskers that have been thoroughly massaged with this stuff to see if there's any noticeable effect on the whiskers, when compared to the baseline.

So I'll try each one and write up my experiences, in turn.

I have no plans to rank them, but if I have a problem with one, or if I have a clear favorite, I'll try and explain why.

My first post will be about Musgo Real Lime Glyce and Kiehl's, which I already know, so I'll use that post to try and develop a picture of what I'm looking for in a shave prep soap, and why I've used these soaps so much for so long, and why I switch between them.

I'm not inclined to pretend I'm doing some kind of controlled experiment. My goal is to describe and compare my experiences meaningfully. I won't recommend anyone putting a particular product on their face, but I feel free to recommend against it, should I encounter a compelling reason.

That being said, I do not plan on changing other elements of my prep or my shave. Impulsive whimsy after lots of pondering is just too important a part of the fun of setting up my shave of the day. This is all about the role of these cleansers in prepping my face for a shave.

If you have any advice about how this could be most excellently done, I welcome it!

Frank

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[Spider]

Nivea Men Moisturizing Face Wash

I've used this one, and also Dial Gold Moisturizing, and definitely notice a difference in my face that I believe helps the shave.

 

[Tathra11]

Thanks for taking the time to do this Frank. I have really dry, easily irritated skin so I'm always on the lookout for a gentle, non drying face wash/prep. I will be following your project with interest.

 

[woodpusher]

Beyond a shower (or a face wash if I'm not showering before shaving), my prep is non-existent.

 

[CBLindsay]

@novicewetshaver this might be a good thread to follow

 

[CBLindsay]

I like the musgo too. The few rounds I have were purchased about 4-5 years ago and they were hard to find that long ago.
The best alternative I’ve found is the neutrogena facial bar OR the generic equivalent typically available at the dollar tree. The bar I’m thinking of has pine tar or something like that in the ingredient list.

 

[novicewetshaver]

@CBLindsay thanks!!, i will peruse this thread with my morning coffee.

 

[fhalden]

Beyond a shower (or a face wash if I'm not showering before shaving), my prep is non-existent.

That's mostly what I do, although I never shave unless it's right after a shower. I want my face to have been dripping wet for a good 10 minutes before I touch it with a blade.

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[fhalden]

Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, and some context:


The first soap I'm covering here is Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap. It's what I've used, almost exclusively, since very near the beginning of my wetshaving life. It's what I know best, it does what I want, and then rinses off. I like it a lot for several reasons, but its limited availability has provoked me to do this survey. I'd also like to describe exactly how I have used and intend to use these products, so it's clear what's important to me that might not be for you.

The way I prepare my face before I shave is the combination of things I've tried that seem to optimize the hydration of my beard. As it stands now, what I do allows me to shave in comfort daily, if I want, without any ingrown whiskers on my throat. I spent three decades enduring hundreds of infected ingrown whiskers on my throat. The switch to wetshaving improved things greatly, but the more I focused on prep and hydration, the fewer and fewer ingrown hairs I'd have. I don't get them at all now, so it's important to me that what I do continues to work.

So while I'm not opposed to washing my face to clean it, my primary reason for using a face soap has been the enhancement it provides to the hydration of my beard. Soap, and I mean real soap, disrupts the surface of the hair shaft, allowing more moisture to penetrate into the shaft. I'm convinced, solely on my experience, that the more hydration, the softer the hair, the better the quality of the cutting by the blade. So part of this exercise will be looking for any correlation between a particular soap, and the feeling and sound of the cutting.

Second in importance to me is how my face feels after the product is rinsed. I don't like my face being left feeling tight and stripped, nor do I like the feeling of product that does not rinse off. So there's a range of rinse feels, from stripped to coated in something deposited on my skin by the product. I'll try and place these products on that spectrum.

I'll also be seeing if there are any deleterious effects from the use of a product, but I'm hopeful that won't be an issue.

These products will be used in the shower, immediately before the shave. It is a hot shower, and the water I put on my face is always hot - because I want blood feeding my sebaceous glands, which I want pumping oil onto my face for the next 20 min.

I wet my face first, then wash my hair and then my face. I keep my face constantly as wet as possible from the time I turn on the shower until I rinse off after the final pass.

Musgo Real is a glycerine soap, and those were always touted as being more "gentle" than body soap. It does not lather in the palms, but produces some coarse suds.

I apply this soap like I apply alum, with a wet pick and face. Then I massage and wash my beard with gentle circular strokes. For a good minute. Then I rinse it off and move on.

It doesn't smell bad by any means, but it only waves from afar at anything like the smell of lime. Scent is not a reason to use this soap.

The experience this soap gave me that sold me on it, was how it clearly softened the whiskers when they were long enough that you could really feel the difference in stiffness of the whiskers, and the noticeable improvement in the quality of my shaves.

It rinses quickly, and leaves my face feeling slightly squeaky, which isn't optimal, but it doesn't leave my face tight or stripped feeling.

So this soap is my personal baseline. My unit length.

It is currently available from Fendrihan. That's the only place I currently know that has it in stock. WCS, where I bought it for ever, has been out of stock for years now.

And it's $12 a puck. I'm definitely open to a cheaper option, if I get the performance I want.


Back in the day, this soap was more widely used by wetshavers, but it's pretty much disappeared now. I think it's a great face cleaner.

Later tonight, I'll start my trial of CeraVe

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[fhalden]

Supplemental:

Ach Brito manufactures the glycerin soap for Musgo Real. They also.make a lime Glyce soap under their own brand. It seems quite likely that the two.soaps are substantially the same, except the Ach Brito puck costs around half of the Musgo Real puck. Also, they do not smell the same. I prefer the Musgo Real.scent. I'll obtain a puck.of Ach Brito to include in this survey.

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[novicewetshaver]

Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap, and some context:


The first soap I'm covering here is Musgo Real Lime Glyce Soap. It's what I've used, almost exclusively, since very near the beginning of my wetshaving life. It's what I know best, it does what I want, and then rinses off. I like it a lot for several reasons, but its limited availability has provoked me to do this survey. I'd also like to describe exactly how I have used and intend to use these products, so it's clear what's important to me that might not be for you.

The way I prepare my face before I shave is the combination of things I've tried that seem to optimize the hydration of my beard. As it stands now, what I do allows me to shave in comfort daily, if I want, without any ingrown whiskers on my throat. I spent three decades enduring hundreds of infected ingrown whiskers on my throat. The switch to wetshaving improved things greatly, but the more I focused on prep and hydration, the fewer and fewer ingrown hairs I'd have. I don't get them at all now, so it's important to me that what I do continues to work.

So while I'm not opposed to washing my face to clean it, my primary reason for using a face soap has been the enhancement it provides to the hydration of my beard. Soap, and I mean real soap, disrupts the surface of the hair shaft, allowing more moisture to penetrate into the shaft. I'm convinced, solely on my experience, that the more hydration, the softer the hair, the better the quality of the cutting by the blade. So part of this exercise will be looking for any correlation between a particular soap, and the feeling and sound of the cutting.

Second in importance to me is how my face feels after the product is rinsed. I don't like my face being left feeling tight and stripped, nor do I like the feeling of product that does not rinse off. So there's a range of rinse feels, from stripped to coated in something deposited on my skin by the product. I'll try and place these products on that spectrum.

I'll also be seeing if there are any deleterious effects from the use of a product, but I'm hopeful that won't be an issue.

These products will be used in the shower, immediately before the shave. It is a hot shower, and the water I put on my face is always hot - because I want blood feeding my sebaceous glands, which I want pumping oil onto my face for the next 20 min.

I wet my face first, then wash my hair and then my face. I keep my face constantly as wet as possible from the time I turn on the shower until I rinse off after the final pass.

Musgo Real is a glycerine soap, and those were always touted as being more "gentle" than body soap. It does not lather in the palms, but produces some coarse suds.

I apply this soap like I apply alum, with a wet pick and face. Then I massage and wash my beard with gentle circular strokes. For a good minute. Then I rinse it off and move on.

It doesn't smell bad by any means, but it only waves from afar at anything like the smell of lime. Scent is not a reason to use this soap.

The experience this soap gave me that sold me on it, was how it clearly softened the whiskers when they were long enough that you could really feel the difference in stiffness of the whiskers, and the noticeable improvement in the quality of my shaves.

It rinses quickly, and leaves my face feeling slightly squeaky, which isn't optimal, but it doesn't leave my face tight or stripped feeling.

So this soap is my personal baseline. My unit length.

It is currently available from Fendrihan. That's the only place I currently know that has it in stock. WCS, where I bought it for ever, has been out of stock for years now.

And it's $12 a puck. I'm definitely open to a cheaper option, if I get the performance I want.


Back in the day, this soap was more widely used by wetshavers, but it's pretty much disappeared now. I think it's a great face cleaner.

Later tonight, I'll start my trial of CeraVe

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Do any of these boost lather and do you leave them on the face and lather over them? i was using PAA's the cube but have discontinued using it. Are these soaps that you are using only for washing the face before the shave or can you use them to boost the lather as well. thanks!

 

[fhalden]

Do any of these boost lather and do you leave them on the face and lather over them? i was using PAA's the cube but have discontinued using it. Are these soaps that you are using only for washing the face before the shave or can you use them to boost the lather as well. thanks!

I would not think of using these products to boost lather, because they produce suds and loose foam at best, and because I don't think I've ever actually tried to boost my lather. I'll use a pre-shave, but mainly to keep my face moist from the shower to the sink where I face lather. These products are designed to wash a face, most contain no soap, chemically speaking.

I definitely rinse them off after the gentle massaging of the face.

There are two purposes for which I'm trying out these products, gentle cleansing, and beard hydration.

And my 2 cents worth, which you may freely disregard, is that lathers don't need additional products to work right, if they're worth using. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use a lather booster, but you don't *need* them. If you wield your razor right, you really don't need a lather, just a slick coating of a good soap. But where's the fun in only doing what is necessary!

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[fhalden]

Week 2. CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser

I learned a lot about skin this week, researching the strategy of this soap. Its purpose is cleansing and removing oil, while minimizing damage to the stratum corneum - a new term for me - which refers to the outermost layer of the epidermis, which is composed of 10-30 layers of compacted dead skin cells, held in place as a membrane by lipids and tissues. The cells are continuously shed, and replaced. Soap, CeraVe contends, removes lipids from the stratum corneum, damaging the layer. The most crucial of these lipids are a class called ceramides. CeraVe claims that their cleanser not only is more gentle than soap, but they add ceramides to their products, the theory being that there is some replenishment of these molecules rather than removal.

They also add humectants like hyaluronic acid. Humectants are so attractive to water that they can grab it out of the air. So the humectants sit on top of the stratum corneum and hydrate it just by sucking water out of the humidity of the air.


This is all very well and good, but I'm trying to optimize the hydration of whiskers. I know soap does this. Does CeraVe?

In thinking about how to optimize the usefulness of my data, I decided that I need to have at least one day with two days of growth, because I can very clearly perceive the difference in stiffness of a two day beard before and after washing. So that pre and post wash beard stiffness check on a two day beard will happen for each product I try out.

CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser is viscous, almost honey-like. One pump provides enough product into my palm. I spread it across my palms and distribute it on my face, and commence the gentle circular massaging.

An aside: This stuff says, "Fragrance Free," but it has a scent. It smells just like the bubble blowing soap in those cylindrical bottles with the little plastic loop you'd dip and blow on. CeraVe smells just like bubble soap.

It foams a bit. This seems to matter, as it's in the name, and it's one of four listed special features.

Foaming is said to help carry away the dirt, but my face isn't covered in grime, it's covered in secreted oils. What I want is a chemical reaction between the surfactant, the water, and the oil on my face. Foam seems like a psychological gimmick on a face. Foam, not lather.

CeraVe rinses completely and leaves my face feeling cleansed, but not at all stripped, squeaky, or tight. This is a high level requirement. It definitely does the cleaning job.

The two day growth stiffness check revealed that my whiskers were definitely more pliable after washing, so it's giving a result in this situation that's comparable to the Baseline Musgo Real Glyce soap.

I have no complaints about this stuff. It seems to give an acceptable result, comparable to the baseline. If it were the only option, I'd be ok, which makes this process a lot more comfortable.

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[Spider]

If you wield your razor right, you really don't need a lather, just a slick coating of a good soap.

Absolutely! As I'm proving daily with my 3017 of Williams.

 

[fhalden]

Absolutely! As I'm proving daily with my 3017 of Williams.

Yep! You're distilling things to their absolute essence. It's pretty persuasive evidence for the effectiveness of your approach.

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[fhalden]

Two more cleansers added to the queue.

Aveeno Positively Radiant and Bull Dog Face Wash.

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[fhalden]

Kiehl's Facial Fuel Face Cleanser

I've used this stuff regularly for years. It foams a bit, and rinses easily and leaves my face feeling clean.

There is really no justification for the cost of this stuff. I like it because it has just the right amount of menthol to leave my face feeling awake when I'm washing it while still waking up. It has caffeine in it, but I have no idea what it actually might do.

I like Kiehl's products. I use this stuff, their amino shampoo, and Ultra Face Moisturizer Cream. But it is overpriced, imo.

As fast as hydrating the beard, it seems to promote the process, and my two day beard test definitely exhibited softer whiskers after washing.

It works great, but unless you've just got to have this particular dose of menthol, it's way overpriced for what it does.

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[fhalden]

Nivea Men Moisturizing Face Wash

I love this stuff. It's more viscous than CeraVe, and has a typical Nivea scent. It doesn't foam much, more of a coating you massage and rinse.

It does a terrific job of hydrating the whiskers. The two-day feel test was clearly a softer beard than before. It does not rinse like the others I've used so far - this stuff leaves a sort of Slickness on the face that isn't easily rinsed. I'm assuming I'm being hydrated by something. But I don't use body washes because they don't rinse easily.

On my face, it's not really a big deal.

This product contains Provitamin B5 and aloe vera. It does not contain Ceramides.

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[fhalden]

Thayer's pH balancing Face Wash:

I'm not going to review this soap because my reaction to it was so strongly negative that I do not wish to use it again. There is something in the scent that I find positively revolting. I rinsed it off my face pretty quickly. This reaction is a function of me, and not the Thayer's, so I'm disqualifying myself as a reviewer of this cleanser.

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[BarberDave]

Thayer's pH balancing Face Wash:

I'm not going to review this soap because my reaction to it was so strongly negative that I do not wish to use it again. There is something in the scent that I find positively revolting. I rinsed it off my face pretty quickly. This reaction is a function of me, and not the Thayer's, so I'm disqualifying myself as a reviewer of this cleanser.

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Something about it saying 5% fillet of Aloe Vera I didn’t even know there was an aloe vera fish

I have aloe vera plants all over the yard and I never see them swimming around in the dirt