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Soap for a Virgin

Well I guess I should toss my favorite budget friendly ones into the ring. Wild West Shaving Co has great performance but the tubs kind of force you to bowl lather (not an issue for me as I do that anyway), Lisa’s Natural and Honeybee (both vendors here), Arko, Fine Accouterments. On the not as budget friendly ones RazoRock, Saponifico Varesino, Tabac, Soap Commander. Well who am I kidding if I could afford one of everything I would still need more!!
 
I may be the only person in the world who doesn't like Haslinger Schafmilch (sp?) soap. The scent is OK at first but over time it becomes cloying and annoying (to me). The lather is good but it's not like it's earth-shattering.

Stirling is awesome and reasonably priced. It doesn't and won't lather like a cream, though. (Actually, no soap will lather like a cream, and that's mostly a good thing, IMO.) Stirling lathers fairly easily but requires a lot more water.

For a beginner, I would recommend Soapy Science, Stirling, and maybe a Razorock such as Mudder Focker (cheap and lathers easily, but not as nice as the previous two recommended soaps).

Soap lathering takes more time and patience. The lather can often look pretty darned good a LONG TIME before it actually reaches its potential. Add a bit of water a few drops at a time and incorporate it completely before adding more. When it looks really good, add a bit more water and incorporate. Each day experiment until you find the perfect amount of water to create the type of lather that YOU like. For me, getting a perfect soap lather requires somewhere between 2.5 minutes and about 4 minutes of work, but it's well worth it.

Yes, you could get a shavable lather in 90 seconds or so, but going another minute with small additions of water will yield tremendous results the likes of which you might not expect, and might never unlock if you never tried it.
 
kingfisher said:
Soap lathering takes more time and patience. The lather can often look pretty darned good a LONG TIME before it actually reaches its potential. Add a bit of water a few drops at a time and incorporate it completely before adding more. When it looks really good, add a bit more water and incorporate. Each day experiment until you find the perfect amount of water to create the type of lather that YOU like. For me, getting a perfect soap lather requires somewhere between 2.5 minutes and about 4 minutes of work, but it's well worth it.

Yes, you could get a shavable lather in 90 seconds or so, but going another minute with small additions of water will yield tremendous results the likes of which you might not expect, and might never unlock if you never tried it.
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Perfectly stated Randall!!!
 
Got the Barrister & Mann First Snow from Dave in Ky today. Thank you very much sir! I didn't shower this morning in hopes it would arrive in this afternoons mail, & it did. I'm off work recovering from a car accident this past October, so I have the ability to wait to shower & shave till I feel like it. I used the First Snow this afternoon. As you can imagine, or perhaps remember, what it's like to lather a soap for the first time! I read many threads & watched some videos before attempting, & I got a satisfactory lather, at best. What's great though, the only way to make better lather is to practice, so practice I will!

I liked the scent of the soap & AS. The AS also has a nice menthol feel, very nice!

Thank you Dave!
 
dmshaver said:
Got the Barrister & Mann First Snow from Dave in Ky today. Thank you very much sir! I didn't shower this morning in hopes it would arrive in this afternoons mail, & it did. I'm off work recovering from a car accident this past October, so I have the ability to wait to shower & shave till I feel like it. I used the First Snow this afternoon. As you can imagine, or perhaps remember, what it's like to lather a soap for the first time! I read many threads & watched some videos before attempting, & I got a satisfactory lather, at best. What's great though, the only way to make better lather is to practice, so practice I will!

I liked the scent of the soap & AS. The AS also has a nice menthol feel, very nice!

Thank you Dave!
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