Tallow or Vegan, and why?

ask4Edge I see you quoted what I said regarding lanolin, but it's showing as though you're quoting someone else.

Sorry about that bakerbarber, just corrected it.

Shaving soaps with tallow and lanolin tend to provide a creamier lather and better post shave for me so I prefer them over non-tallow and lanolin soaps. It's probably a combination of the tallow and lanolin and not merely the tallow, but there is indeed a noticeable difference to me. In addition to tallow and lanolin, a few of my favorite soaps also contain silk amino acids and/or kokum butter which, I believe further improves the lather. There are some exceptional vegan and non-tallow soaps too that I enjoy shaving with from time to time but,  typically I use tallow soaps. However, one artisan I am interested in trying is Route 66 shave soaps which are non-tallow soaps that include lanolin and silk amino acids in the ingredients.

I think Mike at Mike's Natural Soaps has something really special with his products and has found a wonderful balance with his shaving soap base. Not to mention the great scents he offers. He lists the Kokum butter you mentioned and kaolin clay too which while I won't pretend to fully understand, I have seen touted as beneficial for various reasons as ingredients in shaving soap. Plus avocado butter which I can only presume is great since avocados taste so decadent to eat.  

His soaps don't bother me and clearly do have lanolin in them.

Other products I've used from different soap makers might seem similar reading the composition of the product alone but aren't nearly as well rounded in my highly unscientific opinion.

Shaving soaps with tallow and lanolin tend to provide a creamier lather and better post shave for me so I prefer them over non-tallow and lanolin soaps. It's probably a combination of the tallow and lanolin and not merely the tallow, but there is indeed a noticeable difference to me. In addition to tallow and lanolin, a few of my favorite soaps also contain silk amino acids and/or kokum butter which, I believe further improves the lather. There are some exceptional vegan and non-tallow soaps too that I enjoy shaving with from time to time but,  typically I use tallow soaps. However, one artisan I am interested in trying is Route 66 shave soaps which are non-tallow soaps that include lanolin and silk amino acids in the ingredients.

I think Mike at Mike's Natural Soaps has something really special with his products and has found a wonderful balance with his shaving soap base. Not to mention the great scents he offers. He lists the Kokum butter you mentioned and kaolin clay too which while I won't pretend to fully understand, I have seen touted as beneficial for various reasons as ingredients in shaving soap. Plus avocado butter which I can only presume is great since avocados taste so decadent to eat.  

His soaps don't bother me and clearly do have lanolin in them.

Other products I've used from different soap makers might seem similar reading the composition of the product alone but aren't nearly as well rounded in my highly unscientific opinion.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Mike's. I am very familiar with his soap ingredients which also include tallow. I have not yet tried them though because every time I go to buy one he is out of the scents I am interested in. I actually checked again just now and he is still out of the scents I would try. Unfortunately as good as I hear his soaps are I don't know if I will get around to trying them. Perhaps I will pick one up on the BST some time. Mike's may be the only artisan tallow soap I haven't tried yet.

This is an interesting post. I'll say that, for me personally, tallow soaps get more attention. I do feel like they produce far more cushion, and most often better glide. I tend to attribute this to the creamier lather they seem to produce. For some reason that "creaminess" seems to be density related.

To be fair, as was previously mentioned, many vegan soaps are not technically vegan. While a vendor might genuinely believe their product is vegan, sourcing and procurement for small businesses is so time consuming that there's no way the vendor could possibly research to-the-t the source of their products. I've always felt like "vegan" was a term used in an effort to market to a specific subset of consumer, rather than for the title of a product. "Non-tallow," or "vegetable based" makes it seem like less of a marketing ploy.

Doesnt matter to me, as long as performance is there Im happy, Id do however find my skin is less dry in the winter with tallow.

Mike's is good stuff. Should get more attention. I have his lime in queue...prepping for spring!

Mike's is good stuff. Should get more attention. I have his lime in queue...prepping for spring!

Whoops - I missed the point of the thread.

Answer: As long as the shave is slick and comfy it doesnt matter -post shave is what a/s is for.

Historically I am 100% tallow. That said I will be getting Wholly Kaw (vegan) tub soon - because it's awesome.

Tallow (and lanolin) always works for me and my top soaps is tallow based. I have dry skin so the post shave is important to me.

But there are great vegan soaps that I really enjoy, like Eufros/Jabonman, Tim's and PannaCrema Nuàvia.

Most of my favorite soaps are tallow based, so I guess I'm a tallow guy.

There are many many soap tallow base that I have and I love, but also many many vegan soaps that I love to, I really don't know what is the best, I intend that both have their moments to make me feel great. Besides when I'm looking for new ones I really don't feel any kind of preference, so I believe that for me that is not a problem.

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