Topic: Importance of a Soap's Post Shave Feel

It all comes down to what type of skin you have before you even start to use a shaving soap. Those with dry skin will much prefer oils, butters, tallow, lanolin, etc. while these same soaps may be too much for the oily skin guy leasing to a decrease in slickness and the soap's most important function which is to help you shave comfortably.

Conversely, those soaps like MdC that are found to be drying and lack slickness for a dry skin person can be super slick and have perfect post shave feel for an oily skin person.

Add in allergies and things can get really crazy. While some people love lanolin, it is also a common allergen for many people.

Bottom line: YMMV because our skin chemistry varies (OSCV).

Totally agree (I even have another topic on this forum, just talking about the skin variances and the soaps for each skin type). But it really adds to this topic. Post shave has a lot of relevance no matter what skin stype we have. For example, If I had oily skin, my favorite soaps would be a lot different!! They would probably be: MdC, LPL and all ther other "drying soaps" but I would probably stayed away from very moisturizing soaps like CRSW, B&M and Mike's. But since I have very dry skin, its the total opposite for me. My face cant touch MdC and the likes.

Totally agree (I even have another topic on this forum, just talking about the skin variances and the soaps for each skin type). But it really adds to this topic. Post shave has a lot of relevance no matter what skin stype we have. For example, If I had oily skin, my favorite soaps would be a lot different!! They would probably be: MdC, LPL and all ther other "drying soaps" but I would probably stayed away from very moisturizing soaps like CRSW, B&M and Mike's. But since I have very dry skin, its the total opposite for me. My face cant touch MdC and the likes.

I would say this has been one of the best threads I've seen in a long time on the two shaving boards I'm on because it really shows why YMMV is a mantra for wet shaving. The fact that you have chemistry (the soap ingredients and your water), biology (your skin type and reactions to soap and friction plus olfactory scent), and physics (your equipment and technique) all contributing to the overall experience of the shave. It's not wonder we can debate forever on the best soap, brushes, blades and razors. Threads like this really show why I might rate one soap my favourite but someone might hate it and vice versa.

But I should add this. For awhile I was using Mystic sample exclusively for some time. Then went to other soaps/creams, and the difference is massive. Using a balm helps quite a bit but Mystic seems unique. Mike's is close but not quite there. Yes, LPL and MdC are drying. Soap Commander and Route 66 are a bit drying. Klar is neutral. But as far as I can tell, nothing approaches MW.

That's about the jist of it I think too David.

It's why I don't often participate in a lot of the polarizing threads I come across with a few key words in their titles. "Best, Favorite, TOP, etc."

Lists are fine. It's just exhausting sometimes to preface my own opinion with a disclaimer of it being an opinion all the time as YMMV.

The people who passionately defend their preferred products and attempt to quantify a heirerarchy of shaving products all the while presenting said opinions as absolute matters of fact make me sad.

It's hard enough to figure out what works for you as an individual without having to sift through so many frivolous opinions presented as facts so frequently. If I were just starting out in wet shaving today I'd be overwhelmed by all the reviews online and top ten or best lists out there. As an example, Amazon reviews. Too many 5 star reviewers throw around terms like "bestx and "perfect." Maybe for you. How is that a helpful review? 

Many of the more seasoned reviewers and YouTube aficionados do a better job of emphasising that their review is their opinion. They aren't the majority, and may not be the first resource a new wetshaver comes across in the beginning.

If I based my first soap or brush purchase on the preferences of others I might have easily gotten discouraged and frustrated. Happily I had the resources and curiosity to drive my own trial and error acquisition journey. Not everyone does.

I also agree, threads like this are the kind of thing we need more of out in front. Logical, frank discussion of what the opinions are, why we prefer different things, and how our personnel preferences differ from one another. Most importantly, the fact that our differences are not what separates us, but what makes us similar. The fact that we can acknowledge those differences and not resort to arguing about "right and wrong" regarding a highly personal and subjective, and ultimately inconsequential topic in the grand scheme of things.

We can give each other advice and discuss things further tempered by the knowledge that, while we may not be exactly alike, we are all looking for our own "best" shave. Which does actually makes us very much alike.

Quantifying a product's strengths and weaknesses in different aspects or regarding one characteristic or another without devolving into petty bickering is great. 

Saying that MdC is a drying soap shouldn't be heard as MdC is a bad soap or that anyone who likes it is a fool. Someone looking for a dry soap would read that fact as a positive attribute and someone looking to avoid a product that contributes to dryness wouldn't. Being able to find that kind of information in an unbiased format is far more valuable to me then reading someone else's favorites list.

I'd love to see more reviews that include quantifiable characteristics. In the case of subjective characteristics a reference point would be helpful. If you say MdC is drying, contrasting it to MW or Mike's is helpful. Even if I haven't tried MW, if I do I'll have an idea of it if I've tried Mike's or MdC. With enough consensus over time even some highly subjective ideas can be quantifiable to an extent this way I think.

Great post bakerbarber! It's always important to read and write reviews with a critical eye.

From a methodological perspective though, I don't think that reviews are quantifiable. There are no quantifiable metrics that would be useful, so it would be impossible to provide such an account. The closest we could possibly get is an aggregated average of user reviews (perhaps out of 10), and in that regard it wouldn't even be quantifiable in a real sense.

Yeah. Absolutes are hard to nail down.

Consensus is hard to tally and difficult to account for new products and fads getting extra play.

Opinions are the best we have.
Remembering YMMV is important.

That's about the jist of it I think too David.

It's why I don't often participate in a lot of the polarizing threads I come across with a few key words in their titles. "Best, Favorite, TOP, etc."

Lists are fine. It's just exhausting sometimes to preface my own opinion with a disclaimer of it being an opinion all the time as YMMV.

The people who passionately defend their preferred products and attempt to quantify a heirerarchy of shaving products all the while presenting said opinions as absolute matters of fact make me sad.

It's hard enough to figure out what works for you as an individual without having to sift through so many frivolous opinions presented as facts so frequently. If I were just starting out in wet shaving today I'd be overwhelmed by all the reviews online and top ten or best lists out there. As an example, Amazon reviews. Too many 5 star reviewers throw around terms like "bestx and "perfect." Maybe for you. How is that a helpful review? 

Many of the more seasoned reviewers and YouTube aficionados do a better job of emphasising that their review is their opinion. They aren't the majority, and may not be the first resource a new wetshaver comes across in the beginning.

If I based my first soap or brush purchase on the preferences of others I might have easily gotten discouraged and frustrated. Happily I had the resources and curiosity to drive my own trial and error acquisition journey. Not everyone does.

I also agree, threads like this are the kind of thing we need more of out in front. Logical, frank discussion of what the opinions are, why we prefer different things, and how our personnel preferences differ from one another. Most importantly, the fact that our differences are not what separates us, but what makes us similar. The fact that we can acknowledge those differences and not resort to arguing about "right and wrong" regarding a highly personal and subjective, and ultimately inconsequential topic in the grand scheme of things.

We can give each other advice and discuss things further tempered by the knowledge that, while we may not be exactly alike, we are all looking for our own "best" shave. Which does actually makes us very much alike.

Quantifying a product's strengths and weaknesses in different aspects or regarding one characteristic or another without devolving into petty bickering is great. 

Saying that MdC is a drying soap shouldn't be heard as MdC is a bad soap or that anyone who likes it is a fool. Someone looking for a dry soap would read that fact as a positive attribute and someone looking to avoid a product that contributes to dryness wouldn't. Being able to find that kind of information in an unbiased format is far more valuable to me then reading someone else's favorites list.

I'd love to see more reviews that include quantifiable characteristics. In the case of subjective characteristics a reference point would be helpful. If you say MdC is drying, contrasting it to MW or Mike's is helpful. Even if I haven't tried MW, if I do I'll have an idea of it if I've tried Mike's or MdC. With enough consensus over time even some highly subjective ideas can be quantifiable to an extent this way I think.

Loved your response! Totally agree! When I say MdC is drying is not meant to be offensive but rather informative. People with oily skin should take account and gravitate towards MdC and people with dry skin should avoid it, pretty simple.

To some extent, people with dry skin will go for the moisturizing soaps with tallow, lanolin and butters, but people with oily skin can still use most of these soaps if they skip the balm or use alcohol based splashed to neutralize the moisture effect. I really all ends up on our skin type, it will determine a lot of things and personal preferences in the wet shaving realm.

What I always like seeing in a review is useful scales that have useful anchors (word pictures) that allow the reader to see what the reviewer is looking at. This is the way professional reviewers operate so that there is a consistency between product reviews and thus I can determine how the reviewer relates to my view by looking at reviews of things I already own. Some try to do this and I appreciate knowing what their grading a product on. If I see a reviewer who grades product scent heavily I know that, for me, the review will be less useful than one who grades on a number of performance scales like slickness, cushion, ease of lathering, post shave feel etc. Some might find a person who doesn't grade on scent to be less useful than I would so at least with the cards on the table we can all figure out for ourselves how useful we find these reviews.

I don't know if there are any truly professional reviewers out there but I do know a few whose opinion I value and listen too because I find them to be honest and explain as much about what they are looking for as possible. Some I know will hold differing views from mine, but at least I can get a feel for how I might like something from their reviews.

Yeah. Absolutes are hard to nail down.

Consensus is hard to tally and difficult to account for new products and fads getting extra play.

Opinions are the best we have.
Remembering YMMV is important.

More good points Todd. Your previous post is one of the best I've read. YMMV is relevant for every aspect of wet-shaving. Different skin and hair types require different products. This is the case for razors, blades, brushes, soaps, aftershaves, and anything else used for shaving. Also, the same holds true for scents. My favorite scents are some of the most polarizing out there. It's amazing how heated people can get over scents.

I would love to see objective measures but there simply is none. However, saying that MW has better after shave feel than MdC is important because - true, that does NOT mean MW is "better" than MdC holistically. The after shave feel is only ONE metric, and a metric that can be mitigated to a great degree with a balm. Whereas, something like residual slickness cannot be mitigated afterwards.