Why do most artisan soap makers only produce soaps and do not have creams?

It's harder to make a quality shaving cream from what I understand.

Funny how my tube of Proraso separated and became rancid while those tubes of Coates Creams seem to defy father time.

I'd guess it's harder to make a good cream. Stone Cottage Shaving has a line of creams, perhaps he could chime in. I haven't tried the most recent formula but the old one (which I'd have called a croap) performed very well. Sells samples, too, always a plus.

Ginger's Garden cream is also very good, though again it's on the croapy side.

Thanks for thinking of me!  I think many soap-makers decide to add a shaving soap to their offerings because it is another soap-making challenge for them.  Unfortunately, they often go with oils that they would use in making regular soap which aren't necessarily the best choices for shaving soaps.  Many of them have not worked with fatty acids like Stearic Acid which is often found in shaving soaps and don't always know where to go to find information about formulating this kind of product.  They would be even less apt to enter the shaving cream realm even though the information is out there if you are willing to put in the time to find it!  I was fortunate to be curious enough and investigative enough to look at old patents, old cosmetic chemistry books and old soap-making books from a hundred years ago and simply take a look at the ingredients lists of current and traditional shaving creams available now and compare and then make trial and error attempts at making shaving cream!  Once I got some legitimate input back from my first formulation of shaving cream, I was able to see what was needs and through testing make the necessary changes.  It is now lighter, works better for all types of shavers and has more of the needed slip and glide!  To this day, I still take a look at things and have made some slight changes in my current new formulation as it is most important to keep up with things and try and create the best product possible!

Both shaving cream formulation and shaving soap formulation have their difficulties and learning curves and I can't say which is more difficult to make but I can understand why more soap-makers try the shaving soap rather than the cream!

Wholly Kaw is also developing a cream, if I recall correctly.

As stated above, David has a wonderful selection of scents of Stone Cottage and the performance is outstanding. Almost everyone should find a couple that appeal to them.

My guess is it has something to do with demand as well.

My guess is it has something to do with demand as well.

Good point! There always seems to be more activity and discussion about shaving soaps rather than shaving cream. I don't know the reason as I always thought that shaving creams would be the logical preferred product but found out that shaving soap sure seem to lead the way! As far as commercially made shaving soap, methods like triple pressing would seem to be quite an easy product to create and to manufacture but this particular technique would most likely be unavailable to the artisan soap maker whereas the processing of shaving cream would be more doable to the artisan soapmaker and easier to recreate in their soapmaking "lab" in a similar way that commercial shaving creams would be made.

Information wise, both types of products have had a great deal written about them in books, articles and formulation sources so it would really be up to the artisan which he or she would prefer to pursue! I think that the biggest problem for both types of products is that the artisan tends to look at modern sources of information and doesn't always pursue information that is as old as the original shaving soaps and creams!

My guess is it has something to do with demand as well.

Good point!  There always seems to be more activity and discussion about shaving soaps rather than shaving cream.  I don't know the reason as I always thought that shaving creams would be the logical preferred product but found out that shaving soap sure seem to lead the way! As far as commercially made shaving soap, methods like triple pressing would seem to be quite an easy product to create and to manufacture but this particular technique would most likely be unavailable to the artisan soap maker whereas the processing of shaving cream would be more doable to the artisan soapmaker and easier to recreate in their soapmaking "lab" in a similar way that commercial shaving creams would be made.

Information wise, both types of products have had a great deal written about them in books, articles and formulation sources so it would really be up to the artisan which he or she would prefer to pursue!  I think that the biggest problem for both types of products is that the artisan tends to look at modern sources of information and doesn't always pursue information that is as old as the original shaving soaps and creams!

Interesting post. Honestly I think I never had heard of your products. I am allergic to a number of things and I use unscented soaps exclusively, yet still most bases give me some king of reaction. I took a look at your webpage and your unscented soap lists "fragrance" in the ingredients, but the same does not happen on the unscented cream. Do you mind commenting on that and, given my sensitivities, would you recommend trying your soap or cream?

Thanks

My guess is it has something to do with demand as well.

Good point!  There always seems to be more activity and discussion about shaving soaps rather than shaving cream.  I don't know the reason as I always thought that shaving creams would be the logical preferred product but found out that shaving soap sure seem to lead the way! As far as commercially made shaving soap, methods like triple pressing would seem to be quite an easy product to create and to manufacture but this particular technique would most likely be unavailable to the artisan soap maker whereas the processing of shaving cream would be more doable to the artisan soapmaker and easier to recreate in their soapmaking "lab" in a similar way that commercial shaving creams would be made.

Information wise, both types of products have had a great deal written about them in books, articles and formulation sources so it would really be up to the artisan which he or she would prefer to pursue!  I think that the biggest problem for both types of products is that the artisan tends to look at modern sources of information and doesn't always pursue information that is as old as the original shaving soaps and creams!

Interesting post. Honestly I think I never had heard of your products. I am allergic to a number of things and I use unscented soaps exclusively, yet still most bases give me some king of reaction. I took a look at your webpage and your unscented soap lists "fragrance" in the ingredients, but the same does not happen on the unscented cream. Do you mind commenting on that and, given my sensitivities, would you recommend trying your soap or cream?

Thanks

Thanks for pointing out that error on my websites. It has been corrected. Both Stone Cottage Premium Shaving Cream and Stone Cottage Premium Shaving Soap are indeed scent free! Since I don't know what other sensitivities you have besides "fragrance" it is difficult for me to comment. Just check out both lists and verify that neither contains any of those before you buy and try. We are currently offering our old formulation of Stone Cottage Unscented Shaving Cream on the Stone Cottage Soapworks Inc. site only, if you wish to check it out. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you.

Wm. Neumann & Co. Also makes creams and I would consider them artisan.

https://www.wmneumann.com/collections/shave-cream