Men and women shave from time to time. Several options are available if you want to get rid of unwanted or excess hair on your face, underarms, bikini lines, or other parts of your body. These options depend on what you want or how deep your pocket is.
Some of the most popular options include laser hair removal procedures, shaving creams, etc. But the truth is that you don’t have to spend so much money to shave off your hair.
One of the best options for shaving hair is shaving soap. However, if you prefer using shaving soaps, you need to, first of all, determine whether or not your specific choice would fit your unique needs.
So, what should you look out for when shopping for shaving soaps? First, let’s find out what shaving soaps are and how they work.
What Are Shaving Soaps and How Do They Work?
Shaving soaps are products that you can lather onto your face using a shaving brush just before you shave. This provides lubrication and protection to your face.
Some shaving soaps are made from various organic chemicals, oils, fats, etc. These chemicals are primarily formulated to create a perfect balance between lather, protection, and creaminess.
The best shaving soaps have all-natural ingredients, mainly containing coconut oil, fat, or palm oil as the base, while essential oils are employed as scents.
Shaving soaps are usually available in puck-like or solid bars that you can quickly lather up with a shaving brush or just your fingers.
By adding water to that puck-like soap, the fatty acids within the soap come to the fore and mix incredibly well with the water. The result is a foamy, ultra-rich lather perfect for shaving your beard, mustache, etc., using double-edged safety razor blades.
What to Look Out for When Buying a Shaving Soap
However, before you settle for a particular shaving soap, here are the essential factors to consider to ensure that you spend right:
1. Allergies
Different allergens trigger different allergic reactions. Sadly, many allergens are relatively unknown until they directly contact human skin.
Some shaving creams and soaps are made with ingredients that initiate itchy feelings. You should stop using such products immediately. But if the itch persists for several days, you may need to see a certified dermatologist.
Never allow allergies from shaving creams and soaps to get the best of you. This is why you should always check out the numerous ingredients used in making these products.
People who have such allergies but ignore them eventually have anaphylactic reactions, which can even lead to death. Therefore, it may be best to stick to shaving creams and soaps made with only organic ingredients or materials. This is the best option for people with highly sensitive skin — organic ingredients hardly have harmful chemicals that may trigger allergic reactions when they come in contact with your skin.
2. Scent
Every individual who uses shaving creams and soaps has personal preferences for scents. Men always prefer products with masculine smells, while women love using products with feminine aromas.
Determining the scent profile of shaving soaps before buying them is equally important. The best or unique shaving soaps are expertly scented with natural ingredients and essential oils. Interestingly, the aromatic smells of essential oils/natural ingredients remain before and after shaving.
Scented shaving soaps give you a great and highly impressive smell after shaving. But that’s not all; your facial skin will enjoy excellent protection throughout the day. This may be due to their essential oils content—e.g., coconut oil, lavender oil, rose oil, etc.,—which are highly beneficial to the overall health of your skin right after you shave.
3. Size
The best shaving soaps come in different shapes and sizes, and it’s best to go for just what you need. For example, if you’re a digital nomad, you may want to opt for a small-sized shaving cream since you don’t necessarily need big shaving creams and soaps when traveling.
4. Price
The price of shaving soaps is another crucial aspect to look at when shopping for the best. Still, there’s no harm in searching for great discounts and deals on whatever you want to purchase, including shaving soaps.
However, sacrificing quality by going for cheap shaving soaps shouldn’t be an option. Many low-priced shaving soaps are made with inferior synthetic materials or chemicals, most of which are harmful to human skin.
Such shaving soaps can cause severe skin irritation due to the added chemicals, leaving you with a scarred face. Moreover, cheap shaving soaps will never provide enough lather to satisfactorily meet your shaving needs per time. Lastly, they don’t last very long.
Watch out for and avoid shaving soaps that display the following on their labels:
- Synthetic fragrances
- SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate)
- Artificial colors
- Parabens, etc.
The best-scented shaving soaps made with natural ingredients and essential oils can last from two to six months. This, of course, depends significantly on how often you love to shave as well as your choice of creating lather, i.e., with a good shaving brush or just your fingers.
Summarily, getting a quality shaving cream will cost you some bucks, but you don’t necessarily have to dig deep into your pocket.
5. Design
Some shaving soaps on the market today come with specially-made handles, while some are bare. If you’re a traveler who travels with shaving creams and soaps, as well as other paraphernalia, sticking with shaving products that come with handles is an excellent idea.
This means you won’t have to worry unnecessarily should the shaving soaps get wet accidentally.
Conclusion
Shaving creams and soaps are excellent additions to any man’s or woman’s shaving/hygiene kit. However, it’s essential you consider the factors discussed in this article if you plan on buying the right or most suitable shaving soap for your skin.
Make sure you read all the ingredients on shaving soaps before you pay for them. This helps you confirm that the shaving soaps have the right amounts of natural ingredients, fats, oils, etc., that will always provide you with a close and protective scented shave every time.
In some cases, you may have to experiment with a wide variety of shaving creams and soaps before settling for the best. But make sure you stay away from cheap shaving soaps made with dirt-cheap chemicals/materials.
