Eva asks…Is there a difference between men’s and women’s shaving creams? And what are the merits of shaving oils and lotions?
The Right Brain replies:
The main ingredients in shaving creams are the soaps that soften hair and lubricate skin. Most formulas create this soap my mixing a fatty acid (like stearic acid or palmitic acid) with an alkaline ingredient (like triethanolamine). This is true of products for men or women.
Shaving science
Let’s look at some ingredient lists for examples:
Typical Men’s shave cream #1 (Edge):
Deionized Water, Palmitic Acid, Triethanolamine, Stearic Acid, Isopentane, Sunflower Oil Monoglycerides, Sorbitol, Aloe Barbadensis Gel (Aloe Vera Gel), Fragrance, PVP, Isobutane, PEG 90M, FD&C Blue 1
Typical Mens’ #2 (Gillette):
Water, Stearic Acid, Triethanolamine, Isobutane, Laureth 23, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Propane, Fragrance, Butane, BHT
Typical Women’s Shaving Cream (Skintimate):
Purified Water, Palmitic Acid, Triethanolamine, Stearic Acid, Isopentane, Sunflower Oil Monoglycerides, Sorbitol, Lanolin Alcohols, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E, USP), PEG-90M, PVP, Fragrance, Isobutane, FD&C Red 40
See the similarity? There products differ by a few ingredients but the basic soap components are the same. The sensory characteristics are different but both types perform the same basic function.
What about lotions and oils?
Most lotions are similar to creams in composition but they’re usually not in aerosol form. Shave oils are quite a bit different. They usually consist of a mixture of vegetable oils without any water. Therefore, they don’t wet the beard as well as creams although they do lubricate the skin. Some people prefer creams, others prefer oils. Go figure.
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Interesting read. So I suppose the different boils down to which fragrance would you rather smell like?
I find that the fragrances used in mens shaving creams are incredibly long-lasting, and, obviously, rather manly! I do rather resent having to spend about 20% more for my shaving foam and getting around 20% less for the privilege of not smelling like a bloke! Otherwise I would be fine using mens shaving foam.
@Emily – That’s why I buy mine at the dollar stores. Unscented men’s if they have it, women’s if they don’t – and only the kind not scented like fruit.
I use a conditioner like Pantene for shaving. I think I first heard this recommendation from Paula Begoun but I’m not 100% certain of that. Is this ok? Would I be better off using shaving cream/lotion? Even if conditioner is just as good are there certain ingredients I should be looking for (like Silicones?) I also love that it’s one less bottle to deal with in the shower
@Jenn – Nothing wrong with it. I find it doesn’t stay on like shaving cream though. I also heard in a pinch you can shave with peanutbutter.
Consumer Reports had a blurb on this a while back. A rep from P&G (IIRC) said that the formulas *are* basically the same but the extra expense was due to customer desired ingredients (vitamin E, aloe, pommegranate-goji berry scented angel farts, etc.) and packaging. She claimed that because men usually shave at the sink and women usually shave in the shower, consumers of women’s shaving cream demanded rust-resistant packaging. Sounds legit though I have YET to see a can of women’s shaving cream that doesn’t rust.
I have found that conditioner leaves my legs much softer than even the nicest shaving cream but shaving cream has one advantage that keeps me coming back: visibility. I am very, very near sighted and shaving cream shows where I’ve shaved and what’s still fuzzy. 8 P
@Jami: thanks for the tip! I only really shop at the supermarket, have never looked for toiletries in dollarstores- will have to remember to pop in next time to see what they have.
@Emily: No problem. I shop at places like Dollar Tree, 99 Cents Store, and Big Lots – which is more then a dollar but they used to have huge cans of shaving cream for 95 cents. Being a close out store they don’t anymore. So now it’s just the first two.
I also used to be able to get big cans of it at WalMart for 96 cents a can, but now they just have the short, stubby ones.
Only problem I’ve had with the Dollar Tree ones is the lids can be hard to remove. What I ended up doing was dropping them on the floor, breaking the lid, and leaving it off.
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The only drastic differences I’ve noticed were when it came
to how the products smell.
I just use good ol’ Barbasol!
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