I have, at least once in the last year, tried almost* all of the shaving lathers (the product used specifically to hold the hairs while shaving) in my collection, be they foam, cream, gel, soap, or stick. I have also rated them (and possibly modified that initial rating after additional usage). And it’s time to give you my opinion on what I have and identify my favorites in the collection, and which ones I will keep stocking for long-term use. *I have added 3 more lathers to the collection, but as of this writing, have not used them all yet, so look for those reviews in the near future.
Let me first talk briefly about my criteria for what makes a lather great: as someone with sensitive skin, a lather needs to provide great lubrication for the shave so that the razor glides comfortably across my skin and doesn’t grab, skip, or stick. It needs to protect the skin so that I don’t get cuts or irritation easily from the blade. It needs to contribute to a close shave by standing the beard hairs upright so they can be cut more easily by the blade. It needs to be non-irritating to my skin and have either no fragrance or a pleasant fragrance that I don’t consider to be too strong or off-putting.
I have 26 29 shaving lathers in my collection (with a couple more coming from Canada whenever they can get through customs), and some lathers I haven’t used since the very early days, but I’ll still list them here. So, in countdown order, here are my shaving lathers presented in order of least to most favorite.
26. Clinique Cream Shave. Granted, I haven’t used this probably since late 2024, but I recall even then being very disappointed. It’s a non-lathering cream, and it just felt thin and useless. It did little to either lubricate or protect my face, but it did earn points for not having much of a fragrance. I quickly set this aside for the foams.
25. Barbasol Original Shave Cream (right). Let’s be clear, this is not really a cream, it’s a foam from a can. It’s thick and fairly rich and did an okay job for quite a while. I should try it again sometime because my technique has improved considerably since then, but one complaint I recall having is that once the razor went through an area, there wasn’t any lubrication left on my face. I should try it once with a pre-shave and reapply for additional passes, just to see if it can be made any better. I doubt it, but it would be interesting. Its fragrance is classic–that men’s barbershop smell that I recall from childhood…or walking into my great uncle’s bathroom.
24. Barbasol Sensitive Skin Shave Cream (left). Oddly, I can pin down exactly when I purchased this: I bought it at the grocery store in Gulf Shores, AL, at the corner where we turned to head out of the city toward our rental for our February trip to the Gulf. I still have it, but this was a sample or travel size 2 oz can (I think). Again, this isn’t truly a cream, it’s a foam, and I can’t honestly say that I have proof that it’s any better than the Barbasol original foam, but it had a little lighter fragrance and seemed at the time to glide better.
23. Aveeno Positively Smooth Shave Gel (right). Purchased at my local grocery store a couple of weeks after the Barbasol original, I was looking for something “better.” Aveeno skin products are in wide use around here, by me and the rest of the family living here, so this one felt like a good call. For me, the shave gels are a step up over the foams–they are thicker, protect and lubricate better, and seems to do a better job of standing up the beard hairs. It doesn’t foam as much as the Nivea gel (that comes later), but it was an improvement on everything that came before and had a kind of typical Aveeno earthy fragrance. I haven’t used it since March, though, and I really should revisit it.
22. Badger Shave Bar. My first true shaving soap! Badger is a New Hampshire company that makes soaps, balms, shampoos, and the like, and are mostly stocked in food co-ops it seems. I spotted this soap in my local co-op when buying some other things, and there it was next to a bamboo and goat bristle shaving brush on the shaving shelf. So I grabbed them. I was really excited to try them and develop my lathering skills, and as I’ve since learned, while this soap lathers okay, it doesn’t seem to make the thicker, slicker lather that I prefer, though it doesn’t have much of a fragrance. I mean, it works, but it doesn’t lubricate like I’d like it to, and it doesn’t seem to stand the hairs up very well.
21. Zingari Man Artisan Shaving Soap Unscented. I’ve noted this in the sample review posts, but this soap is just okay as well. It’s a slight step up over the Badger, but certainly not one I’d restock when the time comes. It lathers well, but doesn’t have much lubricity or protection, and with so many options ahead of it, it just doesn’t have a permanent place in the collection.
20. Razor Emporium Element 47 Shaving Soap. For the life of me, I can’t really describe the fragrance here. It isn’t strong or overpowering, but it isn’t a basic barbershop. The Razor Emporium site describes the scent as a “cool water” scent, but I don’t really get that. Another thing that confuses me is that I know all of their soaps start with the same base, but this one isn’t nearly as slick or thick for me as the Barbershop or Nordic samples I have. It’s not one of my favorites, doesn’t seem to make me happy, so it just sits down here. I’ll finish up what I have and leave it behind.
19. Imperial Barber Products Field Shave Soap. Before you read the rest of this review, it should be noted that this really isn’t a bad soap. It’s just that I have so many others before it that I prefer. This was the first glycerin based soap that I’d used, and it was kind of disappointing. It lathers well, but doesn’t seem to lubricate as well as I think it should, given it’s composition. The Henson razors just seem to drag through it, and that doesn’t make for a great shave. It’s fragrance is neutral and soapy, but this one just isn’t great for me. It is a full-sized tub, though, so it’ll be around for quite a while.
18. Barrister & Mann 42 Shaving Soap. Barrister & Mann is a big, popular brand in shave soaps and other software, and I was excited to give this a try when I found the sample. And I’ve got to say that I’m a bit disappointed. It doesn’t lather as well for me as I’d like, seems fine for lubrication, but the lather has come out wetter than I’d like, so there isn’t as much protection. The scent is weird, and I know that’s the point (as 42 is a reference to the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), as it’s described as Petunias, Ambergris, Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster (a drink invented by the president of the galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox), and Tea. But the fragrance doesn’t excite me nor turn me off. All-in-all, when I use this soap, I just kind of feel “meh.”
17. Razor Emporium Barbershop Shaving Soap. Better slickness and protection than with the Element 47, which again, I don’t fully understand, with a pronounced classic barbershop fragrance. It performs well, but it’s kind of in the middle of the list because it doesn’t really make me happy like the top 10 or so products do. I’ll finish it off, but probably never restock it.
16. Razor Emporium Nordic Shaving Soap. Kind of predictably, this lands here. The same formula as Barbershop and Element 47, this has a lighter, more “fresh” piney or outdoorsy scent. Works about the same as Barbershop for me, though and again doesn’t excite me or make me want to buy more.
15. Carden Farms Clear & Clean Shaving Soap Stick. One of the two stick-form shaving soaps I have, this one was purchased at a booth at the Minnesota State Fair from a North Carolina farm business that makes and sells soaps, oils and lotions on Etsy. It is another glycerin-based formula that does lubricate well, and lathers well, but despite its assertions on the label of being the “best shave stick,” the lather is again not as protective as I’d like.
It should be noted that everything past this point are lathers that I really enjoy using and will try to keep stocked, with the possible exception of the Edwin Jagger.
14. Barbasol 1919 Classic Shaving Cream (right). Every single time I use this, I’m impressed. When I bought it, and even still when I use it, I seem to not expect much from it, but it seems to work very well for me. It’s a thick non-lathering cream that lubricates almost better than anything else I have, and protects the skin and stands the hairs up extremely well. The fragrance is strong, but not off-putting. For a grocery store lather, this one is awesome.
13. Stirling Soap Naked & Smooth Shave Soap. Let me begin by saying that Stirling makes some great soaps, and this is no exception. However, if you get any of their scented products, everyone seems to agree that they like strong scents. So after trying a couple of scented aftershave splashes and realizing they were just too strong, when I decided to sample their soaps, I got three unscented products. Those soaps I have here demonstrate their great lathers without that overpowering fragrance. This one lathers well and protects well, but just not as effectively as the other two coming up.
12. Nivea Sensitive Shave Gel (left). The other gel in the collection, this one does foam slightly, and makes a very slick and thick coverage on my face and neck. It’s probably the second thickest lather in the list (after the Barbasol 1919), but in this case, that’s a good thing. It makes for a faster shave than a soap or cream lathering with a brush, and it, combined with the Nivea after shave balm, provides a nice fresh fragrance on my face after shaving.
11. Edwin Jagger Aloe Vera Shaving Cream. I noted this in my sample review posts, that the Edwin Jagger cream makes a wonderful lather, slick and thick, and I really like it for that alone. But I’m someone who doesn’t like to break up the brand collection when I don’t have to, and I can’t really figure out how this pairs with their pre- and post-shave products because there’s no cohesive scent to all three. So while I really like this, I don’t know if I’ll restock it down the road.
10. Stirling Soap Unscented with Beeswax Shave Soap. This Stirling offering performs better than the Naked & Smooth, probably because of the Beeswax. It lathers very well, and offers great lubrication and protection with no noticeable fragrance.
9. Stirling Soap Sheep Shave Soap. I’m frankly too lazy to look to see if the Unscented with Beeswax is tallow based, but this one is, and my face seems to notice things like that. I love this lather–it’s thick, slick, smells mostly neutral (though some say that it smells a little “gamey”), though I don’t notice or mind at all. I will restock this soap because I really enjoy using it.
8. Cooper & French Unscented Shave Soap. I stumbled across this while trying to see if there were any shave soap producers located near me, and oddly enough, this home-based company is located about 8 blocks from my house. This is also a tallow-based lather which produces a slick and thick lather that always works well for me with no noticeable scent.
7. Taylor of Old Bond Street Organic Shaving Cream. For a while I’ve seen posts from people singing the praises of TOBS (the acronym of Taylor of Old Bond Street). It too is a thick, rich, slick lather that performs very well and produces a pleasant shave. This is the first lather in this list that I’ll refer to as luxurious, as that is the best term I can come up with to describe the feel. It just feels like a treat. When it comes time, I will restock this if it’s still available. I can’t honestly tell if they’re still doing business as the website just kind of feels stagnant.
6. Arko Shaving Soap Stick (left). Arko is a deeply divisive product in the online community. Some people absolutely detest it’s fragrance, and others aren’t bothered by it. Truth be told, it does have a strong fragrance that I describe as just being strongly soapy. Some refer to it as being like a urinal puck, but I don’t think it’s that aggressively chemically fragranced. I find the scent inoffensive and are not bothered by it, especially since the scent is easily covered up or doesn’t last long. I don’t know that I’d refer to this lather as luxurious–the sticks are super cheap (I got mine for $4), but the soap itself performs extremely well. Lots of slickness, a lot of thick lather that protects the skin very well, and a fragrance that I don’t really mind.
5. Cella Aloe Vera Shaving Cream (green). First off, Cella calls their soap a cream, which just feels weird, but it is a solid mass in the sample tub I’ve got. But the lather and faint fragrance is easily luxurious. It’s smooth, thick, slick, comfortable, and pleasant. This is one that I desperately want to add in a full size to the collection, and I’m anticipating doing that at or after Christmas. I’ll also be buying the matching pre-shave gel and after shave balm, so you can also look forward to reviews of those products next year.
4. Proraso Refreshing Shaving Cream (green). Everyone who’s read just one post here knows that I love the Proraso products, and probably could have predicted that the four lathers I have of theirs would be at the top of the list. The Refreshing (green) formula is their menthol and eucalyptus formula, and the scent and coolness is there in the lather, though not as strong as in the pre-shave. The lather is thick and rich, and yes, luxurious feeling. It lubricates very well, protects very well, and products a very pleasant shave.
3. Proraso Sensitive Shaving Cream (white). I love, love, love the sensitive formula. Let’s start with that. But I think that I’ve come to love the fragrance of the blue line just a little bit more. But the white cream and soap feel the most luxurious to me, making a slightly thicker and more protective lather than either the blue or green products. There’s only a slight earthy and fresh scent that’s easy to ignore and fades quickly.
2. Proraso Protective Shaving Cream (blue). With the sample I had of this formula, I initially questioned the fragrance, wondering if I would tolerate it and if I’d grow to like it. Well yes, I have. Very much so. It’s the strongest fragrance I have and like it a lot. In addition, the cream has a similar luxurious feel to the white cream, but not quite as slick or thick, but it still performs extremely well.
1. Proraso Sensitive Shaving Soap (white). My second soap, and by far my favorite. The lather I get from the soap feels thicker and slicker and for some reason just more luxurious. While it doesn’t lather as quickly as the white cream, I find this lather more satisfying and enjoyable in my shaves. The fragrance is similar to the cream, and also fades quickly. I’m probably halfway through my first tub of the stuff, so will reload when the time comes.
There you go. A long post of the order of ratings for my lathers. What do you like?