Can a soap really be moisturising?

Ok, so we've got shaving all taken care of but what about that hair and the rest of your face? Get the low down on shampoo's, conditioners, finishers, cleansers, toners and moisturizers right here!
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jhclare
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Can a soap really be moisturising?

Post by jhclare »

I've often wondered this:

A soap cleans by dissolving and removing oil from the skin, which is then rinsed away.

How does it then provide moisture?

I've tried several soaps with added Shea Butter, etc, and they are no more moisturising than normal soap.

Granted, I find some soaps more drying than others, but I don't believe any actually moisturise.

YMMV!

John
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fatcity
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Post by fatcity »

I would agree with you. No matter what soap I try, my face is always drier (dryer? more dry?) than before I shaved. Same goes for bath soaps, at least in my experience - though I have never tried those new-fangled gels and body washes (seems to me those are approaching loofah territory, which is a slippery slope).

When I read a review referencing the "moisturizing" properties of a soap, I read "less dehydrating".
HH
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IanM
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Post by IanM »

No.

By their nature, they are designed to remove oils. All soaps dry, just that some dry less than others.

Ian
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jww
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Post by jww »

I find quite the opposite affect with MWF -- anyone surprised? :D

I am pretty sure that it's the affects of the lanolin. ymmv.
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murchmb
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Post by murchmb »

jww wrote:I find quite the opposite affect with MWF -- anyone surprised? :D

I am pretty sure that it's the affects of the lanolin. ymmv.
Agreed. Institute Karite shaving soap is also very moisturizing due to it's shea butter content.
Mike
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KAV
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Post by KAV »

The same conflict of reality is in leather cleaner-conditioners, topical vitamen E and GORETEX fabric.
We have skin, a porous membrane. 'Soap' is a material for removing pollutants that block the porosity. While the little soap cleaning munchkins are working with pick and shovel the moisture munchkins are walking up wih buckets of more stuff and pouring it back on top of the pollutants the first munchkin just freed.
Obviously, they either cancel each other out or one munchkin wins.
I just keep my munchkins seperate.
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Araner
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Post by Araner »

An interesting read: Soap Vs Detergent

http://www.clearwatersoapworks.com/site ... age/588981

Should help clear up some mysteries and misunderstandings; well, at least it did for me.
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L. Martino
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Re: Can a soap really be moisturising?

Post by L. Martino »

jhclare wrote:I've often wondered this:

A soap cleans by dissolving and removing oil from the skin, which is then rinsed away.

How does it then provide moisture

John
Hi there,

First, let me answer your question: I have no idea why one soap can perform differently than another, but they do. There's, that's out of the way.

I can't really say how many creams/soaps I've used over the years, but it's more than six. Yeah, somewhere between six and sixty would be about right......maybe a little closer to the larger number. The vast majority of em were good when it came to post shave skin care. Truth be told, I'd have a very hard time identifying some of the better ones in a blind test.

I guess I'm just not very affected by dry skin, since I rarely feel that after shaving. Most of the time the post shave skin care is fine, although I've used soaps in the past that were poor for me. Yeah, a few left my face feeling sorta tight, and my skin didn't feel as elastic as normal.

There's a few though, that are different in a good way. As other members mentioned, MWF and IK are two good examples of soaps that actually make my face feel better when using em. That extra elasticity is very noticeable, and it was obvious to me the first time using em. I sorta equate that feeling with a soap that somehow provides moisture to the skin.

There's a couple other products that are also unusually good when it comes to that post shave feel, with DR Harris soaps and the J Peterman 1903 SC being two of those. As I've mentioned in previous posts, the old Floris was the best of em all, I believe even you might have found it out of the ordinary. Truthfully, I was shocked at how effective it was, having not read about that part before trying it.

Heh, maybe I shoulda just stopped at the first paragraph. I've been called verbose in another forum..........wonder why that is?

Martin
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ChemErik
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Post by ChemErik »

Araner wrote:An interesting read: Soap Vs Detergent

http://www.clearwatersoapworks.com/site ... age/588981

Should help clear up some mysteries and misunderstandings; well, at least it did for me.
Slightly biased and incomplete, but they've got the basic right. Biggest issue I have is regarding tallow, but I can ignore that as opinion.

I have rather oily skin, so I don't really want a moisturizing soap. I don't want overly drying either. I tend to use triple milled body soaps and use a variety of shaving soaps. MWF shave soap is interesting as it appears to have way more moisture than any other product that doesn't leave my skin oily. I have an MWF bath soap on the way, so I should know if it works as well as the shave soap soon.
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bernards66
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Post by bernards66 »

John, I agree; calling a bath soap 'moisturizing' is a misnomer, IMO. Soaps CAN be drying......or not.
Regards,
Gordon
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