Can You Shave Your Face with Bar Soap?

A little while ago, I was attending a wedding as a best man, and the airline lost my suitcase, including my shaving kit. So, now, I wondered, can I shave with bar soap?

You may find yourself in a similar situation, or maybe you want to save a buck, or maybe you think shaving soap is all marketing hype. Come along with me! I tested shaving with bar soap, conditioner, as well as aftershave, and compared it to a regular shave cream shave.

What Shaving Soaps and Creams Do

A Very Brief History of Soap

Men’s shaving cream, especially the one in a can, is historically a relatively recent invention; however, going back to 3000 BC, people realized that they could use soap with high-fat content to lubricate their skin and make it easier to cut their hair.

Shaving Soaps Develop Distinctly from Cleansing Soaps

Eventually, two distinct types of soap evolved: you had the cleansing soap and the shaving soap. So, shaving soaps are still around today; you can get them as a bar, and lather them up with a brush, or you have a shaving cream, which comes in a tube, and you also lather it up, or you can apply it directly onto your skin. If you want to learn more about that, which one to get, which one to avoid, check out our dedicated guide about shaving soaps, and yes, you guessed it, we also have a guide dedicated entirely to shaving creams.

In a nutshell, both shaving soap and shaving cream contain fats, oils, and glycerin that basically creates a film between the skin and the blade thus protecting it but also allowing the shaver to get a really close shave.

How Shaving Soaps and Creams Differ from Bar Soaps

Shaving and Cleansing Soaps Have Unique Chemical Compositions

On the micro level, the fatty molecules and the sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide will create something thick that coats the hair and makes it stand up. Ideally, that is aided by the hairs of a shaving brush, so you can get a nice, good, close shave.

Shaving Soaps Feature Special Ingredients to Improve Shaving

Also, because the act of shaving is hard on your skin, especially if you’re sensitive; often times, you also have elements that are supposed to hydrate a skin and make it feel more comfortable after the shave. That’s stuff like aloe vera, beeswax, lanoline, butters like mango seed butter or cocoa butter, or oils like argan, jojoba, or avocado oil.

Finally, for those times we get a little nick or a cut, you have those little nick sticks that can help stop bleeding. Keep in mind, I’m on a permanent blood thinner cause I had blood clots in the past, so that means when I cut myself, I’m more likely to bleed for longer.

The Functionality of Cleansing Soap

On the other end, bar soap is meant to clean something, so it contains something called “solubilizers,” which kind of cling to the dirt. They also have things called “surfactants,” which decrease the surface tension of water that’s helping you to clean better.

So, the bar soap is designed to clean the skin, not to create a slick, smooth layer that protects it from a sharp razor blade. So, because of that, bar soap, by design, is counterproductive to shaving. That being said, when the option is having just water or maybe some soap, potentially it could still be better.

Shaving With a Bar Soap  

Well, let me share my experience. First, I made sure that my hair was really wet and soaked with water because then it’s easier to shave. A warm shower beforehand would have achieved the same effect.

I considered using my shaving brush to lather up the bar soap, but then I thought, most of the time, you will probably not have a shaving brush, so I just applied it by hand and then onto my face. It was interesting because it became rather sticky and it felt dry right away. I could even see some threads forming on the soap on my skin.

I don’t have particularly sensitive skin, but in general, if you have sensitive skin, my guess would be that you can feel the drying effect much more quickly than if you don’t have sensitive skin. The problem is: it doesn’t feel smooth and it’s almost almost like hindering your razor from gliding over your skin and cutting the hair.

To counteract it, I added some water to the skin, trying to keep it smooth as I shaved. First, I started with the grain because going against the grain would be too harsh on the skin. I applied very little pressure because I could feel that more pressure would likely lead to more nicks and cuts.

Keep in mind, I did this just once, but if I would use bar soap over and over again, it would dry up my skin a lot more than shaving soap would. Of course, I could counteract it by using better aftershaves and maybe some oils, but ultimately, it doesn’t seem to be a good, long-term, ongoing thing, but I was just trying to do it once to see if I could do it in an emergency.

I went in short strokes, I flipped the sides of the razor blades, and then I cleaned them so I had a nice clean blade. In between, I reapplied water and soap over the area because I could tell that my skin was more exposed. It felt a lot more vulnerable than when I usually shave with a dedicated shaving cream or soap.

I have really coarse, thick hair, and my wife always laughs when we compare our hair cause mine looks more like bristles than her thin hair. Because of that, I chose the Feather blade, and I have a MERKUR razor with a slanted blade. So, it’s pretty much the sharpest DE safety razor combination on the market out there.

Typically, I shave with an electric shaver. First, I take off all the long hair and then, I do one pass against the grain with a DE safety razor just to get that super smooth result. When I shave with a bar soap, the side of my face is reasonably smooth after one pass with the grain and one pass against the grain.

By the way, if you want to learn how we shave it in ideal world, we already made guides about that.

Shaving With Self-lather Shaving Cream

I wanted to see how it was on the other side using a regular shaving cream. So, first of all, I put the shaving brush in a bowl of hot water, so the hair could soak up some water. Afterwards, I removed the water, added a bit of shaving cream, and lathered it up.

As you can see, the lather was nice and rich and full. I also compared the lather to the bar soap. I lathered it up in the same way, I used the same shaving brush, the same bowl, the same water, and you can see, the bar soap lather is not nearly as nice. It has larger bubbles of air, it feels less smooth, it is not as protective, but it lathers up quite a bit more than just using my hand. Frankly, I didn’t feel much of a difference between the bar so lathered and applied by hand, even though it looked different.

The feel when shaving was rather similar. The shaving cream lather, on the other hand, felt definitely better.

Before I use the shaving cream, I apply the shaving oil, which helps your skin and is an extra protective layer, and I think you definitely feel that. When I shaved, I could use more pressure, I felt much more confident, and my skin, afterward, didn’t feel as irritated.

Shaving Results: Bar Soap vs. Shaving Cream

My right side, which was used with the bar soap, was pretty much as smooth as the left side, which I shaved with a shaving cream; however, with the shaving cream I could apply more pressure, and I think, because of that, it got a little smoother. Also, my skin felt a lot better on that side. 

Though, I wanted to see how the most difficult area for me worked with the bar soap and the shaving cream; and for me, that’s the area underneath my nose or the mustache area. Over the lip, I still have very thick hair, but I can only have very short strokes, and my skin is a lot more sensitive there.

With a bar soap, no matter if it was leathered up or just applied with a finger. It was very painful to shave even with the grain of the hair. Going against it was not pleasant at all, and so I didn’t do that.

With the shaving cream, on the other hand, it was smoother. First, I went with the grain and then against, and eventually, I got it done. Even then, it’s not a fun experience, but I’m getting there; and with just a plain bar soap, it would have been torture.

Shaving With Conditioner or Aftershave

When you’re in an emergency without your shaving cream, chances are, you just have a bad razor and you just have whatever there is in your hotel room. So, often, you have conditioner. Less often, you will have something like an aftershave, but I still tried both of them.

For the aftershaves, I had one from Vitaman, which was more of a gel, and I had a Nivea, which was kind of more like a creamy gel that wasn’t clear. For the conditioner, I just used what we had at home, and it felt rather smooth, and that’s exactly what you want when you shave right, you want something that is smooth that protects your skin.

First, I try the conditioner, of course, I couldn’t try it in the same area again, but there are other straight areas on my face and there are areas like the one underneath my nose that are a little more difficult to shave. I’d say the conditioner does a decent job. It’s maybe slightly better than the bar soap in most areas, but it was also painful to shave underneath my nose, for example. 

Typically, when I shave, I apply my aftershave in the end and, sometimes, I feel an area that I may have missed, or I didn’t have my razor shaved off perfectly; and at that point, I still go over with my aftershave, and it feels like it protects it well and I get a really close shape at that stage.

So, if you have the choice, go with a dedicated shaving product. It’s better for your skin, you’ll enjoy your shave more, and you’ll be less likely to cut yourself. If you’re in an emergency, start with a conditioner; if you don’t have it, go with bar soap; if you don’t have it, try the aftershave.

Shaving With Canned Shaving Cream

Canned shaving cream is always inferior to self-lather shaving cream, but it is better than bar soap and a little better than conditioner.

Conclusion

Basically, my skin is smooth all over, but frankly, I tried all these techniques on one face in one shaving go in order to get a proper comparison. Otherwise, I’d have to stretch out this test over probably ten days, and it’s hard to compare how the shave was on the first day versus the last day.

I would say, in terms of results, on the kind of easy areas, you get a good result; if you have thick hair like me, I’d suggest you rather bring an electric shaver in your carry-on luggage than rely on bar soap and whatever shaver you can get in case the airline loses your luggage because it is not a fun experience.

I think you can do it; you may cut yourself more often than you’d like, and it will be painful, and your skin will not be happy with you. But, you can do it! I much prefer a dry electric shave than having the bar soap shave. It’s also a lot faster, though the results are probably better in terms of closeness with a bar soap than with a regular electric shaver.

Keep in mind, you can also use an electric shaver and apply soap so you get a closer shave, too, than if you use a dry electric shaver.

So, in a nutshell, can you shave with bar soap? Yes, you can. But, should you? No, you shouldn’t.

How have you shaved in emergency situations? Lard, maybe? Shortening? Please let us know in the comments.

Outfit Rundown

Normally, I shave without the shirt on. But, for today, I put on a gray T-shirt with a deep V-neck. My pants are from Polo Ralph Lauren. They are a Prince-of-Wales check in black and white, and I’m combining them with black and white socks that are over the calf from Ford Belvedere to keep with the gray effect of the overall outfit. Last but not least, after the aftershave, I went with a splash of High Heel White. Feels good and smells good.