Shaving gel, shaving foam, shaving soap, shaving cream, shaving oil, water or shower gel. Which is the best product for you?! - DOVO Solingen - Meisterwerke in Stahl seit 1906 (official)

You are standing in a drugstore in front of the shaving shelf and understand nothing?! You don’t know which product gives the best result? Then keep reading to learn the differences between the different shaving products. If you’re curious about which razor is the right one for you, go to this link.

Products Overview

Shaving foam

Shaving foam is especially popular for wet shaving. It´s a combination of potassium and triethanolamine soaps, superfattening agents and stearic acid. The usage is very simple: You shake the tube, moisturize your body with water and then apply the foam without any further steps.

Advantages
The dosage and immediate readiness allow a quick and convenient use. The result is normally good. Besides, you can use the shaving foam not only for shaving. Here’s a cool trick: To remove a make-up stain from your shirt or blouse, let a small amount of your shaving foam work for ten minutes. Then rinse it off with warm water.

Disadvantages
The aluminium packages and some ingredients can cause allergies. They also produce a lot of waste. The foam can run off quickly, so you always have to make sure that it´s still there – which can make shaving in the shower quite difficult.

Shaving gel

The shaving gel is another option for wet shaving. This is how you use this product: First you moisturize your skin with water and then you apply the gel – it’s simple! The only difference between shaving gel and shaving foam is that you have to foam the gel yourself, while shaving foam comes out of the tube itself.

Advantages
A big advantage of shaving gel is its transparency. It is especially helpful if you want to pay attention to the contours of the beard and other small areas. Moreover, shaving gel sticks to the skin longer than foam and provides a pleasant cooling effect afterwards.

Disadvantages
Shaving with shaving gel takes a little longer because the gel has to be foamed first and then massaged in. Moreover, gel has become very popular since a few years, which is why the products are comparatively expensive.

Shaving cream

The product consists of a mixture of potassium and triethinolamine soaps, stearic acid, superfatting agents, fragrances and moisturising substances such as glycerol or sorbitol. Shaving cream and shaving foam are very similar in composition.

Advantages
Shaving cream is perfect for beginners. It is reasonably priced, soft and comfortable to use. Speaking of beginners – here you can find out how to achieve the perfect wet shave.

Disadvantages
The foam of the cream is not as firm and creamy as shaving soap or shaving foam. It is also not economical to use and contains many additives that could be harmful to your health and the environment.

Shaving soap

A true classic in the world of shaving – just like the MERKUR FUTUR. The modern shaving soap normally consists of sodium and potassium soap, humectants, water and fragrances. The best is to use a shaving brush to turn the soap into foam. It´s important to wash the remaining shaving soap from the jar and especially from the brush after use.

Advantages
Shaving soap is very economical in use: you can use it for several months without any problems. It also produces the greatest foam, which keeps relatively long on the skin and generally produces very good shaving results. The paper packages without aluminium and other harmful substances make this product the number one for environmentally conscious customers.

Disadvantages
You always have to foam shaving soap yourself, which is why shaving takes longer. The foaming during the first few applications can be quite difficult for beginners. The price for shaving soap can be relatively high sometimes, but we find it reasonable.

Shower Gel

This product is normally used to cleanse the body while taking a shower. So it is not really meant to be used for shaving.

Advantages
The shower gel is inexpensive and is usually available in every household.

Disadvantages
The razor breaks down faster and there are generally more disadvantages than advantages! The blades go dull and clog very quickly. This also harms your skin, because you have to run your razor over your skin much more often. In a nutshell, the shower gel is suitable only as an emergency solution.

Water

You know this situation: There is no shaving foam or similar at home? So what now? No shaving is also not an option – so the water must be used as a shaving foam substitute.
At first, everything is fine, but after a few hours you have burning red skin spots. No wonder!

Advantages
Shaving with water is even cheaper than with shower gel and you need nothing but a water tap. The only positive thing we would like to say about it is that shaving with water is better than dry shaving.

Disadvantages
Irritations, pimples, skin irritations, pains, red spots and irritated neighbours … Do we really need to say more?!

Shaving Oil

You can achieve a particularly gentle shave with shaving oil. It consists of a mixture of natural oils. It moisturises the skin and works as a lubricant. Moreover, it can prevent inflammation.

Advantages
The shaving oil is a good option for a gentle plastic-free shave. It is especially good for sensitive skin, as it works as a moisturiser. The necessary ingredients can be bought in any pharmacy or drugstore. This way you can make shaving oil yourself at home and control which substances you expose your skin to.

Disadvantages
Shaving oil can clog the blade gap, especially in system razors. With a MERKUR razor such as the MERKUR 23C you are certainly better off! However, shaving oil is very inconvenient to use. Your hands get sticky and the sink must always be cleaned afterwards.

Conclusion

A solution for every taste

As you can see, there is a wide range of different shaving products.
Shower gel and water are quick to use, but can be harmful to the skin and the shaver. Shaving foam or gel are best suited for the beginners and lazybones among you. For the foam lover there are shaving soap and shaving cream. Shaving oils and shaving soaps are considered the most environmentally friendly option. For optimal results,you should use a high quality shaving soap. For every taste and every purse you can find the suitable care product.