Shaving Gels, Foams & Shaving Creams

Shaving products do not simply cover the range of razors available, but extend to both pre-, post-shave care. Shaving gels, foams, and creams are products designed to facilitate the process of shaving itself, protecting your skin from unwanted cuts and irritation, and also often nourishing and moisturising it.

What do shaving creams, gels, and foams do?

Shaving creams, foams, and gels refer to a substance used to lubricate the passage of a razor over your skin. Gels and foams are essentially different formats of shaving cream which confer different advantage, but generally speaking they are used to smoothen a shave and prevent cutting, irritation, and burning by lubricating the target area and softening the hair therein.  These products are generally bought in aerosol cans, but shaving creams for instance are available less frequently in tins or tubes.


The cream is essentially a mixture of substances good for your skin like oils, soaps, water, and alcohol, devised in quantities and consistencies that don’t irritate your skin and provide it with much needed moisture. When in the form of a cream, a shaving brush is often used to lather it and form a thick covering over which you shave. For the sake of convenience however, gels and foams have been made available. A foam is basically the lathered form of the cream, formed by trapping lots of bubbles in the cream as it’s dispensed from its aerosol can. This saves you the hassle of lathering a cream making for a quicker shave.

Shaving gels are essentially a solid jelly like substance which, when rubbed onto your skin, form a foam that again is effectively the lathered form of a shaving cream. This option has the advantage of being convenient and extremely efficient. Only small amounts of gel are needed for a full and luscious covering, hence giving you more value for your money and saving many unwanted trips to the chemist’s. Gels are also available in tubs, but these seem to be less popular than the spray can format.

Why should I use shaving creams, gels, and/or foams?

The process of shaving is essentially a primitive one, and while we’ve come a long way from cavemen dragging a seashell across a stubbly cheek, what you’re doing is scraping off unwanted hair with a blade. Not surprisingly this can traumatise your skin and leave it dry, irritated, cut, bumpy, or red. Shaving creams, gels, and foams ease this process, and often replenish much needed hydration during the shave. These products soften the hair and make the motion of a razor blade less of a scrape and more of a glide, minimising the risk of any cosmetically unpleasant side effects of shaving. Which product you use is of course completely up to your personal preference.

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