It says "shaving cream bowl"...is it a "bar" of soap that comes in a bowl or do you need a separate bowl?

This style of shaving is often called, "soap and a brush." With the hard soap bar (actually a round "bar"), you would swirl a wet brush over/across the hard soap to work up some soap into the bristles. Then swirl that over/across your face to work up and cover with a nice thick lather. This product is shaving *cream,* so much softer. With shaving cream you have 3 choices: 1. Use just as you would with hard soap, but use much less as little goes a long way! 2. Dab some into a separate bowl, add just a little hot H2O, work into a lather IN the bowl and then apply. 3. Dab a little into your moistened fingers, work it into a lather and apply with the brush. Bowl is more traditional, but with a dripping wet brush and a good lathering on the face you can skip the bowl if desired.

what are the advantages of a brush applied soap over aresol cream or gel.

The main advantage of a shave soap over a gel is moisturizing. A shave soap moisturizes your beard hairs making them swell and easier to cut, with less irritation. Gels don't do that, which makes for a more irritating shave. Do this in the shower for extra moisture and heat. Shave soap usually lasts longer as you only need a little to make a lot of lather which is cost effective. When you use a brush to apply the soap you do it vigorously to wake up your beard hairs to make them stand up better, which equates to a closer shave. All-in-all a shave soap will deliver a superior close shave with little irritation.

what's the difference between shaving cream and shaving soap?

Good quality shaving soap’s will always yield a superior lather and consistency… however these are mostly artisan soaps and require much more technique and also in the amount of water-soap ratio. Basically, it’s easy to get consistent with a cream if you use your finger and eyeball the same amount each time. You then get an idea of how much water to use after a few shaves. Using roughly the same amount of cream and then get the lather dialed in ti the consistency you like. Soaps can be easy to overload or… VERY difficult to load the brush at all, especially if it’s a hard puck of a triple milled soap like (Arlington scent is my favorite so far) DR HARRIS. It comes down to preferences and TOBS Sandalwood was my first “real” quality shaving cream and while I was initially put off by the scent at first, it being a strong and almost a too traditional scent even for English soaps. It’s my comfort scent if I had to pick just one. It used to give me a red burning rash if I used it to often but I don’t shave everyday now so I’m fine with it. After many years of DE shaving I still love my American artisanal soaps and they have probably the best soap base and lather protection you can get. However, I love the traditional English scents the best… firmly a man of the three-T’s as they call it. With a tie really for 1st place as I really love DR HARRIS scents and quality soap but the nod would go to TOBS because that sandalwood just grows on you so I must buy another tub!!! Btw, I have WAY too many shaving creams and soaps but I’m not willing to pay the premium for better soap bases that really don’t affect my shaving results provided I’m using the right blade/razor combo. Feather AS-D2 with a Feather blade and I’m set. Sorry for the rant… but you mine as well enjoy the shave since you gotta do it anyway. 1)Taylor of old bond street (TOBS) 2)DR HARRIS 3)Trumpers 4)Truefitt&Hill