Thread: The Great Common Soap Experiment!

Originally Posted by tedh75

I haven't been able to find it at BB&B in my area. Bath and Body Works has it though.

Yeah, I've never seen it there either, but Bath and Body Works definitely has it..

Yeah, me neither, have no idea why I typed 'bed bath and beyond' since I haven't been in that store in years (staples also carries co2 for my sodasteam so i go there instead).

Sorry wasn't trying to confuse... only wanted to note the bigelow pharmacy as a rather worthwhile place to check out if you happen to visit nyc and are in the area.

Nice post.

Great post!

I think something a lot of newbies, myself included, don't realize the time it can take to whip up a good lather. As you stated you it took around 2 min to get a good lather from these soaps/creams. Every new wet shaver should keep this in mind when they feel their lather is not adequate enough as the time they are spending whipping up lather may not be enough to produce quality results!

Thanks for the info on these soaps/creams! I recently grabbed a small tube of C.O. Bigelow from bath and body when I got dragged in there with the gf... Looking forward to using it as soon as I can get away from my Mitchell's wool fat for one shave hahaha

Speaking if tallow soaps, I have trouble getting decent lather out of cella crema. I probably just need to whip it longer.

Thanks for the post...that was great...I have williams, wilkenson sword, proraso, AoS and some samples from whipped dog I haven't opened yet and I am definitely hit and miss with the lathers for sure. I was thinking about getting a wilkenson sword brush, but couldn't figure out if it was a boar brush or nylon?
Thanks for the notes...will have to relax and spend more time on that lather building phase, it is crucial. no need to rush!

Originally Posted by tedh75

Speaking if tallow soaps, I have trouble getting decent lather out of cella crema. I probably just need to whip it longer.

I still prefer to face lather Cella, I for one get better results with it that way. Don't get me wrong I get a very serviceable lather in a bowl with it but it always does better for me face lathering. As always YMMV.

used some of these tips yesterday....probably had my best shave to date!!!

Originally Posted by noobs

used some of these tips yesterday....probably had my best shave to date!!!

I am pleased that things are improving for you, So have you figured out what was not going right originally?

So far it was a lack of water with the soaps, specifically the proraso and williams. I have always soaked my brush before a shave, but this time soaked it for much longer. I also, pre soaked the proraso by putting some water on it while i showered to soften it up. It lathered up much quicker, and much more fully with those nice stable egg white peaks. With the williams, I had only soaked the brush a bit longer and used much more water on the brush, going to try pre soaking it the next time. I still need to work on my AoS cream which I had been getting decent lathers with, but now am enjoying the bar soaps quite a bit. Have yet to try either method with the wilkinson sword soap, but it is on the to do list for sure.

One thing though, and after looking at the pictures in the post, I think I am ok, is that those nice stable peaks don't seam to transfer over to your face very well, seems like the application thins them out, is that a difference between bowl building lather and face lathering, or just the way it is? would it not be nice to have that big fluffy lather thats in the bowl on your face, or is the lather on your face supposed to be like in the pictures of this post?

Either way, it feels great to get the lather right, I was happier about the lather than I was the shave, which I thought went pretty dang well too, my gf thinks I'm nuts when I walk out of the bathroom with a bowl of lather yelling, LOOK AT THE STABLE PEAKS!

Originally Posted by edhewitt

I am pleased that things are improving for you, So have you figured out what was not going right originally?