Thread: The Great Common Soap Experiment!

A little face massage with your pre-lathered brush should get some nice lather going on your face, you dont want to just paint it on and be done with it, a bit of backwards and forwardsing is a good thing.

Update:

So, in the midst of getting settled in to our new house, and with most all my gear still packed up, I was able to conduct one more experiment and in the process try a new (to me) cream that I happened to find by happenstance at a Rite Aid drug store.

Nivea Men Sensitive Shaving Cream:

Attachment 171575

I have to admit, I was excited to try this one. I love the Nivea for Men Aftershave Balm. It preforms fantastically, is inexpensive and smells great without being overpowering. This cream, from my preliminary testing, might be a winner! And with a cost of $4.79 a tube, it puts it about on par with the cost of C.O. Bigelow, but was available at my corner drug store instead of a mall.

I used the only brush at my disposal, a cheap Van der Hagen boar brush that came with the VDH kit (I know, I know, one day I'll get a "proper" brush).

I began by following the suggested method on the box/tube, which is applying a bit to a wet brush and face lathering. I was able to get a good creamy lather, but it seemed to dry rather quick. I did a single pass WTG, and tried to lather again for a second pass, but alas, it was a no go.

Wanting to give this cream a fair shot, I tried lathering in the shaving bowl sent to me by our very own Razorfeld.

Now this, THIS, is what I'm talking about!!

Attachment 171576

I started with a relatively dry brush, shaking out most of the excess water and began working the cream. After 10-15 seconds, it was apparent that this cream is a bit on the thirsty side. I dipped the tips of the brush in water and continued to build the lather, having to repeat this about 3 times. You can see the result above... a thick, slick, stiff lather that was stable and just awesome.

Granted, I still want to test this further as I did not do anymore passes with it, but from all the evidence I can see, this one's a keeper!