learning to lather

Good morning,

Newbie here in need of help. I am struggling with getting a good lather. Most people say to keep practising and building lather over and over with experimenting with water. The few times I have tried this I have been face lathering, but i find that after a couple attempts my face gets really irritated from the brush. I am using a Simpson Pure Badger. Is there a big difference in face lathering or using a bowl? Also, if I build a lather in a bowl how to i apply it to my face? Do I still use the brush?

Aaron

Depending on whether you are using a soap or a cream, the principle is primarily to get the soap from the container to the brush. With creams, even the stiffer creams it usually is a little easier. Normally a small dollop of the creams will be enough. The Pure Badger can be a little more scritchy of a brush and if you use a lot of pressure to face lather, you can irritate sensitive skin.

I find when using a soap, that it works best to soak or wet the brush and then shake off the excess water and start whisking the tips of the brush on the soap. Add a touch of water and whisk some more. Usually 4 or 5 times of doing this loads the soap onto the brush. The soap will usually tell you if a little more water is needed, but you don't want too much water as it makes the lather runny.

If you use a bowl, just whisk the lather up in the bowl and keep building it with small touches of water when you are using either the creams or soaps. When you build up a nice amount of lather in the bowl, just paste is lightly on your face using the tips of the brush and you should get less irritation.

Keep in mind that some soaps and creams provide different types of lathers. Some are thick and creamy and some are more thin. The key is to find one that you like which provides a nice glide for you when shaving and doesn't dry out quickly.

Have fun.

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Originally Posted by Newfie816

Good morning,

Newbie here in need of help. I am struggling with getting a good lather. Most people say to keep practising and building lather over and over with experimenting with water. The few times I have tried this I have been face lathering, but i find that after a couple attempts my face gets really irritated from the brush. I am using a Simpson Pure Badger. Is there a big difference in face lathering or using a bowl? Also, if I build a lather in a bowl how to i apply it to my face? Do I still use the brush?

Aaron

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Hello, Aaron, and welcome to the SRP! You've come to the right place, sir.

I would say that for practicing if you want to face lather, practice on your hand. Skin's tougher there and can stand up to it better.

The difference between face and bowl lathering is that with face lathering you build the lather on your face which means the brush needs to be wetter. In bowl lathering you build the lather in a bowl which means you can start with a damp brush and add water to "dial it in" so to speak (you can tell which method I'd recommend for a beginner!). You can still apply bowl lather with a brush (I do!) or you can just scoop it up in your hand and smear it on. That's a big "what ever works for you" sort of question.

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Originally Posted by Lynn

Depending on whether you are using a soap or a cream, the principle is primarily to get the soap from the container to the brush. With creams, even the stiffer creams it usually is a little easier. Normally a small dollop of the creams will be enough. The Pure Badger can be a little more scritchy of a brush and if you use a lot of pressure to face lather, you can irritate sensitive skin.

I find when using a soap, that it works best to soak or wet the brush and then shake off the excess water and start whisking the tips of the brush on the soap. Add a touch of water and whisk some more. Usually 4 or 5 times of doing this loads the soap onto the brush. The soap will usually tell you if a little more water is needed, but you don't want too much water as it makes the lather runny.

If you use a bowl, just whisk the lather up in the bowl and keep building it with small touches of water when you are using either the creams or soaps. When you build up a nice amount of lather in the bowl, just paste is lightly on your face using the tips of the brush and you should get less irritation.

Keep in mind that some soaps and creams provide different types of lathers. Some are thick and creamy and some are more thin. The key is to find one that you like which provides a nice glide for you when shaving and doesn't dry out quickly.

Have fun.

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What he said! :p

Welcome to SARP, the ride of your life ahead. And ditto to what Lynn has said about building a usable lather. I spent an evening "wasting" small amounts of soaps and creams teaching myself what a good lather, for me, needs to look and feel like. Practice, practice, practice (despite emotional responses to what your childhood piano teacher always said, practice makes <almost> perfect).

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Originally Posted by Newfie816

Good morning,
The few times I have tried this I have been face lathering, but i find that after a couple attempts my face gets really irritated from the brush.
Aaron

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Welcome, Aaron.

I'm not going to repeat what's already been said, but if you're finding face lathering irritating to your skin. Stop. Shaving with an already irritated face is *not* a pleasant experience.

I would say your skin has told you which lathering method would be better for you.

Enjoy the journey. Read, Watch, Ask. Start with the stickies here created for beginners and great refreshers for others.

I haven't tried face lathering (I'm shaving around a beard, and using a bowl works great for me), and I mostly use creams, but I can certainly share your frustration! You can't go wrong with the advice that's already been given, but here's my 2¢ worth, based on personal experience:

• I tended to start with my brush too wet at first, so my lather was always too loose. You can always add small (a few drops at a time) amounts of water to a developing lather, but you can't take it away!
• Try "pumping" your brush (moving it up and down) in a bowl along with the swirling; I find that this gets things going much faster than only swirling the brush
• Don't forget that you may have to modify your technique for the next soap or cream
• Practice.. practice...practice
• Have fun!

Working in a bowl, I like to think of it as working the lather out of the brush, then back in, and repeat. I'll slap the brush against the sides to work it out (whack-a-whack-a-whack), then pump and swirl to work it back in. Add water or not based on results, and repeat a few times. For me, this keeps the lather building up. Good luck!

what soap are you trying to lather? I would highly recommend palm olive cream/soap to a beginner.

takes seconds to build a lather compared to some others ive used

Shanky887614 - I'm using SRD non-scented soap with a Simpson Beaufort B4 Pure Badger brush. I have some TOBS Sandlewood and a Omega 637 Silvertip on the way.

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Originally Posted by shanky887614

what soap are you trying to lather? I would highly recommend palm olive cream/soap to a beginner.

takes seconds to build a lather compared to some others ive used

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That's the one I'm using (the one that comes in a green stick and costs 50p) and a few drops of glycerin. Sometimes I mix in a bit of akro soap as well if I'm feeling really crazy lol.

I'm new as well and can't face lather either but I have no problems in my modified soup bowl (until my SWK scuttle comes). To be honest I like the bowl lather method anyway and can get some pretty good thick lather going. Just one question I've been meaning to ask; can a lather be too thick ?

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Originally Posted by mike1011

That's the one I'm using (the one that comes in a green stick and costs 50p) and a few drops of glycerin. Sometimes I mix in a bit of akro soap as well if I'm feeling really crazy lol.

I'm new as well and can't face lather either but I have no problems in my modified soup bowl (until my SWK scuttle comes). To be honest I like the bowl lather method anyway and can get some pretty good thick lather going. Just one question I've been meaning to ask; can a lather be too thick ?

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yes, rub fingers together with a little of the lather till you get your eye in

I think you got great advice already, So I'm just say Hello, and welcome to the SRP family !! :chapeau

The only thing I would add is a would really encourage you to start out with a shaving cream. Shaving creams are infinitely easier to lather. Once you get that down then I would move on to soaps.

When I first started wet shaving I struggled with hard soaps. Got TAOS shaving cream. made life easier, learned a few things on that, then continued on to my soaps.

How long do you take loading the soap from the puck to the brush? Depending on how hard the soap is, I take some extra time to load the brush.

Soft soap like stirling or proraso i load for 20 seconds approx. Hard soaps like The Holy Black its closer to a minute.

Tabac is kind of in the middle for me.

After a year of using cream I recently switched to soap and I didn't understood why after loading it just last for one pass.
Now, when I read the info provided here I tried Lynns described method and it lasted for entire shave! There was so much lather that it could last for another pass. Thank you guys!

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Originally Posted by Aurimas

After a year of using cream I recently switched to soap and I didn't understood why after loading it just last for one pass.
Now, when I read the info provided here I tried Lynns described method and it lasted for entire shave! There was so much lather that it could last for another pass. Thank you guys!

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I tend to use lyns method with one exception.

I sometimes lather unside down, hold the soap puck upside down and load the brush like this (roll sleeves up before hand) then lather runs down your arm at an alarming rate.

that gets the lather right into the knot and easily last 3 passes