second shave and need some advice.

This is a bit of a mash up of different thoughts after my second full shave, but I'm looking for some advice as well as opinions.
I've just recently bought a set up from Straight razor designs, I just completed immediately before writing this. Things went great the first couple days, the cheeks and sideburns were pretty straight forward. Shaving my neck was fairly easy, even if it did take some interesting contortions to stay (mostly) with the grain. When I decided to go for my first full shave, and tackle the chin and upper lip, I started experiencing pulling and a lot of discomfort, through my whole shave. Thinking it was my technique, I tried again today, and started having the same issues. So, I stopped, I decided to try some of the bigellow shave cream I've had for a while, instead of the SRD soap, I had never used the cream in a mug before, and I now know why my shave wasn't going well, the "lather" I created using the soap was pitiful.

On to the advice, How should I go about getting that rich creamy lather with a soap, specifically the SRD soap?
Does quality of the water affect a soap more than a cream? I have distilled water on hand, for other reasons, should I try lathering with that?

On an unrelated topic, I currently use Clubman after shave, I have for years, but I think I want to find something that moisturizes a bit. Does any one have any suggestions? I do prefer something more classic, like clubman, but I'm open to newer stuff if it works well.

Before it's pointed out, I was following this: Making basic soap lather - Straight Razor Place Library or thought I was, but my results were not on par.

I have had a goatee the whole time I have been straight razor shaving so I cannot comment on that. I will comment on the soap question. When I started using soap like this it took me a while to realize how much water was really needed for the good lather and maybe not so much soap on the brush. Second, some days it takes longer to whip up the soap that I think it should. Try not getting so much soap on the brush then add a little water to the brush, swirl, add a bit more water, swirl, and so on. You will see changes in how the soap builds up and this can give you an idea what your water to soap proportions are.

If you didn't roll your edge while stropping , it's your angle on the chin area that trips up new guys ,, just relax your 30-40 shaves away from really starting to get the different angles , strokes and stretching so you can do a full shave with comfort , it won't happen overnight , so keep up the good work and practice stropping( it's really important to keeping it shave ready) and work on your lather. Soaps cheap , practice it too. Tc

I had this same experience until I figured out my stropping. My issue wasn't rolling the blade, it was the I was trying to be so "light" with the touch, it wasn't actually making full contact. Took me probably 6 months to fully figure out how to strop. Until then, I would have good days and bad, and was constantly thinking I need to hone.

My question was really about the soap, well, and after shave product suggestion. I didn't have any issues with the shave after switching to the cream. I was really just giving background on the problem. Just in case, how do I know if the edge is rolled?
Thanks ericd, I wasn't using much water, I'll try more in the future.

When I started DE shaving, I didn't realise how poor my lathers were til about a month after starting. Here's what I do now:

Soak the soap in hot water, or put a little hot water in the container where the soap is. Soak brush. Have shower. After shower sqeeze out most water from brush. Pour out the water from the soap. Now whip the brush in the lather as fast as you can and count to 30 seconds apllying pressure to the soap. This "loads" the brush. If I'm bowl lathering, I will take the brush to the bowl and start whipping, as the lather builds and it gets noticable thicker I add a few drops of water and start whipping again and repeat with water till I have enough. Remember the brush is trying to get air into the suds, like when you whip an egg you are trying to get air in the mixture. Works great for me YMMV.

Edit: When I started, I was under the impression it took less than a minute to build a good lather, now I spend up to 5 minutes when I bowl later, less when face lathering.

Hi and welcome. For soap there are 3 main variables. Loading the brush enough, not adding enough water and not taking enough time lathering. More often it is a matter of water and time. As said practice a few times and you will figure it out. Good luck

There's a great video somewhere on here that shows a guy lathering 3 or 4 different soaps as well as a couple of techniques for building a lather. I'm looking for it and will come back and post it here when I find it, but the crux was that every product is different, so you have to adjust as you go, continuing to work on the lather until you see and can feel on your face the difference.

He timed each one and they were all in the 3-7 minute range. Like anything, it takes time to do it well. I'll find the video for you (I hope).

I think I did a video on lathering with the SRD soaps.

The key is to use a little water at a time and load up the brush from the container. 3-5 times whisking for a few seconds, dab o water, more whisking, dab o water........then, one more dab o water and start face lathering. You can produce big suds. You may need another dab o water along the way, but that should get you going.

The moustache area and chin require opposite types of movement when shaving. The moustache is more of a cutting in motion and the chin is more about cutting around, especially the round part of the chin. You can approach the moustache area from the sides at first to help a little. On the chin, break it into three sections. Section one under the lower lip is a straight down stroke. The sides of the chin are flatter for section 2 and also require a down stroke. Section 3 is the round part of the chin and that is where you have to learn to maneuver the razor so that it keeps cutting around the round part. This takes practice. Light, short strokes really help and the wrist has a tendency to bend back when shaving the chin area so watch out for this.

Have fun.

I couldn't find the video I was looking for, but here is a good thread that includes a video of Lynn lathering with SRD soap and another video of a guy who has dozens of lathering videos on youtube with different soaps and creams. http://straightrazorpalace.com/pre-s...ct-lather.html

Well seeing as Lynn has answered the question and they are his soaps as far as i know you should have the info required.
8 was going to go with eddy79's suggestion of practice lathering, you really won't get through that much product.
I would also say that I don't think water hardness is as big an issue as I used to think it was, i lather with water that is very mineral heavy (admittedly there is some basic filtering) at work and I generate fine lather.

Thank you all very much for your replies.

After a couple more shaves with your advice I'm getting a much better lather and shave, thanks again, so much.

You got plenty of soap lathering advice, as to Clubman:
I love the stuff and use it several days a week, but alone the alcohol can dry your skin. My solutions and both work equally well. Use a moisturizing lotion on your face after the clubman has dried or use more than one after shave. One of my favorite combos is to use Nivea Dual Purpose balm as an after shave with a splash of Clubman on top for scent. Basically, Im using Clubman as a Cologne or moisturizing after.

I use and love SRD's soaps. I use a bowl, so my technique is different to Lynn's. I like to use a really dry brush for loading, then I add more water as needed in the bowl while mixing. What I mean by a dry brush, is I don't presoak, and this method is the one I employ for both boar and badger brushes. I get the tap water hot, then quickly give the brush a little bit of water. I then begin loading only adding a few drops during the loading process. When I quit loading and go to the bowl, my brush is really loaded with soap product....but not lather. As I swirl the brush around the bowl, I'm pushing cream, but not lather. I slowly add water until a lather just explodes in the bowl. The whole process takes about 90 seconds. Even when you're not preparing to shave, practice making lather a couple of times a day and in no time, you'll be good at it.