Cream dries out halfway through shave

Hello all,

First post on here but have been shaving with a straight razor for a couple months now. I purchased a razor off of E-bay from a reputable seller who's feedback was 100% positive for delivering sharp, correctly honed razors. In addition I got the Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood shaving cream and a badger hair brush. Overall I can shave relatively well, however one problem I noticed is that the cream and my skin both feel dry about halfway through shaving (maybe because I still can't do it real fast?). This generally leads the blade kind of sticking as I move it over my skin. Part of the problem could be I'm lathering the scream on my face and not in a bowl etc... however before I actually purchase something to lather in I was wondering if anyone had this problem and/or a solution.

You could add a little more water to your lather by quickly swiping the brush tips under slowly running water - this is how I do it.

The other simple solution is to re-lather portions of your face as it starts to dry out. Hey, more time to enjoy the lather and brush!

This will happen less as you get quicker at shaving.

Jordan

First off, welcome to SRP!

Second, when I started I had the same problem with the lather drying out. My solution was to only lather part of my face at a time, i.e. above the jawline, shave that part, then lather below the jawline.

Third, you don't need anything special to build a lather in. and bowl or mug will work. Coffee mug, cereal bowl, I still use a miso soup bowl most of the time.

Lathering only part of your face might work, but it can also let your hair dry out, and result in a less than perfect shave experience.
Another option is to add some glycerine to your lather, a drop of almond oil works, as does a small amount of shave cream.
Anything to trap a little extra moisture in your lather.
If this doesn't work, there is no shame in relathering as you go, I think we all do it at times.

Another thing I've been thinking of trying is a little fresh aloe in my lather... I don't know how well it would work, but it would add slick, moisture, and probably some body to the lather. :shrug:

One other thing that should be brought up more often on here, is that we call it WET shaving for a reason.... You might already be doing this, if not this might really help you out....
Actually splash your face with warm/hot water before you lather, start with your face dripping wet.....

Yeah I do start with my face wet right after a shower. I had tried leaving in a little bit more water on the brush, which helped a bit, but not enough. Do you think if I lathered my entire face, then re-lathered halfway through that would get the job done? I might try some of the additives suggested here, seems logical.

Grab anything bowl or mug like from your kitchen and have a go at lathering in there. It helps to really see how much water you're adding. It helps bust the learning curve a little because you can see the effect of more water on the lather each time.

Welcome!
I'm a face latherer too:hmmm:.
Here's my method:

I wash my beard area with a liquid facial soap and rinse with the hottest water I can stand.
I don't dry my face.
I hold my brush under the tap, turned hottest (about 50°Celsius).
I shake the brush two times, loosing most of the water that the brush can't hold.
Then I swirl it on top of my soap for about 10 seconds and start painting-massaging the lather on my beard. An opaque coat of lather forms quickly.
I add a few drops of hottest tap water to the brush, and start working on the face again. I repeat with additional water if necessary. I aim for as much water in the lather as I can without it starting to run off my face.
Then I go strop the razor.
When finished, I wipe the brush along the side of the bowl that holds the soap. I rinse the brush with the hottest tap water, shake it out again, pick up the lather and some more out of the bowl, and rework the lather on my face, again adding drops of water to the brush till I'm satisfied with the consistency, containing as much water as possible.
Shaving in the bathroom, I never had to re-apply lather, for reasons of it drying out.
Shaving my wifes legs, however, outdoors on a sunny breezy day, is another thing. Lather made from a puck of soap dries out while applying it, in such case. Using lathered-up shaving cream makes a big difference in that case.

Hopes this is of some use to you,
best regards,
Bart.

I think one of the best things about this forum is how we learn we are not alone in these battles. I was using a well regarded cream today and it was drying like chalk on my face . I thought I was the only person dealing with this drying issue!

At first I thought maybe since I live in the desert that was the issue, but the soap I was using is made in a dry country!

Thank you for sharing your challenges and successful solutions.

I had that problem at first as it took 10+ mins per pass. Maybe try bowl lathering at first as you will have a fresh supply of lather in the bowl and don't be afraid to add more water, some soaps are very thirsty

I'm no expert but I found Taylor to be great for DE shaving but not slick or cushiony enough for the SR. I mostly use Proraso or Baum.Be for the SR. But there's a never ending supply of great soaps out there most of which I'll never get around to :(

-steve

After a couple of months, you should have figured out your face map and be able to work more quickly. What exactly is holding you up at this point that your lather is drying out before you can shave your whole face? Are you still trying to shave the same way as your first shave, or have you adapted to what you have learned over time?

I've been using TOBS for a long time, and never had trouble with a DE, but when I started SR shaving it was drying out. Initially, I did two things. One was to shave 1/4 of my face at a time. The other was to add more water to the lather so that it is not so thick (using a bowl). Now that I shave faster, it's much less of a problem, but I still do sections at a time.

Even when I've done face lathering, I'd do sections at a time and closely monitor the thickness of the TOBS. One tip, is I apply a preshave cream before each pass. Was using Poraso, but now use Noxema with some drops of glycerin. This keeps my face from drying, when I do sections at a time.

Lastly, I do find that some of the TOBS seem to lather up differently, with some needing more water, it seems. I use mostly avocado, and occasionally do others like Sandalwood, Rose, and Lemon Lime.

Try the preshave, it may help. Apply it and then face lather, and then reapply, before lathering on next pass.

Thanks to all of the useful comments! I am new to the straight razor and have had the same problem, probably because I take too long still... Anyway, these posts are quite useful!

Yeah, I was ridicously slow, when first using a straight razor. It takes time to figure out what direction to shave, how hard to press, how to get to certain areas, etc.

You'll get there, and some of the drying issues will lessen as a result.