Thread: why wont my lather work out?

Hey guys i have some colonel conks bay rum soap. I have a tweezerman badger brush. and i bought a colonel conk's mug that has a knob and i thought it was suppose to be able to have lather built in it. However when i build lather in a reghular bowl it seems to be in the middle of the brush and usually comes out just fine. but when i build it in the colonel conk bowl its never inside the brush and its just smeared all around the sides and i cant actualy build a lather. its way to thin. so im trying to hope its not the bowl cuz i dont wanna kno i bought something bad. theres a picture here https://www.heimerdingercutlery.com/...apothocary.jpg
the thinness at the bottom makes it hard to swirl and i think thats the reason why. also tonight was my third straight razor shave. it seem like ever since starting this ive been getting extremely painful shaves. i did from sideburn to jaw and my cheek. it just feels so uncomofrtable and when i finish up after with my mach 3 my face just feels really icky and burning and it never used to be like that.

Ok, first things first, the shaves WILL get better. I remember when i first started over a month ago, how i would dread the learning curve as i was trying to shave my entire face. Once i slowed it down, and paid attention to the growth of my hair, and stretching, it has improved significantly. Also, check to make sure your razor is shave ready, I know this is the most reiterated statement on the forums, but if it isn't shave ready (like my Dovo wasn't), chances are, its going to not be that pleasant. At least for me, investing in a disposable Shavette helped give me the testament of whats "sharp", in terms of razors. It can be a little rougher than most shavers, but it does give a good feeling on how a 4 day old beard can just be wiped off the face.

As for the Bowl, I actually have that same bowl and seem to have had completely different results. In terms of lather, its been a pretty good bowl to me, however if your really having trouble, just keep your soap in that bowl, and use a kitchen bowl (like a deep one you'd eat chilli out of) and lather out of that. Making sure that your brush is saturated with water also helps a great deal while making the lather. Oh, and one more trick i learned from these forums is the use of Anhydrous Glycerine (found at any Pharmacy in the skin care area) really helps stiffen up my lather and make it a lot more slick and comfortable on the shave. I hope this might help you out a little bit, and might prove as a first answer, before some of the more experienced guys get to it.

Hope this helps,

-Jackson

I have colonel conk soaps i find they don't develope the best of lathers the almond does it can all depend on your brush you realy need a good high end brush. I use a simpsons brush realy work well. You may be better of with some taylors soap or cream the creams are easier to lather up . I prefer soaps my self sounds like you razor needs honing

Originally Posted by gary haywood

I have colonel conk soaps i find they don't develope the best of lathers the almond does it can all depend on your brush you realy need a good high end brush. I use a simpsons brush realy work well. You may be better of with some taylors soap or cream the creams are easier to lather up . I prefer soaps my self sounds like you razor needs honing

I have the same china bowl cup no problems with the bowl fore sure

OK, so lathering is, in my opinion, harder than shaving. Too many people seem to ignore learning to make a good lather...have you watched Mantic's videos?

First, make sure that you're loading the brush enough...it should have a good amount of soap clumping the hairs together.

Now, if you're having problems with your lather sticking on the sides of the bowl, then try to keep the brush on the soap, rather than around the sides. Also, try loading the brush then lathering on your face. Lather belongs on your face, anyway...why keep it in a bowl?

Now, I have to respectfully disagree with Gary..you DON'T need a high end brush. They're nice, but they're not necessary. Plenty of people have great success with the Tweezerman, or with other cheaper brushes (C&E BBB, Omega Boars or Badgers, et. al.) so just keep at it. Good luck!