Shaving Soaps & Creams... What's the difference?

I recently purchased some differnt saving soaps and creams to try out. How do you use the creams? I don't know if I put my brush in the cream wet or dry or even at all. Do I put it on my face directly with my hand and work it in?

Ignorance 101 here. Just trying some different things.

BTW... one cream is Prorosol. I thought I would give it a shot. And the other is for sensitive skin...Taylor of Old Bond Street or something. Got them from SRD.


Edit:

Hold on... I found a thread just on this. I'm sorry ... I should look around a bit.

This seems like a job for the wiki: Category:Lather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Basically there are 4 steps:

* prepare the brush, soak it and remove the excess water

* load the brush (rub it on the soap or the bream until the bristles are saturated); not much is needed here for good soaps 3 to 5 seconds are usually enough. With creams you can also use a dollop and spread it onto your bowl if you use one.

* swirl adding water in small amounts until no more lather can be produced (this is the peak of the soap/cream).

* hydrate your lather with 3 or so drops before you use it.

Perhaps this video would help visualize all the steps:

YouTube - How To Build And Apply Traditional Shaving Lather

If you have any questions, do not be afraid to ask.

Al raz.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by groundrush

I recently purchased some differnt saving soaps and creams to try out. How do you use the creams? I don't know if I put my brush in the cream wet or dry or even at all. Do I put it on my face directly with my hand and work it in?

Ignorance 101 here. Just trying some different things.

BTW... one cream is Prorosol. I thought I would give it a shot. And the other is for sensitive skin...Taylor of Old Bond Street or something. Got them from SRD.


Edit:

Hold on... I found a thread just on this. I'm sorry ... I should look around a bit.

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+1 on Al's advice. And being a master shaving cream maker he ought to know.

At any rate, that's how I make my lather, although I like to combine soap with cream to create a superlather. Add a few drops of glycerin and you've got uberlather.

I thank you for that video! I now know that my shaves have been too dry!

Edit;

And...where do you get a big scuttlemug bowl like that?

Edit again... I have an old soup bowl that looks like it would do quite well as a lather bowl... handle and all!! It has "Onion Soup" on it, but who gives a rat's a$$? I'm gonna give "Old Onion" a try.

A good thought would be boar brush=good for hard soaps
Badger brush=good for cremes and softer soaps...any bowl will do..although I use a shave scuttle from www.srd.com. Keeps lather warm and from drying out also

Pcdad