creating your perfect lather

Evening everyone, hope you all had a good weekend.

Well ever since i got my straight razor last week i havent been able to get a good lather going. It was always runny and would slide down my face big time. Well tonight i decided to watch a few videos that were suggested to me. Mantic59 is the man and because of his video for the 1st time i got a perfect lather and it really changed my shave experience in a big way. My problem is that i was using too much water. I would soak my brush for a few minutes and right away after the soak i would put my brush in the bowl with the soap. The excess of water was too much and caused a big time runny soap.

This time after soaking for a few minutes i took a few seconds to whip the brush to remove the excess water and this time my durby cream puffed up into a rich thick lather.

Anyways im 33 years old and im rediscovering shaving since joining this site Thank to everyone here

Here is the video that really helped me.

How To Build And Apply Traditional Shaving Lather - YouTube

I like to face lather as my shaves seem to go smoother when I work the soap into my skin. Lathering in my hand gets good results but seems like a waste of time I could be brushing my face. My tendency is to go too dry and need to add water to get the creaminess I want.

I am locked onto Mitchel's Wool Fat soap but my fall back is Proraso.

I've been struggling with the same thing, but too little water I think. I have been paying attention to the peaks that form when you pull the brush out of the mug and how slick it feels when making the lather. Those things in addition to a bigger mug have helped me a lot. I still tend to start out dry, but add a little water until it feels right. That guys videos always remind me of science videos I had to watch in High School... still informative though :)

Another common mistake is not loading the brush with enough product. Generally speaking, if you use plenty of soap or cream and then "over-do it" with water you won't have as much of an issue with runny lather. Of course it is easier to add water to dry lather, so you have to rely on visual cues to tell you if it's over-hydrated. It's just a matter of trial and error, eventually you'll be able to asses your lather with ease.

I followed the steps in the video when using my new SRD scuttle last night, and the AoS Ocean Kelp just exploded. I guess one must be careful not to load too much product on the brush. :D