Thread: Lather...w/ soap

Great article and thanks to everyone who helped out. I have already taken some time and tried it out and yes...I definately needed more water and to just whip it up. Thanks again.

Sometimes I feel that the lather builds up on the brush and in the bowl, but does not transfer to my face real well. Does anyone have (or have had) this problem?

Maybe I just need to keep working the brush and try to build it up. I don't know, but it seems that if I use the "painter" technique and go side to side, then the lather from the outside of the brush gets on my face. If I use the circular motions, the lather doesn't seem to always cover my face.

Mike,

I have had this problem, and it's one reason why I switched to lathering on my face. That is part of the reason I made the comment about not being seduced by beautiful-looking lather in your bowl.

When I lather on my face, I start with a thinner lather that covers my skin easily and then build it up to a nice thick layer. I end up with seemingly less lather in my brush, but it always turns out to be more than enough.

You may want to try adding more water, as well. I've found that drier lather doesn't come out of the stinkin' brush. Try dipping the tips of the brush into a sink full of water--maybe just 1/8 of an inch, then doing some circular strokes on your face.

Good luck,
Josh

Josh

I shaved last night, using the lather building technique from the B&B article above, and it makes all the difference.

I'm amazed at how much thicker I can get the lather by whipping it up in a separate bowl instead of the ceramic mug w/my soap cake in it!

I'm glad the article helped you, bwknight. There's other stuff there that's worth a good read also.
The most difficult thing for me is patience. It takes a little time and effort to whip a good lather up. I purposely watch a clock to make sure I'm giving a good couple of minutes to do it right ---other wise, I'll skimp on the time thing. When you think you're getting there, give it a little more time and effort ---it's kind of hard in our fast food , video game age.

So Josh, like you said I tried just doing the lather on my face. It worked great for the first pass (again, still not using a straight, just the plain old cartridges until I get used to stretching and get the strop). The second pass it seemed as if there was not enough lather left in the brush. I guess it will all just come with experience and practice.

It did help though - thanks.

I posted a method for making lather some time ago on SRP. I don't know if anyone tried it since I didn't get any feedback. I'm not sure how it compares to the B&B method, but it has worked very well for me for many years.

If anyone decides to try my method, I would be happy to know how it works for others.


Scott