Which do you do and why? I currently mug lather as this was the way I learned to shave. I use a Vulfix404 mixed badger/boar brush and can't seem to create a good lather on the face. Will probably buy a silvertip try a face lather sometime.
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Which do you do and why? I currently mug lather as this was the way I learned to shave. I use a Vulfix404 mixed badger/boar brush and can't seem to create a good lather on the face. Will probably buy a silvertip try a face lather sometime.
I started out as a scuttle guy (dirtybird) but I almost always face lather. I might use my scuttle once every couple months. I face lather because I get a better shave and its just makes sense to me. With that said, sometimes I want a nice hot lather shave and I have the scuttle.
Bowl lathered for the longest time. I Love scuttles. Now I start the lather in a bowl but really whip it together on the face.
Agreed. I find I have much more control of the consistency of my lather if I go straight from the soap to my face.Quote:
Originally Posted by Redcane
Face lathered almost the whole 40+ years of shaving with a detour to canned goo many years ago and a try at using a scuttle a couple of years back when I first started in with straight razors. I load my brush, be it boar, badger or synthetic, with soap or cream and build lather on my face. No fuss, no muss, quick and to the point. Feels good to the face as a bonus. Water could be hot or cold, really does not matter to me, but have been using cold water for a few years now.
Bob
Looks like I might be in the minority so far. I've been bowl lathering since day one. I feel like I whip the lather to about the same consistency in the bowl and have more control with it on my face with the brush. I know how I am and if I face lathered I'd probably end up with it on top of my head.
Pete <:-}
I used to do both but now I almost exclusively face lather with a silver tip badger and hard soaps. For me it's cleaner and I don't waste as much water. Hot lather? If I want I can rest the brush in a hot mug in between passes.
I started using a brush in 1973 or so, a badger, and a mug of Old Spice soap. Ran out of that and bought Williams to replace it. Ran out of that and grabbed up the bar of Ivory at that time, and loaded the brush with the soap in my palm, then face lathered. Did that for years, switched to Dove somewhere along the way, still wash with that.
I came to the forums in '06 or thereabouts with the same brush, same habits. Along came more brushes, soaps, creams and bowls and scuttles. I bowl lathered for a time. Liked it because I could generate more lather for more passes, and it seemed to be easier to make better lather at that stage. The high end soaps were a little different to lather with than a bar of bath soap.
I went back to face lathering after a couple of years because I had lost some of my enthusiasm for daily shaving and face lathering still feels good, is less work/effort IMO. Add to that I'm only doing one pass most of the time, maximum two, so I don't need a bowlful to wash down the drain.
If you're going to go for face lathering get a brush with a short loft, 48-50mm. Easier to lather on those hard pucks IME.
on face with cold water, feels better, you massage your face too, get better blod-circulation, get younger :)
Face lather for me all the way. It's part of my face prep. It exfoliates, deep cleans, rustles up them whiskers, feels good, faster, cleaner, thrifty, did I miss anything ? :<0)
Face lather all the way, for me nothing beats digging into your face with a solid, scritchy brush loaded with your favorite soap of the day.....
I face lather for my day to day shave. If something special is happening and I want to really stretch out the prep and shave and really put out my very best shave I bowl lather. It just makes the shave seem more if there is all the extra little steps. My daily shave is almost a minimalist shave.
Always face Lather,always have,always will.
I also always face lather, with ice cold water. It exfoliates my skin, works the lather into the beard and it also feels nice. I feel I get better control over the lather's consistency too.
It depend for me on what I'm making the lather out of. If it's a cream I bowl lather and for a soap I'm more inclined to do a lot of work of building the lather on the face.
It's interesting I think the progression one takes in learning the art of shaving. Lately (3 months or so) I've started to actually dip the end of the brush in the water to pick up more water. A year or so ago i never would have done that, ALWAYS precisely dribbling water from my hand.
Bowl lather is good for the 1st test of a soap-cream,good for photos
Some more time for swirling,you have enough lather as a reserve,you can control the lather better if you add little bit more water.
Face lather saves you time and gives it all in the swirling for your skin's massage
Needs little more experience because it's easy to stay "out of lather" and if you add more water will overflow to your neck-chest.
I bowl-lathered for years, and for me, that was the best place to learn. The bowl is a nice, controlled space to experiment with water and with brush action. For a long time, I couldn't face lather at all, and wondered how anyone could.
Using shave sticks was my breakthrough to face lathering, and I grate most soaps into plastic push-up containers now. But, having learned to face lather, I can do it pretty well from a puck too now.
I too learnt by bowl lathering and I'm glad I did. Helped me to understand how to build a lather etc. I now excclusively face lather and love it. I did treat myself to a brush scuttle for warm lather in the winter for multiple passes.
My brush of choice is 2 band or Manchurian.
Here's me being lathered by a true legend.
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...psa62cee79.jpg
You know, I never saw anyone bowl lather or heard of bowl lathering till I jointed this forum a couple of years ago.
Bob
Quote:
Originally Posted by jodypress
Those are some really great pictures in your photo bucket. I would love to find a shaving bowl/stand setup like that which I could afford someday. :)
I got into bowl lathering. It just feels like the right thing to do for me. Besides Santa brought me a new scuttle :p
When I started wet shaving I bowl lathered thinking that was the only way to do it. Then I discovered face lathering and never looked back. Face lathering just feels so wonderful to me.
I hardly ever shave without using my trusted schwarzweisskeramik scuttle.
I simply love it, less mess and enough for two passes on the head and three on the face if need be
To the OP,
All these face latherers have severely mislead you. The ultimate in shave lather is uberlather. Tough to get all those things together on your face! As for the "massage, scrubbing, whatever rationale," you can still do that bowl lathering....and yes I still face lather when away from my trusty scuttle.
That's Awesome!!! It must have been a truly unbelievable experience to be in the presence of Mastro Livi.Quote:
Originally Posted by jodypress
One can only dream...
Thanks for sharing
Pete <:-}
I am guessing that I am showing my newness... I make my lather in a bowl. I put the cream into the bowl, take my brush out of the hot water it has been soaking in and I whip up my lather. Since I shave my face WTG and XTG and add ATG on my neck. I spend extra time lathering. I like having the "froth" before I work it onto my face. I spend the extra time making sure my face is well covered. I like the ritual I have developed and i find it relaxing. Everyone finds their relaxation ritual somehow.
If that is the criteria for newness, then I'm fine with being called one too;)Quote:
Originally Posted by tom475
Like so many things with shaving, there is more than one way to skin a cat. It really does not matter how you lather up so long as you are satisfied with the lather you are getting. It is nice to have options.
Bob
My technique for bowl lathering is loading for 30s then whipping it in a mug as fast as I can go adding drops of water as I go. I can build loads of lather this way. Face lathering I can never seem to build as much lather which is probably due to technique as well as my brush, face lathering gets messy too. I build most of the lather in the mug but take time to really work it in to my face.
Happy to share my shaving joys Pete. Have a look here if you want to know more about my visit to Mastro Livi: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...xperience.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by petercp4e
Shaving joys to say the least! I checked out the link you posted of your 40th birthday with Mastro Livi. What a wonderful documentation of what, for me, would be the trip of a lifetime. Wait a minute.... My next birthday is 60...Now you've got me thinking...hmmm!Quote:
Originally Posted by jodypress
Like I said, one can only dream. Thanks again for sharing. At least I felt like I was there.
Pete <:-}
Ok tried face lathering today, lather turned out a lot slicker but not as much volume. Saves time and feels good on my face and not as messy as I thought it would be. Might stay with it a while :)
Started out making lather in a pewter mug. Now I always face lather.
I used to whip up cream in a mug when I first started, but have advanced onto face lathering with soap. I think back then it was easier to get a good lather like that, mostly because I used cream instead of soap, and didn't know any better. Now the quality of the lather is better with face lathering, because it's easier to control the amount of water that goes into the soap when it's whipped up directly on my face.
Now that you mention the volume and slickness being different iirc the same with me when I bowl lathered. I think the tendency is for people to make the lather too airy when bowl lathering so you get a voluminous lather that kills the slickness a bit. At least you now have another option in lathering that works.Quote:
Originally Posted by RedGladiator
Bob
Couldn't be more true.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobH
I bowl lather only because I make such a mess when I face lather. If I face lather, I end up with lather on the mirror, wall, counter, heck I think I got it on the ceiling once.
As my practicing is trying to evolve into skill, I have learned that spending an extra minute or two making lather and another extra moment lathering my face good and "heavy" has been making a better shave.Quote:
Originally Posted by RedGladiator
By "heavy" lather I mean working the lather onto my face and using my brush to try and work the lather "into" my skin.
Since I woke up to this my already good shaves have gotten better. I am still DE shaving but I think this will make my SR. experience better when I have what I need.
Thanks to the many posts/threads that have shared knowledge. My learning curve has been slow and that is on me but the source of knowledge and experience is assembled here. Thanks to all!!