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I'm familiar with putting a drop or two of glycerin on soaps--what about adding a drop or two to a cream before lathering it? I'll probably experiment with it, but just wondered if anyone else has already tried it and if so, what you think.
thanks,
Ben
I add a few drops to the scuttle with my Truefitt cream before lathering it up. Seems to give a smoother shave.
Gycerin in soaps and crèmes go together like peachs n crème. I especially love making ubelathers with soap, crème and glycerin. They just have a glide and a thickness that you wont believe until you try it
I am not familiar with créme. Could you explain?Quote:
Originally Posted by cubancigar2000
BTW, I'm partial to Cuban sticks myself, especially H. Upmann. Not that they are obtainable, of course! ;-)
crème is the French spelling for cream.
Or for those trying to be sophisticated :p
When I make uberlather I usually use a brush full of my favorite soap, a dollop of my favorite cream with compatible scent and four drops of glycerine. Males a luxurious slick lather with plenty of cushion.
Nothing like it in my opinionQuote:
Originally Posted by FranfC
One of my cheap favorites is a few drops of glycerin and CO Bigelow cream.
+1 with MandoRob.
+2 -- I face lather, so I put 2 or 3 drops on my brush after I rub some Proraso cream into my beard, then use the brush to lather it up.
I use it every shave! Uber-lather just wouldn't be the same without it...6 drops for me! :beer1:
Great! Now I have to get some glycerin and try it with my soap and cream lathers. :banghead:
Note: The SRD soaps make a fine shaving lather...
When I first started straight shaving I mixed several drops of glycerin into my lathers and it made a noticeable difference. Funny enough I've backed off from using it as my shaving technique and lather making get better with experience. Still, made a difference from the get-go and would recommend to anyone struggling a bit to get their lather just right.
Glycerin forming is part of basic saponification. If you feel like you need to add glycerine to your soap and/or cream to significantly improve its performance, there either is something wrong with the product our your lathering technique.
However, if you add it for extra "fluffiness" or whatever, it's up to you. Personally, my experience has been that it seemed to cause my lather to dry out faster and to improve after care (moisturising) in lower quality soaps. So I got rid of my lower quality soaps and was left with no positive influence on my lather.
Maybe it's just me, but the highly photogenic merengue/whipped cream type lather that is often visible in shaving shots is is really just that, photogenic. For actual shaving I prefer a much wetter lather, with a consistency of thick yoghurt (sticking to dessert vocabulary here).
Slightly off-topic, but in my opinion relevant to the lather making process.
+1 to Pithor.
I tried the glycerin early on and decided the same. Not that anything is wrong with glycerin but it is not for me. Buy MdC, TOBS, Czech and Speake, Castle Forbes.
I started the überlather early in my shaving hobby. I personally like the addition of glycerine but I've only come to realize now ( a few months later) how "thirsty" it makes the lather.
+1 Great gets better. :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by MandoRob
+1 Pithor and Rolodave
I am glad I am not the only one who thinks like this.
If adding a basic ingredient like glycerin to a soap makes such a vast difference then there was obviously something (e.g. glycerin) lacking in the soap to start with.
In case of creams even more so, as it is easy to add (more) glycerin to a shaving cream formulation without changing the consistency of the product. In fact, if someone craves more glycerin, creams may be the way to go.
In essence, I believe in Leonardo da Vinci's "Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication" and am deeply skeptical of overly elaborate rituals to get a job done that IMO should be (and was to our fathers and grandfathers) pretty simple and straightforward.
Lastly, while I may get a kick out of a cheap shaving soap or cream that compares favorably with much more expensive products, I do not believe that such a product should require additional preparation, or that I should have to alter my lathering or shaving technique to get it to perform adequately.
If it does, it's not for me. 👎
In the bathroom, I shave.
If I want to try my luck at chemistry, I go to the lab. 😈
B.
Funny...That's exactly what I do...right down to the # of drops of glycerine.Quote:
Originally Posted by FranfC
Been doing it that way for a long time. Works fantastic!
Pete <:-}
Like all of us shavers do, I have changed my mind in regards to glycerin. I have found that when using real hot water in my scuttle, the lather dries out quicker when adding glycerin. I like hot lather a lot. I also figured out that when adding glycerin to a soap or crème or both in a ubelather, the lather requires more water during the shave. I really like the added glide when using glycerin though. I have not used it in a while and have been pleasantly surprised
As I have said before, i bought a large bottle of glycerin and the seller stated that using more than [20% I think] glycerin to make soaps actually caused a hygroscopic effect where the lather actually absorbed water, smaller concentrations did not have this effect.Quote:
Originally Posted by rlmnshvstr8
The short of this is: use the product sparingly.