I've had some big changes recently: new job, new home, new city. It's been a stressful couple of months. Believe me, it's for the best in the long run. However, I've been getting terrible shaves ever since I moved.

One of the many reasons I was super stoked for the move to Magog was to get away from Montreal's hard water. Magog's hardness is 52-72 mg/L, whereas Montreal's is 109-124. Even though I had learned to build excellent lather with hard water, I was dreaming of the days when I could build mountains of lather with barely any effort like in all those shave videos online. For my first couple of shaves I used my silvertip brush with MdC, and had stellar shaves, and I thought I had hit the jackpot. Unfortunately, since then I've been using my other brushes and other soaps, and can't get a decent lather to save my life. The only soap that will lather properly is MdC. Not even Baum.be! I've tried the silvertip with other soaps, without success. I've only been able to shave twice a week max because of the irritation, and I've had to break out the alum bar again, just like back when I was still learning to use a straight razor.

I know that I don't need to worry about the sharpness of my razors, and I'm pretty confident my stropping is still up to par. The beard hairs are definitely being removed, and efficiently. It really seems to me that the problem is in the pre-shave.

I usually bowl lather, although sometimes I will face lather if I'm using a cream. Currently, the lather seems fine when I finish building it, but it breaks down very quickly. In a matter of a couple minutes it goes from thick and creamy to light and airy, and dries out quickly on my face. Normally this tells me that either there's too much water or the water is too hot, so I've paid a lot of attention to both factors but can't seem to make any difference. Because the problem is the same regardless of the soap or brush I use (except MdC), I'm beginning to think there's something else at play here.

Other possible contributing factors: 1) Apparently there are water quality issues here, which may play a part. 2) Just before I moved I cleaned all my brushes, and I suppose it's possible that I somehow messed them up, although I have no idea what I could have done. 3) It's entirely possible that the stress and/or lack of shaving routine has affected me enough that I'm not able to effectively judge my lather-building.

My plan: 1) Try to establish a regular shaving routine. 2) Try to concentrate on one brush and one soap for a while, allowing me to experiment with other factors such as: A) Distilled water vs. tap water; B) Cleaning the brush again (maybe with a vinegar bath this time). C) Temperature of the water. 3) Save the MdC for occasions when I really don't want to have irritation, until I get this figured out.

Any observations, suggestions, comments are welcome! I'm underslept and overworked, so I wouldn't be surprised if the answer is obvious and I just can't see it at the moment.

Thanks,
Joel