Thread: how to make lather without shaving brush?

Originally Posted by leadduck

You could pick up a cheap brush for $6 or $7 at Wal-Mart or CVS while you wait. I did this and I keep the cheap one to use for travel. If it gets left in the hotel, it's no big loss.

+1 on the $7 brush... The VDH boar brush is a bargain.

Note that your stubble will work like a brush.

Grab a puck of Williams or another hard shave soap and wet it
and wet your face. About 30 seconds later rub the soap
on your stubble and then with both hands (wet) rub your face
and make a lather.

You can also use a wash cloth.

The "stubble" brush trick works with creams too
and can work with less cream/soap than some folk
use....

This is the secret behind shave sticks. Just remember
to let your face (whiskers) be wet with clear water for a short
bit before adding the soap. Face lathering with a
brush instead of your hands does build a fluffier lather
and makes it easy to re-lather for a second pass.

Use your stubble....

Palmolive makes a stick soap that you actually just wet and then use the same as you would a brush on your face. I got it from a member in England, so I'm not sure if we can buy it anywhere here in the states. It works well though and I use it from time to time just for a change.

Originally Posted by slim5111

Palmolive makes a stick soap that you actually just wet and then use the same as you would a brush on your face. I got it from a member in England, so I'm not sure if we can buy it anywhere here in the states. It works well though and I use it from time to time just for a change.

I have seen shave sticks on a number of web sites. The sites with shave stick soaps
also have a long list of other soaps and creams.

I need to give them a second look to see if the shave sticks are TSA small enough. The Tabac stick
is 3.5oz (100gr) which is too big for carry on . D.R. Harris Almond Shaving Stick
is 40gr which is good to go... Erasmic Shave Stick is 1.75 oz / 50 gr also good to go.
Speick Shaving Soap Stick at 1.75 oz is also a winner.

I can live with a tossable plastic handle razor while traveling but
no shave soap and a brush (i.e. Lathering) well just not an option.

I've used the palmolive shave stick, It can work without a brush but I wouldn't really recommend it.
What I do is wet it, wet me, rub it on me, then take the pre soaked brush, shake it out and take a rotation around the stick, then start to build up a lather and it's a pretty decent lather, You can build up a good lather real quick in the hands but with the above process it's not necessary, it uilds up nicely.

If I need to I just wet the tip of the brush and go again. it lasts a while.

Call me a rebel and please don't flame me, but until your brush arrives, use the stuff in the aerosol can. Noxema is actually pretty decent in an emergency.

Originally Posted by Ogershok

Call me a rebel and please don't flame me, but until your brush arrives, use the stuff in the aerosol can. Noxema is actually pretty decent in an emergency.

Now... where's the tar and feathers when we need them?

Originally Posted by Ogershok

Call me a rebel and please don't flame me, but until your brush arrives, use the stuff in the aerosol can. Noxema is actually pretty decent in an emergency.

Well no flames; perhaps some tar and feathers but that looks
like it was in jest.

Your comment that stuff in a can can be decent enough
in an emergency may have value...

I would make the point that a well hydrated and well washed
face (face prep) can be shaved with that stuff in a can.
The worst problem with the can is that folk do not take
the necessary time to work the face and let the whiskers
and stuff work.

It still requires a brush but a $7.95 VDH brush and the last
of that old can of goo can become good shaving lather by application
of basic shave prep principles. Wash and rinse the face,
let whiskers hydrate for a full min with three being better
but takes multiple splashes of water. Then hydrate the
lather by working it with a brush and small dribbles of water
and then gently working that stuff on the face for thirty seconds
then cover with a marker lather to keep the moisture in and
keep track of what you have shaved.

Most of the badness of the goo in the can is the impression that
it is a short cut but shave prep takes what it takes. Nothing
magic the skin needs to have the sticky skin oils unstuck and
the whiskers need to have the outer part of the diameter
(think bark) softened so a sharp razor gets started on a clean cut.

Me I have found that if I am in a hurry Tabac jumps off the brush
but not so fast that my whiskers do not have time to get ready.
MWF takes a little longer to lather but makes up for it by
feeling super after and not needing an application of balm.

The other quickener is to grab yesterdays shave soap. Yesterdays
MWF lathers quicker than MWF that has sat and dried for two weeks.
D.R. Harris shave soap I have discovered lathers quicker/better on the
second day than the first. Once I discovered this yesterday's soap
effect DRH is now a contender for for matching MWF as
an equal in a land of giants.

Originally Posted by Ogershok

Call me a rebel and please don't flame me, but until your brush arrives, use the stuff in the aerosol can. Noxema is actually pretty decent in an emergency.

I wouldn't use foam from a can but gel on the other hand isn't that bad. the foam is just too dry for me but when I had experimented with jel it had what I can only describe as more of a slick feeling. recently I've even experimented with putting just a small squirt in my soap at about half lather.

I think it's time to figure out which is the priority tootbrush or good shave

Skip the bowl, make lather just like washing your hands, use a bit
more soap and less water in the beginning, add water as needed.