Right now, I lather my face, then go stropping and then add some more lather afterwords before I shave.
I'm wondering if you all do the same and let your lather sit on your face, or if you all can just lather and then shave right away.
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Right now, I lather my face, then go stropping and then add some more lather afterwords before I shave.
I'm wondering if you all do the same and let your lather sit on your face, or if you all can just lather and then shave right away.
Yup thats about the same rutine i use (after a hot shower)
I dont think it makes all that much difference as long as lather and lather well you'l do ok
I do it as you described. You need to take the time to strop so it seems to me to make sense to give the lather more time to soften your beard.
It takes all of 10 to 20 seconds to strop a razor once you get the hang of it so I don't see there to be a real difference. That being said i do it both ways...just depends on what I reach for first, the razor or the brush.
I let it sit long enough for me to grab my razor.
I have noticed that if you skip on other prep letting the lather sit for 5 minutes really help
Not sure how much it helps if the beard is already soaked
I usually shave after my shower, so I just lather up and go to town. I do my stropping before the shower btw.
I sometimes do what you described, but more often than not, I strop teh razor, make my lather in the bowl and then I work it into the beard for a good 90 seconds...by that time it's already taken hold and beard is soft...I haven't seen any difference when doing it again.
I tend to strop first up, then do my preshave prep and then make and apply my lather, so it doesnt sit on my face for much time at all.
I have very sensitive skin, so I do two lathers.
I lather the first time in the shower, after I've washed the face and steamed for a bit. It sits on until I'm out. Then I pour a cup of coffee, rinse, lather the second time, and shave. I strop the night before.
I was finding that my hair was very tough, and my skin was getting pink doing only one lather and shaving after a couple minutes.
M
Hello, gull:
I do as you by lathering my face, stropping the razor and then adding another coat of lather before shaving. The act takes about a minute or so.
Regards,
Obie
I have read that some lather, strop then wash off the lather and apply new lather before shaving.
I like to strop, lather then shave. Always get great results.
after my shower.. i spend about 2 song lengths facelathering.. maybe only 1 song if i'm listening to led zeppelin or rush or something.. then i let it marinate for at least another song length before i start my shave..
the longer i let my lather sit.. the more effective the shave.
When in the shower I use MWF bath bar soap. I leave MWF on my beard as I wash my hair. After I rinse and dry, I lather up with MWF shave soap and shave. I strop right before I shower. Works for me!
Any reason to apply the brush to my face is a good one to me. I usually lather up then strop and then reapply although it really isn't necessary. I do think letting the soap sit does help soften the beard. However when I use a DE I find it doesn't matter letting it sit. Strange eh?
Anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on what I choose to do between lathering and shaving
I typically do a combination. I strop a bit before I hit the shower and then when I get out of the shower I'll work in my lather than strop a bit more before the razor touches my face.
JF
I soak a hot wash cloth and hold that on my face for 45 to 60 sec. Then whomp up a nice heated lather in my Scwartz scuttle apply the lather and again wrap the hot wash cloth on that for another minute. Sometimes I'll substitute a pre-shave oil or Valobra stick or Musgo real glycerin soap for the second face soaking. Then I apply the lather for shaving and strop the razor. Usually there is much lather left over and use up what I need through my routine.
Mike
If I hot shave I will shower then lather, strop, then apply a steamed towel. After it cools I will repeat. Then I relather and shave. This whole process will take about ten minutes, plus or minus.
If I cold shave I just apply the ice cold lather one quarter of my face at a time then go straight to shaving. Then move on to another quarter. This whole shave takes about ten minutes.
-G
I strop my razor first, then take a hot shower. Afterwards, I craft my lather, apply it and massage it into my beard, rinse and apply some bay rum to my beard, then relather.
I agree -- letting the lather "marinate" on my face for 4 or 5 minutes is quite helpful, especially if I haven't shaved for a few days. It can help make up for shaving without first showering.Quote:
Originally Posted by janivar123
I do the same I strop up prior to getting in the shower. Take a real hot shower let the water run over my face for a 1 or 2 min prior to getting out, dry up use the hot water my brush was soaking in rub that into my face with the brush make lather, put it on and shave right away.Quote:
Originally Posted by markevens
I lather at night, and then use the straight to scrape off my pillow!!!
hehe!
Not!
I lather, strop, re-lather, then shave.
I shower, lather, strop, freshen up the lather with a few more drops of water and another pass of the brush, then shave.
I suspect though, that since the primary purpose of the lather is to hold moisture against the skin so the hairs can absorb it and soften, that if you wash and wet your face down really well in the shower and shave immediately afterward, there probably isn't much gained by having it on while stropping...
On the other hand, if you're shaving without showering first (e.g. such is the case in a barber shop), then letting it do its moisturizing work on the hairs while stropping - or, better yet, preceeding it with a steaming towel - is no doubt of immense benefit.
Well, IMO, it depends on how you make your lather:Quote:
Originally Posted by gull
1. If you make it in your hand, or in a bowl / scuttle, then I would say let it sit on your face for a while, because you really did not soften the beard that much by just applying the pre-made lather to your face.
2. If you make your lather directly on your face, then it is probably not that critical to let it stand too long, because you have already softened your beard and effectively had the lather "stand" on your face for the entire process of making the lather. If you then let it stand too long, it just starts drying out on your skin.
3. I have also found huge differences with the type of cream / soap you use. Some needs to sit a bit on the face, and others seem to work right off the bat. Some also dry out too quickly when you let it stand on your face, and you then have to lather a bit more before shaving.
In general, IMHO, if you make the lather directly on your face, then it does not need to stand before shaving.
Just my 2c!:gl:
If I shower before I shave, it really doesn't matter much what I do first. If I don't, I'll splash hot water on my beard, then work up my lather, apply it and strop. It seems to me the 2 minutes of water makes a significant difference.
Wet face - 15 seconds, lather - 30 to 45 seconds, shave - about 3 to 5 minutes.
I build up a thick lather on my face and keep "painting" until my inner-shaver tells me it's ready. Seriously. For all of the science and precision that I usually try to cram into the art of straight razor shaving, this is always the part that I oddly let my whims decide.
I have been stropping first then hot towel, lather, hot towel, lather. I usually shave before I shower. That has been working well for me.
I've been trying the following recently with excellent results:Quote:
Originally Posted by gull
After prepping my face with hot water, I take an almond size dollop of un-lathered shave cream, and massage in into my face. Just enough pressure and time to work into the whiskers properly.
I then take my brush (heated under hot water and shaken out lightly) and lather up the shave cream I have just massaged into my face, without adding any additional shave cream.
For the first 10-20 seconds of lathering, almost nothing happens, but then....the bomb, it just starts exploding as I lather for another minute or so.
I then immediately shave.
This way, it solves the problem of working the lather into the skin, and gives a nice initial coating to my skin. It also acts like having lather on your face for a few minutes before shaving.
Works great for me, try it out.:tu
Strop > shower > lather > shave.
Quote:
Originally Posted by leadingedge
i do this at times with c.o. bigelow.. kinda like a shave stick would work.. i find that i get a stronger initial eucalyptus kick when i do this.
I lather and shave right away, I do a good prep before lathering that is a hot shower then I apply Proraso preshave cream to my beard...no need to way, the anticipation will kill me. HOG
Turn on hot water in sink let it run until the hot water gets to the top floor in my house. (I should have put a hot water heater on third floor of house. Design error.)
While waiting, I strop the blade.
Once the water is hot I fill the sink and place whatever ceramic and oil I am going to use into the hot water.
Go Shower and do face prep in shower.
Return and let water out of sink. Fill the ceramics, which is now hot, with fresh hot water.
Place hot water than warm oil on face.
Strop again for a minute or two.
Lather in Bowl/face and shave.
Works for me!!
I have tried letting the lather sit on my face for a while and didn't notice a difference. It does make a difference if I shave after a shower so that is my only prep.
I always shave after a hot shower. I make sure to wash my face well in the shower. I have been using the Mitchell's Wool Fat bath soap and I love it. So moisturizing.
When I get out of the shower, I massage a pre-shave oil or cream into my beard for 30 seconds. Sometimes I skip this step and have seen no difference in my shave.
I then build lather in my scuttle. When I have a nice lather going, I transfer to my face and build lather for about 2 minutes on my face using circles and paint brush motions.
I then shave. I don't let it sit as I feel it will start to dry and the minute or two of face lathering should be sufficient to work the lather into the beard.