Am I not making lather right?

So while I was waiting for my razor to arrive, I read a bunch of stuff and watched a bunch of videos about all of the things necessary to make this thing work.

One of them that I kept hearing about was how much effort and practice it takes to make a good lather just right. And how, some people find it easier with creams than soaps and whether or not to use glycerine, and how some brushes are better for one type, etc, etc....

Well, I have to say, making lather has been such a non-issue for me, I'm starting to wonder if maybe I'm not really making a good lather. How do I know? I mean, it seems nice and fluffy to me and it seems to do what it's supposed to. I guess I'm just wondering if maybe I'm not getting the result that I should.

Explanation of your process and/or pictures? :)

Good idea. I didn't think to take pictures last time I shaved. I'll have to do that next time.

Basically my process is, to let my brush soak for like 5-10 minutes (while I'm showering or stropping or whatever). If I'm using soap I soak that too. If I'm using cream, just the brush. Then I pull out the brush and shake a bunch of the water out of it.

If I'm using soap I drain the water all off of it and load the brush up and then whip it in a bowl which I usually fill with hot water for a minute or two beforehand and then empty.

If I'm using cream, same thing except I just scoop a small dollop into the bowl with my finger.

My whipping consists of mostly circular motions around the bowl and occasionally if I feel there isn't enough air in the mix I'll do an up and down motion with the bristles sort of like a butter churning kind of action.

Sounds about like I do it. The thing that works for me is adding water until you find the maximum limit the cream will hold while still maintaining cushion and glide. IME the water equals closer smoother shaves.

Some like to make it sound like rocket science, but making good lather is rather easy...

And is your lather wet or dry?
Is it filled with bubbles or is it creamy?

I find if I can hold my bowl upside-down and my lather doesn't move it's thick enough. Or even better if I can stand my brush up straight in my lather it's thick enough. I then will pull my brush out an if the later on te brush looks like whipped cream then I'm ready to go.

However, while shaving, if I have completed 1 half and the other have is dry, then I have not created a good enough lather.

Sorry if these thoughts are a bit scattered... I'm pre-coffee right now :)

It seems pretty moist to me. I haven't tried but I believe if I tipped the bowl over it would stay put. I can't say about standing the brush up because I don't make enough lather for that, I only shave my neck so I try not to make too much. When I'm done I don't see any real bubbles anymore it turns into a cream.

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Originally Posted by HigherFasterNow

And is your lather wet or dry?
Is it filled with bubbles or is it creamy?

I find if I can hold my bowl upside-down and my lather doesn't move it's thick enough. Or even better if I can stand my brush up straight in my lather it's thick enough. I then will pull my brush out an if the later on te brush looks like whipped cream then I'm ready to go.

However, while shaving, if I have completed 1 half and the other have is dry, then I have not created a good enough lather.

Sorry if these thoughts are a bit scattered... I'm pre-coffee right now :)

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Personally I tend to build my lather to how you describe and then add more water, to make it really moist and slick. I find the better soaps and creams are those that can hold the most water without breaking down works best for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blix

Personally I tend to build my lather to how you describe and then add more water, to make it really moist and slick. I find the better soaps and creams are those that can hold the most water without breaking down works best for me.

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I'll have to try that method. I did try to make lather once early on without shaking the brush out first and I had to dump it because I couldn't get it to whip up at all so I've been going light on the water since then.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blix

Personally I tend to build my lather to how you describe and then add more water, to make it really moist and slick. I find the better soaps and creams are those that can hold the most water without breaking down works best for me.

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I'll try this later today :)

I have really been on a Proraso kick since the weather has been sooo hot here in Ohio. I found that proraso really holds alot of water and I don't shake the brush very much before I load it with soap. I hold the soap container over the bowl and let the excess water and soap from the brush fall into the bowl, if that makes sense, then I whip the lather in the bowl for 20-30 seconds and it gets "sticky" on the brush. At this point I add more water by drizzling hot water onto the brush and then swirling and pumping in the bowl and the lather just seems to explode all at once. I usually can tell when I have enough water when the cream goes from milky to having a shiny sheen to it. Hope this helps and it does seem to work good for me.

Before extra water
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/9383/dsc0001ct.jpg

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http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2272/dsc0002yeo.jpg

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So those are what I have been ending up with.

And here is after taking JoeSomebody's advice and adding more water after I whip it.
After Extra Water:
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/9711/dsc0007cx.jpg

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http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/4892/post0005.jpg

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I would say I probably added about 1.5-2 teaspoons more water after I did my initial lather to make that.

And yes, I can flip the bowl over and it stays. I didn't try it until after I added the water but it definitely stayed for 4 or 5 seconds.

Looks fine to me. Plus it sounds like it's working out fine for you as far as shaving goes. Usually when someone posts about their lather they are complaining about it being too dry (flaking off) or too wet (lather is thin and runny) or they don't use enough product (lather literally disappears off their face). If this isn't an issue then it sounds like you're okay.

Yeah your lather looks alright to me. I guess the best test is how your shaves have been.

Looks pretty nice to me too, so nice I could eat it :-)

I'm pretty much hooked on Überlather these days; using Body Shop Maca Root cream, Evelyn and Crabtree Nomad soap and gycerin. I did an 'all Proraso' shave the other day but I prefer the Überlather I make, (plus it's too cold here at the moment for Proraso!) the glide and cushion is really nice. This morning I used too much water (wasn't really concentrating, first day back at work after hols) and it was too watery, it felt so too :-(

Actually, I think Ryan has actually said it all in a nutshell, in my limited experiance anyway. All my bodgy attempts I reckon I could trace to one of the errors he states; thanks Ryan!

Awesome. Thanks for the confirmation everybody. I feel better now. I guess I just assumed it would take me a while to get it right and when it looked good right off the bat I got concerned.

As far as how my shaves go, it seems pretty good to me but I'm still so new that I'm sure my technique is to blame before my lather. I haven't cut myself yet. Just a little bit of razor burn and bumps but that's getting better every shave.

I did try a pre-lather coating of astroglide and I really do think that helped a lot this time.

Try to lighten up on your pressure, that is probably what is causing the bumps/burn. Atleast that's what was causing mine.
Sounds like you're making good progress.

Looks pretty good, but how does it taste?

I was unaware of the "taste test" as a qualifier of lathers. I think I'm going to go ahead and pass on that one.

Yummy! Put some of that on a donut! :D The lather looks fine.

PhylanPan, your lather looks great! Did you noticed how the surface gloss gets "shiny" when the water is increased? Also, when the water rinses the soap off the blade easily, I know I have it right. But that's just me, experiment! Half the fun of a journey isn't the destination, it's the trip...

Proraso is the easiest soap to make good Lather.
It looks good from what you show on pictures, now enjoy in broad brush and to shaving.
Enjoy it. also playing with Lather