Thread: Good lather?

MY vdh lather, and some stuck to my ugly mug.

Originally Posted by HNSB

What else did you get?

Williams. it was like $2 at Walgreens

The good news is that you can get really good shaves from both Van Der Hagen and Williams.
The bad news is that they can be a little more difficult than some other soaps.

I have some Tabac that I never use. PM me your address and I'll send it to you.

On a side notes, just reading about lathering up made me go shave! Still working on a perfect recipe for my lather but its coming along!

The OP might want to try lathering right on top of the puck in a mug. Then, if the lather is too watery, all it takes is a little more time with the brush to get the water/soap balance right.

Good Luck.

Yeah, I think we all agree watery and thin. It's very interesting, I think (and I've only been into this SR thing for 10 weeks or so; though I've always used a brush and lather) how 'fine' the line is. Not enough water = drying out, too much = no cushion. I'm not all that experienced, but I think Überlather with a fair amount of glycerin adds a WHOLE lot of wunderbar. I look for a whipped cream consistency; with peaks on the brush. When I spread it on my face I want it to remain as thick several minutes or so after as when I spread it; if it 'dissipates' a little it's not right. Face lathering is cool too, as others alluded, and has the added exfoliating effect (not that you really need that since you're removing skin anyway). Bondpunk's cream looks really nice. Check this out, it's cool Making Überlather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

BTW, since you said 'say what you will', the college goatee looks cool, but I'd scrap the college moustache for a bit. Just sayin'... :-)

Hey. BTW, just watched the vid that was posted (first one with the glass bowl). I myself shake my brush exactly 5 times after soaking. I put some cream in the still warm bowl (the bowl and brush soak in the sink as I shower; hot water in the bowl AND sink) when I get out the shower I drain and re-soak and put the bowl back in the sink full of hot water with no water in the bowl (the water comes up the sides to about a CM from the top). I put some glycerin in the bowl and then I load the brush with soap (I like Crabtree and Evelyn Nomad). The brush at this time is quite dry; it takes the soap really well. Then I start making the Überlather. I like to add water as I go, just a bit at a time dribbled from my hand. I find I can control, it better this way. I'm sure the guy in the vid knows exactly how much water he wants to retain on the brush; but I find if I start with the brush pretty much dry, I can add as I go; different soap/cream combos need different amounts of water. I do use a pre-shave cream (normally Proraso) that 'soaks in' as I make the lather. I lather and leave it on as I strop (30 canvas, 70 leather). If (if) the lather seems to have dried a bit or dissipated a bit I then face lather a bit and shave. I know it's weird, but sometimes I simply practise making lathers without shaving at all. In fact, since I'm rather bored right now, I think I'll experiment with TOBS Eton College, Speick, Truefitt and Hill Trafalgar and Musgo Real all made as an Überlather with Crabtree and Evelyn and glycerin. I might even take PHOTOS!!! Yheeee...Haaaaa! How WILD!!!!


I know it's rude to post three in a row so I'm combining this one with the update, and hoping that will placate :-)

Here's the result. The four creams are, of course, all classics. I know this thread is all about feel, but the scent of each of these creams is superb.

The TOBS Eton College as an Überlather with the C&E went insane; MASSIVE lather in under a minute! Lovely peaks. HUGE amounts of product from the 1cm squirt in the bowl...



The Musgo Real did, well...OK, bit poor in the lather department. Nice lather; but not as much product. Might need more glycerin to help it along...



The Speick also went insane, like a German Überyouth at a German Überrave party (it's OK, I can say that, I'm German). Masses of product, lots of lather...



The Truefitt and Hill Trafalgar did swimmingly well, chaps. Lots of pluck and plenty of good quality lather...



All in all, it's hard to distinguish between the TOBS, Speick and the Truefitt and Hill. The two English creams probably produced the most lather, the German next and the Portuguese last. ALL have a wonderful scent. So, moral of the story is, try an Über or two; I'd go for a tub of C&E and a tube of TOBS Eton College and some supermarket or drug store glycerin, you'll find with that combo you'll have a cool lather and a cool scent!
Sorry for the long post; got carried away!!! :-)

Williams and VDH are both pretty nice soaps and you can get a nice lather out of either one. I see in your original pic that you have the puck in the same bowl that you're generating your lather in. I started out that way and it rarely if ever resulted in a good lather, mainly because you're inevitably going to pick up more soap on the brush and constantly change the soap/water ratio. I recommend generating your lather in a separate mug or bowl; a quick and easy solution would be to put the puck back in the plastic container it came in and load your brush up that way, then go to the bowl and lather up. Starting out, after you've soaked your brush in warm water, shake most of the water out before you load up and start lathering. Add water in gradually, a few drops at a time until you get an idea of how much water your soap likes. You might also consider upgrading from the VDH brush (which is good in its own right) to a badger brush in the future too.

looks thin. More soap and less water then whip the heck out of it!