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You don't know what you're missing.
I have been using shaving soap up until this week when I picked up some glycerin and some shaving cream samples. 4 drops of glycerin, some soap and a nickle size dollop of shaving cream = excellent lather / excellent shave.
srsly. If you haven't tried this, DO IT! Its cheap and only adds about 30 secs to your prep time.
CheeseMan,
I spike my soap with cream and glycerine only if it needs it. I do it with my lower end soaps. I would not think of uber-lathering with Martin de Candre, Provence Sante, Institute Karite, Tabac, Mitchell's Woold Fat, and the rest of the great soaps. If a soap can't stand on its own, I don't buy it. The lower grade soaps I've had for some years and somehow can't make myself to get rid of them. Also, sometimes I take a chance on a new soap find and it bombs. In that case, rather than getting rid of it, I spike it with cream and glycerine. Either way, it's all part of the enjoyment in the wet shaving ritual. If you enjoy it, by all means do it.
CheeseMan,
I like Uberlather, too, as do a lot of folks here. Obie is what I would call a purist. If you ever learn things about soaps and creams on this forum, chances are high that that knowledge is traceable in some way back to Obie.
-Mark
Maybe I just have crappy soap then (Trumper's?). I've never been able to make lather as good as the "uber-lather" with just my soap.Quote:
Originally Posted by Obie
CheeseMan,
Trumper soaps are quite good. I have had a wide range of them through the years and created luxurious lather. Obviously your water will have some effect on the lather, but mostly good lather is the result of good technique. The way I make my lather is this: On the way to the shower I rest the brush in my Moss Scuttle filled with hot tap water. The soap mug is filled with hot water and placed in the sink filled halfway with hot water.
After the shower, I dump the water from the mug, shake my brush several times and gently squeeze the remaining water from it. Then I load the damp brush with soap — about 45 seconds of swirling — and begin to make lather in a lather bowl, adding water a little at a time as needed. Sometimes after loading the brush I lather directly onto the face, dipping the tips of the brush into water as needed. That does it. Try that and let's see what happens.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with adding cream to your soap, if you want to, but I feel good soaps should stand on their own.
I sometimes uber with TOBS Sandalwood and Castle Forbes (or AOS Lavender) cream/Glycerin
Those creams IMHO work great with DE's but just aren't enough on their own for the SR
However, I never Uber my MWF or Tabac, never felt the need to :)
When I was just beginning I tried uber-ing (hipster conjugation of the verb ;)) and it gave a great result that really impressed me. Since then I no longer uber (base form of the verb ;)) and have found what Obie is saying to be a truth. A good soap and the right technique should create a lather that stands on it's own. Since then I have tried uber-ing every now and again and it doesn't seem to improve anything over a good soap alone. I might do it if the soap is not top shelf, as like Obie I cannot seem to just throw out the lower quality soaps I have but then again they tend to never come out of the soap drawer and with the sheer number of soaps and creams I have may very well go rotten before they do.
I have noticed however a drop of liquid lanolin can sometimes add comfort and richness to a pure soap or cream.
I started using a DE about 2.5 years ago so I could take shaving back in time and be more traditional. Once I mastered the DE I decided to take the shaving tradition back even further and start using a straight. So last year I started straight razor shaving and have not picked up my DE since.
When I purchased my DE I questioned the vendor regarding soaps and creams and one of the comments he made is that soaps were more traditional than creams and since I wanted to follow our forefather’s traditions I bought the soaps and found them to be no problem.
I lead myself astray last year and got myself some fancy cream, glycerin and liquid lanolin since I read so much on SRP and I have seen on YouTube all this talk about ‘Uber’ lather.
But IMHO it is true, if you have manage to whip yourself up a think superior full bodied creamy lather from your soap there is no reason to dump in the glycerin, creams and lanolin. Following shaving traditions, surly our forefathers never messed about with that ‘Uber’ cocktail.
To me it seems a bit of a contradiction to straight razor shave for tradition (as I do amongst other reasons) and then also mess around creating a fancy lather cocktail.
If you sat yourself down one evening and reward yourself with a high quality single malt aged Scotch whiskey would you than had a blended un-aged whiskey to the mix in an attempt to make it even smoother?
But of course as they say, your mileage may vary.
I have a quite a few soaps and creams :p
Been doing the Straight Razor thing for over 30 years, and I have enjoyed creating Überlathers for the past 5 years
Speaking of MWF which is a very high quality soap alone, I think personally that nothing (so far) can beat MWF soap + Musgo Real cream + 5 drop of Glycerin= "Lanolin Overload Über" for shaving comfort and after shave conditioning...
Do I create Übers every shave?? Nope, but for special days when I have the time I pamper myself, better yet the wife absolutely loves TOBS Lavender soap + Castle Forbes Lavender cream + 5 drops of Glycerin = "English Garden Über" for her legs...
ps: I have no problem making a quality thick creamy lather with Williams soap alone, and can shave every day with it, but I choose not to..
I could also shave everyday with an electric or a disposable but I chose not to long ago
I like choice
I think there is quite a contingent of people on either side of this issue. On the one hand you have those who feel soaps and creams should stand on their own. I think, actually, most wet shavers believe that.
I think for the most part, uberlathers, at least from the postings I have read here on SRP, do it for the pure fun of it. Those who tout it the most, I think, do their best to affirm that it's not necessary, just fun.
If anyone uberlathers because they feel they have to, then maybe they should look at their technique or product; maybe their water's just too hard, too (I consider water a product, too).
There's no right or wrong side to this equation so long as uberlathering isn't simply and only a crutch.
Just my two cents, and a humble opinion at that.
My current favorite Uberlather's are:
Mamma Bears northwoods+Speik+5 drops of glycerin (followed up with Aubrey northwoods asb and as for woodsy goodness overload)
a no name triple milled french soap from whole foods grapefruit and mint scent + Kiss my face grapefruit and pomegranate+ 5 drops of glycerin
on hot AZ days I like Poraso + Vulfix Lime + Glycerin
so there you have it! those are my faves :)
Well, no, It's not crappy soap. Chances are your technique is not up to par. What happens when you add glycerin, you have a suparfatting of the soap. When you make soap, saponification (soap making) happens between fat (the oils) and lye, in one form or another. Each recipe is specific, and lye calculated expertly. So a soap can be dry (great for uberlathering) or oily (no need for uberlathering). What you are doing by adding fat (for ANY soap) is a luxurious delicacy. You add more fat that cannot be saponified, as the process already happened. That's why it "makes better" lather, it's just way easier, and you have literally no room for error, except adding too much fat.Quote:
Originally Posted by CheeseMan182
A Lot of people love Uberlather. I can get a full bowl out of a pinkie's nail of Taylor of old bond, so i don't try it. I love soaps and cream for their scents as well, and I'm afraid uberlathering it may trump that a bit. But again, I have read many recipes of people combining the creams and soap, and I have to say I am curious...
I don't think that glycerin is a fat. It may add some slickness to the mix, but as far as I know it is not actually making a superfatted soap.
But please correct me if I'm wrong.
You are actually right. Glycerin is a by product of saponification, which is derived from fat. It also reduces surface tension of the water, and will not saponify. So technically, it is not superfatting, but it is modifying the chemical compistion in the way a superfatting would. At least I think. I don't have much experience in soap making, just a little :)
gssixgun's recipe with Musgo real and MWF must REALLY be 'oomphy'*, as I find Musgo Real to be 'oomphy' in itself. I like Crabtree and Evelyn Nomad with Musgo.
This morning I Übered Proraso soap and C O Bigalow cream. MADNESS, I know, as C O Bigalow is essentially Proraso in a tube, but it was nice nevertheless.
I'm not as attuned to soaps as Obie is, who is clearly a master of the medium; I lean more towards creams; maybe I'm lazy?
*Oomphy, having 'oomph+'
+ Oomph, body, substance, vigor