Thread: Opinions Please: Col. Conk vs. Other Brands

I have not had it dry up in the mug, but it does dry rather quickly on my face, faster than other soaps I have tried.

Originally Posted by ES331302

I am still pretty new at this, and based on advice I got somewhere (not here, I cannot remember to be honest) I tried the Col. Conk soaps. It has been the 'elephant in the room' in regards to my shaving, and it is a bit of a relief to see others here with similar problems. I feel like my lathering technique is good, I have a good brush, but I was just not achieving what I thought was the 'uberlather' that some people describe. While I don't have a wealth of experience to measure against, I feel as though the Col. Conk soap could be missing from the perfect equation.

The kind I tried was lime; to be fair it was VERY cheap (4 dollars for a puck?) but to me it smelled like the scent was devised by someone who had their nose removed in a horrible accident.
The lather does not seem to be especially thick or rich, no matter how much you work it, nor does it provide that much lubrication on the face.

I will also say that one morning I made up a mug of lather and was then called away by my room mate for something sort of important, so I left it in the sink (in hot water) for maybe 10-15 minutes. When I returned, my lather was nearly gone! It was as though it had evaporated or the very tiny bubbles had popped or something. I know this is off topic, but has anyone else experienced such a phenomenon?
Regardless, the aforementioned experience plus what other people are sharing has me on the lookout for another product.

I think I'll try both the cream and the more reputable soap from Colleen(?) and see which I prefer.

Well, I would not go that far. I think these soaps are ok but not stellar. I have managed to produce decent to good lather with them, and if you combine them with glycerin and cream to form uberlather, they do the job. I imagine that you have a dilution problem going on if it is not working right. Perhaps these links would help:

Illustrated Guide to Making Basic Soap Lather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Illustrated Guide to making Überlather - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Illustrated quide to making basic cream lather in three different ways - Straight Razor Place Wiki

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...ard-water.html

If your lather dry out in your face, it could be indicative that the lather is not ready yet, same if it dries in your bowl. The lather should be thick but it should be wet. The key is to keep rubbing the brush against the bowl (see my post in the last link ) until you start getting large bubbles as you rub. At that point, you know you are done lathering for that amount ot soap. If you stop adding water before, you end up with a very thick lather that would have a tendency to dry out. A final tip to prevent lather from drying in your face is not to cover the whole face with it. I usually only apply the lather to the section of the face that I am going to shave. I do this not only to prevent the lather from drying but because I want to minimize exposure to the soap as my skin is VERY sensitive. Now, if the lather dries out in your bowl, I think you were far from getting the optimal lather; you may have had just suds.

You guys may want to try soaps that are not glycerin based to test the differences, they have some advantages.

Al raz.

I like Conk soap and break out the Bay Rum puck from time to time but if you limit yourself to just one flavor of soap/cream/brush/razor you won't get the full shaving experience.

Live a little and try some other brands...you should get PLENTY of ideas on this forum. And if not post a "if you had to choose only one soap/cream what would it be" type message. I'm sure you will get plenty of ideas. If I could only have one soap/cream it would be Proraso cream...but BOY would I miss some of the others!