Face and Bowl Lather: The Best of Two Worlds
Gentlemen,
When I started wet shaving, in what feels like the XIV Century, I face lathered. The soap might have been Williams, Van Der Hagen or some other forgettable brand. My brush might have been a pure badger with a long wooden handle, which cracked one day, leaving a skeleton on one side. Then, as for many of us, life got in the way and I switched to canned goo and plastic razors, especially in Vietnam.
Years later, I became a gentleman shaver and employed mostly bowl lathering. In the past months I have returned to face-lathering with soaps and bowl lathering with creams. I like that pattern, because I can take advantage of the distinct characteristics for each method. When traveling, I use a shave stick, rubbing it on my wet face and then using a badger travel brush to face lather.
I find bowl lathering more conducive to creams and face-lathering to soaps. Nothing scientific about this, really. For the soaps, I use mostly the boars and some of the badgers. The soft badgers are set aside for bowl lathering. Some are switch hitters, of course. Besides, building lather with a fragrant cream is sheer joy in my Schwarzweisskeramik scuttle. The small Moss scuttle was not designed for lathering; rather, for keeping the brush warm. That's why I use the Moss when I face lather with soap.
I explained all this to a friend and he thought Vietnam must have done something to my brain. I gave my Hollywood face a gentle pat and said, "Oh, yes . . ."
Gentlemen, what's the best of the two world for you, if you have one?