Thread: 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?

I rarely uberlather, or whatever it is called, but when I do I make cream in a bowl and then load the brush with a soap and proceed to face lather as usual - kinda works. Else if it is not a soap I will just use a shave stick as the other lather medium with the cream.

But mainly it is just a face lather with a soap nowadays - ever since I got a MWF puck I have done it this way. Prior to MWF I was solely a cream in a bowl man. Funny how the world changes yet remains exactly the same...

James.

That is an interesting progression Obie and I think I must have started about that way myself many years ago. I do remember that Williams was the soap and it was always in a heavy coffee mug. I still have the Ever Ready brush that my dad gave me along with the soap and a new Gillette Slim Adjustable, and I have the razor and brush to this day, though the brush is permamanently turned to one side from leaving it in the mug until the next morning.

In truth though isn't using a mug soap like Williams or VDH a combination of bowl / face lathering? We don't hear it discussed often at all.

Today I face lather almost exclusively. I use an antique silver scuttle that my sweet wife gave me to keep my brush warm. For some reason the bowl never did appeal to me, maybe it is just one more thing to have to clean up. I face lather with creams as well, just dabbing a little of the cream of choice over my face and working up a good lather right on my face with the brush of choice.

Like most of us I have and use a variety of soaps and creams and I have a wonderful arsenal of brushes many of which I made and or restored.

Now about that brain damage; Thanks for serving and I suspect that you have all of your wits in place.

Will N.

When I started I bowl lathered only, but as time passed my love for hard soaps grew and it led me to face lathering.

Today I face lather soap about 90% of the time, but when I reach for one of the beloved creams I have kept I use my bowl. I bowl lathered Tabac soap yesterday, a great lather as always with Tabac, but to me it's just not the same anymore to bowl lather soaps.

Obie....I began, 45+ years ago, with a Col Conk brush (which I still have and use), and a cake of
Williams soap. Until a few years ago, I only face lathered.

Now, I face lather about half the time and bowl lather when I have more time to shave. I, too, use
a shave stick and a travel brush when I'm on the road.

My current favorite soap is MWF, which lathers up nicely, whether on the face or in a bowl.
Good stuff.... My favorite cream, for bowl lathering only, is Al's Palermo.

When I started I bowl lathered as I pretty much only überlathered, but as time went on I grew quite fond of soaps and started face lathering. Now I pretty much face lather soaps and creams unless I want to uber or I have creams in tubes which is easier to bowl lather, it's also a nice change of pace.
BTW does anyone do this; when bowl lathering I whip up my lather before I take my shower and let it sit there while I shower, when I come out its ready for me, I find it's a better lather , and I can go straight to it

There seems to be a trend here that people face lather with hard soaps. When I have tried it I havent been happy with the results. On the other hand when I bowl lather with either cream or soap or in a uberlather with both
I get much better results ie thick creamy lather.

Now my question would be what I am doing wrong when I do try to face lather? Is it a matter of time of brush on face? Keep re wetting the brush? I am going to have to try some more me thinks

Originally Posted by thewatermark

BTW does anyone do this; when bowl lathering I whip up my lather before I take my shower and let it sit there while I shower, when I come out its ready for me, I find it's a better lather , and I can go straight to it

Ditto...Works for me, too.

Obie,

I have always face lathered (36 years) exclusively with Boar brushes, I think I only tried the tinned foam once, didn't get on with it, always liked working the lather in with a brush. Just recently I tried bowl lathering for a couple of weeks or so, I found that this only added extra time to my shave as I would then have to work the lather into my beard for the same amount of time as if I had face lathered.

I do now have several brushes in my collection, but really like smaller brushes.

My thoughts are the same as easyace on lathering. I face lathered for 12 years before it dawned on me to try a scuttle. I have a couple now but very rarely use them. Face lathering works for me as I'm working the lather into my whiskers whilst building it, to me it's killing two birds with one stone.

I can see the appeal of the scuttle sometimes, like when my lad wants to shave with me using a bladeless DE or shavette at the weekend. He'll choose the soap or cream after much deliberation then we'll build a massive amount of lather in a hot scuttle and take our time getting through it. That's about the only time my scuttles get used but it is nice when the effort is made. It's all good fun no matter how we shave!