Thread: Noobie Question- How to Use This Soap (picture)

Alright, going to do my first (DE) shave tomorrow. The Tabac I ordered is taking too long and I found a Van Der Hagen kit with some soap and a bowl that I can use in the meantime.

My question is what the best way to use this would be.

Could I build a lather in the bowl? Or would that get too much soap because it would be right at the bottom? Do people usually use this kind of thing to build lather on the face? I've heard building lathers on the face is a little tougher for beginners.

Here's the picture:

I have that same set and what I did was melt the soap into another container and load my brush in that and then build lather in the mug. You could build it in the mug with the soap in the mug, but would be kind of a waste cause you would use alot of soap. Face lathering would work also. I don't think face lathering is all that hard. Either way you do it it is all about water quantity. Practice never hurts and can be kind of fun.

Here's how I would do it.
First , put some hot water on the top of the soap while u take a shower, and soak your brush as well.
Then empty the water and shake out ur brush pretty dry, then swirl or load the brush on the puck for about 25 seconds , then take it to your face adding a little bit of water at a time until its a good consistency.

I'd do ALMOST the same as thewatermark, but I'd be soaking the brush in another bowl sitting in the sink, with the sink and the bowl filled with hot water (not floating, just enough water to heat the bowl without actually making it float), brush in the bowl soaking. Then, after showering, and after wetting my face (and maybe after applying some pre-shave cream like Proraso), and tipping the water out the bowl that was in the sink, and gently flicking the brush exactly five times, I'd load the brush like thewatermark says; and load it pretty well. Then I'd take it to the bowl that was in the sink, and which is still warm, and build the lather in that other bowl. You can re-load the brush as needed. Face lathering isn't hard, but it can be irritating to the face, I find. Generally I like making the lather in the bowl and painting it on the face, unless I use a shave stick.

I should say you may need to add water, I find I like to wet my hand in the sink and just dribble a bit from my fingers, then flicking my hand to remove water before I take the brush and build the lather again. The line between too runny and thin and too thick and dry is pretty fine. Just a bit of water running into the bowl from your wet hand can make the difference between a good lather and an excellent one.

I should have pointed out to soak your brush separately in a bowl or mug as Carl as stated, didn't seem to come out the way I typed it

Having started with the exact same thing, I agree with Carl and thewatermark. I will say that the brush that comes with that kit is better at bowl lathering than face lathering. It's a little too floppy to do a good job at face lathering. Other than that, the soap is pretty darn good for the $ and I used it for the first month or so without incident.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the ideas guys. I ended up finding a mug to put the soap in and then used the set bowl to build the later. Worked out well

I just noticed your mug is the bottom of the mug not glazed or is that soap residue? If so I wish mine wasn't would probably build lather easier.

Oh, it's actually just the reflection of the soap. My photography skills aren't that great. The bowl then was brand new so no soap residue and it's all glazed.

I think everyone's offering really good advice, and there's as many methods as there are people. Actually my comment about the separate bowl was really more to do with where to build the lather. I feel that one loads the brush with soap on the puck, but actually creates the lather elsewhere, if it's not on the face (AKA face lathering) then it's in another bowl, that is, don't try and actually build the lather on the puck; you'll just keep adding more and more soap. Face lathing of course works well. As an aside, I feel that creams rather than soaps are a good way for a beginner to go. A cream like Top Secret, O Melhor, Truefitt and Hill, Musgo Real or Speick is easy to lather. Some, like O Melhor, hardly take ANY building at all.

Also, in regards to a non glazed bowl bottom, one should be careful with that idea; it can wear your brush out quite rapidly I hear. My small pottery bowl has slight smooth swirls in the bottom. Just enough to mean the nob of cream isn't just being pushed around the bottom of the bowl by the brush, but not too harsh to damage the tips of the brush hairs.

That looks like a Mühle mug to me, I've always liked the look of them. Why not get another the same in which to build the lather?

[EDIT] sorry, just read your reply, ignore most of what I said; I got carried away...