Thread: Quickly drying lather

I had my first shave with Ogallala Bay Rum today and it was *great* with one quirk. The lather dried out extremely quickly on my face. I mean by the time one side of my face was done, the other had dried out. This is the first time I've come across this and so I'm wondering if it's a characteristic of the soap, or of some soaps in general just do this. Any suggestions for fixing the situation? On each pass I changed how thick/runny I made the lather and it seemed not to change anything. Next time I'll try adding in some glycerin, but unfortunately I didn't think to try that today. Any other ideas?

BTW I'm not having a go at Ogallala - the shave itself was fantastic and smelled terrific. I'd just like the lather to last a bit longer.

There's a simple solution - shave faster.

I'd try loading the brush REALLY well, twice as much as usual. Then add water slowly. It sounds like it might be a water hog, so it might take more water than you think, especially when the brush is loaded well.

I've had soaps react the same way. I find they "stabilize" if you use more product.

I have a small cup with some hot water on the sink. It is easy to quickly dip the tip of the brush in for a lather refresh. Easier than trying to hit it with some running water.

Glycerin is always good.

Not familiar with the particular soap however the answer is either, yes shave faster or play around with the lather routine to get it right or there are just some soaps that don't produce that great a lather or a lather that doesn't stick around too long.

I been shaving with samples from Ogallala myself. They are pretty water hungry. Once you get the mix down, I think you will find that the lather will last. Probably does need more water. Oh and I do load up the brush a ton - actually I do that with all my soaps now after having similar issues with Mama Bear soaps. I found that I can buy soaps MUCH faster than I use them so I'm not stingy at all

I've had the same "problem". Actually I figured having to use more product to get a consistent lather would be a way for the brands to sell us more, kind of like shampooing twice because it's written on the bottle. One solution would be to put lather only on parts of your face at a time. I do first one cheek, shave it, other cheek, shave it, chin and upper lip, shave, and repeat for the second or third pass. When I get better at making lather I'll probably do it differently though.

Cangooner, I keep a cream or two around to supplement just such soaps. While more water can be helpful, too much can actually make it dry out faster. Note that those who mention more water, also suggest using more soap. Lynn had a vid recently showing him making later from a soap, and he dipped the tip of the brush and went back to the puck at least 3 times before calling it good. Those soaps that dry out fast need a brush thoroughly loaded.

My method is to have a cream (use your choice) to supplement those soaps. The cream seem to bring lubricity to those soaps and keep them moist longer. Its not uncommon for me to dip the tip of the brush into water and re-wet an area towards the end of a shave. Its not enough to paint water over the surface of the dry lather - its what's against the skin that counts. If you re-wet, work the extra water down to the skin level and resume the shave. How to tell if the lather is too dry? If running water won't remove all the lather from the blade - the lather is too dry - and sets you up for a nick or a cut. Its another reason they call me pinklather

yeah one of the best things is to just dip the tips of ur brush into some water and reapply the lather a little bit to the area where it dried out.

I agree with Eggsuckingleech above
If found the Ogallala to be pretty thirsty ... not unlike Williams.
Add way more water than you think you should. Its a good soap though.
YMMV

Mike

I've got hard water here but never had a problem lathering with Ogallala. Nearly finished my current puck and it's no longer sold over here so I'm gutted I won't have any soon. Shipping is expensive overseas these days!