Hello fello shavers..people shave in many ways..and there are many ways to build a lather.i am a bowl latherer these days .consistent lathers,dialing in soaps you name it..anyone else like to use a bowl ,mug ,cup ,hubcap..here's a dedicated bowl thread for just the occasion..happy lathering gents
Yes, I use one most of the time for the same reasons you mentioned. It also allows me to create custom blends like Proraso Green soap loaded on the brush mixed in the bowl with a shot of Barbasol Soothing Aloe. I bowl lather but do an abbreviated face lather during application as it's easier on my face, and most of my beard prep is accomplished with a pre-shave shower. I have one of those green standard sized Captain's Choice ceramic bowls with the ridges on the bottom. Works great and I think the ridges and the slight roughness of the ceramic (even though it's glazed) help speed up the softening process of boar bristle break-in. That bowl and my Semogue SOC boar are a perfect match.
I can't do a show-n-tell shave until i finish my 30DC but i have rather unusual and interesting piece to explore once i do. I have not explored bowl shaving before so i plan on doing so with a 30DC in november
Hmmm, I'll take pictures and post what I have here later, but some of my stuff is at the house in the Philippines. My wife even bought me a plastic cereal bowl for my brush soaking/bloom water holding.
I recently got The Grail by Saponificio Varesino from WCS when they had their 30% off clearance sale. I’ll use it today with B&M Fougère Gothique to see if it makes lathering that soap any easier.
Bowls are great! They work amazingly for soup, cereal, heck, even ice cream! In all seriousness, I only use a bowl when I have a sample of a hard soap, and even then, I just use it to load the soap in the brush. I have honestly tried to lather in a bowl, I even bought one of those cheap salsa bowls for the purpose, but I just for the life of me cannot get a lather built. I'll take face lathering all day long. End of hijacked thread.
Well, looky here, Fuzzy Jr. Bowls can do all sorts of things. When I'm working on equipment I'll put the screws, nuts, and bolts in a bowl too. Bowls can do amazing things. Give bowls a chance.
Me, too Jon. Aaron did give bowls a shot. If they don't work for him we'll chalk it up to differences in style. How boring would it be if we all used the same gear the same way? I started as a face latherer. For me the bowl gives consistent quality and more quantity of lather. Doesn't mean it'll do that for everyone.
Ok. So my question concerning this particular bowl is, what do you do when it's time for you to shave? If you put it down all the lather and your brush will fall out of the bowl. And if it does stand up on the handle, I imagine it's quite precarious and could easily topple over. Just curious. I'm a big fan of lather bowls.
FYI, B&M soaps take an unusually large amount of water compared to most other soaps. I initially had issues with B&M soap, but found it to be a winner once I got the proper water amount dialed in. If it's a paste-like consistency, add more water.