Lately I am having trouble getting the lather off the brush and onto my face. I bowl lather and this happens with soap and creams. I build a nice lather in the bowl and my initial swipes work well. Its when I try to thicken the lather on my face the problem happens. The brush just moves the lather that is already on my face around. The new lather on my brush just moves up toward the handle. Any thoughts? Maybe too much water? Thanks, Ray
Perhaps members more knowledgable than myself could help if you would say what brand and model of brush you have as well as the soap and/or cream that you are attempting to lather with.
Does any lather stick to your face? If so, maybe you are trying to apply more than is needed. The OP in the link below shows a very nice layer of lather. In this thread it was done by face lathering, but same layer can be done via a lather made in a bowl. http://www.theshaveden.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12790&highlight=love+face+lathering
I dont know if Im gonna express this right in englsih,but when you apply the lather for the second time do you do it "in circles" or like "painting" with the brush?I ask you that cuz sometimes with some soaps and creams when I do my second application of lather I have to do it like "painting" instead of "circles" if I want the lather to stay on my face.
That's a good point and well said Teiste. I struggle to remember that too. Sounds like you might already have enough lather on your face. If you already have a nice amount on your face I don't think you should be pressing the brush into you face hard but use like Teiste said a panting type stroke. One thing you can do if it is getting stuck down toward the handle is to put your finger just above the top of the handle and into the brush itself. This will squeeze out some of the nice lather that you are seeking.
I make my lather in a bowl when I use creams. I find that on the second and succeeding pass I need to work the brush on my face in circles and with some pressure. This gets the lather from inside the brush onto my face. It does look a bit like I am removing rather than applying lather but I finish the lathering by painting the lather onto the face and I get a result like the one in the pix in the thread above.
All good answers. I also use the painting motion to get a thicker lather and if you squeeze the brush once, a lot of lather can come to the top of the brush to be applied too.
Thanks for the input guys. Sorry I did not get back sooner, but I was at work. Today I used a VDH Boar brush with Tabac soap. I am using painting strokes. It seems that when I make the second pass with the brush, It removes whatever lather is already there. In other words my skin is bared with just a slick coating of soap visable. I looked at the pictures that were linked and if I had that kind of lather I would not be complaining. Anyway tomorrow I will try my only other brush which is a Tweezerman. Maybe I'll try facelathering for a change. Don't get me wrong, this problem does not happen all of the time. Its just that when it does, it drives me crazy.
Might be your lather. I'm 3+ months into this and some days I get my lather too thin, or start too thick and have to thin it out, then some times I thin it too much, etc. Some days are just bad lather days for me.
Yeah,go for facelathering.I did tried Tabac today and again I didnt enjoy the experience too much.I love the sticks and how easy you can built a great lather from them.
I'm wondering if you're loading enough soap on your brush or face when this happens. One of the biggest lathering mistakes is not loading the brush sufficiently. The other big mistake is adding too much water, which could be the case also, but sounds less likely.
Update: Shaved today with the badger again, which does a good job and has softened up nicely. I used my Merkur HD with a 7 o'clock sharp. Used KMF cream and cut down on the water. No lathering problem today. Best shave of the week! On a side note, after buying several Gillette's in the past month or so my HD gives me the closest shave of the bunch. Go figure, I could have saved a few bucks by sticking with the Merkur and working on my technique instead of trying to buy a better shave. I guess I just got bit by the razor buying bug here at TSD. Thanks to all for helping out a newbie!
LA LA LA LA LA LA LA I say with my hands covering my ears. I have not learned this yet and don't want top hear it :happy102
Hiya, I'm glad you were able to find out what razor works for you.....didn't take all that long. For lots of us(myself included), that road can be a convoluted journey......heh. You were smart to sample a bunch, and it was just a fluke that the first razor tried was the best. Never know till you try em, and you can always sell the unwanted Gillettes here at about what you paid for em. Hell, you got away cheap.....so far. Martin Oh.........it may be that some time in the future you'll find a razor even more wonderful than the Merkur you enjoy so much. There's a LOT of different types to play with, luckily for us 'hobbyists'......
Ha Ha, I like my little collection. After all variety is the spice of life. Right now I'm lusting after a 39C slant. I have a 57 birth year ss, a red tip, a fat handled tech, and a new which is still in the mail. Its like having the perfect women at home and still lusting after that pretty thing you saw last night. Acting out with razors is a lot safer that acting out with women.
You can also use cream and put a small amount on your face(each cheek) then brush directly on your face. That may help you out some. That way you build lather directly on your face.
Glad I came across this thread. For the second pass I end up "spackling" the cream on especially under the nose and the adam's apple. Usually squeeze out the brush to get at the good stuff and then apply. I always assumed this was wrong and a result of a deficient shaver or brush. Sounds like it is just a cruder form of the painting technique everyone uses.
