I'm still fairly new to DE shaving, and I've discovered a new hiccup when shaving. I've been noticing that if my face sweats that it causes my shaves to be *MUCH* less smooth. i can wash my face, but on some hot summer days, the bathroom I normally shave in is like a sauna ( we have central air, but it's a 110 year old house, so lets just say that some upstairs rooms are 15-20 degrees hotter than the downstairs ) My usual prep is hot towels and or shower followed by a quick warm water rince to keep things moist while I make my lather. I've never used a pre-shave product, but the sweat issue concerns me, even if it's not something that comes up very often. Has any one had this problem, and if so, what worked for it?
Sargon,I live in a humid hot place and when I shave I do sweat too but I cant see any relation between the sweat and the quality of my shave.Maybe you are using too much hot water(which sometimes its not good) but I dont see how the sweat could make your shave less smoother than usual.
what I THINK is happening is that the sweat is forming a layer underneath the lather or perhaps it's mixing with the lather in a way that it becomes sticky as opposed to smooth. I could be imagining it, or it could be something else (perhaps the stifling heat is making my face swell a bit), but it sure *seems* to be happening. :>
I've noticed, too, since the humidity has increased significantly here with the summer that I sweat a lot more now during a shave. So much that it will roll down my forehead sometimes and I'll have to blot it with a towel mid shave. However, I have not noticed any change in my lather at all. My forehead, temples, neck, chest, shoulders all shimmer with a little sweat, so I imagine there's sweat under my lather, too. I would imagine that there's sweat under the lather on my face, too. I suspect maybe there's something else going on. Let's start with the simple stuff. What are you using to make your lather, and how are you doing it? (stick, on face; cream in bowl; soap using scuttle; etc...) Also, it could be now that with the summer heat and humidity, your face is retaining too much heat and causing the lather to dry prematurely.
I'm mostly using my ej best badger brush and vdh delux soap. I start by making a lather on the puck then transfer it to a mug for fine tuning. I'm doing better, but my lathering technique is definitely still the weakest part of my shaving routine. That said, there does seem that when I am sweating profusely that my shave is adversely impacted. It coudl eb that I generate a sub par lather nd that the sweat interacts with the botom layer. I'm not sure what the sweat does, only that it does soemthing, something bad. :> I don't usually shave in a 95 degree, 80% humidity room, so it doesn't come up a lot, but I was curious if any one had encountered the issue and had suggestions. "better latherign technique" may be all it takes.
I dont think that sweating makes the shave worse.. Last year on holiday in Turkey we had around 40-45 degress centigrade (dont know farenheit) and it was humid as *.. That did not affect the results of my shave one bit so I must also guess that your problems is based on something else..
Instead of fine tuning it in a mug or bowl, transfer directly from the puck to your face. Watch the following video about creating a lather with a soap puck. It's based on boar, but works with badger, too - it worked for me and my silvertip. When you get that nice creamy lather inside the brush, put the brush to your face and build the lather there. The longer you work the lather around on your face, the better. When you think you've got it good, work it a little bit more. It may take a few tries to get it right, but I think you'll see some improvement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIsj58fqVjY
Good video, thanks. I would not have been able to know about the first soapy lather vs. the real stuff without it - haven't seen that mentioned in any of the other videos I've watched.
That is a very helpful video that's helped a lot with my lathering. The next time I have to shave in the heat I'll have to see if making better lather reduces or eliminates the sweat issues and let you know.
Great video, Matt. That's really helpful. No matter how long I'm at this, there's always something new to learn. Thanks!
