Hello friends I'm here today to ask for some advises that help me do a better lather. Lathering is one of the things I most enjoy about the shave. I'm a face lather person Now, I have shaved only 3 times, but I practice with the lather every day and it seems every day I get a slightly different kind of lather... not knowing which one is the most closer to the best result. I've managed to build a very thick lather with a lot of body. I've also made a less thicker lather, applying more water. The problem is, the first feels too thick and I'm not sure it helps the razor to slide properly. The second is more thin but I feel it dries too fast due to its lack of body. My last attempt was good but I was hoping to get some advises from the experts , I managed to take some pictures. They are not the best but is better than describing with simple words. You can click the images to get a high res version (something like 1024 x 768) This is the lather in 4 steps This is the brush after the lather. The first one and second are the brush after steps 3 and 4, the last photo is me gripping the brush to get the lather inside it. And Finally, this is a close up of the lather on my face after step 4 (I did an extra pass of the brush just to move the lather So, basically what I'm asking is your opinion about this lather Thanx for the help n_n and sorry about my ugly face, couldn't hide it
It looks a little too watery to me. Too many air bubbles. Practicing making lather is the best way to learn. Try this (a mantic59 idea): make your lather in a mug. Use almost no water at all so it will be way too dry. Add a few drops of water, whip it in and examine the lather; feel it on your hand to see how slick it is (it will still be too thick). Keep adding water, just a few drops at a time and whipping it in and checking until it's starting to feel about right. Repeat this until it's way too thin, airy and bubbly. You want to push it until it is almost soup. This will help you find the point where it seems right to you. In general, I like lather just as it starts to turn shiny. There's a point before that where it's like merangue, but it's still too dry. Hope this helps. There will be others with more/better advice here soon...
Hands down I think this is the best method for lathering soap. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIsj58fqVjY It's made by a memeber here, Zach. He uses a boar brush, but I found the same theory worked well with my silvertip. It definitely looks too airy/bubbly. I think you're starting on the face too early, not loading enough of the creamy goodness from the soap puck onto the brush. Watch the video, you'll see what I'm talking about...:happy088 Let us know how it goes!
Definitely too high of a water to soap ratio. Most likely this is due to not loading enough soap. Follow either the Zach's method, or just load on top of the puck using only the weight of the brush (don't push down), swirling it around. You need to make sure you're loading soap, not soap bubbles. If you're using a badger brush, you're likely using too much water also. Give the brush a few pumps (not flicks, just straight up and down) before loading with soap. Boars hold a little less water, so gravity typically removes enough water from a boar brush.
:happy005All excellent techniques mentioned,I too have quested to make an excellent lather (which in itself is a step to master) i put a drop of hot water on my soap puck to soften it and soak my boars brush in my lather bowl with hot water while i shower,after the shower i grab the brush and grip the hairs down a little and then load the brush then i empty my lather bowl enough to leave just a very little bit of water in the bottom and start to whip after a few seconds i check the thickness and add more drops of water,repeating this until i feel i have the lather i want. I have found this the best way after doing reseach and excellent advice:happy005.
Oh My God! this video rocks!! Thanx Truckman I'll upload photos of my next lathering session soon Yesterday I had a very thick lather ... but I thought it wasn't right and I added water (too much maybe ¬¬) but this video is the visual (and narrated) explanation I was looking for !! Thanx to the rest og you for the tip about the Final Note: LTGoogle Compa haha I see the key now, too few soap and/or too much water was in my lather. thanx guys (and girls! ) I can't wait to get home now!!!
Compa, It's good when you asks these questions. I'm guessing at least a dozon lurkers and newbies who a too timid to ask learned the exact same thing. These type of threads are really the heart of this forum.
Yeah, the lather thing is the toughest part of this 'hobby' to master, or was for me anyway. Even now, almost three years after using a brush and soaps/creams, I will once in a great while screw up the lather. Plus it can sometimes take me 3-4 times when trying a new product to get things as I like em. Not all creams an soaps act alike, as I'm sure you found out(or will soon). Best advice I can give you is to start with too much, rather than not enough product. That may mean swirling the brush on a puck for 20-30 seconds to load up, but it's better to have a lather that's too thick to start with. Yeah, it's lots easier to just add more water as needed, rather than having to go back to the puck in mid mixing mode. There you go, maybe that will help somehow. Just remember that it does take a while to get the hang of that part of the routine. Martin
yeah looks like u are using too much water... try shaking out the water and then load the brush up with soap... check this video out from Mantic... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSUNBY9zHUw
Thanx for the advises. Yesterday I shaved and the lather was quite thick (I think as think as in the previous video) I am just curious now, When you do the second pass... you wash your brush and start over or do you use the lather that is in the brush? I tried the second and since my face was wet, the lather went not so good and had to start over. I'm thinking on bowl lathering but I feel I can't do as much lather as directly into the soap cup. I'll keep practicing and I'll upload some photos today
Depending on the brush, soap, and water quality I get anywhere from 2 to 4 passes worth of lather without reloading. I can see from your pics you're using a badger brush, though I can't tell the quality beyond seeing it's not a pure badger. You should get 3-4 passes from that brush. If you don't have the superb water quality that Mantic apparently has, you'll need to load your brush much more heavily than you see him do in the video to get more than one pass of good lather. Once you have a creamy looking load of soap on the puck, pump the brush a little to get some of the soap up deeper in the brush so it will last the full shave. If later passes give slightly pasty lather, dip the tips of the brush in water and work the lather some more. Of course, if you don't mind rebuilding lather for every pass and get a good shave you don't need to change anything. Perhaps you could share what brush and soap you're using to give us a better idea what could be happening?
I've recently discovered how much the water quality affects the lather. I have a water softener and whole house filter, and get quick, easy, awesome lather at home. I spent last week away on vacation, and quickly learned that I had to change my lathering techniques. Mainly - I needed much, much more product (soap or cream) and I still was only getting barely enough for 2-3 passes. The second pass was barely adequate, for the third pass I really shouldn't have used it, but I did anyway.... For soaps, extend the load time more, for creams - try doubling the initial amount of cream you use....
Of course For the soap, I'm using the Van Der Hagen Glycerin soap. (the amber soap) For the brush I'm using a Tweezerman Badger brush, I found a site that says "Key Ingredients: Pure Badger Hair, Wood Handle" so I guess it's pure badger I think the major problem is the water I use, I believe it has a lot of minerals, (the shower holes are blocked by some sort of white sediment every once in a while) Hard water I guess. I don't mind rebuilding my lather from scratch every pass I enjoy it to be honest hehe. I was just curious about how many passes you get from your lathering, that could serve as a parameter to see if I'm doing something wrong.
Doublepost ._. sorry about that Edit #2 (Since this post was already here I think I'll use it lol) Thanx for the tip Truckman I swirl the brush on my soap as long as it needs to build the cream. If I manage to make a video then I'll upload it the photos proved to be helpful, I imagine a video would be much more helpful n_n
Many guys have a harder time with glycerin soaps in hard water, in particular getting good volume. You might try a milled soap next time. They might cost more, but also last much longer. In the long run they only cast a little more and I find the shave is much better (YMMV). Maybe some of the guys with hard water will chime in with what works well for them. I'm away from home right now (last of 6 weeks) and the hotel has hard water. My Arko stick and Speick stick both work reasonably well by using more product, but I've been using bottle water the last couple weeks since it then lathers as if I'm at home. That is another thing to try - use filtered or bottled water. Of course that has a cost and hassle associated with it, so it's your call if it's worth it.
I have hard water and Tabac soap works the best for me... I use soaps about 50% and creams about 50%.. don't rule out trying a good cream like TOBS, Proraso, or Salter's.. Also it is easier to generate lather using a bowl.. I started out on creams and it made my transition to soaps a lot easier....
I tried Face/Mug/bowl lathering yesterday and I feel the best results I get are through Mug Lather. Now, on my last attempt I used Mug lather and when I saw the creamy lather I moved from the mug to the face. If I remember well, I applied water on my face, and then started to swirl the brush... then I decided to leave the lather on my face for a while to see its reaction to the environment. After all, when you're shaving, you do not shave all of your face at the exact moment so part of the lather is exposed to the air more time. I noticed this phenomenon: (The lather grows a nose on my face... and also this lather looks like a "too much sugar on it" cake cream) I'm wondering what caused it. My guess is too few water (I think the brush had few water as I moved it up and sown and then squeezed it... part of the experiment) and had only the few water on my face... at least that's what I remember. I didn't upload any more photos 'cause the camera was out of battery but I will upload more (maybe a video too) this friday. Hopefully in the future I can compile the knowledge of this thread and make a new one that helps the future generations
While not as pretty as some lather you see people post pictures of, you're lather doesn't look too bad. You don't need thick mounds of shiney smooth lather, just something slick and protective that functions well. How does the lather feel between your fingers? If it's slick and and maintains a layer between your finger such that you don't feel your fingerprints as you rub your fingers together, you've made good lather IMO. You can only tell so much by the visual (though lather that's way too wet is obvious once you have some experience). If you're still not getting something good, try this: -start with a well-shaken brush and build a pasty too-dry lather -slowly add water a few drops at a time and keep feeling the lather between you fingers -do this until the lather is clearly way too wet and runny -try to determine where you reach the slickest feeling lather by the finger rub test, this is the lather you want to create
Yeah, that lather looks dry. Once you move from the mug to your face and start lathering your face, dip the tips of your brush in some water (I usually keep a mug of hot water just for this purpose). Just the smallest dip, then work the lather on your face some more. If it still seems dry, dip the tips again and work the lather some more. Keep repeating until the lather gets to where you want it. You'll be surprised how much water the lather can take (especially hard water). A good lather should look a bit shiny (wet), be thick enough to not see any skin underneath (if it's too wet it will thin out and show skin), and it will not dry out throughout the duration of the pass.
