Decided to make a few test lathers tonight with the SM100 brush, 3-piece cube and 3-tier composite paste. My first few lathers were slllliiiiick, but I worked the mix on my beard area (didn't shave) and noticed it tended to break down and disappear pretty quickly on my face. I primed the brush for about 30 to 40 seconds on the cube, then added the dollop of paste, and lathered in my palm for about 1.5 minutes, trying to mimic exactly what I saw in Mantic's "Part 2" youtube video. Is the mix supposed to be somewhat volatile? Do I need to hit the cube between passes to rebuild the mix? Also, the brush lost about 20 to 25 hairs in its maiden voyage tonight. Never had a brush do that before. Is that normal for Methodshaving brushes? Soooo many questions... :ashamed001
Once you prime the brush on the cube put some paste in the breach of the brush. Close the breach and hit the cube a few ore seconds. Move to the hand, by now the mix should be getting more like the consistency of lather as you know it. I you want to pu a little more paste in the breach do so(double Loading), go to your hand and swirl around. Lather should be ready to apply to face. Some of the brushes will do that but will settle and stop loosing hairs. Not to worry those brushes are very dense. You can hit the cube between passes if you like. Most of us hit the soap between passes also so no difference did you get the activator we sent? Before you apply to the lathe to face, open the breach and drop some activator in there. Close the breach and swirl. Watch the lather explode!!!! then apply to face. Enjoy!!! Mike may have other more detail tips. The above works for me and I great shaves. Raf Volatile???? no the mix should not catch on fire nor spark any flames!!!!!!
I accidentally left the activator out of the box I sent you. My bad :ashamed001 Raf pretty much hit the main points. Don't be afraid to add a bit more paste. I use a pretty good nickel size shot in my brush, I don't do that whole pea size dab thing that some guys do. About the brush losing hairs, I should have told you this sooner. The first couple of times it's going to throw any loose hairs that didn't get set in the knot. Charles doesn't thoroughly shake out all the clippings so that is likely to happen. It should stop after a few rounds.
I guess by "volatile" I meant quick to break down into a different form... my bad if poor choice of words. :ashamed001 I had actually forgotten about the Activator that was going to be in the soap package until you just mentioned it. No biggie. Cool on the brush shedding a few hairs in the first few uses. That's pretty much what I figured -- just wanted to make sure. I think I'm mashing too hard with the brush on the cube after applying the paste. After applying the paste to the breech, all the paste didn't mix very well and some of it got pushed to the outside of the cube and my palm. Thanks for the tips!!!! :1respect:1respect
My S100 shed a bunch for the first week or so, but I have not lost a hair in the last 6 months since it finally stopped shedding. Scared me at first too, but it does stop. The lather will break down after a while compared to conventional lather. The less paste you use, the faster it breaks down. A pea size like Mike says many use breaks down much quicker.than the nickel size MIke talks about using, but he also uses a bigger brush than the S100. I do notice that the rounds break down quicker than the cube. The #1 white paste that I bought recently for use with straigth razors was designed to hold up longer. That being said, do not expect HL lather to look and perform like standard creams. It will break down faster, but due to its nature and slickness, it does not matter and will be slightly runny compared to standard lathers and the amount of water they hold. That being said, it still should look somewhat like what you saw in the videos, especially initially.
In my experience, the lather I make does not breakdown. The lather from the cube by itself will breakdown on its own but when mixed with the proper amount of paste it will hold nicely. Raf
Raf, Do you hit the cube again between passes or leave it alone? I find the #1 white holds up through the whole shave, but not my previous tub of superpaste that I think is similar to the 3 tier. Are you shaving with a DE or str8? The superpaste held up for DE, but not enough for str8 shaving. Maybe I was not using enough or hitting the cube enough. I actually liked the runny sickness for the DE shave with a faster stroke.
Two shaves down so far, including this morning's. As I noted yesterday, my first Methodshave allowed me to get BBS on my neck using ONLY Hydrolast products and a DE razor/blade... first time that's ever happened. So far I'm impressed with the slickness and performance of the cube/paste combo, but concerned that I'm not making lather 100% correctly. More practice required!!!
Update! Wanted to give a quick update and report on my Methodshaving efforts so far. Probably like most new guys, I think I'm having a bit of trouble getting the proper mix built. Using all the Hydrolast products: SM100 brush Hydrolast Cube 3-tier composite paste I find that it's quite difficult getting the paste all the way mixed into the slag off the cube. Maybe I'm priming the cube too much? It seems like, when I take the scoop of paste and place it into the breech of the brush, then close the breech and prime again on the soap (finishing on my hand) the paste doesn't mix in very well, and actually ends up being mostly pushed out of the brush and along the sides of the cube (or my hand). Should I just keep scooping that paste back up and keep priming? I've gone as long as 3 minutes trying to mix the paste and slag, with little overall success. The bit of mix that I do end up getting does work wonderfully. Amazingly slick, and the performance is outstanding. Now I'm reading about Hydrolast Finishing Balm, and that it works with our without a Methodshave? What do you think so far of my description? If it's a common problem, at least that would make me feel less clueless and embarrassed. :ashamed001 As always, any advice or tips you can provide will be greatly appreciated. I know there are some serious experts around here, and I know if I keep at it I'll continue to improve. Thanks!
No advice from me, Im afraid. I still cant get good results and am getting a bit discourged with the whole thang.
My method is slightly different, but makes what I consider a good mix. Put the cube in the cabinet with the Vela. Use the hard round that you purchased. I started on the cube and had no problems, but when I purchased my brush, I went to the rounds. Soak the brush and the round in hot water. Drain the bush, but do not shake. Work the brush on the round. Add paste to the breech. Drizzle some hot water on the paste and return to the round. The second pass at the round should do it. This gets me a consistent mix using an S-100 and any Hydrolast paste except #1 velocity. I make my mix on the round and not in my palm. If this doesn't work and Mike doesn't have the answer, it is time to talk to Charles. Jim
Awesome.. I appreciate it! Will try the round next time. On a somewhat related side note, I don't know what all the bad talk about the scent of the Cube is about... personally I kind of like the scent, but smell is definitely a YMMV kind of thing for everyone.
I never understood the bad talk either It has a rather pleasant natural scent. I switched looking for a better shave and liked what I found. Jim
Maybe your pressing to hard on the cube. Don't forget to put a little water on the breach with paste before you close it. When you go to the cube just swirl the brush around the cube picking up any paste that may be running away on the sides. It's a little trick you learn, there's a flow to it But you'll get it. We'll get you the activator. Raf
Since you're using the tiered paste, and if the humidity is low where you live, you might try this: 1. Prime the brush and apply that directly to your face; 2. Get a little bit of slag on one hand, dip some of the tiered paste and spread it over your face; 3. Prime the brush again (doesn't take much--you mentioned three minutes of mixing in your post--really just need a few seconds) 4. Apply that to your face. I've had some trouble getting the tiered paste to mix completely in the brush with cube-derived slag. Charles suggested I try separating the steps and it worked much better. I'll add, though, that you might want to check out a post I left on the Enchante online forum--I'm finding a spot-mix of #3 red with the lower velocity paste (plus a shot of finishing balm) works unfailingly well, even with varying humidity. I remember hitting a plateau 3-4 weeks in to MS--it might be a good time to check in with Charles. Cheers, j
I did get a nice sized sample of the #3 Red from Charles with my order. Haven't tried that one yet. In my mind's logic, I figured I needed to get good with a single setup (3-tier composite) before experimenting. Thanks for the tips guys!!!!
