That your lather is thicker and more stable for the second pass than it was for the first? I'm noticing this as a definite trend for my shaves, and wonder if others have seen a similar phenomenon. If so, did you have any suggestions for this, aside from 'lather, rinse, then re-lather to shave'?
I think it is more creamy on the second pass, but it is because I normally make my lather a little thin. I prefer more glide than cushion. A light touch is a light touch and I get a closer shave with a looser lather.
I notice the same thing. I think I know why it is, in my case at least: I tend to err on the side of making lather a little on the wet side. While the brush sits there while I'm doing my first pass, the lather dries out just a bit and goes on thicker for the 2nd. For the third I usually add a little more water. So I could address it by dialing the amount of water back a bit for the first pass, but it really works fine for me as is. On review, I guess I'm saying about the same thing as @PanChango
To expand a bit more on jeraldgordon's thoughts, Do you soak your brush for a few minutes before you begin your shave? This has more significance if you are a boar brush user, but it applies to the badger brush user also. If you've not soaked the brush well before starting, then the boar bristles will absorb water from your lather during your first pass and as a result, the second pass lather would become thicker. Also, most of us who face lather don't measure how much time we spend working that first pass lather into our face. Most likely it's less than 1 minute, and that's a real problem. The reason why is because many of us don't really work the brush vigorously on the puck, build the lather there, and get it thoroughly distributed into the brush. Rather, we work the brush just enough to pick up the amount of soap that we think we'll need and then attempt to mix the soap and water, aerate and build the lather, then distribute that lather throughout the brush while also applying it to our face. This is even more of an issue if we choose to squirt a dollop of cream from a tube onto the bristles and begin from there. So, if we face latherers aren't investing sufficiently in our brush-on-face time and making a concerted effort to get the soap aerated, mixed, and distributed throughout the brush then I think it's normal to expect a weaker performance for the first pass. I know that those of us who prefer to face lather do so because we like it and find some advantage to it, and that's fine. But it doesn't negate the fact that building lather has tradiionally been done in a bowl, mug, or scuttle for decades now. But it's not because it's simply a tradition. When done properly, bowl latherers are getting the soap and water thoroughly mixed, aerated, and well distributed throughout the brush prior to application, and this is necessary for good, consistent, multi-pass lathering.
