Hi everyone, I'm Ted, I'm nearly 29 years old and I recently took up this old-timey shaving ritual (I believe I'm 6 shaves in). I've never really enjoyed shaving because I put the time and effort into it only to end up with razor bumps and ingrown hairs, so I generally always keep a beard, or just buzz it down with electric clippers if I want to get semi-close to a clean-shaven look. I went all out with the beginner's investment, dropping upwards of $150 on all the usual stuff to get me started for DE shaving. So far, I find it to be much more enjoyable than shaving with modern, cartridge razors, and I plan to stick with it. Not every shave is a great one though. For the life of me I can't get the wonderful lather I'm expecting, even though I've probably watched 60 videos on wet shaving and pay VERY close attention to the way the veterans are doing it. Needless to say, the lack of a great lather results in the lack of a truly great shave and it's lessened my enthusiasm on it because with a cartridge razor I at least get the results I expect every single time, but like I said I intend to stick with the DE and if I'm lucky I'll find some information here that will help me to achieve the awesome shaves I was expecting at the start.
Greetings! Welcome to The Shave Den. A friendly community of shavers willing to help. Good to have you aboard.
With lather it's really all about water ratio..you'll need to see what proportions of soap to water will work best for you, then stick with that. With bowl lathering, you might find it helpful to periodically, grab a bit of lather up during the mixing and rub it between your fingers to check the consistency. There should always be slip and fulness. Appearances can be deceiving when it comes to lather, so if the lather wont slip or is thin you'll know it when you make this test. And welcome to the Shave Den..
Welcome! I daresay patience is one of the biggest virtues in this exercise. And that's fitting if the heart of traditional shaving, when compared to modern cartridge shaving, is a more leisurely, intentional shave. I'm sure you'll hear a thousand times that the soap-to-water ratio is the key. Sometimes there's a trick in how wet the brush is when you load the soap, but that depends more on the soap. I'm not a world-beater when it comes to lather, so I'll let these guys step up.
to TSD "PanTheMan" What soap are you currently using? Two hard soaps I've found fairly easy to get a good as well as consistent lather with are VDH Delux and Arko. I've had good luck with RazoRock Classic and Cacao also.
Thanks everyone. The soap I use is RazoRock XXX. I decided on this soap after seeing it reviewed on YT (Nick Shaves, I think?) I grow a moderate-to-heavy beard, but also have sensitive skin and I was really impressed with what I saw of this soap. The frustrating thing is that when I mix the lather in a bowl, I get it to where it's really nice, but that richness doesn't translate well on my face. Actually, I think the best result I've gotten is when I did a direct face lather. I suppose I just need to watch more videos, although I feel like I've already taken everything I can from them and am perfectly imitating what I've seen. Currently I'm just using store-brand (Kroger) blades. I bought a sampler pack, as was recommended, but I feel that I may not learn what I should from it until I get the actual lather and shaving process down consistently, so I don't want to start using those just yet.
Since you are new to Traditional Shaving, here is the advice I received when I started with a DE and so I freely give it to new users. The most important things in shaving are, your skin and technique. All other things fall in line behind those two things and to support them. Since the skin is a given fixed item, the next major item is technique. It is called THE 30 DAY RULE. THE 30 DAY RULE is as follows: Find a razor, then a blade that will not cause issues with your skin (that may take a few different blades in a sampler pack to find a suitable choice or it maybe the first out of the gate) and select a soap or cream that is easy to generate good lather. Once you find those, and it may take a couple of weeks to find this combination, order a quantity of that blade enough for 30 days, and then spend 30 days using nothing else until you build up your technique. (Note that only one brand blade is used for 30 days after each blade in the sampler pack is tested to make the decision on the blade brand to use for 30 days.) The 30 day clock starts when you have the right blade for you. After 30 days, change one and only one variable and work for another week then change another after another week. At that point you should be able to make better decisions because your technique is now in place. This will help you to avoid buying too much gear and stuff too soon without having the technique down to enjoy it all. This really does work. Oh and one more thing ... Welcome to the Den. We know you'll fit right in. So grab yourself a comfy chair, and give our threads a spin! Burma Shave
Hi Ted and welcome to TSD! What is the problem with the lather? Too thin? Does it dry out? Isn't it slick? Oh, and what is your face preparation before lathering? That's important as well. I haven't used RazoRock yet, but I'll tell you what I usually do when I face lather using a puck/cake of soap in stead of a shave stick: Take a hot shower (that way the beard hairs start to get a bit softer - easier to mow! Moisten the top of the soap so it can soften a bit - easier to load the brush Then I start with a fairly dry brush (moist, not wet) to load on the soap (20-30 swirls - sometimes more if I want a nice and thick lather ) Moisten the face with a hot and wet washing cloth (after toweling off and getting all ready I need to wet the face again) Dip the tips of the loaded brush in the hot water in the sink and start building lather on my face. From time to time I dip the brush again to add water to the mix. Between passes I rinse my wace with hot water to have a clean slate again to lather on. Besides i can check the state of stubble (and how much has been mowed away yet ) The nice thing about face lathering is that you have a direct feel how the lather develops. Hope this helps. Others may come with more advice. You'll have to try for yourself what works best for you. That's part of the fun! Just be patient and persistent. You'll get there! Happy Shavings!
Most of the time, I shave right after a shower. If I haven't showered first, then I'll wash my face to clean off any oil and I'll hold a hot wash cloth to my face for at least a minute to soften my beard and open my pores more. I use warm-to-hot water throughout the shave, except for the cold rinse at the end. (most of this was learned just from using cartridge razors when I was younger). After soaking my shave brush in a mug of hot water for a bit, I shake it a few times until the bristles get their "fluff" back, but are still damp, then load it up on the shave soap pretty well, swirling just the tips around for a bit, then pressing the brush in and swirling more to make sure the bristles are loaded well. Then I begin working on the lather in the mug. I'll have to add a tiny bit of water or I'm just pushing soap around. I add just enough so that once I swirl the brush a bit, I have rich, peaky lather filling the mug. I push all the lather down to the bottom and keep going. I really feel like my lather in the mug is fine, but when I apply it to my face it always appears so thin compared to what I see people getting in videos, even though they are using the same shaving soap and I am doing my best to replicate the process. The bristles spread out a bit during face lathering, so I'll just sprinkle a few drops of water on the brush if I need it, rather than try to dip it in the sink. The awesome slickness I've heard about, I don't feel like I'm getting. You know when the lather's gone, the head of the razor kind of sticks to your wet face? That's what I get. I can't figure out why. Maybe it's my technique or my cheap brush, maybe I've gone too many days without shaving (usually 4-5). If I could get the proper lather - which I have seen first-hand that this soap is capable of producing - I know I'd enjoy shaving more. So far, the only two blades I've used are the Merkur blade that came with my razor and a Kroger blade. With each blade, I was very happy with how my face felt after the first shave. Little to no irritation or nicks. It seems that if a blade is adequately sharp, it'll forgive you for not providing an A+ lather. Edit: I'm all for trying this 30-day rule. But like I said I just worry that I'd be wasting blades at first if I don't have the lathering and technique sorted out first
Welcome Ted. The thing that worked for me in figuring out lather was to ditch the bowl for a couple of weeks and face lather. Once I figured out what a slick and yogurty lather looked and felt like going on, I could go back to the bowl with the right amount of soap on a dry brush and then in worked, most of the time.
Welcome to the Den. I've personally found that getting the lather right is the hardest part of DE shaving. I'm still working on it 6 months in. Well both sick to it and hit that "sweet spot" sooner or later.
Welcome. I'm also a newbie who's only been building lathers for about a week. To get the right water to cream ratio I let my faucet drip at the slowest rate I can so I can add just a little water at a time. I've built a lather a few times using this method to the point when the lather begins to break down. Now I have a better idea of the range of too dry to too wet looks like. Additionally, I've found a circular motion on my face doesn't really work for me, but a painting motion does. It might just be a practice issue too.
30 day tip is excellent, as is ditching the bowl. Get the brush loaded and face lather. Easier to get the feedback about the lather since it's on your skin. Also easier with a cream rather than soap.
