Certainly this has been covered many times, and this will be another time this rolls around again. Sometimes I think we actually make up certain terms or definitions to describe aspects and conditions of shaving related issues. That being said, I also realize that there are defineable, measurable variables in many of our routines. When I lather, apply and shave, the product/lather either works for me or it doesn't. Thats start to finish...package to after the shave. I know, however, there are terms to describe and perhaps measure, how and why products differ in there resulting characteristics. Please help me to understand terms such as slickness, glide, cushion, and any others in a simple enough way for me to understand how each one affects my daily shave. Any and all information and opinions are welcome. Thanks!
You answered your own questions. There is no real way to assign objective meaning to terms in reviews. Everything from the water mineral content to the experience of the user has an effect. The best plan I came up with was to identify the experts by reading their posts. Then I straight up stole all the best parts for my routine.
Glide I can understand. I had one soap, can't remember what it was, but it had no glide. Felt like the razor was dragging on dry skin. Most soaps, on the other hand, allow the razor to glide along the skin. The blade slices through whiskers and glides across the face. I hear good glide, I think slick. Over 10 years on shaving forums, more than 22,400 post, still no idea what cushion is.
My opinion Glide/Slickness is the presence of a thin film between the blade edge and skin that prevents friction. Cushioning is the presence of a thicker layer that stops the blade edge from digging into the skin - by making the either the blade edge or the razor head "float". They could be described as the same thing on a different scale. My 2¢ and worth every penny you paid for it
I'll see your 2¢ and raise this question - you're saying there are two layers to lather? A thin slick layer and a thicker cushion layer?
I have to agree with Steve (@swarden43 ) on this. “Glide” and “slick” are one in the same. Lubrication and a good scent, what else is the lather for???? Sorry to answer a question with a question....
Call. As long as I have good glide, I couldn't care less about cushion, especially since I still have no clue what it is or does.
I've never really bought into "cushion" either. A lather that is "cushiony" (is that even a word?) is just another way of saying that the lather is "dense." And dense lather, for the most part, is determined by the user; how long the brush is loaded and how much water is used. Certain soaps do tend to create denser lather than others. PAA, B&M, Porazo all come to mind as leaning more towards pasty lather rather than bubbly lather. Kiss my Face doesn't make the thickest lather, but it is slick as can be. Probably one of the slickest creams I've used.
I'm glad to see such honest, straight forward answers and thoughts. (I expected nothing less, of course). Im not unfamiliar with lubricity and viscosity of machining coolants and industrial oils. I suppose I was complicating things by trying to apply those ideas to shaving, thinking the terms referred to something very specific. I understand the glide/cushion dilemna, and would think they would basically be the same things. Automotive oil, for example, is specifically designed to form a layer between two surfaces, letting one glide over the other due to a cushion of lube between them. Slickness, I suppose, would have more to do with the consistency of the lather...as in oils of different viscosity. I wanted to make sure that I was using terms that are common and mean the same thing to us. I think from now on though, I'll just refer to lather qualities as "hey, that's good stuff" or " I don't think I'll use that again". I appreciate the input from all.
