I was under the impression I needed to load my brush for a good minute. Jump to the 1:40 mark and look how little time he spends (10 seconds?) loading his brush, and still gets 3 passes out of it. Is this typical?
It depends on the soap. If I'm using a well-hydrated puck of Mitchell's Wool Fat (old tallow formula), I easily get enough lather for three passes plus touch-ups in 10 seconds or less. Soft soaps, about the same. Hard soaps maybe take a minute or two to load. Creams are well nigh instant. Edit: I use stiff two-band badger or boar most of the time. I couldn't get those sort of times using a synthetic or silvertip.
I didn't catch that it was a cream on the first go around either. Once I saw how much lather he had, I rewound it to see exactly what he was using. Most people don't load their brush with cream like you would a soap. That guy must have a big rotation of stuff to go through to waste product like that, or he was grandstanding for the camera.
@Jim O Some things to keep in mind when watching videos or reading tutorials about creating a lather: You may not have the same soap or cream You may not have the same brush type, material, density, size, or loft You may not have the same water softness or hardness You may not have the same definition of: a little bit, a few, some, etc. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try the tips and tricks offered, but know they may or may not work for you. Keep trying different techniques and you'll hit on what works for you. Also, if you try a new product, be it a soap, blade, razor, whatever, and find it's not quite what you're looking for, don't toss it. Just set it aside for a couple of months, then come back to it. Many here have found that once technique improved, that "faulty" product wound up being pretty good.
This is my shaving cream guru. I can imitate this guy using any of my shaving creams, tubes or tubs, and using a synthetic brush. I dip the brush in water. I shake it off and I'm ready to go.
When you load your brush from a plastic shaving tub, is there any advantage to working up the lather in a separate bowl, as opposed to working up the lather directly on your face?
Lack of exfoliation? You can control the lather slightly better when building the lather in a bowl, when adding water. If you need to add water when face lathering, you have to kiss the water surface with your brush. Otherwise, no difference. I primarily face lather.
