Salutations from a guy with 15 years of electric shaver experience

Welcome to the shave den. I myself used an electric for the past few years (only started growing facial hair properly like 3 years ago). I've started wet shaving now but I'm using a cartridge. Something I certainly noticed is that my skin is a lot smoother (wet shaving exfoliates 10x better than electric). Could the problem(s) you're having be because of the brush? When I tried wet shaving a couple years ago everyone here was recommending badger/boar brushes.

 

Steve Mott's Shave​

Chapter 2​

He returned to his computer, trembling slightly, and smiled at the responses he found in his thread. "Thanks everyone," he said, gratefully acknowledging the kindness offered him by the other members of the board. As he stared at the screen, his mind drifted back to his second shave which had taken place just less than an hour before. He instinctively reached for his pipe with an absent wistfulness, a silly thing to do, for of course he had never smoked before and did not own a pipe. "That shave," he muttered, "That shave..."

Let's just say that chapter 2 is decidedly a more cheerful chapter than chapter 1 was. My second attempt was significantly better. I used a smaller bowl to create the lather (as the thought occurred to me that I was spreading the lather fairly thin in the bigger soup mug). This lather ended up being significantly better, though it was still fairly lousy by any official standard. Still, as I slowly moved through the lather on my first pass, I could tell something was different. The blade didn't feel like a toothy rodent gnawing its way in tentative hesitation across my face. The marked difference between the two experiences, though, gave me a little too much confidence and I think I finished the shave a little too quickly (and my strokes were certainly too long). It's almost as if the signs of improvement caused me to proceed with reckless abandon.

The alum stung a bit more this time around, but I have several patches on my face that actually resemble a decent shave! And then there is that mild redness on my neck and everything feels a tad warmer this time around thanks to my excitement (and persistently crummy lather). Still, I think I'm on the up and up.

And if my face didn't feel a little like this:

I'd feel just like this:

 

I think I might try face lathering. I haven't yet learned bowl lathering properly, so I might as well learn something that will eliminate another piece of equipment from my counter. Thanks!

I have a Muehle 31K256 Silvertip Fibre 21 mm shaving brush coming from England. All reviews seem to suggest it to be significantly better than the brush I'm using (though my Body Shop brush isn't terrible, just a tad prickly). It's supposed to lather better than an animal hair brush as well, so I reckon we'll see about that. I'll let others know how that goes when it arrives. Thanks for thinking about it!

 

SuperSmott?..

 

"Children, gather around, gather around. Have I ever told you about the bold and wonderful PLANofMAN?"

"Ugghhhh, not again, D—"

"You see, the year was 2012 and I had just taken up wet shaving. We used to use this thing called an electric shaver, and yes, I realize the whole world now knows how great wet shaving is, but it was not always so. Anyway, PLANofMAN came to me on The Shave Den and told me a secret I would carry with me the rest of my life..."

Hehe, I think my problem is I don't really know the consistency of meringue, so I just can't tell what a good lather should look/feel like! I know that it's not what I've been producing, but both times I thought it looked ok in the bowl only to start wondering about it as I started shaving.

 

I should be revising for my exam in 47 minutes but instead I'm sitting here reading about how your 2nd shave went....

 

I apologize for distracting you! I'm pretty sure an exam is more enthralling than a report on my shaving. hehe

Before I try shaving again, I'll go ahead and just make several batches of lather. In Cool Whip containers. Which I accidentally leave in a supermarket with a sleeve of cookies and a "free sample" label. You know, so they don't go to waste...

 

+1, I'm a dedicated face latherer with major hard water issues at my house. That's exactly what I do...just keep adding more cream until the consistency is right.

 

This is what I would suggest as well. I would start with a fairly dry brush and just keep adding water little by little until you have a soupy mess. That way you can see what the lather looks like from too dry, to just right , and all the way to too wet. Once you know what your lather looks like at those different stages, you will be able to make the necessary changes to get your lather to where it needs to be.

 

Thanks, blanka and Tom. Yeah, I think I'll skip the bowl and just work on my face to learn that way. I'll start dry and just slowly move to dripping wet. Thanks again, everyone!

 

Just remember..lather looks and smells very tasty but it goes on the face..on.. the.. face...

 

@PLANofMan: Thanks again!

@Slipperyjoe: Has anyone looked at edible shaving cream before? "Sure, go ahead and dip your biscotti in my cheek..."

 

Steve Mott's Shave​

Chapter 3​

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This time around I went through three face lathering practice rounds, and every round was . I had left the brush to soak for quite some time. When it came time to gently wring it out and apply some cream, my brush felt like I was sticking the end of a soggy rope against my face (ie, the individual hairs would not really fan out and/or separate). It was just a solid clump that moved collectively back and forth like an intimate school of fish avoiding an invasive whale. I brought my fingers to the edge of the bristle load—no dice. I tried painting and swirling and could get them to separate a little, but it was the equivalent of sticking hundreds of stiff thatch broom bristles against my cheeks. I added a little more water and it was a tad better. Then a little bit more. By the time the brush had enough water to actually do its job and serve its country, the lather was drunk and unruly.​

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One possible problem: the Body Shop brush may just be lousy, but others seem to think it's ok for the price, so I don't know. Second, I live in Utah in an area with very hard water. Third, I live in a very dry climate and it was 90 degrees outside today with little moisture in recent weeks. I'm curious if face lathering is even possible here? Should I believe in the power of my dreams, or face the reality that face lathering will only result in comedy?​

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Barring miraculous intervention—are there any guardian angel barbers out there?—I think I may return to bowl lathering and keep working on that, as that seemed to work a little better and I feel more confident that I could get proficient with that. As an additional sidenote (and to add final dramatic interest to this tale), our sink area is carpeted in this apartment bathroom, and I'm making a mess. Should I get a fog-free mirror and move my operations to the shower? This would certainly seem to make rinsing easier, and the steam from the shower might keep my face a little moister...any shower shavers out there who want to chime in?​

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I would definitely go back to the bowl if I were you. Besides, isn't his bowl lathering week? Use the bowl until you get to know your brush and what it takes to make a good lather then you can take that knowledge to your face. I think I mentioned before about starting out with a fairly dry brush then slowly add water until it's a soupy mess so you can see what the lather looks like at all stages. This was meant to be done in the bowl, otherwise you would make a huge mess. As for shower shaving, I was always a shower shaver when I used a Mach 3, but when I switched to a DE, I needed to be able to see better and even though I had a fog free mirror, the lighting isn't good in our shower and I just felt like it wasn't enjoyable and took too much work. Besides, having the shower running the whole time during my shave was wasting quite a bit of water. Something to think about.

 

Where's the next chapter??? Don't keep us in suspense like this.

 

Face lathering is a great invention..I'd recommend it any time. If done properly you can achieve exactly the kind of lather you want with impeccable control virtually every time. Now that that's said.. you must remember the GD Carrington's vaunted 30 day rule.. When you can snatch the shaving brush from my hand..then it will be time for you to face lather..grasshopper. And not to worry, we got plenty of info on FL to make that work when the time comes...