Do soaps, generally, need LESS water to get to that optimal slickness? It seems to me, if you add to much water your soap lather is worthless. I think I need less water than I normally would use with creams. Am I wrong? Or is it just my impression?
Having used many, many soaps and creams I can't say I've noticed anything like that. There are soaps which only need a little bit of water as well as there are creams who don't like too much water and then there's creams/soaps which need more water than others. So, in a nutshell: It all depends on the individual product.
You're absolutely right. Always start with less than you think you need. You can always add water, but can't take it away. Klaus is only partially right in saying it all depends on the product . Every product (soap or cream) is different, everyone's water is different (that may explain why your lather doesn't whip up the same way as the guy's on the video), and every brush is different - boar and badger each retain water in different ways and different size brushes will hold different amounts of water. Soooo... finding the perfect water-to-soap (or cream) ratio is a matter of experimenting with your soap (or cream), with your water, with your brush of choice. Ain't this fun?
Annnnnnd I just read yesterday that if you have a winter coat badger brush as opposed to a summer coat badger brush, you will have different water requirements as well. It is very fun! :happy023
