I'm still gathering up everything I need to get started. I was at the mall today so I stopped by B&BW. I read on this forum that they had some C.O. Bigelow cream, so I figured that it was worth a shot. I normally avoid this place except around holiday time, but it wasn't too busy today. It took a while to find it, but I finally spotted it near the corner in the back of the store. They were having a sale--Buy 2, Get 1 Free, so I ended up with 3 small tubes for $10. From what I read on the box, you can put this directly on your face and lather it with your brush, or put it in a bowl and lather it up there. Does either of these work better? I'm sure the answer will be, "It depends on what you prefer." It seems like wet shaving is all about experimenting and lots of trial and error. What do you prefer when using shave cream from a tube--mixing in a bowl or right on your face?
I lather in a bowl for soaps and creams. But, yea, you're right - try both ways and see what you like best. Enjoy your Bigelow!!
I pretty much build the lather on my face for all soaps and creams, except for Williams which I lather in the mug where the puck of soap is then go to my face. I used the Bigelow tonight and just put a small dollop on my brush and face lathered. I did 3 passes and still had plenty left over. Try a few different ways and see which one you prefer. There is no right or wrong, just what works best for you.
I generally bowl lather with creams, but sometimes the lather just doesn't pop until I start putting the cream on my face. I'm not sure if it's a combination of the two or what, but it's what I like doing, and that's what wetshaving is all about!
You can face lather it just fine in many ways: either start it in your palm, apply it directly to your brush or use your fingers and paint in on like war paint and then swirl a wet brush over your face.
I always lather on my face, though I haven't tried a wide variety of soaps and creams so it may not always work. For the Bigelow, I wet down the brush well (I shave at the end of a shower), put on a dollop a little smaller than a marble, and wisk like hell on my face. It lathers up very nicely for me. Your brush and your water hardness (an oft-overlooked factor) may produce different results.
For me it kinda revolves around time. When I really want to stretch it out and have a luxurious shave, I lather in a large mug that I float in a sink full of hot water. Typically this is a weekend thing. During the week though I tend to face lather more often. The lather is obviously a bit warmer when I mug lather (thanks to the scuttle effect) and that's nice but other than that, they both seem about equally effective in terms of lather quality.
Online it's actually 2 5.2 oz for $10. Don't bother checking because it's all sold out and no longer advertised.
I use a scuttle, without actually filling the underside with hot water. My scuttle has great vertical and horizontal grooves inside and the lather explodes beacuse of it. I stopped using the hot water because it seemed to dry out the lather and made the shave unpleasant.
You might want to get your C.O.Bigelow (aka Proraso) shave cream at Bath and Body Works kinda quick. I went online looking for it, it's out of stock online in the online advertisement where it was "buy 2 get 1 free" for the 5oz. size. The store honored that price even though the stores had just completed a similar promotion, which was nice. The girl at the store did tell me though that corporate was considering dropping the C.O.Bigelow line at Bath and Body Works, but said despite hearing that, the stores were sent more stock. In other words, she wasn't entirely sure what she was hearing would pan out. Just passing on what was told me. I've got 3 5oz tubes on hand here anyhow. bill
I as well got the deal at B&BW. I got 2 tubes (larger size) and the blue Elixer aftershave balm for like $20 bucks!
CO Bigelow is a great cream and it would be a shame if BBW got rid of it. I will say this however. Since moving to CO I am now some driving distance away from the nearest BBW. Rather than wasting time and gas getting there I just went ahead and ordered Proraso from Amazon. When taking into account gas and time, I didn't pay too much more even with s/h costs. Just an FYI to keep in mind should they really do away w/ CO Big.
