Lather Tutorial ~ Hard Soap

I really appreciated seeing this. I had never used a brush in my life until recently. I have been using far too much water and ending up with a fluffy foam. Despite this I was quite pleased with the shave. But as I have got more experience, things have improved. After seeing this I realise I have still been using too much water and need to spend longer creating a more creamy lather.
It's only through the internet that I have picked up information. High Street stores are little help. I have been asking around for soap/cream advice. The cosmetic counters at places like John Lewis carry some men's shaving products but no one has a clue about their use. I was given a sample to try with my brush which was completely hopeless and must only have been for application by hand.
I did think of popping in to a barber for a chat but found all of them too busy. So I will stay around here for a while until I master this traditional shaving art!
 
Hello Fido and welcome

I have been DE shaving for about 8 months now, so still a relative newcomer.

What I have found is if you soak the brush for a few mins, then squeeze the excess water out, then apply the brush to the cream or soap, then gradually add water, it all comes together. It's actually worth trying this ans adding too much water to see where ' the limit point' is. The lather should be thick and glossy, plenty of cushion and also slick. Try a wee touch of cream sunk into your brush when using soap. Hope this helps, but, I promise you when you get it right you will notice a massive difference. There are some really experienced guys here and they are all a friendly bunch.
Enjoy, don't take it too seriously or get hung up on technical keech.

Regards

Russell
 
antdad said:
the English language has always absorbed vocabulary from a huge number of sources ........ I have no fear that this forum will be less English if the incorrect nomenclature is used actually I encourage it.

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If I, as an Irish person, might voice an opinion, I would wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. I spent way to long being anal about proper usage, but then had to accept the obvious truth that the language is always evolving and changing, and as soon as something is widely understood, it's pretty well o.k. Innit!
 
Just read your tutorial and feel inspired to give my MWF circular shaving agent a good going over tomorrow evening. (It's still untouched.) Thoroughly enjoyable read, and thanks for going to all that effort to help out newcomers to the hard stuff.

Pucks or cakes? Does it really matter? I eat cookies as well as biscuits; fries as well as chips. Like antdad quite rightly pointed out, English has borrowed from many languages/cultures over the centuries. That, my compadres, is what makes ours such a riche und fantastico lingua, non? ;)
 
Wow, very nice!! Thank you, I´ve been "doing" pucks for a while now and I must say that I never has had such a nice lather as you have: I only thought I had it right :lol: . Well, tomorrow morning I´m going all in and will try to make it right.

Thank again!
Mikael
 
Thanks from me too. I've got a decent lather on occasion but it's more through luck than judgement, sometimes I'll feel I'm doing the same things but it comes out differently. I think a bit more practice is required to gain consistency.
 
That's a corking tutorial. Though early on in the whole scheme of things, I was already getting frustrated by the lack of lather I was building up. I blamed the hard water, and I was already getting frustrated that I creams and sticks were much easier and I was getting more comfortable shaves from them.

Shaved earlier (Palmolive cream for the first time) and again noted that the shave was better and closer than with the soap. So, I had a wee look in here and took myself upstairs for a play with my soap, having ingested the info.

Worked like a charm - shame I blummin' shaved earlier, considering the lather I built up. At least I know now that I can do it.

Thanks – brilliant tutorial, and something that all noobs should have a read of.

Lipsy
 
Great tutorial. As a newbie, I've been making just about every wrong move described or hinted at in the tutorial, and ending up with a lather that looked as if skimmed milk had been lightly sprinkled on my face and then wiped off again. Not any more!
 
This tutorial was the catalyst for my conversion from the easier cream, face lathering option. Good soap lather takes the shave to an altogether higher level, in my humble opinion.

The point is also well made, by Antdad, about the cheaper Wilky brush; I keep banging on about it but, once broken in, it is a top performer. Don't dismiss it to soon.
 
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