Lather Lather Lather - see last post

sonny

sonny

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720
Hi ,

Could you recommend me a brush please?

At the moment I am using a Taylor of Old Bond St silvertip. The slim ebony handle is great and the hair tips are extremely soft. It's a fantastic looking brush and a pleasure to hold. However, the badger hairs simply hold too much water and the lather does not transfer to the face. Using less wate and/or cream just results in a dry paste.

The only way around this - believe me i have tried a lot, is to use a lot more shaving cream so that there is plenty of excess and therefore the brush becomes saturated with water and cream, and so has to transfer the excess to my face.

I have tried a £20 Dovo best badger and a £40 super badger (cant remember the make). Both have tips that are 'scratchy' but they both need less cream than the TOBS silvertip. The £20 Dovo produces just as good lather as the TOBS silvertip but I don't like the way it scratched the face with it's hard/sharp tips. same with the £40 best badger.

One last caveat, and this is where it gets tricky. The brush handle has to have thin form factor. At some point along the brush handle, it needs to be less than 16-18mm as this is the size for which my razor/brush stand accepts.

Are there any brushes that feel soft against the skin, can transfer a lather onto the face rather than hold it all in, as well as having a rather slim handle?


One last point - I know it can be like comparing apples to oranges - in your opinion which of these do you prefer:

A Gilette Superspeed Adjustable (such as a 'black beauty') or
A Merkur HD/38C ?

and Why?


Thank you very much.


Regards,




Sonny
 
Re: Brush Recommendation & Razor Comparison Question

Silly question sonny - how are you holding the brush?

Perversely I find it works better for transfer purposes if I hold the base of the knot with my fingers around the handle (so the handle is in the palm of my hand) - I'm also not averse to squeezing the lather out on to my fingers and putting it on like icing on a cake :lol:

As for the Vintage G= / New Merkur question - that's for other people - but I've never felt the need to use anything other than a Vintage G= (or Schick)
 
Re: Brush Recommendation & Razor Comparison Question

hunnymonster said:
Silly question sonny - how are you holding the brush?

Perversely I find it works better for transfer purposes if I hold the base of the knot with my fingers around the handle (so the handle is in the palm of my hand) - I'm also not averse to squeezing the lather out on to my fingers and putting it on like icing on a cake :lol:

As for the Vintage G= / New Merkur question - that's for other people - but I've never felt the need to use anything other than a Vintage G= (or Schick)
Click to expand...


I hold it at the handle but will try holding at the knot tonight. cheers. Yeah, i have to squeeze all the lather out with my hand usually and then put it on by hand, which i hate doing.

It's impossible to find a picture of my brush. I teied google images etc. Nothing.

The closest i could find is this one:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://media.photobucket.com/image/ebony%20silvertip%20%20brush/tooflogged/Shave16May2009013.jpg">http://media.photobucket.com/image/ebon ... 009013.jpg</a><!-- m -->
(eshave brush)

Funnily enough, the shaving stand i am using with the tobs silvertip is an eshave one.
 
Re: Brush Recommendation & Razor Comparison Question

Is there any chance my brush uses real ebony wood?

It's just that i looked at 'faux ebony' brushes onine and they all look plasticky. Mine is definately wood. And the guy who sold it to me said it's ebony, even though he looked about 16 years old, i believe him.

I get the feeling I have a Rolls Royce of a brush but am complaining about it's lack of a satnav.
 
Re: Brush Recommendation & Razor Comparison Question

neo on here makes wood handled custom brushes.Give him a shout if you are looking for a specific shape.
 
Re: Brush Recommendation & Razor Comparison Question

Describe the EXACT brush model, the soap you are using and you're method of lathering EXACTLY.
You should be able to get better results than you are currently.
I think the TOBS brushes are made by VULFIX and so I would expect it to be very soft
and probably more suitable for the bowl. Is it "floppy" rather than "scrubby"?
 
Re: Brush Recommendation & Razor Comparison Question

hunnymonster said:
Silly question sonny - how are you holding the brush?

Perversely I find it works better for transfer purposes if I hold the base of the knot with my fingers around the handle (so the handle is in the palm of my hand) - I'm also not averse to squeezing the lather out on to my fingers and putting it on like icing on a cake :lol:
Click to expand...


I tried this holding position, yeah it feels good and hand doesn't hurt that much. Yeah, I know, i'm a wuss.

Tried Anthony Logistics Shave Cream last night. Brilliant . I love it. I had one nick and i noticed something very cool. I saw a little blood appear and then it just closed and clotted right away! I checked out the ingredients and the AL Cream contains the same stuff as my TOBS but has about 10 or so other fancy ingredients including natural oils and other stuff that sounds impressive but not typical chemicals.

Lathers brilliantl too.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?ltr=A&t=38749">http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread ... =A&t=38749</a><!-- m -->
 
Re: Brush Recommendation & Razor Comparison Question

sonny said:
Is there any chance my brush uses real ebony wood?
Click to expand...

Every chance I'd have thought, although some species of ebony are now under embargo. If it's jet black it will probably be African; if it has brown or greenish streaks it is more likely to be from Asia. If it has open pores it might be African Blackwood, which is the preferred material for good quality clarinets etc.
 
Re: Brush Recommendation & Razor Comparison Question

Arrowhead said:
sonny said:
Is there any chance my brush uses real ebony wood?
Click to expand...

Every chance I'd have thought, although some species of ebony are now under embargo. If it's jet black it will probably be African; if it has brown or greenish streaks it is more likely to be from Asia. If it has open pores it might be African Blackwood, which is the preferred material for good quality clarinets etc.
Click to expand...


Black. couldn't see any streaks. Some line/grain when looked at closely which are 'open' but not like pores on skin (cirlces)
 
Re: Brush Recommendation & Razor Comparison Question

Ebony then, probably an African type, unless it's some other fine grained hardwood treated with an aniline dye. Some ebonies are dense enough to sink in water, by the way.
 
Re: Brush Recommendation & Razor Comparison Question

Morning chaps,

As Boab mentioned (cheers!) I'm currently making some brushes up for other members on here. In fact I've got one on the list for Fatboy1971 that will be a long handled Ebony in the eshave style.

The ebony I use if from a woodturning centre that's had it for a fair while, so not sure on the exact variety - when the wood turns up for the other brush I'll post a few pics.

In the mean time have a look at my other posts and you'll see some of the others I've made.

Good luck finding 'the one' and let me know if I can help ;)

Chris
 
I shaved yesterday. BBS. Great cut. No bumps or ingrown hairs - haven't really got any with DE shaving since I started. and for the first time, no nicks or cuts.

Yet, my face was red and burning up to 10 hours later!

Blade was fine.

I am pretty sure this is down to an air-bubble-filled lather, which didn't seem to provide much cushioning. The bit above the lip 'burnt' the most, even when going WTG.

Is this the most likely reason? A poor lather?

The only other thing I can think of is if the angle of the razor was too big and therefore producing a more 'scraping' action then cutting.
Again, just to mention, it was a great cut with BBS on face and some parts of neck too. I want to be able to achieve a BBS so then I can then give it up. I.e. Even though I don't plan to do it often, I still want to learn it as part of perfecting my technique.
 
The only other obvious thing is that you're reacting to something in the lather (and would get the irritation whether you shaved or not) - the obvious way to discount that is to lather up as if to shave, then don't shave and see if there's any irritation.

If there is, it's whatever you're lathering with, if not then it's something else about the shave (pressing too hard, poor blade, not good prep, not good lather)
 
I had exactly the same problem twice-

1. Using Woods of Windsor shave soap a while back - lovely lather, really thick and wonderful smell, but a few hours after the shave my skin was on fire for the next few hours and was still sore when I shaved the next day. For some reason I really don't get on with the soap.

2. Had the perfect shave - I think I used Body Shop cream, BBS all over followed by a cold water splash and no a/s. Went out, met some friends and had a few pints. Later that evening my face was a-glow! Bright red, really sore and painful. Then I looked at the back of my neck in the mirror... and my arms.... turns out I'd concentrated so much on the shave I'd overlooked the sun cream :lol: I always burn more on my face if I go out in the sun after shaving!

Chris
 
lol.

with me, it's definately technique or poor lather.

Gonna try a different shave cream tonight. The TOBS sensitive Jermy St. Black tub had an amazing smell but I don't have sensitive skin. Surely this can't be the issue. I think it's less cushioning then others.

gonna go with an eshave cream tonight.

fingers crossed.

My brush keeps sucking up the lather rather than applying it. starting to be a right pain
 
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