Concoctions

[Drroly]

It all started with a bowl of crabtree Sienna soap, which wasn't giving a great lather (very hard water here) so I tried experimenting and bought I'd share the results. Essentially I'm finding ways to use products that would otherwise stay at the back of the bathroom cupboard.

Would be interested to know what combinations people have tried.

Somerset's shave oil
- Two drops added to soap before lather
- Cheap boar brush used as I don't know if the oil would affect my silvertip
- Very thick, almost viscous lather and very slippery. Nice mild menthol kick from the somerset's

Viyella shave gel
- Small marble sized blob added to soap befor lather
- Surprisingly, masses of thick lather and good slipperiness but dries out a bit quickly
- A touch of water on the brush tips instantly re-activates the lather

Palmolive shave cream
- Small blob, 1/2 what you would use by itself added to soap before lathering
- Thick cushiony lather that takes a long time to dry out
- Lather must be worked for a couple of minutes
- Not quite as slippery as the gel or oil concoctions
- More expensive creams work as well, but no better, so feel like a bit of a waste

Anyway, hope someone finds his useful! The soap/Palmolive combination in particular is a great way to counteract the ill-effects of hard water.

 

[Arrowhead]

I feel for you with that Thames Valley water. Technically speaking (joke) the addition of cream makes it "superlather". The next step is to try some glycerine to make "überlather". Just cut 'n' paste that ridiculous travesty of a word into a Google search, and you'll be rewarded with at least three YouTube vids on the subject. Have fun

 

[hunnymonster]

You might find that the addition of some bicarbonate of soda or salt might help too (talking 1/4 - 1/2 tsp in a sink of water - too much salt turns the water brasckish and then your soap won't lather due to it being brackish...)