Trouble with Mama Bears

H

heroblob

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814
Has anyone else had problems getting a stable lather with Mama Bears.
I have 2, Ginger limes and bay rum.
I have now tried them both once with the 2201 and one with the 2211. I have found on both ocassions that they make a what appears to be a reasonable lather, But when aplied to my face it quickly breaks down.
I live in the Essex area and the water round hear is quite hard. Have wondered whether this may be the problem. This is my first time with a glycerine soap and wondered if i was missing something.
Process i followed was this.
1. Soak brush for 5 mins. add a couple of drops of water to the tub while brush soaking.
2. Tip out water from tub and gently squeeze excess water from brush.
3. Swirl fairly dry brush in tub and load with soap, approx 30 sec. seamed like quite a bit of soap on the brush. Bristles appeard stuck together with soap.
4. transfer to bowl and add small amounts of water to bowl as lather builds. Lather appears to build to same consistancy as with other soaps like Nanny's.
5. Apply to damp face as i do with nanny's soap and start shaving. By the time a reach the second half of my face, say minuet or two the lather has reduced significantly. By the time i reach my chin Last phase of the pass It is all but gone.

What do you think i am doing wrong. Heard such good things about Mama Bears, and at the moment i am a bit miffed. Shame cause both the wife and i like both scents.

Someone please give me a clue. :cry:
 
I found this, too.

What I now do is ensure that there's more water on my brush before I load it up... I don't bother with putting water in the soap itself (as I would with a hard soap).

I just find that the brush needs more water…

I also work the soap and make sure that there's plenty of soap on the brush.

I'm sure that there are others more qualified than I to comment/help, but that's what I found helps.

Lipsy
 
Soak the soap in hot water for a few mins
soak brush as well
wring brush out dont shake
pour water off soap
load brush on soap at least 45 secs to a minute
then apply to face working for another 1-2 mins at least
if that dont work soaps not for you and you must pif to me.. :lol:
 
I used the Ogallala Bay Rum soap last week which is also Glycerine i believe and the lather looked good and felt ok as it went on, but i didn't find it very protective and not long lasting.

All my soapy ingredients will be here in the next few days, so i hope to make a Good Glycerine soap for myself with added oils and butters for thick creamy stable lather.

If it works, obviously i can't sell it as i'm not a pro, but everyone will be welcome to a "Gift" slice ! :D
 
To the guys who say they start with more water in the brush, do you get good results and a lasting stable lather.
I may try using filtered water from the kettle to see if that works. I had thought that people had found these soaps to be excellent and on a par with Nanny's. At the moment they don't come close.
 
I get results with a "wetter" brush… Much better. I didn't think that glycerine-based soaps needed water on the top, though… YMMV, etc.

Lipsy
 
I wont be shaving tomorrow, but when i get up after my night shift i may well have a play and see what i can do. I so wont these to work as the smell is wonderful, and there are a few on here that say that they are there favorite soaps.
 
Just load up a nice wet brush and work it in a bowl. You have better brushes than I, so you should get better results. I love the MB's, but it isn't as stable as some of the creams and soaps I've used, but I do love the stuff.

Persevere, it's worth it.
 
Is the need for more water on the brush and more time loading common to all glycerine shaving soaps?

When I took my first glycerine soap to Beejay he tried a lther and said that it took more water and loading than he'd expected (he didn't shave at the time).
 
Briallen said:
Is the need for more water on the brush and more time loading common to all glycerine shaving soaps?
Click to expand...

In my limited experience, I would say it is common to the glycerin soaps I have used.

I too, soak the soap a bit as I soak the brush, then heavy load the bristles. Lather is pretty sound most of the time.

Sadly, I think I'm finding a different problem with the glycerin hard soaps. They seem to dry and tighten my skin, also giving me the itchy/squirmy sensation that seems to be under the skin, but not as deep as the bone and muscles. Not a great feeling, and it's more frequent and more intense the longer I've used them - didn't have this at the beginning with them, at all.
 
heroblob said:
Has anyone else had problems getting a stable lather with Mama Bears.
I have 2, Ginger limes and bay rum.
I have now tried them both once with the 2201 and one with the 2211. I have found on both ocassions that they make a what appears to be a reasonable lather, But when aplied to my face it quickly breaks down.
I live in the Essex area and the water round hear is quite hard. Have wondered whether this may be the problem. This is my first time with a glycerine soap and wondered if i was missing something.
Process i followed was this.
1. Soak brush for 5 mins. add a couple of drops of water to the tub while brush soaking.
2. Tip out water from tub and gently squeeze excess water from brush.
3. Swirl fairly dry brush in tub and load with soap, approx 30 sec. seamed like quite a bit of soap on the brush. Bristles appeard stuck together with soap.
4. transfer to bowl and add small amounts of water to bowl as lather builds. Lather appears to build to same consistancy as with other soaps like Nanny's.
5. Apply to damp face as i do with nanny's soap and start shaving. By the time a reach the second half of my face, say minuet or two the lather has reduced significantly. By the time i reach my chin Last phase of the pass It is all but gone.

What do you think i am doing wrong. Heard such good things about Mama Bears, and at the moment i am a bit miffed. Shame cause both the wife and i like both scents.

Someone please give me a clue. :cry:
Click to expand...

Try face lathering, let us know how it goes fella.
 
It's possible it is your water. I haven't used a MB soap for a while but found them to be great performers with very stable lather. I live in a hard water area but we've got a water softener linked to our water supply that I'm sure must help matters.
 
Well just got up, and decided to give the Mama Bears another go. This time i while i soaked the brush(this time i chose the 2201) i soaked the soap by filling the top of the pot with hot water. After soaking for a few minuets I poured the water off the soap and gently squeezed some of the water out of the brush. I then started loading. Due to more water in the brush the pot started to lather immediately and became quite messy. Kept loading for about 1 min, and then moved to my face. Now this is my first attempt at face lathering and it was very pleasant. Using a finger i scooped the excess soap from the bowl and added that to my face as well. Needed to add a small amount of extra water with one small dip of the tips of the brush and carried on going. the lather became very thick and rich. Finished by evening out the coat of lather and removing excess for further passes.
At this point i couldn't help myself, i couldn't just leave the lather there as i had intended to to see how it lasted. Out came the razor and i went for a WTG pass. Rinsed, wiped the excess water from my face with my hands and reapplied a second coat of lather. You guessed it, this was followed by a second pass. Due to me not usually being able to shave on consecutive days, but being unable to play with foam and face, the third and fourth passes where done with the blade removed. Was just as i remember playing as a 6 year old.
Well the verdict.
The lather was excellent. Thick and very slick. In fact when it came to rinsing off the excess the lather was extremely slippery.

What had changed,
Well, my normal water was used so its not down to the hardness of the water.
I didn't use Proraso pre shave and started the lather on a dry face with zero prep.
I changed the brush to the 2201 which has a little more back bone and a smaller more controllable head in an attempt to reduce the mess whilst loading.


I will now have a go on my next shave with a hot water prep only, and if that is as good as this then i shall re introduce the proraso and see if that makes a difference. looks like a week or so of face lathering. If all that works well Then i shall have another go at bowl lathering.

Thanks for the input guys, and girls. My faith has been restored and another soap has been added to my arsenal. You got to love the smell of ginger lime. :D
 
heroblob said:
Well just got up, and decided to give the Mama Bears another go. This time i while i soaked the brush(this time i chose the 2201) i soaked the soap by filling the top of the pot with hot water. After soaking for a few minuets I poured the water off the soap and gently squeezed some of the water out of the brush. I then started loading. Due to more water in the brush the pot started to lather immediately and became quite messy. Kept loading for about 1 min, and then moved to my face. Now this is my first attempt at face lathering and it was very pleasant. Using a finger i scooped the excess soap from the bowl and added that to my face as well. Needed to add a small amount of extra water with one small dip of the tips of the brush and carried on going. the lather became very thick and rich. Finished by evening out the coat of lather and removing excess for further passes.
At this point i couldn't help myself, i couldn't just leave the lather there as i had intended to to see how it lasted. Out came the razor and i went for a WTG pass. Rinsed, wiped the excess water from my face with my hands and reapplied a second coat of lather. You guessed it, this was followed by a second pass. Due to me not usually being able to shave on consecutive days, but being unable to play with foam and face, the third and fourth passes where done with the blade removed. Was just as i remember playing as a 6 year old.
Well the verdict.
The lather was excellent. Thick and very slick. In fact when it came to rinsing off the excess the lather was extremely slippery.

What had changed,
Well, my normal water was used so its not down to the hardness of the water.
I didn't use Proraso pre shave and started the lather on a dry face with zero prep.
I changed the brush to the 2201 which has a little more back bone and a smaller more controllable head in an attempt to reduce the mess whilst loading.


I will now have a go on my next shave with a hot water prep only, and if that is as good as this then i shall re introduce the proraso and see if that makes a difference. looks like a week or so of face lathering. If all that works well Then i shall have another go at bowl lathering.

Thanks for the input guys, and girls. My faith has been restored and another soap has been added to my arsenal. You got to love the smell of ginger lime. :D
Click to expand...

So you did what i said ;) Dont bother with the bowl just face lather..Just remember i would say it takes a good 2mins face lathering to get the santa look.. ;)
 
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