bowl and face latherability

B

bodge

Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
In the interest of shaving some time off the prep, I had a go at face lathering yesterday. I had tried once before and it didn't work out as well as my bowl lather. Yesterday was the same. I got 2 nice thick passes, the third was much thinner.

I use a brush I picked up from the local chemist, it was 20 bucks and says its badger.
I left a bit more water in the brush for the face lathering.

I use proraso cream in the green tube. Usually the almond size dollop in the bowl produces enough lather for 5+ passes. I don't use 5+passes, but it looks like I haven't used much after 3 passes.

When I used the same amount of cream for the face lather the cream started producing and it looked and sounded like a lot is happening.

Any ideas?
 
It sounds like not enough product on the brush for a start.

You really need to make sure the brush holds a bit of water to produce and retain the lather, and after each pass I dip the tips of the brush in the water to reactivate the lather, otherwise it is dry and horrible.

The brush is a $20 cheapie and is possibly not the greatest but I would cover off the first two things and then if you see some improvement then good; look at a better brush though. Even a reasonable boar would give better results.
 
You were right, not enough product. I also applied the cream directly to the inside of the brush rather than onto my face.
Ta
 
I found that aside from the soap and the brush, the Bowl that you use plays an important part in how the lather plays out. For the last few months i've been using a Surabachi for all my soaps: pucks, sticks or creams. I start off the lather in the bowl for face lathering or use it for the full brush lather . Amazing how much easier it is.
 
I started face lathering a couple of weeks ago.

Just make sure you rub plenty of the stick onto your face, load your brush up, then go to town on your face until the lather is just right. I can't see myself going back to bowl lathering anytime soon - I love it!

Like anything to do with wet shaving it might take a bit of practise to get it right, but hang in there, it's worth it.
 
I don't really bowl lather at all anymore. Just another item to have to wash etc at the end.

I prefer to start with the brush dryer and build the lather. Too much water in the brush up front and I just get water dripping out of the knot near the handle as I'm working it up.

I like sticks for soap onto the face or squeeze a blob of cream into the heart of the brush. Spend a bit of time making the lather, returning to the sink etc to add water. It's easy to start shaving with the lather a bit on the dry side which runs you out of product on pass #3. Extra time rubbing the brush around can't hurt. It helps the whiskers soften and lets you enjoy your brush IMO :)
 
My bowl lasted a week tops.

Too many decent reasons to face lather; less time, you get a feel for the lather, your beard gets a proper massage, soaping up and softening.

Bowls can't do that.
 
I must admit when I started I wanted a bowl, even if I had no idea how to use it, but now I see no reason. For the Tabac, Cella, Bluebeards Revenge I use their own containers and just swirl around on the soaps. For the various pucks of soap I have,ramikins or the Berts Bees shaving cups I have in abundance. The creams, I agree with a previous poster - put them on a wet face and your bathroom will end up looking like someone has had a toothpaste fight with blobs of stuff everywhere - I jusr whack some on whatever brush I am using and scrub away away at the face. The sticks have been the most problematical - it just doesn't feel right swiping this hard object over your face - but hit it with a brush and away you go.
 
I used my bowl for a bit. I just didn't know any better. Now my bowl is used for holding my two razors in on the bathroom bench.
Now that I can face lather with both soap and cream I don't see the need for a bowl.

Short version: good for starters but unnecessary as you get experienced.
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I have quite a nice handmade scuttle that I imported from the US. But ever since moving earlier this year I haven't used it probably more than once or twice... my hot water in the old apartment used to be scalding hot, which was awesome when it went in the scuttle, but this house's instant hot water thing is less powerful than the mains gas fed hot water system, and it just doesn't seem to get as much heat out of the hot water to keep the lather warm.

So I changed to palm lathering for a while, and then recently to face lathering.

I love face lathering now, I'm getting far more consistent results on the face directly than when I was in the palm. It's a great way to feel the lather while you're building it.

My scuttle is now for show, lol. :eek:mg:
 
I used a bowl for the first couple months of DE shaving. Once I gave that away my lathers improved dramatically.
Plus you can maintain and develop a better lather on the face.

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