Good evening gentlemen. I thought Id post up my lathering technique for the QED sticks. I know this has been covered before but I lit upon a technique that makes an incredibly dense and moisturizing lather. This concerns the Mocha Java stick. The technique produces great lather with all the different QED sticks but the MJ is without doubt the premier performer in the line. At least it is for me. I am not normally a fan of food scents. They just dont seem right to me. This one is an exception. There is something about the combination of the cacao oil and the coffee oil that is magic on the skin. So here it is. Remember, this is my take on it and if your results dont bear out in the lather, do what you like instead. Ive come to the conclusion that there is no best way, product or application with shave toiletries. Improvise!
I always got a good lather with the sticks but sometimes felt it was not staying hydrated enough to suit me. I knew the QED soaps wanted water. You could just tell it. Sometimes I would finally mix in enough water to break the lather. It was time to start again. I was fiddling around with the MJ stick one morning and was thinking I was getting a lot of razor drag. I almost put it up but rinsed my face off and tried again. This time, I really massaged the stick into the beard area. Ill tell you, I put enough soap on the beard to make the facial skin look a bit coated. Then I took my Omega boar hair brush and soaked it in hot water. I then shook it till it had almost no water left in it. I started off swirling the brush over the beard area and continued till I had a lather that would best be described as face paint. It looked almost like clown white on my face. It was dry and thick.
Now here comes the critical part. I got out the lather bowl(JCBB or Joels Cool Blue Bowl to be exact)and started feeding hot water into what lather was still left in the brush. I did this in approximately 1 teaspoon increments and swirled the brush vigorously to thoroughly hydrate the mix. Then I would apply/mix this to the face paint already on my beard. As it thickened up I would return to the bowl and add more water. I did this approximately 5-8 times. It depends on the water that day and the humidity. After awhile, I had built a VERY sturdy yet totally hydrated mix on the face. The multiple applications really softened up the beard and made for the nicest shave Id had in a long time. In fact, I needed no A/S product at all though I did apply some DaVinci water just to clean up the lather residue. Im telling you gentlemen, if your face likes the MJ stick, you owe it to yourselves to try this technique.
The two things I think are IMPERITIVE with this method is the base of face paint and the slower introduction of water to the brush mix. It sounds complicated and time consuming but its not. The lathering time was probably five minutes total. I know that could sound fairly fast but clock it sometime. Five minutes is a long time when you are lathering. I feel that if you have soft water the hydration time would be shorter. Another nice thing is that this doesnt need a certain perceived brush type. I used my Omega boar the first time and must admit it can be a bit rough for a lengthy lathering time. Further applications have been done with the Vulfix 2236s and it makes for a lather that defines the word creamy. I feel the Savile Row or Shavemacs would be super with this. So use what brush you like. A brush that has some backbone will make this lather post haste. So there it is. Its not rocket science nor earth shattering or death defying. It just works. A nice bonus was that at the end of the session, you could see a bit of the cacao and coffee oils trickling out of the lather in the bowl. I massaged this into the beard area before a final rinse and it felt so soothing. Some of my best shaves have come from this stick. I like my bowl of QED sandalwood but will likely buy only the sticks in the future. I feel that the application is superior that way. That old fox Charles certainly knew what he was doing in designing these sticks. I hope this helps and that someone finds it useful.
Regards, Todd
I always got a good lather with the sticks but sometimes felt it was not staying hydrated enough to suit me. I knew the QED soaps wanted water. You could just tell it. Sometimes I would finally mix in enough water to break the lather. It was time to start again. I was fiddling around with the MJ stick one morning and was thinking I was getting a lot of razor drag. I almost put it up but rinsed my face off and tried again. This time, I really massaged the stick into the beard area. Ill tell you, I put enough soap on the beard to make the facial skin look a bit coated. Then I took my Omega boar hair brush and soaked it in hot water. I then shook it till it had almost no water left in it. I started off swirling the brush over the beard area and continued till I had a lather that would best be described as face paint. It looked almost like clown white on my face. It was dry and thick.
Now here comes the critical part. I got out the lather bowl(JCBB or Joels Cool Blue Bowl to be exact)and started feeding hot water into what lather was still left in the brush. I did this in approximately 1 teaspoon increments and swirled the brush vigorously to thoroughly hydrate the mix. Then I would apply/mix this to the face paint already on my beard. As it thickened up I would return to the bowl and add more water. I did this approximately 5-8 times. It depends on the water that day and the humidity. After awhile, I had built a VERY sturdy yet totally hydrated mix on the face. The multiple applications really softened up the beard and made for the nicest shave Id had in a long time. In fact, I needed no A/S product at all though I did apply some DaVinci water just to clean up the lather residue. Im telling you gentlemen, if your face likes the MJ stick, you owe it to yourselves to try this technique.
The two things I think are IMPERITIVE with this method is the base of face paint and the slower introduction of water to the brush mix. It sounds complicated and time consuming but its not. The lathering time was probably five minutes total. I know that could sound fairly fast but clock it sometime. Five minutes is a long time when you are lathering. I feel that if you have soft water the hydration time would be shorter. Another nice thing is that this doesnt need a certain perceived brush type. I used my Omega boar the first time and must admit it can be a bit rough for a lengthy lathering time. Further applications have been done with the Vulfix 2236s and it makes for a lather that defines the word creamy. I feel the Savile Row or Shavemacs would be super with this. So use what brush you like. A brush that has some backbone will make this lather post haste. So there it is. Its not rocket science nor earth shattering or death defying. It just works. A nice bonus was that at the end of the session, you could see a bit of the cacao and coffee oils trickling out of the lather in the bowl. I massaged this into the beard area before a final rinse and it felt so soothing. Some of my best shaves have come from this stick. I like my bowl of QED sandalwood but will likely buy only the sticks in the future. I feel that the application is superior that way. That old fox Charles certainly knew what he was doing in designing these sticks. I hope this helps and that someone finds it useful.
Regards, Todd
