OPR soap ingredients:
It's like Jerry Lewis in Cracking Up !
It's like Jerry Lewis in Cracking Up !
Bowl lathering vs Face lathering
- Thread starter Harald
- Start date
I will buy one next week.
I do 50/50 but when I first started I couldn't get bowl lathering right to save my life. I found it's a little more skill oriented. I used to stand in the doorway of our bedroom to the bathroom practicing bowl lathering while watching TV with my wife many nights until I got it. I don't know what it was I got, what I was doing wrong but now it's easy and I love, to quote a member on another board, I love the ritual of it.
I bowl lather exclusively. I just enjoy the process of slowly building my lather to just the right consistency in a bowl before moving to my face where I spend a good amount of time working the lather into my beard. I then paint a nice layer of lather onto my face for the first pass. After each pass I rinse my face with cold water and then swirl the lather in the bowl around and then spend some more time working the lather into my beard before painting a nice thick layer onto my face. I repeat this for 3 passes plus touchup. It works for me. I always shake my natural hair brushes twice after soaking and three times for my synths. What I always shoot for is to load my brush with a soap for anywhere between 45 seconds and 1 1/2 minutes depending on the soap or using an almond sized dollop of cream. I then slowly add small amounts of water until the lather looks like yogurt with soft peaks and a nice sheen. It works every time.
- Thread starter
- #25
Do you put a lot of pressure on the brush when you working the lather into the beard?
Not too much. I don't press the brush against my face so much that it splays out all the way down to the base of the knot. I've never felt the need for that. I press just enough to get the brush to release enought lather and every so often I'll "paint" the strokes across my face which seems to help with evening out the consistency of the lather on my face. And when I paint the final coat on I will paint the brush in an upwards motion for the first pass only since I don't want to press my beard down against my face, especially if it's been a number of days since I last shaved. And I've noticed a big difference on the first pass since I started doing this about a month or two ago.
I completely get the issue the OP is referring to. I too prefer to face lather. I do bowl lather quite often as my wife likes for me do so for her use when shaving her legs. When I bowl lather for myself, it’s usually for only a days growth, a sample, or a soap I don’t like to load from the tub. I also tend to leave any unused lather in the bowl to use over the next couple days. It can vary from soap to soap if y out have 2-5 shaves worth of product in the bowl.
My issue last when now lathering are that I get it looking well hydrated as it would look when face lathering and it ends up being slightly runny when applying it to my face and I make a mess. It performs fine but I end up regretting now lathering instead of going straight to my face. The other scenario is that I get a slightly drier and dense lather that lays overtop of my stubble. When this occurs I wind up attempting to finish dialing it in and hoping I get it worked into my stubble enough to enjoy the protective benefits.
I think prep is likely more important when bowl lathering the hydrate the face well enough or using a preshave. I still prefer face lathering any day, but will likely juststart using my bowls to start building the lather for small amounts of remaining soaps, effectively loading the brush then moving to my face to finish. This hybrid approach gives better lather for subsequent passes but give me the preferred results of face lathering.
My issue last when now lathering are that I get it looking well hydrated as it would look when face lathering and it ends up being slightly runny when applying it to my face and I make a mess. It performs fine but I end up regretting now lathering instead of going straight to my face. The other scenario is that I get a slightly drier and dense lather that lays overtop of my stubble. When this occurs I wind up attempting to finish dialing it in and hoping I get it worked into my stubble enough to enjoy the protective benefits.
I think prep is likely more important when bowl lathering the hydrate the face well enough or using a preshave. I still prefer face lathering any day, but will likely juststart using my bowls to start building the lather for small amounts of remaining soaps, effectively loading the brush then moving to my face to finish. This hybrid approach gives better lather for subsequent passes but give me the preferred results of face lathering.
Interesting comment about pre-shave. For years I have been using a pre-shave oil before my first pass only and was always afraid to stop using it for fear of having less than excellent shaves. But more recently as I seem to have mastered the perfect lather using a bowl, I have completely cut out the pre-shave oil. And I realize I don't need it at all. I do understand the issue with that fine line between properly hydrated and being too hydrated creating a mess. I found that I can stop adding water so that the peaks are soft yet still firm, I don't get the mess. If I add just a tad too much water, then I'll tend to send some lather flying around the bathroom. But that has become quite rare.
- Thread starter
- #29
very interesting, I will try
I bowl lather with Proraso, face lather with Arko.
I only have these 2 soaps, works for me.
I only have these 2 soaps, works for me.
I do face and bowl lathering both but yes I do agree with you here, whenever the growth is one day it is advised to go for bowl lathering and then paint your face with lather with small painting strokes!! I mostly use synthetic brush as I never got used to boar brushes and do not wish to buy a badger. With synthetic brushes the warmth of the hot water is not retained for long and hence I feel bowl lathering actually helps lather better as the ceramic or the marble bowl retains the heat long enough for 1-2 passes (do correct me if my understanding is wrong). Until last year I used to only do face lathering and over last 5 months have started working a lather on bowl but yes now a days I prefer bowl lathering as it generates voluminous lather, does not let me press my brush on face and enhances the brush life! Also I do wash my face with a face scrub and warm water & use a pre shave oil before lathering my face to ensure smooth razor glide and for the fear as if otherwise I might hurt myself due to friction (which is purely psychological as I do know a great lather also provides enough slickness to ensure smooth razor glide)
When you "build" a lather in the bowl, is totally different when you " build" a lather on your face. The lather might be the same, but you face is not. Much difference.
The lather on your face (as a technique) is different if you shave every day and different if you shave every two days.
That said, you may need a more dense/thick lather in the bowl, in order to have same result (and feeling) on your face. At least that is what I did, when I had the same "issue".
The lather on your face (as a technique) is different if you shave every day and different if you shave every two days.
That said, you may need a more dense/thick lather in the bowl, in order to have same result (and feeling) on your face. At least that is what I did, when I had the same "issue".
MWF pushed me into more face lathering. I was struggling creating lather in the bowl with it, spending more time in the bowl and less on my face. One day I loaded the brush and went straight to my face with the intention to shave with whatever result I got. As I was working the brush I began to see streaks of the lather building. I continued the process adding a bit more water and the lather continued to build, change consistency and become creamy. The amount and quality of lather was sufficient to shave. Best result to date. I’ve not really gone back to the bowl although I do appreciate the tactile quality of bowl lathering, especially if you’ve got a cool bowl. I use my cool bowl to soak brushes in and swirl cream.
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Your experience obvious pays in dividends here.
I am not a pre shave guy. The only time I use it is with proraso and I typically face lather overtop of it and do not see any major advantage. I do find an improved shave comes from applying the protolather from the soap tub or puck directly to my face before face lathering.
With face lathering, I tend to apply the soap as a thick paste then aggressively hydrate the paste as I build the lather. This, for me, gets warm water right there at the foundation and I build up from there. If it’s still not hydrated after some nice paintedstrokes to get even coverages I dunk my brush again and hit each cheek and my neck hydrating all the way backdown to my skin then painting it all back into place for even coverage. This gives me the best results.
My theory for bowl lather is that I haven’t taken that time get my skin hydrated with the soap and therefore can see the merit of using a preshave cream or oil on the skin before simply painting on lather from a bowl.
I’m sorry, this is just taking frugality a bit too far. Is it really worth saving the lather to use another day?!
I can see the need for some kind of pre-shave regimen when bowl lathering if all the person is doing is painting on the lather. But if they spend a good amount of time "scrubbing" the lather into their beard and really working it before applying that "painted on layer", I don't see a whole lot of difference between face and bowl lathering.
I never used to do this. But recently I've begun taking the leftover lather from both the brush and the bowl, putting it back in the tub of soap and letting it air dry before putting the lid on. Impossible for me to measure any savings without taking notes and tracking how long a soap lasts, which I don't do and won't do. But it makes sense to me and takes me little time to do.
Another thought...
many of us tend to be a little excessive with how we use our products. The though just occurred to me, that for one or two days growth, I don’t really need a ton of lather for multiple passes, and if I bowl lather I tend to end up with a lot of lather. Psychologically we have all that lather and think we need to use it all. Perhaps if we are using less when bowl lathering we will dial it’s in better or get a more reasonable amount on our face to then work into our stubble and get our skin better moisturized as well...
Just a thought..
many of us tend to be a little excessive with how we use our products. The though just occurred to me, that for one or two days growth, I don’t really need a ton of lather for multiple passes, and if I bowl lather I tend to end up with a lot of lather. Psychologically we have all that lather and think we need to use it all. Perhaps if we are using less when bowl lathering we will dial it’s in better or get a more reasonable amount on our face to then work into our stubble and get our skin better moisturized as well...
Just a thought..
If I’m pressing soap into a bowl and put too much in, I know I’m going to be coming back to use whatever is still stuck in the bowl the next day, leaving the lather from the same soap in the bowl makes sense. It’s not done to pinch pennies, but I fail to see how it’s any different than a guy 50 years ago lathering his old spice or Williams in a mug and tossing his unrinsed brush right back into the mug to sit on the partially lathered puck. It’s not hurting a thing.
Additionally, I don’t see the benefit of rinsing off soap in a tub before lidding it and putting it back in the shelf. Not saying that rinsing it off is or isn’t a good practice, I think it’s just preference.
I whole heartedly agree.
