I had a request to put a thread together showing tips and tricks to make some lather from the Australian Palmolive/Mennen shave stick. It's not the easiest soap that I worked with but also, not the most difficult either. The secret? It just take a bit more water than the regular shave stick. It took me a few tests to realize that more water is required. Now, I'm not saying that all shave sticks are easy to use but this one is an example that when you get a new product, try it before the shave. As always, YMMV!
Why do I call it "Palmolive/Mennen" or "Mennen/Palmolive"? Simple, the sticks used to be branded under Mennen and recently (a few months ago) the package was redone and they are now sold under Palmolive name. For more information, consult this thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1565182
I think the Australian version is a bit more difficult to work with compared to the Euro version but that's all right. As part of the local products, it's not the best but it works! For $2 AUD, it's a good and cheap introduction to shaving sticks!
This is not intended to be a tutorial. Joel did a great tutorial on how to use a shave stick here: http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=40
Also, I want to give credits to Axel_ for the "Firstbowl" technique that I saw in this thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1216253#post1216253
Finally, the review of this product is available here: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?ltr=M&t=45747
I will cover a bad lather with Palmolive, a good one using a bowl (Shaving stick + bowl, no face lather) and I will face lather.
Let's get started.
Today I will use a small bowl (3" diameter by 1" deep), a Boar Men-U brush. I currently own 3 different Palmolive products(From left to right):
As always, I will soak my brush and bowl in warm water before I start and leave them in there for ~5 minutes.
I need to wet the shave stick before I use it, like any soap
Here's the famous Fist bowl!
I squeeze some water out of my brush. As usual, I half close my fist to leave some water in there.
Charging the brush for a good 45 seconds.
Empty the water from the bowl
The lather is too dry after 20 seconds of mixing
After ~3 minutes, it still doesn't look too good
Let's try to add some water by dipping the tip of the bristles only.
The other way to add some water is by dipping your fingers in the water and let a few drops fall in the bowl.
The result? A bit better but not impressive...
I could probably still use it as the lather seems to be thick enough but I wouldn't have enough for 2 passes.
Let's try again but this time, post-soaking, instead of squeezing the bristles, let's just shake the brush until all excess water stop falling out of the brush.
Again, we need to wet the stick first and empty the bowl(I know, recycling my images)
Let's do the fist bowl again but place your fist at 90 degrees with the bowl under. Any excess lather will fall in the bowl. Charge the brush for the same time, around 45 seconds.
After ~3 minutes of mixing, it looks much better than batch #1
The lather is now thicker! I'm happy with this one.
Finally, face lathering! Let's soak the brush and then dip the tip of the stick
On a wet face (post shower is good or just wet the area to be shaved if you dried it after your prep) I will apply the soap.
Apply the soap where you need to shave, apply a fair amount and dip the tip of the stick as often as you need to to make sure it's easy to apply. I will need more soap than what is shown in the picture, at least double.
Squeeze the brush a bit but not too much (keep in mind that we need more water for this one). If you squeezed too much water you can either re-soak the brush or just dip the tip of the brush in the water
Let's start face lathering by doing some circles
After a few minutes, I have a nice lather, I will mix it a bit more.
It's not as thick as the version I did with the bowl but still very usable!
Good Luck!
Why do I call it "Palmolive/Mennen" or "Mennen/Palmolive"? Simple, the sticks used to be branded under Mennen and recently (a few months ago) the package was redone and they are now sold under Palmolive name. For more information, consult this thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1565182
I think the Australian version is a bit more difficult to work with compared to the Euro version but that's all right. As part of the local products, it's not the best but it works! For $2 AUD, it's a good and cheap introduction to shaving sticks!
This is not intended to be a tutorial. Joel did a great tutorial on how to use a shave stick here: http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=40
Also, I want to give credits to Axel_ for the "Firstbowl" technique that I saw in this thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=1216253#post1216253
Finally, the review of this product is available here: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?ltr=M&t=45747
I will cover a bad lather with Palmolive, a good one using a bowl (Shaving stick + bowl, no face lather) and I will face lather.
Let's get started.
Today I will use a small bowl (3" diameter by 1" deep), a Boar Men-U brush. I currently own 3 different Palmolive products(From left to right):
- Palmolive/Mennen Shave stick (Oz)
- Mennen Shave Stick made in Fiji with Tallow (I think this is a NOS stick that I got)
- Palmolive Shaving Stick (Euro)
As always, I will soak my brush and bowl in warm water before I start and leave them in there for ~5 minutes.
I need to wet the shave stick before I use it, like any soap
Here's the famous Fist bowl!
I squeeze some water out of my brush. As usual, I half close my fist to leave some water in there.
Charging the brush for a good 45 seconds.
Empty the water from the bowl
The lather is too dry after 20 seconds of mixing
After ~3 minutes, it still doesn't look too good
Let's try to add some water by dipping the tip of the bristles only.
The other way to add some water is by dipping your fingers in the water and let a few drops fall in the bowl.
The result? A bit better but not impressive...
I could probably still use it as the lather seems to be thick enough but I wouldn't have enough for 2 passes.
Let's try again but this time, post-soaking, instead of squeezing the bristles, let's just shake the brush until all excess water stop falling out of the brush.
Again, we need to wet the stick first and empty the bowl(I know, recycling my images)
Let's do the fist bowl again but place your fist at 90 degrees with the bowl under. Any excess lather will fall in the bowl. Charge the brush for the same time, around 45 seconds.
After ~3 minutes of mixing, it looks much better than batch #1
The lather is now thicker! I'm happy with this one.
Finally, face lathering! Let's soak the brush and then dip the tip of the stick
On a wet face (post shower is good or just wet the area to be shaved if you dried it after your prep) I will apply the soap.
Apply the soap where you need to shave, apply a fair amount and dip the tip of the stick as often as you need to to make sure it's easy to apply. I will need more soap than what is shown in the picture, at least double.
Squeeze the brush a bit but not too much (keep in mind that we need more water for this one). If you squeezed too much water you can either re-soak the brush or just dip the tip of the brush in the water
Let's start face lathering by doing some circles
After a few minutes, I have a nice lather, I will mix it a bit more.
It's not as thick as the version I did with the bowl but still very usable!
Good Luck!
Last edited:
I have the Fijian ( should have bought more of Ian) and Euro shavesticks and love them both. I had no luck with the Aussie version and ended up throwing it away. I may now have to get myself another stick and follow your directions. Thanks for putting in the effort.
