Tutorial - how to use a shaving stick
- Thread starter joel
- Start date
Thanks for the tutorial. I would have tried to load my brush from the stick, as I'd seen a barber do in 1978 when I was in Spain, studying.
this is so cool, i have Tabac, Palmolive & Erasmic sticks, never used them didn't no how to be honest,
tomorrow morning i'm gonna break-out the Tabac,
thanks guy's!!
oh, how should the stick be dried after use?
thanks
tomorrow morning i'm gonna break-out the Tabac,
thanks guy's!!
oh, how should the stick be dried after use?
thanks
I think part of the equation is in the brush that you use as well as the soap. I usually have to go back to the face with my stick for multiple passes, sometimes I have enough soap in my brush for the second but seldom for the third with a stick (and I load the soap to my face quite heavily). If you have to reload for subsequent passes it isn't a big deal and doesn't take a lot of time -- better to reload than have crappy lather and cut your face up!
Just let the stick dry in the open air. I've never had any problems screwing the cap back on.
cool thank you mate, just had the shave wow very nice the Tabac stick is... thanks
Is it just me, or have the pictures from the original post all disappeared?
FWIW, I can't see them either...
Problem solved, thanks guys!
i KNEW i was doing something wrong!!!!! "take the cap OFF"..
sorry, i could not resist.
the truth is i have never used a stick so,, i had no idea.
sorry, i could not resist.the truth is i have never used a stick so,, i had no idea.
Gents,
It has come to my attention that many individuals are not familiar with shave sticks and their use - so here is a picture laden tutorial!
Enjoy!
Step One - Twist off the lid
The Stick to be used in this tutorial is a QED Essentials Peppermint Shave Stick... this sucker has a GREAT cooling effect, and a VERY strong peppermint scent.
Next get some nice hot water running.
Cup some of the water with your hands and splash your face, and really try to get as much water as possible on your face. (Sorry for the non-descriptive pic - trying to cup water and take a pic on my own was a bit difficult!)
Once your face is properly moistened - begin rubbing the stick around your face with light pressure.
As you begin rubbing around your beard area - you will notice some VERY light bubbling/lather beginning to form.
Here is a shot of what it will look like.
Next take your soaking wet brush - and give it about one shake.
After one or two twists you can see lather begin in its infancy.
With just a few more swirls with the big Shavemac XXL Silvertip you can see this lather start to come up.
In seconds the brush is filled with lather.
You can see wonderful shave-worthy lather is a cinch to make.
Brush motion.
Lather full brush.
Brush.
Shavin' time!
If you have any questions - feel free to fire away!
One thing to add to this tutorial. With a tallow stick such as Palmolive it is helpful to soak the tip of the stick in water for 10-20 minutes before attempting to apply to the face. I find if I want enough soap to create that slick surface we all want and to have at it for more than one pass I need the extra soap on my face before attempting to lather. With melt and pour sticks I just reapply and re-lather after each pass as they aren't as hard and therefore apply easier to just a wet face than tallow sticks do. Of course I like at least double the thickness of lather on my face before I start shaving, some may say that is wasteful but I think my shaves are smoother and less nick-prone with the additional lather.
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And for me, this is how Mike's shave sticks became useable. I just simply push up a bit of soap and leave it in a quarter inch or so of hot water in my bowl while I'm drying off after my shower. No where near 10 minutes, but It softens it up just enough to actually spread on my face.
Thanks!
Great tutorial!
I wasn't sure how "thin" my lather was supposed to be. I'm new to sticks. It is definitely thinner than creams. Nice to know for the next time I bust out the La Toja or LEA. Can you use a preshave oil with sticks?
Very helpful tutorial (both in terms of stick usage and lather thickness). Looking forward to trying out a Tabac stick on my next road trip. Thanks OP!
Interestingly the directions on a vintage colgate stick I saw recently said not to do this. Threw me for a loop because I've always done it whenever I used a shave stick, and figured it was pretty much standard operating procedure.
Colgate was pushing the idea that one stick could last 365 shaves. Maybe so, if you load minimally, use a small brush, and only do one pass. On current trend my vintage Colgate will probably clock in well under 100 shaves.
I do not dip or soak my sticks, but only because I can load plenty of soap without doing that. I see the point if you have trouble loading enough product otherwise.
You don't dip your vintage sticks? Damn, I doubt ANY soap would come off some of my vintages if I didn't wet them first. They are hard as bricks.
It probably helps that I live close to the shore: not as much risk of my soaps drying out in between shaves. Even so the ca. 1924 Colgate is pretty hard stick, second only to the 100 year old Pears stick (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/348448-When-was-this-Pears-stick-made). The Colgate stick feels like a rock, but the Pears stick felt almost like glass. With either one I can load around 2/3 grams without dipping, and without working very hard. Wet face, rub stick, lather.
But while 2/3 gram is great with the Colgate, the Pears lather was disappointing. If I worked harder I could load a gram of Pears. That did a little better, but I was still disappointed. Even though Pears claimed to have invented the shave stick, I suspect it was just their regular soap packaged as a stick. So it has been sitting in a drawer... maybe I should try it again.
But while 2/3 gram is great with the Colgate, the Pears lather was disappointing. If I worked harder I could load a gram of Pears. That did a little better, but I was still disappointed. Even though Pears claimed to have invented the shave stick, I suspect it was just their regular soap packaged as a stick. So it has been sitting in a drawer... maybe I should try it again.
You have a hell of a beard. Even soaking my sticks I'd estimate I load around 0.2-0.3grams max. I'm easily 20 shaves into a colgate stick (Haven't weighed it, but I'd guess its around 25-30grams* and I can't even tell it's been used when viewed in profile. And even that's great. These old soaps are efficient as hell. Guess that's what happens when there's ~zero water content left in em.
*Just weighed a NOS stick. 24 grams with foil, so probably closer to 23g. I'd assume 1oz new and it lost ~4-5grams to age.
*Just weighed a NOS stick. 24 grams with foil, so probably closer to 23g. I'd assume 1oz new and it lost ~4-5grams to age.
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