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Troubleshooting my facelathering routine

Good morning fine gents! So I recently got into face lathering after having to shave at work without the bowl. LOVE it. My set up is a fat handled pre-war tech/WSC blade, Cella, with a Van der Hagen boar brush.
-My prep is rubbing a thin layer of Cella on my face after a hot shower.
-To load, I take an almond size dollop of Cella and press it into the breach of the brush. We're doing wonderful at this point.
My problems occur here and at the end for the same reasons. Instead of only lather, I get a mix of lather and little bits of the croap on my face which gunks up the razor. As well as at the end where I am trying to clean out the remains of the cream from the brush. It also seems to dry out after the second pass and feels like smearing toothpaste.

Would using a shave stick fix these issues?

Seems like it would free my brush up to get a new load of water. I am eager to hear from you guys. Face-lathering is a lot more enjoyable to me than the bowl by far.
 
I sometimes face lather with Williams and I just rub the puck on my wet face and then lather with the brush and repeat for each pass. If your lather is like toothpaste you need more water.
 
When face lathering I tend to "load as I go" rather than making enough for a complete shave.

With Cella I'll just swirl the brush in the Cella tub till I have enough to start with. (I don't use a "soaking wet" brush, so this isn't in the least messy.) Then I'll add the occasional swirl of soap and/or drip of water as I go to keep sufficient lather at the perfect consistency.

That works great for me, but of course YMMV. :wink2:
 
I sometimes face lather with Williams and I just rub the puck on my wet face and then lather with the brush and repeat for each pass. If your lather is like toothpaste you need more water.

I actually thought about using the biscuit-cutter method with a Brut tube and my leftover VDH pucks.
Creating A Shave Stick
I make sure to wet my face in-between passes, but even then it seems not enough. Cella always thirsts for more.

When face lathering I tend to "load as I go" rather than making enough for a complete shave.

With Cella I'll just swirl the brush in the Cella tub till I have enough to start with. (I don't use a "soaking wet" brush, so this isn't in the least messy.) Then I'll add the occasional swirl of soap and/or drip of water as I go to keep sufficient lather at the perfect consistency.

That works great for me, but of course YMMV. :wink2:
I had started like this but it looks like I need to revisit this. Thank you! I always anticipate the brush as not holding enough water, so I shy away from swirling in the tub.
 
... I had started like this but it looks like I need to revisit this. Thank you! I always anticipate the brush as not holding enough water, so I shy away from swirling in the tub.
MORE DETAIL:
I soak the hairs of my completely dry boar brush in hot water for FIVE SECONDS, then shake it out vigorously THREE TIMES. Then continue as I mentioned above... so after that the ONLY water it receives is the occasional drip.

I find I can gauge and control the lather consistency just great by doing it this way.

I hope that helps. Let's know how you get on.

EDIT: If you continue to rub your face with the Cella first, I'd recommend that you don't load ANY on the brush to start with. Just GO with the damp brush.
 
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I suggest that you try a shaving stick. Alternatively, you might purchase one of the 'stick-like' containers from WCS or another of the B&B vendor, which would allow you to use the Cella more like a stick. Keep at it and you will get there!
 
I suggest that you try a shaving stick. Alternatively, you might purchase one of the 'stick-like' containers from WCS or another of the B&B vendor, which would allow you to use the Cella more like a stick. Keep at it and you will get there!

Geeze, you'd think I was trying to buy a diamond studded toilet when I told my wife I was grabbing a stick of Brut. So I ended up giving my Old Spice an early retirement, wrapped the platform in plastic, and stuffed it in. Pretty effective with a quick test.
 

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Geeze, you'd think I was trying to buy a diamond studded toilet when I told my wife I was grabbing a stick of Brut. So I ended up giving my Old Spice an early retirement, wrapped the platform in plastic, and stuffed it in. Pretty effective with a quick test.

Good man! Sounds like our minds work in similar directions!
 
Like Joma12, I grated a partial puck of Williams and added just enough water to be able to mash it into an empty jumbo glue stick container.
full


Similarly, for the Brutus Vilius (Brut AS + Williams) experiment I bought some SpeedStick deodorant, tossed the deodorant, and mashed the Brutus Vilius into it.
full


I still like the glue stick version better though.

Buying a cheap product and ditching the contents is still cheaper than buying new containers and paying the shipping on a minimum order.
 
Good morning fine gents! So I recently got into face lathering after having to shave at work without the bowl. LOVE it. My set up is a fat handled pre-war tech/WSC blade, Cella, with a Van der Hagen boar brush.
-My prep is rubbing a thin layer of Cella on my face after a hot shower.
-To load, I take an almond size dollop of Cella and press it into the breach of the brush. We're doing wonderful at this point.
My problems occur here and at the end for the same reasons. Instead of only lather, I get a mix of lather and little bits of the croap on my face which gunks up the razor. As well as at the end where I am trying to clean out the remains of the cream from the brush. It also seems to dry out after the second pass and feels like smearing toothpaste.

Would using a shave stick fix these issues?

Seems like it would free my brush up to get a new load of water. I am eager to hear from you guys. Face-lathering is a lot more enjoyable to me than the bowl by far.

Why not just lather up the Cella?
 
Good man! Sounds like our minds work in similar directions!
The stick was a considerable improvement. Thank you!

MORE DETAIL:
I soak the hairs of my completely dry boar brush in hot water for FIVE SECONDS, then shake it out vigorously THREE TIMES. Then continue as I mentioned above... so after that the ONLY water it receives is the occasional drip.

I find I can gauge and control the lather consistency just great by doing it this way.

I hope that helps. Let's know how you get on.

EDIT: If you continue to rub your face with the Cella first, I'd recommend that you don't load ANY on the brush to start with. Just GO with the damp brush.
Since I was trying out the stick, there was no reason to worry about loading the brush as before. So I tried it like you said and it worked wonderfully, thank you! I will try your first way tomorrow morning.

Like Joma12, I grated a partial puck of Williams and added just enough water to be able to mash it into an empty jumbo glue stick container.
full


Similarly, for the Brutus Vilius (Brut AS + Williams) experiment I bought some SpeedStick deodorant, tossed the deodorant, and mashed the Brutus Vilius into it.
full


I still like the glue stick version better though.

Buying a cheap product and ditching the contents is still cheaper than buying new containers and paying the shipping on a minimum order.
That was exactly why I wanted to just use a Brut stick. $2 USD at the store compare to $5.70 for an empty stick online. Glad you like the glue tube, bit crazy/smart thinking to use a glue stick I think.

Learned a lot last night and not just because of school.
 
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