I agree. VDH soap is very respectable.
Even their basic Glycerin product. I bought a puck of it at a local store recently. Gonna open it tomorrow!
Re-thinking Barbasol
- Thread starter domingo3
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Even their basic Glycerin product. I bought a puck of it at a local store recently. Gonna open it tomorrow!
I bet you will enjoy.
Some would say that the best way to apply Barbasol is to throw it in the trash can. LOL Seriously though, what I always did was to work it into my beard with my hand. You can just slap it on if you want but I always felt like working it in kind of did what a brush does: lifting my hair and working the lather into my beard.
I wouldnt use a brush because all it does is dissipate the lather. Ive seen a few Youtube shavers use foam and gel with a brush and Im always like, "why???" I saw one where a guy tried to apply Barbasol with a brush and he had to reload the brush several times just to get enough on his face to shave with, when he could have just squirted a golf ball sized amount on his hand and had plenty.
I wouldnt use a brush because all it does is dissipate the lather. Ive seen a few Youtube shavers use foam and gel with a brush and Im always like, "why???" I saw one where a guy tried to apply Barbasol with a brush and he had to reload the brush several times just to get enough on his face to shave with, when he could have just squirted a golf ball sized amount on his hand and had plenty.
1.Take a shower,wash your face in the shower.
2.Exit shower,dry your body do NOT dry your face.
3.Wet your face again with hot water.
4.Squeeze a golf size ball of foam in your hand.
5.Massage THOROUGHLY into your stubble with your hand.
6.Go to town.
I have been DE shaving since 1980 and only used canned foam.
It works just as good as any other form of lubrication and it a classic (main shaving lubrication mean since the mid 50s).
First time I ever heard that it is called "goo'' and that it's not "good'' was in shaving forums by people who are a bit... fanatic
Guess what? They are wrong
I will only say this about my current use of lather rather than Barbasol with lanolin, I enjoy the face lathering and the hydration, an essential element when using a straight razor.
I never found one single soap that worked for me. I heard all the raving about how good MWF was and tried it. Love the smell, but it was overly slick, not enough cushion. Irritated my skin slightly. Loved the cushion of Arko. Smell was just ok... but settled down nicely. Experimented by adding a small core of MWF surrounded by crushed Arko sticks in a cup. The mix of the two were ideal. I tried both different versions of VDH and they were just ok. Tried Cremo... tried Proraso (still have 1/2 a tub that gets occasional use while traveling)... tried several others. I got some Cade stuff that was expensive but was probably the best single creme I ever tried. Smelled great too. For $25 though... well... I'm cheap.
When you find something that works, just stick with it. Same with blades. If you think something is missing, keep searching. There's bound to be a better fit out there. No combination of blades or soaps will make up for bad technique however. I could still get an ok shave out of an unpreferred blade/soap combo now. Back when my technique was lacking, no blade/soap combo would have made up for it. It took longer than just a couple months for my technique to be spot on as, at that time, it still took a long time to do a good 3-pass shave (with, against, across on the neck).
It sounds like you're stuck a bit where I was initially. There is a happy compromise between cushion and slick for shave soap and it sounds like you haven't found it in what you've tried yet.
When you find something that works, just stick with it. Same with blades. If you think something is missing, keep searching. There's bound to be a better fit out there. No combination of blades or soaps will make up for bad technique however. I could still get an ok shave out of an unpreferred blade/soap combo now. Back when my technique was lacking, no blade/soap combo would have made up for it. It took longer than just a couple months for my technique to be spot on as, at that time, it still took a long time to do a good 3-pass shave (with, against, across on the neck).
It sounds like you're stuck a bit where I was initially. There is a happy compromise between cushion and slick for shave soap and it sounds like you haven't found it in what you've tried yet.
Well said.
If you're having trouble lathering your shave soap (solid, not canned) you're probably not incorporating enough air into your mixture as you whisk it in your bowl. Use the same motion you would use to beat eggs in a bowl to make scrambled eggs. The brush should be leaving the surface of the bowl quite frequently during this process, trapping air in the brush and forcing it through the soap. Also, it takes a good minute or two to whip up a good creamy lather. 10-20 seconds isn't gonna cut it. (You may already know all of this, if so just ignore.)
Among the canned foams and gels, Barbasol is one of the better ones. However, for my skin the propellants always leave my skin dry and tight. If Barbasol works better for you than the soaps you have tried, then either the soaps you have tried have been poor, or your lathering technique is poor. It may well be the later.
While there are lots of opinions on which soaps are excellent and which are not, if you learn how to lather a soap properly with a good brush and properly hydrate the lather, you can get a decent shave from most any soap. The best soaps, however, will also reward you with good scents and wonderful after-shave conditioning, something that Barbasol cannot do.
While there are lots of opinions on which soaps are excellent and which are not, if you learn how to lather a soap properly with a good brush and properly hydrate the lather, you can get a decent shave from most any soap. The best soaps, however, will also reward you with good scents and wonderful after-shave conditioning, something that Barbasol cannot do.
Barbasol sourced some mighty fine DE razors.
Well, theres nothing wrong with using Barbasol, to make it slicker just add a little hot water. If you try a brush with Barbasol wet the brush with hot water and use less product when using the brush because you be able to spread it better. I wouldn't recommend passing over every inch of you're face 20 times,my goal is always to get the smoothest shave with the least number of passes and strokes, for example i shave pretty much only with my Feather artist SS non- folding now, its my smoothest one pass shave, although i still will do 3 passes when i have time ( also Barbasol does work perfect with my Feather ss). It pretty much comes down to prep technique and you're shaving technique. Honestly it doesn't matter if i use Barbasol or a higher end cream or soap, or even a single blade disposable razor, i can get a good shave. It all comes down to Technique, don't over think it. I believe simpler is better. Also ive heard people on this thread talking about Cremo, i think its great, i use the bourbon scented sometimes, only downside is that it disappears and drys into you're face so quickly. Keep you're face wet and it is very slick.
I've used Barbasol on & off for several decades.
I also have Cremo and it applies best for me by putting a dab onto a wet brush & whipping it up. You can feel that it's the slickest stuff around. It works just fine for me after a shower, but for off days with just a hot water face wash is pretty marginal. Barbasol works better than all the foo-foo fancy & spendy soaps I've tried, and I get great shaves with it every time.
With the money I save on my shaving cream budget I can buy more guns ... and razors ...
Years ago I worked with a guy who had a brother who was a plumber. His Dad & gaggle of brothers shaved with blades. Dad's wisdom said that shaving cream in a can starts to go bad after a few weeks - they bought & threw out A LOT of canned shaving cream.
On a trip to the range to do some target shooting, he brought along a carton of empty plumbers torch propane cylinders, some candles, and also a big carton of mostly full shaving cream cans.
An 'empty' propane can with a lit candle behind it erupts into a ball of flame when shot at. Highly entertaining.
The cans of shaving cream were often spectacular, but if hit too low, just fizzled. The reason being is that the propellant is packaged separate from the shaving cream, usually pressurized behind a piston; no propellant touches the shaving cream, so your discomfort wasn't propellant (usually propane or isobutane). Now, Hairspray, that's different.
Soap lather dries quickly in my part of the world, where it's often over 110°F in the summer with 12% or less humidity - in an air conditioned house, humidity approaches zero. To minimize the rapid shave lather dryout, I apply first to the left side of my face, then shave. I then apply to the right side & shave.
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There very well may be a separate partition for propellant to eject the foam from the can. However, there is also some type of gas dissolved in the foam itself. It is this dissolved gas which causes the foam to expand after your eject it from the can. Without this dissolved gas, you might as well use cream in a tube.
Agree 100%. Its funny how people used canned foam for over 50 years and were just fine with it until shaving forums came along and convinced us how bad it was for our skin.
I enjoy my brush and soaps but when I travel, I leave the brush at home and pack a travel size can of Barbasol and a disposable single-blade razor and you know what? It works just fine and I get the same great quality shaves that I get with my traditional gear. I sometimes buy multi-blade disposables or carts when they are on sale too and get the same great results. IMO, technique trumps gear every time.
Honestly, if I didnt enjoy the nostalgia of the soap/brush so much, Id gladly switch to Barbasol or Gillette Foamy and still be getting great shaves. I truly do love my brush and soaps though.
There's nothing wrong with Barbasol, but I don't see any reason to use a brush with it. The brush's primary purpose is to create lather, and Barbasol comes out of the can fully lathered already. More cleanup for no real benefit doesn't make any sense to me. Just rub it into a wet face (after properly hydrating whiskers, of course) and you should be set.
20 passes over any part of the face definitely indicates a problem, though. With a sufficiently aggressive razor, the right blade & angle, and maybe some slight skin stretching and diagonal movement (the "Gillette Slide") you should be able to get just as close and comfortable of a shave with only a few passes. It's something to work towards; you won't get there overnight, no matter how many videos you watch.
20 passes over any part of the face definitely indicates a problem, though. With a sufficiently aggressive razor, the right blade & angle, and maybe some slight skin stretching and diagonal movement (the "Gillette Slide") you should be able to get just as close and comfortable of a shave with only a few passes. It's something to work towards; you won't get there overnight, no matter how many videos you watch.
yes they are1.Take a shower,wash your face in the shower.
2.Exit shower,dry your body do NOT dry your face.
3.Wet your face again with hot water.
4.Squeeze a golf size ball of foam in your hand.
5.Massage THOROUGHLY into your stubble with your hand.
6.Go to town.
I have been DE shaving since 1980 and only used canned foam.
It works just as good as any other form of lubrication and it a classic (main shaving lubrication mean since the mid 50s).
First time I ever heard that it is called "goo'' and that it's not "good'' was in shaving forums by people who are a bit... fanatic
Guess what? They are wrong
I love a good metaphor! I mean, graham crackers are fine, but put some chocolate and a marshmallow between two and you're holding a nice little slice of heaven.
If the canned stuff works for you stick with it. It removes one variable and eases the transition to DE. You need never take up brush lathering, and Barbasol is so damned cheap. It’s your face, your kit, your routine. Whatever works is OK.
