A Little Tip for Anyone Having Trouble with Shave Sticks

[grouse79]

I've never been a fan of shave sticks and couldn't understand people who raved about them and how they were going to convert all their soaps which had come in perfectly good pucks into sticks as well. The issue with me was, the few times I had a shot at it, the stick always felt hard and uncomfortable rubbing against my face. Well the other day I had the astounding realisation that just dipping the end of the stick into hot water right before applying to my face could not be softening it as well as leaving some water on a puck whilst I showered.

So I took my neglected Tabac stick, put a little hot water in the cap, then put the stick upside down into it. Less than five minutes later it was sufficiently soft that I could easily rub a good quantity of soap on my face without feeling I was using face scrub. A great 3 1/2 pass shave followed. I tried this with a Palmolive stick too using the little plastic container I keep it in and it worked just as well. Only the very end of the stick needs to be soaking in the water.

I feel a bit daft taking so long to make this discovery, so I am posting it here in the hope I can spare someone else the time it took me. I still prefer pucks to sticks but it will very useful when I'm travelling and can't really take a bowl and soap with me.

 

[taffy]

I don't soak my sticks, but I do give them a good swill in water before I rub it over my face, the water lubricates the soap, which then makes the stick slide across your face.

 

[wwoof]

Dat's all it takes for me, a quick pass through hot water and a light touch over the face. My whiskers grab what they need.

 

[spindlecone]

No Trouble here, I grate them up and mash them into my Bowl

 

[Go West Young Man]

Yup, my shavesticks always get a 5-count in the hot water first.

 

[grouse79]

Yeah, I've done that too with a couple of Palmolive sticks which first demonstrated to me how good the stuff is. But it's kind of nice to be able to make the stick work in its original form too.

 

[ccnutman]

Yeah, I've done that too with a couple of Palmolive sticks which first demonstrated to me how good the stuff is. But it's kind of nice to be able to make the stick work in its original form too.

I ordered two Palmolive shave sticks from Great Britain after hearing the raves here about them. IMHO, they lather fine and are reasonably priced, but are packaged poorly, shipping takes a while, too delicate for travel, and they smell, well, like soap. When I travel, I use shave sticks from Saint Charles Shave, or Mama Bears. They smell wonderful, are packaged in sturdy twist up plastic containers, lather just as good and are reasonably priced. PLUS, I am buying from small business American women, not an industry giant that won't even bother to sell them in our own country.
Never again for me. All things being equal, I always buy American.

 

[Ceri]

My father always used Palmolive shavesticks, and so when I started shaving I followed suit. I don't think he ever considered rubbing the stick onto his face, preferring to soap his brush on the stick, as did I. This would leave spectacular soap creations where the stick was whittled down in the middle, leaving a precariously placed lump at the top.

The first I heard of rubbing soap onto the face was on a daytime television show, where Irish comedian Frank Carson was giving out shaving tips (and no, I can't remember the context). When we tried this, we couldn't believe that we'd not even thought of doing it before. The more even wear on the stick also appealed to Dad's parsimony, so it was the end of bathroom Palmolive sculptures.

 

[kg4ghn]

I wet my face by rubbing my wet brush on my face, dip the stick for 2-3 seconds and start rubbing away. Then face lather as normal. Works for me.

 

[Bit2]

I don't soak my sticks, but I do give them a good swill in water before I rub it over my face, the water lubricates the soap, which then makes the stick slide across your face.

+1

Yup, my shavesticks always get a 5-count in the hot water first.

+1

I usually give it a few seconds under the hot tap.
I apply directly to my face and/or load the brush (if I am making my Mantic59 Superlather).

John