I have a tweezerman brush and i can lather all my soaps and creams with it but some take a lot of work. Col conk and mama bears are the ones that give me some trouble. I have to soak them in hot water while I shower to get them to lather well. Would a higher quality brush make it any easier?
Better brush=better lather?
- Thread starter Nashty
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I'm a face latherer by the way.....
Yes. A brush does make a big difference, especially for people learning. My Semogue 1800 does 100 times better than my cheap Van Der Hagen boar brush.
When it concerns hard soaps, the issue might be loading the brush rather than lathering.
The Tweezerman has far too little backbone to load anything but soft soaps or croaps, and certainly too little for face lathering, I would think.
I did not like the tweezer man. For a little less you can get a great boar brush by omega. For a little more you can get one of the LE B&B Boars by omega, a semogue, or a TGN kit. Personally have been on a shave stick and mighty midget kick lately awesome combo for my travels 
http://www.shoeboxshaveshop.com/omega-40033.html.
http://www.shoeboxshaveshop.com/omega-40033.html.
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When I soak the soap first it seems to be easier to load.
Hmmm, my only brush atm is a Tweezerman and I've never had any problems lathering the dozen or so soaps I've tried in the 3 weeks I've been at it. Even the MWF (That I've heard so many have issue with) that I lathered for my 1st ever shave came out beautifully with little to no effort. I'll take a pic of the lather when I get home in case our opinions of a "Good lather" differ. I am a newb after all : ) I only load for about 20 sec or less
I'm a firm believer that a good lather can be made using any brush. Its all in getting your technique down in the use of the brush. Some of the cheaper brushes may take a bit more work, but good results can be achieved. With that being said, I'd still say its better to use a decent badger brush. I have 5 in my rotation, all badgers, and they range from around $45.00 to over $100.00. I'm able to get excellent lather from any of them. I found making some practice lathers to be the best way to get my technique down, and it didn't take a lot of lathers to get the hang of it. Mantic has some excellent video's on making lather. I'm able to get respectful lather doing either face or bowl technique's. I've also found that really thick lather is not necessary for a great shave, and I prefer my lather on the thinner side.
This is a good tutorial for loading and lathering hard soaps but not the only way to do it.
I am not very talented when it comes to loading a brush from a hard soap. When I have a puck that gives me a hard time, I make a stick from it and load my face.
If you have never tried a stick, I would recommend it (either a normal stick or a stick made from one of your current soaps). Since you are already facelathering it's just a small step.
To piggy back on this: I think a lot of the brush choice has to do with how you want it to feel on your face. I got great lather from my cheapo VDH natural brush, but the difference in feel in the morning compared to my new AoS badger is like night and day. I will say, face lathering could be easier with a badger, just because of all the lather it can hold compared to boar hair.
That said, I love washing my face with a boar brush. Exfoliation heaven.
As a person who started out with a Van Der Hagen Boar brush and moved on the a Parker Badger I'd say that it is true any brush can be used BUT... if I didn't have the patience to keep trying I would have never continued using the VDH. It is such a horrible brush and sheds too much. It takes practice to build up a good lather. At that price point it just become discouraging to use the item.
For a bit more I got a brush that I liked much more and took 1/4 the effort to create a great lather.
There is certainly a best bang for the buck and law of diminishing returns at play just like with all hobbies.
I'd say a brush in the $25-$35 range is best bang for the buck.
I've never tried the tweezerman so I don't know if it's substantially better than then VDH I had.
I have a tweezerman, and it worked ok, but was to scratchy, IMO. It replaced a VDH that absolutely sucked. I bought an Omega pro 49, and it is a terrific brush for any type or style. I've since bought some better badger brushes and they definitely take some changes in procedure to work as well, but once you figure it out, they are nice to use. I have a TGN silvertip that feels absolutely luxurious. Also finest and best that work wonderfully and are a different experience than the others.
However, my answer to your question is no. I can get lather that is just as good with my omega as I can with any of my other brushes. For face lathering, the Omega is by far the best option. I think you lather quality more depends on what you are used to and how well you are familiar with your brush. Some take more work than others, but in my experience, cost isn't the variable. My pro 49 makes lather as quick as anything I've tried, and costs $10.
However, my answer to your question is no. I can get lather that is just as good with my omega as I can with any of my other brushes. For face lathering, the Omega is by far the best option. I think you lather quality more depends on what you are used to and how well you are familiar with your brush. Some take more work than others, but in my experience, cost isn't the variable. My pro 49 makes lather as quick as anything I've tried, and costs $10.
+1
I think there is about zero correlation between choice of brush, and quality of lather.
My brushes currently are 3 boars (two Omegas, and a VDH Boar), 2 Badger (both pure badger), and 1 Vie Long Horse Hair.
I can get great quality lather even from the VDH Boar Brush. I like to use it once in a while in order to keep in touch with "the common man"**.
**the longer you hang out here, the more you seem to think that a great quality shave can only be achieved with only the utmost top shelf products. Once in a while I like to remind myself that this is 100% untrue by using more pedestrian products.
all my lathers come out the same with whatever brush i use.
only difference is how they feel in my hand and on my face, how much product they use and hold and how it's released etc.
no issues making lather with my $15 brush or my $150 brush.
but what fun would having only 1 brush be
only difference is how they feel in my hand and on my face, how much product they use and hold and how it's released etc.
no issues making lather with my $15 brush or my $150 brush.
but what fun would having only 1 brush be
Pics as promised. This is using MWF and my hard water. My other soaps produce even better! You don't need a $400 brush to make a solid lather. $8 will do just fine : ) The Tweezerman is my only brush, I picked it up about 2-3 weeks ago when I started wetshaving.
A couple turns on the puck. Probably about 20 seconds at most.
After about 40sec to a minute of lathering.
Final product, no more than a min and a half.
A couple turns on the puck. Probably about 20 seconds at most.
After about 40sec to a minute of lathering.
Final product, no more than a min and a half.
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Get yourself a good brush like a Semogue 830, 1800, 610, etcetera for an economical first-hand experience or a good badger and see what it is like.
Good luck.
Good luck.
I really don't understand all the hoopla surounding the badger brush and why I should fork out $100 plus for one. I started with a VDH Boar, yes, it is a rough brush. I bought an Omega and have been happy ever since. I will admit that I have never tried a badger, but I really don't think I need to. The Omega does not irritate or scrub and can tackle any soap I put it to (I face lather myself). $14 dollars what else is there to say. Any hobby has "luxury" items that you can spend tons of money on if cost vs. benefit is not a concern.
IMHO get an inexpensive but well made Omega before making the leap and shelling out tons of money for something that may be marginally better.
P.S. I know I will get lots of flack for having never tried a "good" badger. Flame away if you want, but Pif me one of those $100 plus dollar bad boys and will give it a shot, I don't see anyother way I would even think of using one.
IMHO get an inexpensive but well made Omega before making the leap and shelling out tons of money for something that may be marginally better.
P.S. I know I will get lots of flack for having never tried a "good" badger. Flame away if you want, but Pif me one of those $100 plus dollar bad boys and will give it a shot, I don't see anyother way I would even think of using one.
I've been at this for just over a year and the and I have found that my brushes each hold and retain different amounts of water. As long as I am aware of that fact and shake in some instances and add more water in other instances I can always get a good lather. If I do not adjust for these differences I will not.
I used to face lather with a tweezerman (use Semoque 1305/1250 now) and never had any problems. The trick is with soaps to put some hot water on them and let them soften up a bit. Pour off the water, shake out brush, and load. Dip-the-tip works well too if brush is too dry. Once loaded up well, just face lather. With the tweezerman and hard soaps sometimes for the third pass I would need to reload again, but no problem, soap was right at hand. I found that if I do a little "twist" on top of the soap first, then swirl action that I can get it to load up nicely. With the Semoques I have no problem loading up enough for probably 5 passes (so do a nice squeeze to get all that good lather out on the third pass). The tweezerman is not a bad brush, but I found it a little too "POKEY & scritchy" on my face. My son had inherited it now. He likes the scritch feeling - good exfoliation. Try softening your hard soaps with the hot water trick and see how that works. Good luck and great shaves.
