Ever since I began wet shaving, I have been an advocate of face lathering.
I am coming to the reluctant conclusion (it’s only taken 15 years) that maybe my skin doesn’t tolerate it that well. I often have some ruddy discoloration on my cheeks after shaving and had come to accept it as a cost of doing business. I now suspect my vigorous face lathering may be partially responsible. Synths are definitely worse than natural hair in this respect - that's one reason I prefer boars - but it's all abrasion, and it looks like the line between pleasant exoliation and excessive friction is finer than I thought.
Having this realisation, it was reading some posts by @Phoenixkh that finally convinced me to reconsider my lather making process. I have noticed that we have similar experiences in terms of prep routines that work for us, blade choices, how our skin reacts to soaps, etc. I noticed that he was a bowl man and decided to experiment.
Last night I grabbed a bowl from the kitchen and had a test run with a couple of soaps. I gotta admit, the results were impressive. Sure, the cleanup takes a bit longer, but to my surprise, getting the lather dialed in was much faster. Today I used the bowl for my actual shave. The warm lather from the bowl was a pleasure. My skin seems pretty happy, and would no doubt be even happier if I had used a fragrance free soap.
I have to admit it: I have been wrong about the inferiority of bowl lathering for many years. I suspect my negative early experience was largely because I had just started wet shaving and didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I am not saying I will never face lather again, but I think the bowl is going to become my primary method.
When I began wet shaving, I knew that I knew nothing. After many years, I came to believe that I did know something. Now, I am discovering that many of the things I thought I knew were wrong. Wet shaving is like life in miniature.
The search for the perfect bowl begins!
P.S. I realise this isn't of much general interest, but I didn't have anywhere else to put it. Maybe I should start a journal for this kind of thing...
I am coming to the reluctant conclusion (it’s only taken 15 years) that maybe my skin doesn’t tolerate it that well. I often have some ruddy discoloration on my cheeks after shaving and had come to accept it as a cost of doing business. I now suspect my vigorous face lathering may be partially responsible. Synths are definitely worse than natural hair in this respect - that's one reason I prefer boars - but it's all abrasion, and it looks like the line between pleasant exoliation and excessive friction is finer than I thought.
Having this realisation, it was reading some posts by @Phoenixkh that finally convinced me to reconsider my lather making process. I have noticed that we have similar experiences in terms of prep routines that work for us, blade choices, how our skin reacts to soaps, etc. I noticed that he was a bowl man and decided to experiment.
Last night I grabbed a bowl from the kitchen and had a test run with a couple of soaps. I gotta admit, the results were impressive. Sure, the cleanup takes a bit longer, but to my surprise, getting the lather dialed in was much faster. Today I used the bowl for my actual shave. The warm lather from the bowl was a pleasure. My skin seems pretty happy, and would no doubt be even happier if I had used a fragrance free soap.
I have to admit it: I have been wrong about the inferiority of bowl lathering for many years. I suspect my negative early experience was largely because I had just started wet shaving and didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I am not saying I will never face lather again, but I think the bowl is going to become my primary method.
When I began wet shaving, I knew that I knew nothing. After many years, I came to believe that I did know something. Now, I am discovering that many of the things I thought I knew were wrong. Wet shaving is like life in miniature.
The search for the perfect bowl begins!
P.S. I realise this isn't of much general interest, but I didn't have anywhere else to put it. Maybe I should start a journal for this kind of thing...
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